Portrait Of The Author

 

Here, Here!

My Desk

This is fun: the great folks at Novelspot asked for a pic of my workspace - so, naturally, I had to share.  The stained glass window, by the way, was created by my late father...

- You Might Go Blind

I took this shot while in Walnut Creek ... just a wee bit suggestive, doncha think?

The Moving Finger - On Lisabet Sarai's Beyond Romance Blog

This is extremely excellent: my pal (and a wonderful write) Lisabet Sarai asked me to write a bit about the inspiration behind Finger's Breadth for her Beyond Romance blog.  Check it out here ... and, meanwhile, here's a tease:

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,Moves on; nor all your Piety nor WitShall lure it back to cancel half a Line,Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it. -- The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam 

I may have said this before but it's always worth repeating: here's a hearty thank you to Lisabet for the opportunity to write a little piece for her excellent blog. 

This time, Lisabet has asked me to write a bit about the how my newest novel, Finger's Breadth, came to be. 

In a nutshell, Finger's Breadth is ... well, maybe too weird for a nutshell (perhaps even too much for a coconut shell) but I'll give it a shot. Basically, it's a near-future gay erotic horror/thriller with a hefty dose of social commentary. Less-than-basically, it's a series of characters dealing with "the cutter:" the nickname given to a mysterious figure drugging random men and amputating the first digit of their little finger. 

I told you it was weird. 

In many ways I see Finger's Breadth as a thematic sequel to my previous novel,Me2. In that book I had a lot of fun playing with the idea of identity. Less-than-basically that because of peer pressure, mass-produced lifestyles and fantasies, we are all becoming more or less interchangeable. 

I say "thematic sequel" because after writing Me2 I was itching to challenge myself with a new project – one that allowed me to explore human nature again. With Finger's Breadth, I tried to reach down even deeper and get even dirtier with how we relate to one another: socially, sexually, you name it.

The seeds that would eventually sprout become Finger's Breadth came from a wide variety of sources – or threads that would become the quilt if you don't like plant metaphors – but, botany or fabric, they have more in common than you might think. One of them came from my fascination good versus evil. Yeah, yeah, I know: lots of people have done – and will do – the exact same thing. But I've always been frustrated at how cowardly a lot of authors have been on the subject -- cowardly, because very few people seem to be willing to honestly look at the question. 

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How To Wonderfully WriteSex (16)

Check it out: my new post at the fantastic WriteSex site just went up. Here's a tease (for the rest you'll have to go to the site):

Like bestiality—and unlike underage sexuality—incest is a tough nut: it’s not something you might accidentally insert into an erotic story. Also like bestiality, it’s something that can definitely push—if not slam—the buttons of an editor or publisher. Yet, as with all of these “sins,” the rules are not as set in stone as you’d think. Hell, I even managed to not only write and sell an incest story (“Spike,” which is the lead story in Dirty Words) but it also ended up in Best Gay Erotica. The trick, and with any of these erotic button-pushers, is context. In the case of “Spike” I took a humorous, surreal take on brother/brother sexuality, depicting a pair of twin punks who share and share alike sexually, until their world is shattered (and expanded) by some rough S/M play. 

As with any of the “sins,” a story that deals with incest in a thought- provoking or sideways humorous manner might not scream at an editor or publisher I’M AN INCEST STORY. Instead, it will come across as humorous or thought-provoking first, and as a tale dealing with incest second. Still, once it comes to light, there’s always a chance the story might still scream a bit, but if you’re a skilled writer telling an interesting story, there’s still a chance quality could win over the theme. 

Unlike bestiality, incest has very, very few stretches (like aliens and myths with bestiality). It’s very hard to stumble into incest. In short, you’re related or you’re not. As far as degree of relationship, that depends on the story and the intent: immediate family relations are damned tough to deal with, but first cousins fooling around behind the barn are quite another. 

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Fingers And Gothic.net

And the crazy publicity spreads: the cool folks at Gothic.net just posted this cool thing about my (ahem) 'unique' approach to getting the word out about Finger's Breadth:

Author M. Christian, upon seeking publicity for his newest novel, “Finger’s Breadth”, has threatened to cut off the tip of his little finger. This idea goes in line with the books character that does a similar fashion of chopping in a futuristic noir San Francisco world. Acknowledging how tough it is to spread the word about new books, Christian readily admits that this is a public relations stunt. His theory is that it takes someone to think outside of the box in order to garner the attention it requires for the novel to reach a wider audience. Christian has an impressive list of accomplishments, including six novels, over four hundred short stories, nine author collections, editing twenty-five anthologies, and being a contributor to Gothic.net. “Finger’s Breadth”, published by Zumaya Publications, is a gay erotic science fiction horror thriller. More of an intense psychological ride, the novel serves to dissect human nature rather than to deliver surface scares. So far he still has all of his digits, but who knows what will happen in time.

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Amen!

A Must Read: Doonesbury

Yet More Philosophy

I'll Be At Fogcon

If you happen to be in Walnut Creek towards the end of March I'll be attending Fogcon, the Bay Area SF con, and being on several panels and such - including a (ahem) x-rated reading on Saturday night with other Sizzler Editions authors.

Stay Curious