Nigel Gordon

I thought I had read all of Chris James work, this is one I had missed. In many ways it is a typical Chris James story, masterfully told by a master writer. It is also a challenging story because it raises questions about race and prejudice. It is a story which is full of incident, adventure and romance. Above all it is a story told by a master story teller. It is one I am definitely going to print out and bind so it can sit on my bookshelf, next to other Chris James stories, to be returned to from time to time.

I fully agree with you, she is a great writer and her output is fantastic, just finished Freckles, and really loved it. Not up to The Bells of Time Square but a good story told with quite a bit of humour.

At the moment PrEP, in the UK, is only available on the PrEP delivery trial, run by the NHS or if you buy it privately. The PrEP delivery trial has been limited to 10,000 men. I am lucky, I got on it. There is now a waiting list for places and a number of men have contracted HIV whilst on the waiting list. So far as I am aware, nobody on the trial has contracted HIV. Getting PrEP privately can be a bit of a problem. Most GPs will charge for a private prescription, and then you have to pay for dispensing and the drug. Most gay men buying PrEP privately are doing so off the internet. Unfortunately, what they are getting is not always PrEP. Another issue is that the drugs used in PrEP are excreted through the kidneys. As a result, it is essential that anyone on PeEP has regular blood tests, to monitor their kidney function. Unfortunately, those who are getting PrEP privately are not getting such monitoring and there have been a couple of cases of people going down with major kidney problems.

I am grateful to Bruin Fisher for pointing me in the direction of this book. It is a really great story well told. Nate Mayer is shoot down whilst on a photo reconnaissance mission. He is rescued by an escaped POW and the two hole up in a deserted French farm house. There they become lovers. After the war Nate Mayer goes to Time Square every New Years Eve to hear the ghostly bells that he and his wartime lover pledge to hear together. This year though the invalided Nate is pushed to the square, in his wheel chair by his grandson Blain and Blain's friend. In taking Nate to the square Blain and his friend give away far more than they intended. A wonderful story very well written. I am a fan of all Amy Lane's writing but this has to rank amongst her best books.

It does give a great sense of the time it is set in. Looking back at those days from now it is somewhat difficult at times to remember what life was like.

I hope Apple fight it all the way up to the highest court. If they agree an out of court settlement they are agreeing to the proposal that somebody can be turned gay. If that argument is accepted then the counter argument holds, that somebody who is gay can be turned straight. What we have here is somebody who was clearly homosexual but repressed, access to homo erotic material via the phone allowed his true self to manifest. The phone did not turn him gay, it just showed him he was gay.

I have only just become aware of Chris's death. At the time it was announced I was recovering from major surgery and did not have access to the forums. I am going to miss Chris, over the years I have followed his writings and really appreciated them. A couple of Chris's books I have printed off and bound for friends (with Chris's permission). My planned bookbinding project for this year was to make a bound set of all his novels which I was going to send him. Unfortunately my own ill health never allowed me to get the project started. Now I will never be able to complete it. I will miss his work, I will miss his emails, above all I will miss the inspiration he gave to me and many other writers.

The Last Night of the Proms is something of a national party for us over this side of the pond. In the last thirty years or so, it has become the tradition for the singer of Rule Britannia, to make some form of statement as part of their performance. Last night's performance (Saturday 14th Sept 2019) was no exception. Jamie Barton made a major statement for the LGBT community by unfurling and waving a Pride flag during her performance of Rule Britannia. You can see it here:

Unfortunately you are going to have a long wait. There are two more which are taking up my time. However, I thought it best not to waste this piece of writing. The Magus Talmad is a bit player in book 2 of 'Forbidden Magic' but an essential one. I had to understand how he came to be the all seeing blind magus, and this was the backstory I wrote for the character. As I have not finished writing book 1 yet, there is going to be quite a wait.

Sorry Camy, it is a short story. However, the main character in it turns up in a novel I am working on, though when that will come to conclusion is anybody's guest.

In a world of magic just what does it require to make a Magus. Each year a small number of graduates from the Guild of Magic are allowed to make their way up the hostile path to the White Temple there they can become sorcerers and wizards. Legend has it in this year on of the candidates will be give the secret of how to become a Magus. There are those who want that secret and will stoop at nothing to get it.

I am so pleased to see Cole Parker listed as this months Featured Author. I, along with many others, have enjoyed his work over the years. What was particularly pleasing was to see Ren listed at the top of the list of titles. One of my favourite works by Cole and one which I would recommend others to read.

They are two I have not read, just purchased them. Once I have finished Homebird, I will have a read of them. So far, I have not come across a bad Amy Lane book.

I am generally a fan of Amy Lane's books. This one, however, is one that I found challenging to read, but well worth reading. As a young boy Seth finds the two great loves of his life, the violin and his best friend Matty's younger brother. However, bringing the two loves together is not the easiest of things, especially when the environment you are growing up in conspires against you and your best friend turns into a religious bigot. The book deals with the impact of a violent sexual assault, alcohol dependency, drug use and religious bigotry. All these combine in one way or another to keep the two young lovers apart. Seth can't go home, Kelly can't leave because of the responsibilities that are piled upon them. In my opinion, though I am no doubt biased, this is one of Amy Lane's best books and so far I have not read one of her books that I have not liked. String Boys is available from Amazon as a paperback and on Kindle.

Unfortunately those who need to listen to these words are totally ignoring them.

I started reading this and got the impression that it was very familiar, then I realised it is a re-write of "The Anatomy of Aids", which Rick put up some years ago. It is a very insightful and moving story and one which is well worth reading.

Not much risk of that, they both work in telemetry, I don't think the teams let them near the cars.

I think my first priority is chapter 8, then qualifying in Spa. I hope chapter 8 is up to Pedro's normal standard, otherwise I know a couple of F1 team members who are going to be upset. I recommended it to them.

I have noticed an interesting trend recently. On three or it might be four occasions when listening to programmes which have referred to Alan Turing, the speakers have made no mention of his homosexuality. Even a couple of years ago, this was always mentioned in connection with Turing. What is more interesting is that two of the speakers mentioned Turing's death. One stated it was unexplained, the other just that he was found poisoned in his bed, no explanation as to how. It appears Turing's rehabilitation is becoming complete, as per his image on a banknote. Just hope they do not forget that he was gay.

This story just keeps getting better and better. It will be nice to see how it works out.

Read the first three chapters and liked them.

Great start, now I need chapter 2 urgently.

Great video, was going to upload it myself, glad to find it is already here.

They have always been one of my favourites.

The more the whole Brexit fiasco is carrying on the more this country is getting increasingly intolerant. A few days ago I was shopping when I received a phone call. It was from the 98 year old mother of one of my Dutch friends. She was phoning to tell me that Pete, after a long battle with cancer, had died over the weekend. She does not speak very much English, so I spoke to her using my limited Dutch. As I was standing there speaking on the phone a middle-aged man came up to me and told me to 'speak fucking English and fuck off back to where you came from'. Today, I heard another man, again middle aged, telling his friends in the supermarket car park that once Farage was in the government they would be able to get rid of all the queers and immigrants. What is frightening is not so much that such views exist in England today, we have always known there was a section of the population who held such views, but that they now feel they can express them with impunity. In the 1960s gay men and women in the UK banded together. First they worked to get the law on homosexuality changed, which happened in 1967. Then they campaigned against discrimination. Not only against discrimination aimed at homosexuals, though that was an important part of the fight, but against all forms of discrimination. It looks as if the homosexual community is going to have to gird its loins and take up the fight once more. For if we do not fight for the rights we have gained now, we will lose them. We are easy targets for the populists. They like to be able to define part of society as different, outside of the norm, not part of us. Well, let's prove Putin that he is wrong, that the liberal ideals are strongly held by many in our society and that we will fight hard to protect them and the rights and benefits that flow from them.