Conquering Venus makes Top 10 in Preditors & Editors Poll

Thanks to everyone who voted in the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll 2009, putting Conquering Venus not only in the Top 10, but the Top 5! While it was a bit odd that Venus was in the mystery category, I am happy that it's been embraced by mystery fans. You can see the final results at this link.

Dream casting the Conquering Venus film

Although the character of Irène is based on the great actress Jeanne Moreau, everyone at the Facebook Fan Page for Conquering Venus thinks Catherine Deneuve would be perfect.

William Mosely, who plays Peter in The Chronicles of Narnia films, was my pick to play Martin.

Parker Posey would be a treat as the edgy, crazy and hilarious Diane.

Sexy Mitch Hewer, best known for his role in the hit UK series Skins, got a thumbs up to play David.

Conquering Venus: From rough drafts to published novel

Now that I'm working on the second book in the Venus trilogy, as well as a few other projects, I decided it was time to make room in my file cabinet. The photo above shows four of the rough drafts of the novel, plus the screenplay version (in the yellow envelope). I wrote the screenplay in 1995 and the finished novel came out just shy of 15 years later. What a long, strange journey it's been to publication by Vanilla Heart. The rough drafts are now in my archive, which will eventually be housed in the special collections department of the Alanta-Fulton County Library.

Vote for Conquering Venus

Conquering Venus is a nominee in the mystery category for the annual Preditors & Editors Poll at the Critters Workshop site. The deadline is Jan. 14 and you only have to leave your name and email address (for vote verification) to cast a vote. I would appreciate your support.

In other book news, the Lambda Literary Foundation released its long list of nominees and Conquering Venus is there for debut fiction. Fingers crossed that it becomes a finalist. The announcement will be made by March 15.

The Importance of Being Venus

Many, many, many thanks to my friend and muse Vanessa Daou -- the great musician, poet and artist -- for the lovely thoughts about the novel at her blog. If you haven't heard Vanessa's music, I suggest checking out her website and you can read a conversation between us about her lastest project, Daouhaus, at Soldout.

Happy Holidays

Christmas tree at Galeries Lafayette

Happy Holidays and many thanks to everyone who has read Conquering Venus and been so supportive this year.

Reading from Conquering Venus

The kind folks at Bound to Be Read Books filmed me reading a chapter from the novel last weekend during the Queer Literary Showcase event. A pretty good reading, despite the interruption by a rambunctious child.