“The Man Who Lost His Gayness” available in paperback and ebook format.
Sexy speculative fiction where magic is manifest and disaster lurks in every trick gone bad.
What if you woke up one morning and realized you were no longer gay? Would it be the answer to your prayers? Or might you find yourself floundering in unfamiliar territory?
That’s the premise of “The Man Who Lost His Gayness,” the title story in David M. Hancock’s debut collection of erotic fantasy fiction.
Blending equal parts sex and magic, David M. Hancock presents a world where reality is inexplicably shifting — but you still must remember to hide your wallet before getting naked with a new friend.
The threat of contracting HIV looms in several of the stories. “I Don’t Know Why” describes a modern safe sex encounter that gets complicated. “Far Away, And In Someone Else’s Ass” is a gritty depiction of a gay rape set in a seedy Manhattan hotel room.
“Jinetero: A Cuban Romance” harkens back to the author’s days as a former Miami Herald reporter. Amidst the crumbling splendor and austerity of Cuba in the 1990s, a love story — or is it just another transaction? — between an American tourist and a Havana escort.
In “The Night Ronnie Fagged Out!”, a young girl’s social media smear may be the final straw that breaks a flawed marriage. What exactly did Ronnie do? Introduces the concept of “unicorn moments” and features a tribute to he Invisible Girl of Fantastic Four fame.
“The Unnatural Sister” sets the environment for several of the stories where people are pretending not to notice the strange things happening around them:
“Magic is coming into our world. Its arrival is not fixed like the train at 10 and 2:15. Nor stark, as a new baby ushers in irrevocable change. Uncanniness is swirling about us as a wave pushes violence and froth upon the shore. Magic, occasional and aloof, in your backyard like a stray cat with many benefactors but no master.”
The collection concludes with “The Prodigal Prince,” an adult fairy tale that includes every gay archetype in the canon. A young man fleeing the pressure to conform, a domineering mother and an indifferent father, a selfish hedonist, a forbidden romance in the shadows, a treacherous closet queen — they’re all here. Throw in a grandmother who knows some magic, a quartz pendant conducive to visions, several murders, a couple blow jobs and you have the rollicking adventure of a young prince who definitely does not want to be king.
A prize-winning journalist and web editor, David M. Hancock turns his talents to short fiction with fiercely-rendered stories filled with heart, intellect, sensuality and a sprinkle of magic.
Twisted tales of the boudoir told with kind, if sharply-barbed, wit.
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From “The Prodigal Prince”:
“My son.”
The queen, his mother, swept into the receiving room in a rustle of black and gold finery. With a well-practiced flourish, she held out her knuckles for him to kneel and kiss in the courtly manner. Still fuming over his rough summons to court, he did not. After a moment she took back her hand and turned away from him until the serving ladies retired.
“Your manners have grown coarse in these years away. It is ill-done to shame a queen before her servants.”
She looked tired. And older than he remembered. Though still beautiful, there was a looseness to her skin he’d never seen before. Shocking tributaries of silver threatened to swamp her auburn luster. That was her pride, he knew, of all her charms – her crown of thick red hair.
She in turn was regarding him: His stringy flaxen mane, longer than the fashion; and the blue eyes, his father’s eyes, cornflower blue. Thin, flat-chested and altogether too small for his years. He could see her critiquing him as the product of her body; noting how the last five years had changed him. And judging how best to bend him to her will.
Tired, yes. And thin. But still churning with the irrepressible energy of her ambitions.
What was she up to, this warrior in women’s robes? What was she plotting, this schemer? Was it as Jonathan said? Was he to be married off to some minor princess?
I am not a boy anymore, he told himself. I am a grown man of 25 years. I will marry or not as I choose, queen be damned! Only I must be careful, for she is full of guile and manipulations.