The August 2009 issue of True Tales: An Erotic E-zine of Masculinity and Power features recommendations of new gay fiction, nonfiction, and art in the Leathermen section. (And no, we haven't forgotten about the promised Prisoners issue. It's been bumped up to next year.)

david stein, whose Tryout at the Bondage Club has proved to be one of True Tales's most popular stories, is back with a new collection of master/slave stories. We link to his powerful opening story, illustrated by Axel: "Becoming Real."

Jack Fritscher, who has contributed works to True Tales in the past, has won a number of awards for his new book that collects pieces from the legendary Drummer magazine, which he edited in the 1970s. We link to a 1978 article of his (with a new introduction) that is literary edgeplay even by today's standards: "Pissing in the Wind."

Two online authors who have been receiving a good deal of attention in recent months are Maculategiraffe and M. Chandler. By a happy coincidence, both writers have produced side stories in their popular series which focus on sex scenes that are on the rougher side . . . without sacrificing the emotional interactions that their characters are famous for. "The First Rule of Fight Club is . . ." and "Coitus Interruptus" wrap up the August 2009 issue of True Tales.

Those of you who read my editorial in True Tales this month may be interested in the latest news on the Galveston County Jail prisoners, who were not evacuated during the mandatory evacuation of the island.

Galveston Jail's sheriff paints a rosy picture.

Galveston Jail's architect paints a less rosy picture.

A Galveston judge offers a bit of hope for the future of the prisoners.

"The good Lord took care of those 1,050 inmates."

The cynical (but quite reasonable) comment of various bloggers is, "And thank goodness He did, because the sheriff sure didn't."

There must be something seriously wrong with my brain. Here I am, listening to hurricane statistics on danger, damage, and death, and all I can think is, "I wonder whether there's any hurricane erotica out there?"

The September 2008 issue of True Tales is devoted to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. You can read an editorial on the Galveston County prisoners, peruse an essay by Daddy James that was written on the eve of Hurricane Ike, and view bittersweet erotic art by Michel Giliberti.

Plus, hurricane porn.

It seems to have been a nasty night along the path of Hurricane Ike, but very little information is coming over the lists as to how the GLBT, leather, bear, and pansexual BDSM communities fared. If you belong to one of these communities, I'd be interested in hearing (for the record) your eyewitness reports, which you can e-mail to me. Please be sure to mention any name, title, and club/group affiliation you would like mentioned (or not mentioned, if you prefer to be anonymous) if I quote you.

The following is a press release from Ambush Mag, the GLBT newspaper in New Orleans, concerning the gay New Orleans festival, Southern Decadence, scheduled for this weekend.

The news.

The following is a press release from Ambush Mag, the GLBT newspaper in New Orleans, concerning the gay New Orleans festival, Southern Decadence, scheduled for this weekend.

The news.

As some of you may have heard, Tropical Storm Gustav may soon return to hurricane status. According to the National Hurricane Center, one of its possible goals is New Orleans, a major location for leather and BDSM clubs. A report posted on the Leather Titleholders list from a local leatherman indicates that the city is busy with preparations for a possible landfall by Gustav.

The latest news is that, since Gustav isn't scheduled to reach the U.S. this weekend, the New Orleanes gay festival Southern Decadence is still scheduled. If New Orleans is badly affected by the storm, True Tales will do its best to keep readers informed, as it did three years ago through its Hurricane Katrina Report.

Two good sources of New Orleans news: NOLA.com and WWLTV.com.

First, the e-zine's Honors and Reviews page has been updated. In the past year, True Tales has been nominated in the Best Erotic E-zine category of the Cybersocket Web Awards and has been an Editor's Pick at GayDemon. In addition, one of our authors won an award for a story originally published at this e-zine.

Secondly, due to the two deaths mentioned in this month's editorial, I'll be unable to get out the issue devoted to prisoners before the end of my publishing year in September. That issue is already half-finished, so I'll post it next spring.

The August 2008 issue of True Tales: An Erotic E-zine of Masculinity and Power links to texts, photography, and a video in tribute to Larry Townsend, late author of The Leatherman's Handbook. The issue includes links to interviews by Jack Rinella and Bob Wingate, as well as writings by Larry Townsend, Thomas Roche, Jack Fritscher, and others.

E-zine's warning page | Latest issue.

Next year's theme will be Prisoners and Prison Officers. (Yes, the 2008 theme has changed. There have been some good stories coming out in this category recently.) Please e-mail me if you have any suggestions for links to gay erotic and non-erotic narrative nonfiction, fiction, narrative poetry, drama, book excerpts, blog entries, art, photography, videos, and audio. The links can be to your own works or anyone else's. Suggestions for links to military and leather works continue to be welcome.

Link submission guidelines.