True Tales: An Erotic E-zine of Masculinity and Power

News: Update on the Galveston County Jail prisoners

2008-09-17T04:38:59Z

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."

News: Updates on hurricane recovery and Houston's GLBT businesses

2008-09-15T22:47:28Z

Click on the links for the news articles.

"Many folks [in Houston] are gonna be pretty hungry in a few days if things don't rapidly improve."

An update on Houston's GLBT businesses.

News: Hurricane Ike survivors in the gay/BDSM communities face serious aftermath

2008-09-14T18:06:06Z

Click on the link for the news article.

"There may be a need for people away from Houston to open their doors as they did with Katrina and Rita. Not because of the flood waters but because of the lack of the basic needs such as a place to buy food and water."

True Tales - August 2008 (Issue #11): Hurricanes Gustav and Ike

2008-09-14T04:48:01Z

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.

News: Leatherfolk and BDSM folk in central and northern Texas await Ike

2008-09-13T19:36:44Z

Click on the link for the news article.

As Saturday's first media reports tell of widespread damage from Hurricane Ike in Houston and along the Texas and Louisiana coastlines, leatherfolk and BDSM folk in other parts of Texas are preparing for Ike's arrival.

True Tales editor is seeking information from readers on Ike's effects in your area

2008-09-13T16:48:58Z

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.

News: As Hurricane Gustav evacuees return, Texas prepares for Hurricane Ike

2008-09-12T00:20:11Z

Click on the link for the news article.

"They needed places to stay. Most of all, what they needed were people who cared."

News: Two final Hurricane Gustav updates

2008-09-03T06:59:42Z

Click on the links for the news articles.

"All of a sudden we realized it was 2 pm, which should have been the start of the Southern Decadence Parade, so we all did a SD toast and celebrated the event with a bar crawl to the Phoenix."

No injuries have been reported from club members after Hurricane Gustav.

News: Levee begins to fail in parishes outlying New Orleans

2008-09-01T22:26:21Z

Click on the link for the news article. The article is located at an adults-only site.

Reports on club and group lists continue to offer reassurance about the safety of members of the leather and BDSM communities.

News: Upper Ninth Ward threatened as BDSM and leather community members remain safe

2008-09-01T15:26:19Z

Click on the link for the news article.

New Orleans media sources are reporting that waves are coming over the east side of the Industrial Canal levee into New Orleans's Upper Ninth Ward.

News: Reports arrive from club members affected by hurricane

2008-09-01T11:57:37Z

Click on the link for the news article.

"As a new day dawned on Monday, leatherfolk and BDSM folk who are currently undergoing Hurricane Gustav have been reporting that all is well so far."

News: Remaining Southern Decadence events cancelled

2008-08-31T20:50:24Z

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.

News: Gays leave New Orleans as Hurricane Gustav strengthens

2008-08-31T05:10:46Z

Click on the link for the news article.

"Gustav sounds like black leather, whips and cuffs."

News: Southern Decadence cancellations

2008-08-31T05:09:41Z

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.

Breaking news: Leather and BDSM folk in Louisiana and Texas prepare to help New Orleans evacuees

2008-08-30T04:54:02Z

Click on the link for the news article.

Mr. Louisiana Leather 2005, Alan Bowers, said on Thursday that city plans were proceeding apace, with many New Orleans residents "panicked and gun-shy."

News: Tropical Storm Gustav and New Orleans

2008-08-29T02:38:05Z

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.

News on True Tales

2008-08-03T05:00:49Z

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.

August 2008 (Issue #10): Larry Townsend Tribute

2008-08-02T18:16:57Z

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.

2008 Theme: Prisoners and Prison Officers

2007-12-11T11:42:56Z

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.

December 2007 (Issue #9): Military Men & Leathermen

2007-12-11T11:29:53Z

Links on the Military Men page have been added to stories by Ranger, Parhelion, and Marquesate that are set around the conflicts in World War One, World War Two, and the modern British army.

Links on the Leathermen page have been added to bondage art that is an exercise in minimalism, an article about a bottom-man's efforts to overcome a phobia, and a video about power play that starts in a leather bar.

True Tales and awards

2007-11-18T09:04:39Z

A couple of awards-related pieces of news. First of all, the Titanium Whip Awards for BDSM fiction has announced that the 2006 winner in the original fiction category is Verdict, by Parhelion, which was originally published in the October 2005 issue of True Tales.

Secondly, I've received word that True Tales has been nominated for this year's Cybersocket Web Awards, which "recognizes outstanding achievements in the world of queer online media and entertainment." True Tales was nominated in the Best Erotic E-zine category, alongside some other nominees that . . .

Um, distract me from finishing this post. For the links on that page alone, you might want to stop by the page where you can cast your votes in a variety of categories. Voting will close on December 31.

I still hope to get another issue out before the end of the year.

July 2007 (Issue #8): Military Men & Leathermen

2007-06-22T18:55:16Z

Links on the Military Men page have been added to fiction about unusual twists to life in the British army in 1951 and to a Tom of Finland drawing that departs from his usual style.

Links on the Leathermen page have been added to a 1965 interview with a member of a Danish leather club, an accompanying photograph, poetry about a slave who discovers his limits, and a video that's definitely not just for the leather crowd.

LiveJournal is suspending blogs with illegal activities listed in their Interests keywords

2007-05-30T23:09:46Z

The moderator of a fan fiction community that was suspended has posted a letter from the LiveJournal staff in which the staff member states:

"We recognize that many people list these types of interests for shock value, as a method of expressing opposition for these illegal activities, or to indicate fictional activity. Unfortunately, the Abuse team does not have any discretion in these cases; if a journal profile contains interests that support illegal activity, we must suspend the journal."

A summary of the events in the latest purge is available in this post. Here is a list of the affected communities and personal blogs, as far as they've been determined.

This post lists some of the keywords that triggered the LiveJournal staff's suspension of one community. As you can see, they include such keywords as "kidnapping," "rape," and "beating people up."

I would suggest that folks here with LJ blogs do the following:

1) Remove any Interests keywords that relate to illegal activities.

2) If your blog addresses illegal activities in any way, place a disclaimer on your profile page that you do not advocate illegal activities.

At this point, it does not appear that LiveJournal is suspending blogs solely because they contain fiction on illegal activities, so hopefully LiveJournal can get its act together and permit owners of blogs that don't advocate illegal activities to make references to those activities in their Interests. However, at the moment, caution seems best.

Updates on the situation are at the end of this post.

Editor's Note: A Change in Format

2007-05-17T03:58:09Z

You'll quickly notice a change of format this month – or perhaps you won't, until you click on a link.

Due to lack of time, I'm sadly unable to continue to add original works to True Tales. However, in the past, a goodly portion of this e-zine's contents were reposts from other Websites. So, rather than stop editing the e-zine altogether, I'm turning it into a recommendations site, linking to offsite fiction, nonfiction, photography, art, music, and videos on masculinity and power.

You shouldn't notice any difference at all, in terms of content. I'll be linking to the same sort of content that, in the past, I would have sought permission to either repost or feature at the e-zine. Since I no longer have to go through the lengthy process of seeking permission and editing works, I hope to be able to update the e-zine much more regularly. I'll also be able to link to works that it would have been difficult for me to obtain permission to repost.

All of the e-zine's past contents remain online. I'd like to draw your attention to a new companion site, Buried Links: Online Male Homoerotic Fiction Recommendations. I actually started this site before I started True Tales, and you'll see that there's some overlap between the two sites. Although Buried Treasure doesn't focus specifically on masculinity (you'll find a queen or two hanging around there), it does reflect my interest in power dynamics to a good extent, as you can see from the topic index.

May 2007 (Issue #7): Military Men & Leathermen

2007-05-17T03:47:51Z

Links on the Military Men page have been added to fiction about submarine men's confrontation with hard truths, erotic navy art, an interview with a gay soldier about his relationship with his straight roommate, and a video that can only be summarized as "Hard fighters, erotic scenery."

Links on the Leathermen page have been added to fiction about a fister's search for healing at Southern Decadence, master/slave bear art, a true tale about a gay man's introduction to leather life, and a related song that was popular in gay clubs in 1979 . . . but was too edgy for the straight clubs.

In addition, the Submissions page has been altered into a Submit a Link page. Whether you create works on masculinity and power, or just enjoy them, feel free to submit a link.

A note from the editor: I now have a MySpace page. It covers all of my writings, but among other things, I will be posting notices of updates to True Tales there. Feel free to request to be added as a Friend.