Gay bear short stories
Deadline: October 1st, 2023
Payment: 8 Cents per word
Theme: Science fiction that feature and empower huge gay/bi/queer men
John Bear was a mesh of wire and silicone, of nanobot lace and rare gems unearthed from mines in foreign lands. He stepped out of the cryo-chamber, his large body pulsating with a green bio- luminescence, his head throbbing with a constant numbers stream being jacked into his frontal lobe. The lone light, a faint, dim sliver of faded yellow from a desktop monitor a room away seemed blinding, seemed to radiate the force of a violent sun. John stumbled towards what looked like a door, banged his round belly on the control panel before sliding down the wall in a convulsing lump. The door swished start and standing before him was an onyx robot with dancing dreads that looked like guitar wires. “Kiss me,” the robot said with metallic timbre. John raised his top and admired the robot’s physique — round, carbon faced, barrel-chested, and a slick, smooth belly larger than his own. “Kiss me, remember me, grasp me — and then we can both be free.” After a pause, the door closed — sssswiissshh — leaving John Bear alone in the dark, leaking fluid, drifting i Richard Labont� edits books, walks dogs and works as a chef's assistant at an addiction recovery center on Bowen Island, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, after living in Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1979 to 2001. One of the founders of A Different Light Bookstore, he has coordinated the judging for the Lambda Literary Award since 2009. He reviews 100 queer books a year for Q Syndicate, which distributes "Book Marks," his fortnightly column and has edited the Best Gay Erotica series since 1996 (along with a couple of dozen other books for Cleis). Eight of his books, including five editions of Best Gay Erotica, hold been Lammy finalists, and three of them contain won the award. There’s a sweet flashfiction piece by Charles Payseur on Flashfiction Online that highlights something awesome about LGBT writing today. It deserves a read and a shout out. “A Lumberjack’s Guide to Dryad Spotting” is probably about 1000 words, but it tells a pretty big story about two gay lumberjacks that goes beyond where I thought the story would go. Be careful in these woods: SPOILERS AHEAD. Why don’t you just go read it and come back here. Good, you’re back. First, let me tell how happy I am to keep seeing LGBT writers in Lightspeed, Clarkesworld, Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Flashfiction Online, and other mainstream venues even beyond the “Queers Destroy” series, and other special issues. The story sets us up to trust how valuable Dryads are in this world, that you can monetize their parts and sell them for money. Our heroes, a pair of queer lumberjacks who are subtle, but not that subtle, in the camp about their relationship, are presented as good lumberjacks: they get there early, they chop down trees. They do their jobs successfully. We are also led to believe that these two men have a dream that requ On my first guide tour in 2006, I found myself in Provincetown. The place itself wasn’t new to me; I’d been going every summer for many years. But it was my first time at Bear Week. I was just there for a quick overnight—enough time to provide a reading and head back to New York the next morning. But I knew what people had to do to promote their events: I had to endure on the avenue, handing out palm cards. The best place to do this was outside the Boatslip at 7 p.m., when hordes poured out of tea dance, making plans for the evening. So I stood on the side of Commercial Street next to more experienced hawkers who were louder, cuter, more offensive, and dressed to attract attention— wearing either elaborate costumes or skimpy outfits, whichever might spin the most heads. I was not particularly comfortable doing self-promotion, so I stayed quiet, holding a small stack of black-and-white paper flyers I’d photocopied at my office. There were few takers. Drag queens pushing bawdy cabarets and body-glittered porn stars advertising bingo games were stealing the show. One burly bear offered me some unsolicited advice: “You’ll have better luck if you accept off your shirt.” If there was o 7GMJames "A Bear's Story" is not about an animal living in the woods or the predictions in the stock market. Sugg
Bears: Gay Erotic Short Stories - Softcover
About the Authors
Richard Labonté edits books, walks dogs and works as a chef's assistant at an addiction recovery center on Bowen Island, off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, after living in Los Angeles and San Francisco from 1979 to 2001. One of the founders of A Different Light Bookstore, he has coordinated the judging for the Lambda Literary Award since 2009. He reviews 100 queer books a year for Q Syndicate, which distri
A Bear's Story
A adorable coming out of the closet story; the bear closet.
This cute short production is about Robert (Kevin Bowe, who also wrote the screenplay), a heavy-set, solitary obituary scribe who unexpectedly finds love. Being a large, bearded homosexual man, Robert does not fit the so-called stereotype of a gay dude (e.g.: slim, clean-shaved, young) and he's resigned to creature single. That is until he meets John (Dean Ricca) at the lock. John invites Robert to a pool party at his home but Robert is a brief leery about attending, especially a party that he believes is helping to raise money for preventing the extinction of polar bears.
What he finds out at the pool party opens his eyes to a possible change in his personal being.
Although I had a few problems with the story, it had more to do with the fact that the movie was only 20 minutes. I think it would be fascinating to see this story expanded to a feature-length movie.
Despite that problem, this is a agreeable, light, romantic comedy. Nothing more, nothing less.Contribute to this page