You’re not afraid of wild and weird things that go Woof in the night, are you? Enter the Den, where this frightfully stimulating collection of 15 hot and hairy stories — written by and for the masculine men who call themselves bears, cubs, wolves, otters, and the critters who love them — will be sure to give you a chill up your spine and a thrill between your furry loins.
The erotomythic stories tell of bearish men who dare enter forbidden realms populated (and copulated) by mystical beings, supernatural creatures, fantastic spirits, netherworldly demons, and bizarre beasts–your typical Folsom Street Fair crowd.
This collection includes new stories from authors William Holden, Daniel M. Jaffe, Hank Edwards, ‘Nathan Burgoine, Jay Starre, and Lee Thomas, and others; classic bear tales from Jay Neal, Jeff Mann, and Nicolas Mann; plus fabulous original short fiction by fresh talents in the bear writing community.
Tales from the Den may or may not grow hair on your palms, but it’s certain to raise fur on the back of your neck!
Tales from the Den
Wild & Weird Stories for Bears
edited by R. Jackson
Bear Bones Books / Lethe Press • October 2011
Bear Bones Books / Lethe Press, October 2011 • 256 pp., 9 x 6 inches
Enveloped by the native spirits of the Pacific Northwest, Roy Wallace and David Moreau’s newfound relationship begins. David soon introduces Roy to the House of Wolves, a small intentional community of gay and bisexual men where honor, companionship, spirituality, erotic desire, and brotherhood guide their way.
Each man living in the house represents a totem from the spirit world, and each one has committed himself to creating a unique path in life. As Roy approaches the prospect of living with the group, he experiences the loving gift that each person, including himself, brings to the household.
As the mystical rituals and traditions of Roy’s new chosen family are revealed, each character is forced to confront fears and break through personal limitations in order to embrace the extraordinary loving spirit that ultimately unites them in body, mind, and spirit in the House of Wolves.
Robert B. McDiarmid is a writer and activist who lives in Palo Alto, California. The House of Wolves is his first novel.
“The House of Wolves is a vivid amalgam of elements: body hair and beards, pipe smoke and man-musk, the landscape of the Pacific Northwest, the richness of Native American culture. Robert McDiarmid’s evocative novel beautifully intertwines the erotic, the romantic, and the spiritual, and it depicts homomasculinity at its best: lusty, strong, compassionate, and kind.”
— Jeff Mann, Lambda Literary Award-winner, A History of Barbed Wire
The House of Wolves A novel by Robert B. McDiarmid
“Jeff Mann’s Fog is brutally sexy, crossing that liminal space where sensuality and cruelty meet and mingle over and over again. A breathtaking and deeply erotic tale of violence,lust, and above all, aloving passion that makes you ache in sympathy. Simply fantastic.”
Outside an isolated cabin, winter fog caresses spruce trees. Inside, two men, lovers, have enacted a plan of revenge, kidnapping the handsome son of the man who wronged one of them.
Al, the accomplice, has stalked Rob for weeks, and his infatuation for the young man has grown deeper than he ever anticipated. So much so that he finds himself drawn to protect Rob from the rage and vengeance burning away his partner Jay’s insides.
Caring for their bound and gagged captive, with each passing day Al finds his power over Rob a potent and irresistible aphrodisiac and his heart dangerously moved. But Jay has no intention of ever allowing the young man to escape.
Fog
A novel by Jeff Mann
Bear Bones Books / Lethe Press • August 15, 2011 • 226 pp., 5.5 x 8.5 inches
A provocative, Lambda Literary Award-winning story collection — now back in print!
A History of Barbed Wire
by Jeff Mann
“Jeff Mann’s stories are snapshots of dark desire caught at the blurry intersection of fantasy and reality. A heady combination of literary introspection and sweat-drenched lust, they celebrate the achingly beautiful power of domination and submission.” —Michael Thomas Ford, author, Full Circle
A History of Barbed Wire, front cover
In intense, lyrical language, Jeff Mann’s short stories give us an array of tormented characters: adulterous lovers, a kidnapper and his handsome victim, the sadistic ghost of a Confederate soldier, a yearning forestry student, an eager masochist, and a hairy biker. These tales explore the sex and psychology of BDSM and of bear culture, and most are set in Mann’s native Appalachia, an area often mythologized as a place where the wilderness within converges with the wilderness without.
In A History of Barbed Wire, his first collection of short fiction, Mann offers readers another tour of his insight and experience. This volume includes essays previously published in several anthologies. Contents: Snowed in with Sam • A History of Barbed Wire • Dionysus Redux • Everett’s Boy • Balsam Poplar Buds • Captive • Not For Long • Daddy Dave • Raspberry Moonshine • Fireflies • The Quality Of Mercy
In addition to A History of Barbed Wire, Bear Bones Books, an imprint of GLBTQ publisher Lethe Press, has published two collections of personal essays from Mann, Edge: Travels of Appalachian Leather Bear(2008), and Binding the God(2010).
Jeff Mann teaches English at Virginia Tech. His other books include three acclaimed volumes of poetry, Bones Washed with Wine, On the Tongue, and Ash; a novella, Devoured, in Masters of Midnight: Erotic Tales of the Vampire; and a collection of memoir and poetry, Loving Mountains, Loving Men.
“An unfettered beast stalks through these stories — shameless, irresistible, alive.” —Paul Lisicky, author, Lawnboy
“A History of Barbed Wire is a collection of ten short stories that crackle with subcutaneous sexual energy and a novella that delves straight into dark obsession on its opening pages. . . . this is hyper-masculine erotica so deftly written that it will appeal to both bear fetishists and to literary aesthetes simultaneously. . . . a satisfying combination of both brain and brawn whose Southern drawl is so seductive that readers will find it hard to resist and even harder to put down.” — Christian Wright, Velvet Mafia
“Poet and creative writing teacher Jeff Mann’s new collection of highly erotic fiction orbits around all things rough and hairy. . . . Mann’s novella “The Quality of Mercy” is the most affecting, and closes out the collection with 22 chapters of raw, unadulterated, masculine sexuality. Not for the soft-hearted.” —Jim Piechota, Bay Area Reporter
“Many of these stories . . . are brutal, absolutely dripping with masculine power, raw with scent and ferociously wild, almost beyond the point of comfort, and yet they’re too compelling to turn away from.” —Kathleen Bradean, Erotica Revealed
“The range of Mann’s prose (like his poetry) is exceptional: by turns a tender, attentive lover, or a hot, quick trick.” —Thomas Lawrence Long, Editor-in-chief, HGMLQ
June 27th, 2011, 5:30 pm Giovanni’s Room, 345 So. 12th St., Philadelphia, PA 19107-5907
Jeff Mann is a Lambda Literary Award-winning author and instructor at Virgina Tech. In his book Binding the God: Ursine Essays from the Mountain South (Bear Bones Books), he writes of the passion and pain of being a Southern gentleman who happens to be invested in many worlds: the hungers of gay Bear culture; the propensities of leather and bondage; the frustrations of academia; and the perspectives of an Appalachian who has traveled the world.
He is also the author of Edge: Travels of an Appalachian Leather Bear (Bear Bones) and a new poetry book, Ash: Poems from Norse Mythology (Rebel Satori).
The first novel and funniest take on the bear community — now back in print!
Bear Like Me
by Jonathan Cohen
Coming this June from Bear Bones Books, an imprint of Lethe Press:
Bear Like Me, a novel by Jonathan Cohen.
Fired from his job at Phag magazine, Peter Mallory has to find a way to make a living . . . and get revenge! When his best friend suggests writing a book about the bear community — and using his new ursine look to go undercover at Phag — Peter is soon letting his body hair grow and practicing the fine art of flannel couture. When Peter’s sabotage campaign works only too well, he starts to run the risk of discovery. With an envious fellow bear set to unmask Peter as a fraud, and a relationship with an intriguing bear on the line, things are about to get very hairy!
Praise for Jonathan Cohen’s novel,
Bear Like Me
“A fast-moving, hilarious story of a gay man trying to negotiate a world brand new to him in a story rich in comic stereotypes of conniving, lying and greedy media moguls, vacuous twinks, bitter but righteous feminists, and a glorious parade of bruins that demonstrate that even within the gay bear ghetto that passes for a north woods forest, there is still both incredible sweetness and vile betrayal. Bear Like Me is a definite page-turner and a quick read to boot. Moreover, Cohen’s novel, while fiction, is never-the- less fascinating in its spot-on depiction of the world culture of bears that make up a part of the larger gay community.”
— Jerry Flack, reviewer, Independent Gay Writer
“Bears will have a good time reading Bear Like Me; and non-bears will probably wish they were bears so that they could join in the fun.”
— Jesse Monteagudo, reviewer, Gay Today
“There is a madcap pleasure to this book, a cheekily improbable comic read which is both an insider’s appreciation of the contemporary bear community, and something of a send-up of it, as well. Jonathan Cohen writes about bear customs, mores, and quirks with charming archness, coordinating a sociologist’s keen eye and a gossipmonger’s sharp tongue with gleeful precision. That’s the fun part; what delights is Cohen’s old-fashioned way with romance.”
I have been meaning to post about this book for a very, VERY long time. In fact, I can’t get over how bloody long it’s taken me to FINALLY get around to reading the book and to posting this article.
I suppose the delay is a reflection of the crazy past few months I’ve had, what with my moving home and Class Comics etc… But I had some time to myself this weekend, and happily got around to reading J.C. Herneson’s AMAZING “Spring of the Stag God”. I was absolutely blown away by it. The book is a complete turn on, for brain and body!
It’s not merely that the book chronicles the life of Ashlan, the Stag God in question, and that from his earliest days, Ashlan radiates a pure aura of primitive, brutish, passionate sexuality. It’s also that as a writer who focuses his talent on erotica, Herneson is eloquent and even poetic, no matter how dark the scene he’s weaving may be. I love that! His skill with the written word drew me into the book immediately, and held my attention until the very last period.
The book is broken up into three parts; ”A Stag God is Born” which is essentially Ashlan’s origin, ”The Stag & The Bear” and ”The Stag God’s Disciple”. Each part is intricately woven and filled with a rich mythology of characters that are well rounded and irresistible, both in their predicament and their sheer sex appeal. It’s pure gold. Any erotic fiction that you can read where the sexual aspects are almost an added bonus to the engrossing tale and captivating characters is truly something to cherish.
While the Stag God is a bloody good read, it can sometimes be harsh and brutal and certainly doesn’t pull its punches. Ashlan doesn’t always have an easy time, especially as a younger man at the hands of uncle. But it’s a part of his story, and as tough as it may be for some to read, it is nevertheless the cornerstone of Ashlan’s moldings. It’s an essential part of what shapes him into the Stag God he will become.
A fantastic fantasy meets erotica read, beautifully written by Herneson and lovingly illustrated by none other than the brilliant Kupopo, famous for his beasts and brutes, “Spring of the Stag God” is a jewel in my book collection. I’ve no doubt that anyone with a love of barbaric males, orcs, warriors, mythical creatures and intensely sexual literature will simply devour this superb first volume of the Stag God’s incredible and raunchy chronicles.
With the news that publisher Bear Bones Books has given Herneson a green light for the next book, “Summer of the Stag God“, I’m already bubbling with anticipation. Until then, both you and I can learn more about the Stag God by following Herneson’s “The Stag God” blog.
