Vincent Diamond … In the Spotlight

Today Jessewave is proud to have Vincent Diamond join us to talk about his newest release Rough Cut and give us a little insight into his writing. Vincent has been an author for over a decade and if I were to categorize his writing I would say that he writes romantic gay fiction. I had the pleasure of reviewing Rough Cut, Vincent’s collection of short stories a few months ago and I really loved this book. I gave it 5 stars and my review is here.

Vincent, could you give the fans a brief bio of your writing career?

I sold my first fiction, “Deep Trouble Undercover” to Best Gay Love Stories 2005. That felt really good, so I sent another story to Ruthie’s Club on New Year’s Eve and had a ‘yes’ on January 1. That got me hooked. Short stories allow for nearly-instant gratification. You can draft one in a week, let it sit or send it to a beta for a week, then revise and have it out the door. Novels? Geez, novels take so much longer.

What is your latest release? Can we have the 30 second promo for the book?

Rough Cut is my short story collection, released this year by Lethe Press. Most of the stories were previously published in either print anthos or online venues, and this collects many of the series stories together. Steven and Conrad, David and Marcus, Tanner and Sandy… There’s several stories new to print, and “Irish Cream” is brand-new-never-been-published.

30 second promo? I can go quicker than that, how about three seconds? Smut with heft.

How would you categorize your writing? By the way I love your tag line “smut with heft” – quite original.

I guess a category would be romantic, smutty, realistic, gay fiction. From what I’ve seen of the current market, my stories are less romantic than many of the m/m romances being sold, but decidedly more romantic than traditional gay erotica. My stories have a lot of lust and fucking and juice, but underneath it all is the question—subtext or text—what does the sex mean? Is it healing? Is it an emotional journey? Is it a solid connection? Sure, some erotica is about the sex alone, but the best erotica is about more than that.

And the “smut with heft” line came from Richard Labonte, the renowned gay fiction editor who wrote the Foreword for Rough Cut. I can’t take credit for it.

How many books have you published and which one is your biggest seller?

Rough Cut is my first full-length work. The short stories have been in anthologies like Best Gay Love Stories, Best Gay Romance, Hot Cops, Country Boys, Truckers, Men of Mystery, and I just finished edits on “Heated” which will be in next year’s Best Gay Erotica. Torquere Press still has the Under Arrest Taste Test available; that’s a three story collection that has “Deep Trouble Undercover” in it. And “Bruised and Back in the Saddle” are a two-story set available on Amazon Shorts. 49 cents, a bargain. I edited Animal Attraction for Torquere Press, and we’re doing a sequel, cleverly titled Animal Attraction 2 to release next year. I’m hoping for stories about more unusual animals, stories where I can learn something new about the beasties.

I notice that you’re spending a great deal of time editing other authors’ manuscripts.. How did you start and how does it compare to writing your own stories?

Well, I’d been casually doing betas for people since the mid 90’s. Then I got a Scary Health Diagnosis in ’06 and had to schedule surgery and follow-up, and I decided I’d better find a way to earn money from home in case it got really shitty. So, I sent out resumes to about 20 publishers, heard back from most of them, took some editing tests, and signed on with a few. Plus, I freelance for some local companies who need specialized proofreading; I know life insurance regulations out the ass. Wanna know the three health questions you can ask in Florida? Heh. I know, fascinating, isn’t it? One challenge with proofing and editing full time is that it just doesn’t leave the well all that filled up for my own writing. I definitely write much less now than I did before editing. But the reality is—I have to earn a living, and writing fiction is a hard way to do that. For the big NY houses, you have to come out the box a huge winner. For the smaller houses, you’re not gonna get the level of distribution you need to get big. And with a niche market like gay romance, the numbers are just so small that you need a backlist to earn a living.

I saw your recent interview with Coffeetime Romance. I loved the fact that you would choose a cabin in the woods rather than a holiday on the beach. What else can you tell us about the real Vincent Diamond?

Hhhmmm. As much as I love the idea of being good at horseback riding, as I get older, I’m starting to realize that the idea doesn’t necessarily match up with the reality. My middle-aged body, my own anxiety about getting hurt again (I got bucked off a few years back and ended up in the ER and on crutches for two weeks), and that I just don’t have the stamina I had even five years ago, makes it a hobby that’s filled with issues. I still have my saddle; I’m not ready to give that up yet, but I’m starting to wonder if I’m just kidding myself. Wow. How’s that for self-relevatory and not the least bit promotional?

Tell us one fun fact about you that no one knows

I was once kissed by Steven Tyler. It was like being kissed by pillows, very soft and full. And no, it was just a casual kiss, not a Real One. I’d taken him a birthday cake to an Aerosmith concert back in the 80s, and he was just being nice.

Thank you Vincent and good luck with Rough Cut

Vincent can be reached at –

www.vincentdiamond.com and vincent@vincentdiamond.com

Vincent Diamond’s Backlist

Rough Cut
Animal Attrraction
Bruised and Back in the Saddle
Hot Cops
Taste Test: Under Arrest