Beneath the Quiet: The Allure of Dark Fiction in Canada

“…if you fish for the glory you catch the darkness too… when you hook twice the glory you hook twice the fear.” — Sheila Watson CANADA IS often portrayed as friendly, relaxed, and picturesque, but readers here have a long-standing love for fiction that dives into shadows, secrets, and emotional complexity. The stark bleakness of […]

Montgomery Clift: Four Biographies Walk Into a Bar…

“I have the same problem as Marilyn. We attract people the way honey does bees, but they’re generally the wrong kind of people. People who want something from us – if only our energy. We need a period of being alone to become ourselves.” – Montgomery Clift MONTGOMERY CLIFT: actor, enigma, and a face that […]

Book Review: Homosexuality in Renaissance England by Alan Bray

“Homosexuality was tolerated as long as it remained in (or was weaponized by) the patriarchal hierarchy.” – Alan Bray,  Homosexuality in Renaissance England WHEN Homosexuality in Renaissance England was first published in 1988, it came at a significant historical moment when sexuality studies were beginning to gain recognition as a serious academic field. Though some […]

Book Review: Nineteenth-Century Writings on Homosexuality: A Sourcebook – Chris White (Editor)

“What the writings in this book demonstrate is the variety and inventiveness of strategies, genres, and other textual devices developed to talk about same-sex desire.” – Chris White, Nineteenth-Century Writings on Homosexuality: A Sourcebook I ACQUIRED this bright yellow beauty during one of my many “book hunts” at the World’s Biggest Book Store—sadly, no longer […]

Book Review: Naked Men Too: Liberating the Male Nude, 1950–2000 by David Leddick

“All the inherent beauty of the male body has once again become familiar and desirable. In art and commerce we have long enjoyed the images of naked women, but now we have the freedom to enjoy the images of naked men, too!” – David Leddick, Naked Men Too: Liberating the Male Nude, 1950–2000 I PICKED […]

Most Memorable Reads of 2025!

IN 2025, I reached a momentous milestone with the release of my second Haunted Hearts Own-Voices Gay Paranormal Romance novel, I Will Always Find You. While the first series revolved around ghosts, this installment immerses readers in the spellbinding world of witchcraft in the collection we named Haunted Hearts: Season of the Witch. This multi-author […]

Book Review: The Trials of Masculinity: Policing Sexual Boundaries, 1870-1930 by Angus McLaren

“How do we define the question ‘What makes a man?’ and why are we compelled to define the term at all?” – Angus McLaren, The Trials of Masculinity: Policing Sexual Boundaries 1870-1930 Angus McLaren’s The Trials of Masculinity: Policing Sexual Boundaries, 1870–1930 (University of Chicago Press, 1997) provides a compelling historical analysis of how masculinity […]

Book Review: Adam: The Male Figure in Art by Edward Lucie-Smith

“No image in our culture invokes a more power taboo than the male nude.” – Edward Lucie-Smith, Adam: The Male Figure in Art ADAM: The Male Figure in Art by Edward Lucie-Smith (Rizzoli, 1998) explores the history of the male figure in art across a wide range of media, including statuary, fine art, photography, pen-and-ink […]

Book Review: Queering the Renaissance by Jonathan Goldberg (Editor).

“… this volume is not a glimpse at activities on the margins or in the shadows, but works to redefine the centre…” – Jonathan Goldberg, Queering the Renaissance EDITOR Jonathan Goldberg’s Queering the Renaissance (Duke University Press, 1993) occupies a seminal, perhaps even radical, place in queer literary and historical studies, particularly for readers interested […]

Book Review: The Male Nude by David Leddick

“It took two wars and a lot of determined men and women photographers to get men out of their duds and back to the Classical and Renaissance view of what a man was: beautiful, on a par with women.” – David Leddick, The Male Nude This book takes me right back to the late 90s […]