A reminder: Yours Truly (and Humbly) is excited to be back at the Rainbow Book Fair in Manhattan Saturday, April 29. The noon to 6 p.m. event, billed as “the largest LGBT book event in America,” is always a day of thought-provoking readings and absorbing encounters with readers.
Three years ago, I had a blast at the event with “Water Music,” the first novel in my series “The Games Men Play,” about power, dominance, rivalry and jealousy. The well-received “Water Music” (Greenleaf Book Group) tells the story of four gay athletes and how their professional rivalries color their personal relationships.
Now I’m back at the Fair with “The Penalty for Holding” (Less Than Three Press, May 10), about a gay, biracial quarterback’s search for identity, acceptance, success and love amid the brutal beauty of the NFL. It’s set against the backdrop of the 1-percenters I’ve long observed as a luxury magazine editor and senior cultural writer.
When the quarterback of the hapless New York Templars is injured, backup QB Quinn Novak takes the team to the playoffs. There he attracts the attention of two other quarterbacks who’ve been rivals since high school – Mal Ryan of the Philadelphia Quakers and Tam Tarquin of the San Francisco Miners. Quinn begins a volatile relationship with the narcissistic Mal and a loving one with the open-hearted Tam, keeping each secret from the other. What he doesn’t know is that the two had a romantic history of their own.
“The Penalty for Holding” is unquestionably a male/male romance – one of fiction’s hottest genres – but it’s also a timely tale of leadership, the American workplace and the extent to which those who belong to two worlds can navigate a place in both.
I’ll be greeting readers and signing copies of “Water Music” throughout the day. And I’ll be reading from “The Penalty for Holding” at 4:30 p.m.
If you’re in the vicinity of John Jay College, 524 W. 59th St., why not stop in? I’d love to see you.
For more, visit, rainbowbookfair.org. And for more on my novels and my related sports culture blog, visit thegamesmenplay.com.
– Georgette Gouveia
