“Feathers” a long short story I wrote a few years back has recently re-released through Lethe Press and is available exclusively from the fun folks at All Romance E-books. The story combines themes near and dear to my heart: animal rescue, horses, grieving, and manlove, all wrapped up in one heartfelt and juicy package. In honor of the hawk at the story’s center, I’m donating part of my proceeds from this story to the Audubon Birds of Prey Center in Maitland, Florida.

They do rescue and rehab of raptors: hawks, owls, falcons, eagles, and other hunting species. It’s an awesome place to visit and if you can spare some money, the birds and staff will be most appreciative!

All Romance E-books is now offering the short story collection as a download.

And it already has reviews, smoochy kisses and hearts! For readers who prefer e-books, this is a nice alternative for small presses to offer their works. It’s more financially feasible for a press like Lethe to offer titles through an e-book distributor like All Romance E-books plus it saves on trees and shipping and carbon emissions and all. They’re portable and don’t take up space like hard copies do. Give one a try!

My publisher has given me the okay to sell signed/inscribed copies of Rough Cut privately, so if you’re interested, please shoot me an email: vincent@vincentdiamond.com. If you’re in the U.S., I can manage one for $22. If you’re outside the U.S., let’s talk and work out a shipping and exchange rate, okay?

Lethe Press published Rough Cut: Vincent Diamond Collected in June, 2008. I’ve got a couple of new stories in the book and this excerpt is from “Irish Cream”.

Most mornings I’m here with Jerry Sputmeir and Steve the Sleeve. Steve did some time back in the day, and well, we just like using the names from the old days. Makes it kinda homey. None of us were made guys but we worked the game. Jerry was into the numbers up in Brooklyn, and Steve did some loan sharking in addition to his regular burglary gigs. Me? I’m not spillin’. Suffice to say that the horses and me, we go way back.

Anyway, this one morning, I’m on the rail. It’s mid-January, cold for Florida, about forty, and misty. The horses come onto the track at the west end, skittering around like hockey pucks, cantering sideways, all antsy. These days, exercise riders wear vests and helmets. Some wear gloves to grip the reins. A spooked thoroughbred can take off and hit forty miles an hour, so if one starts to run away with you, you’d better have gloves to help you haul his ass in.

Exercise riders still ride butt up though, just like the old days. Nice.

This gray jogs by, tossing his head, kicking up dirt, being feisty, ya know? And when I see the kid on him, it arrows right through me.

Liam.

The strawberry blonde of his hair. The cool green eyes. The muscular chest.

It wasn’t just that this kid looked like Liam, it was the way he sat the horse. Some exercise riders use brute strength that’s where they get those fabulous arms but some use finesse and sweet talk with their charges. That’s what this kid was doing. I saw him leaning over the gray’s withers, stroking the horse’s neck, even its chest. That took some doing with the way this horse antsed around.

What it took was great legs.

I closed my eyes and remembered Liam’s legs. Their strength tight around me, so tight I couldn’t move or breathe or think. And didn’t want to.

Liam’s legs

Back in the fifties, things was different, and not just at the track. Men wore hats and suits everyday, and the only guys wearing jeans were the boys mucking out stalls. You tipped your hat to women, you were polite, you took care of business without a lot of drama.

That also meant if you walked the other way around the track, you didn’t advertise it. Sure, there were queer guys back in the fifties; we just didn’t make a big deal about it. I never saw guys living together like they do nowadays, least not in the tri-state area. Not in my crowd. My guys learned not to make jokes about women with me, and by the time I was in my thirties and running my own crew, it wasn’t a matter of discussion. Not in my earshot.

I wasn’t even at the track when I met Liam. It was at Leprechaun Farms down to Ocala. I was visiting the trainer””on certain uh, collections business, let’s just say””and he was giving me the tour of the barns. Horses never really did much for me, beyond what they could earn for me at the betting windows, but even I knew these were special animals. They gleamed. They had the look of conditioned athletes: the bulging muscle, the thick veins just beneath their smooth pelts. Healthy as, well, horses. It was May and the barn had fans running in all four corners. It was still warm, though, and I sweated beneath my pinstriped suit. I fanned myself with my hat.

Jimmy, the trainer guy, was talking my ear off about bloodlines and race cards and numbers. After ten minutes of this, I kinda tuned him out. Some splashing and whinnying came from the north side of the barn so I edged over, just to see what I can see, ya know? And hoping to catch a breeze.

What I caught was an eyeful.

There was a stallion on the padded area with the hose set-up. Tied on both sides of his head but he tried to rear up, front legs pawing at the air. He bellowed and I’ve never heard a sound like that “deeper than a regular whinny” more of a groaning. The way people might groan in bed.

“Slide into Desire”, in Screaming Orgasms and Sex on the Beach. Edited by Shanna Germain, Pretty Things Press. Release TBD 2008.

“Walking the Blue Line”, in Hot Cops. Edited by Shane Allison, Cleis Press. Available here

“Shepherd”, in Love in a Lock-Up. Edited by Eric Summers, Starbooks Press. Buy it here

“Lions and Tigers and Snares”, in Men of Mystery: Tales of Erotica and Suspense. Sean Meriwether and Greg Wharton, editors. Haworth Press

“Not to Forget”, in Coming Together for the Cure. Edited by Alessia Brio, Phaze Books

“Wrestling with Gators”, in Country Boys. Editor Richard LaBonte, Cleis Press

“Bruised/Back in the Saddle”, a two-for-one deal at Amazon Shorts

“Horse Sense” in Truckers (writing as Rob Kilmer). Editor Johnny Hansen, Cleis Press

“Back in the Saddle”, in Clean Sheets 3/22/06. Editors Storch, Germain & Noble

“A Question of Taste”, in Best Gay Romance 2007. Editor Graham, Cleis Press

“Still in the Gate”, in Play Ball. Edited by CB Potts, Torquere Press

“Tropical Daze”, in Best Gay Love Stories 2006. Edited by Nick Street, Alyson Publications

“Deep Trouble Undercover” in Best Gay Love Stories 2005. Edited by Nick Street, Alyson Publications

“A Cold Night’s Sleep”, “Dangerous Days”, “Haunted”, “Horsing Around” and “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” first appeared in Ruthie’s Club, edited by Neil Anthony and Father Ignatius. www.ruthiesclub.com