Chris's Friend Comments

Howdy all,

I’m happy and excited to announce that my fourth novel, Norma and the Blue Hour, is now available for sale. I do hope you check it out. And if you end up buying it, reading it, and liking it, I’d really appreciate your posting a review.

Thanks!

Chris

Hi all, I’ve launched a free Substack newsletter in advance of the November publication of my latest novel, Norma and the Blue Hour. I can’t put the link in this field, but I hope you check it out. The link is in my profile Thanks! - Chris

Colton wrote: "Thank you for your friendship, Chris!"

Thanks! I see you're a writer too -- hope it's going well.

Thank you for your friendship, Chris!

Only a couple of weeks to go before I find out if I've won the Lambda Literary Award for gay romance for "Best Man." As they say on the red carpet, I'm grateful for the recognition I'm also grateful my name has made it onto Oprah's website:

https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainmen...

Hope you all are safe and well during these challenging times. We will survive this!

Chris

To my wonderful friends and followers,

The first chapter of “Best Man” is now available on Reedsy Discovery. If I get enough upvotes they’ll feature the book in their weekly newsletter on Friday. Please click the link below and upvote (and maybe share with your friends). You’ll be making my day.

https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/bes...

Thanks!

Chris

To my wonderful followers,

Best Man and its first chapter are now available for view on Reedsy Discovery, available here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

If you like what you see, please consider giving it an upvote. If I get enough upvotes, Reedsy Discovery will include me in their weekly newsletter. Thanks very much for your support.

Chris

Yoshi wrote: "Hi Chris,
Happy New Year!
Hope your 2018 will fill with health and joy.
Fingers crossed that you will get the book published. :-)"

Hey Yoshi -- thanks so much! I hope you have a terrific 2018 as well. And my fingers are crossed as well to find a publisher for my newest book. In the meantime I'm making a commitment to have a reasonably complete draft of my fourth novel by year-end. Hopefully, the wait for Book Four won't be as long as the wait for Book Three.

Thanks again! You've always been so kind.

Chris

Hi Chris,
Happy New Year!
Hope your 2018 will fill with health and joy.
Fingers crossed that you will get the book published. :-)

Ajax1978 wrote: "Sorry to hear about McGee. When my golden retriever died a few years back I swear I was depressed for months. I still find it hard to look at pictures of him.

What's with this hard to find an age..."
Hi Ajax, Thanks much for the support on the lost pet. Yeah, it's been tough on both me and my husband. We're not depressed or anything, but McGee was part of our household for such a long time, that it's strange to come home and not find him waiting for us, or crying to be let in or out, or wanting to jump in one of our laps. But the grief, I guess, is the price we pay for the joy he brought us.

That's terrible to hear about your dog -- especially a golden retriever. I know that if I had a golden retriever and lost him, I'd be devastated. Dan (my husband) had a German shepherd as a kid and I think felt pretty much the way you did when she died.

As for the agent, well, we see. I'm giving it a few more months to see if something pans out. If not, then I'll examine my options then. I really do appreciate the support. I'm very flattered to think you still remember me, now more than four years since I published only my second book. Working on a new one now. I'm always impressed at how some of the authors here can put them out. For me, it seems to be getting harder, not easier. Anyway, hope you're having a good 2017. Be well!

Chris

Sorry to hear about McGee. When my golden retriever died a few years back I swear I was depressed for months. I still find it hard to look at pictures of him.

What's with this hard to find an agent business? Why do they not see the wonderfulness of You Are Here and The Love Thing? Your writing is a known quantity. Give them my number. I'll vouch for you - 555-AJAX

Hi Chris,

I am so sorry to hear about your cat. I can't imagine how sad you must be right now. :-(
It's the right attitude to turn the pain of your loss into art.
McGee must be busy catching mice in the cat heaven. Be strong!

I will be waiting patiently for your upcoming book.
Wow! It has been 6 years since I read The Love Thing the first time.
I think it's about the right time to have another reread.

Take care.

Yoshi wrote: "Hello Chris, Good to hear that book 3 is finished and you are working on book 4. Hopefully it will be published soon. :-)
I cannot tell exactly why but your stories grabbed me since the first time ..."

Hi Yoshi -- so glad to hear from you. I'm having something of a sad sad day today because my cat, McGee, died suddenly last night. So it's nice to hear a message from a friend.

I still haven't given up trying to find an agent/publisher for book 3. I'm giving myself the year to find one, and if it doesn't work out, I'll go the self-publish route again. You could possibly give me a nicer compliment by saying my characters were "like real people." That's exactly what I aim for in my work. I like to think we are all heroes in our own unique story.

And I'm very excited about book 4. It's still very unfinished and I'm only getting to know the characters, but already I can tell these are people I wish I knew in real life. A cat figures into the plot -- a cat I'm modeling after McGee. As Meryl Streep said last week about Carrie Fisher, maybe I can turn the pain of my loss into art.

Talk to you soon!

Chris

Hello Chris, Good to hear that book 3 is finished and you are working on book 4. Hopefully it will be published soon. :-)
I cannot tell exactly why but your stories grabbed me since the first time I read it. Maybe because the MCs were so normal and like real people. Cheers!

Hi Yoshi,

Happy New Year to you as well! I made a real college try this past summer to find an agent for Book 3, but no luck. I'm going to try again in the New Year. I assure you, one way or another, that book will be published. Meanwhile I'm working on Book 4. I can't tell you how thankful I am you remain interested in my work, 4 full years after my most recent book was published.

Chris

Happy New Year Chris!
Wish you and your family a wonderful 2017 be filled with joy, good health and fortune.

One more year has passed, where is book 3? :-)

Yoshi wrote: "Chris wrote: "Yoshi wrote: "Hi Chris,
Happy Holiday! I hope everything is fine with your and your family.
Has your writing muse been kind to you? :-)"
Hi Yoshi, sorry I'm getting back to you lat..."
Thanks, Yoshi. My fingers are crossed on the third novel too. All I can say now is I'm proud of it and am looking forward to sharing it as soon as I'm sure it's ready to be shown.

And I promise to avoid making any female character too stupid or bitchy. Same thing for the male characters. Stupid. Bitchy. Meh. I'm not wasting time on people like that (just like I don't in real life). :-)

Chris wrote: "Yoshi wrote: "Hi Chris,
Happy Holiday! I hope everything is fine with your and your family.
Has your writing muse been kind to you? :-)"
Hi Yoshi, sorry I'm getting back to you late on this -- t..."

Good to know that your third book it almost done. :-)
Hopefully the novel will be published soon. *fingers crossed*

I would love to see a nice female character in a gay romance/drama. Only if she's not too stupid or bitchy. LOL

Yoshi wrote: "Hi Chris,
Happy Holiday! I hope everything is fine with your and your family.
Has your writing muse been kind to you? :-)"
Hi Yoshi, sorry I'm getting back to you late on this -- thanks very much for thinking of me! I've pretty much wrapped up my third novel. It still needs to a copy edit, but once that's done I'll be ready to pitch it to agents and maybe even land a publisher. (I'll self-publish it if I can't.) Trying now to jump-start a fourth novel. I'm thinking maybe making it less about romance among gay men, and more of a general interest novel that will allow me to introduce some major female characters. It kind of bugs me that I've never created a female character that's more than a bit player in the main (gay) drama. We'll see. And I hope you and yours are well. It means a lot that you are waiting for my third book!

Chris

Hi Chris,
Happy Holiday! I hope everything is fine with your and your family.
Has your writing muse been kind to you? :-)

Oh yes, sure I am more than interested in knowing your writing progress. I have been 'following' you since some years! :-)

Yoshi wrote: "Hi Chris,

Thanks for the reply. I hope your book will be published soon. No matter if it's from a publisher or self publish, I am sure I will enjoy it, giving my experience with your previous boo..."
Thanks Yoshi ... as always, thanks for the support. I'll be sure to pop in every now and then to let you know how I'm doing. I'm very flattered you want to know my progress!

Chris

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the reply. I hope your book will be published soon. No matter if it's from a publisher or self publish, I am sure I will enjoy it, giving my experience with your previous books. :-)

Take care! Hope to get more updates from you regularly.

Yoshi wrote: "Chris wrote: "Howdy all,

Five paperback copies of You Are Here are up for grabs in the Giveaway section. If you already have a copy, then please encourage your friends to enter the..."

Hey Yoshi,

Just managing expectations! Landing an agent takes time, and then the agent has to find a publisher, and then the publisher has to put the book on the calendar. If all that happens, then it'll be more than a year before the book comes out. (I'm currently working with a freelance editor to bring the manuscript to professional grade, and that's turning out to be far more work than I'd expected.) The one thing I can control is my writing, and I promise, I'm working as hard (and as fast!) as I can.

Part of me wants me to say to heck with it, I'll just go and self-publish this year, but it seems like the competition for readers gets tougher by the minute. All I can hope is that when my next story does manage to see the light of day, that you won't feel let down by the result.

Very nice to hear from you! I hope you've been well!

Chris

Chris wrote: "Howdy all,

Five paperback copies of You Are Here are up for grabs in the Giveaway section. If you already have a copy, then please encourage your friends to enter the contest.

Mea..."

OMG! Another year? We are only in January…… :-)

Howdy all,

Five paperback copies of You Are Here are up for grabs in the Giveaway section. If you already have a copy, then please encourage your friends to enter the contest.

Meanwhile I'm incredibly hard at work on my third novel. I know I said I'd publish in 2015. If I choose to self-publish it, I can keep my promise. But I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't sell myself short and try to find a real publisher. If that's the case, it might be pushed to next year. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks!

Chris

Stacey Jo wrote: "Thanks for the friendvite :o)" Thanks to you for accepting it!

Thanks for the friendvite :o)

★Nic Starr★ Because two men are better than one! wrote: "Thanks for the friend request!"
Thanks for accepting it! Looking forward to connecting with you on Goodreads.

Thanks for the friend request!

Ajax1978 wrote: "Happy New Year to you as well.

To speed things along I can help you. You need somebody to type? Someone to look for their/there/they're mistakes? Someone to come up with more lines like "he fucked..."

*laughing* That's kind of you, Ajax, but I'm afraid I've got to go this one alone. I've learned that getting to know my characters is like getting to know people in real life -- it just takes time. But I appreciate your offer -- and the generosity of you, Yoshi, and all my other fans!

Yoshi wrote: "Hi Chris,
Happy New Year!
Oh yes, there are more people out there waiting for your next book!
Keep us posted. :)"

Very grateful, Yoshi. My sincerest wishes for a lovely 2014.

Happy New Year to you as well.

To speed things along I can help you. You need somebody to type? Someone to look for their/there/they're mistakes? Someone to come up with more lines like "he fucked her hair off"? I'm your man.

Hi Chris,
Happy New Year!
Oh yes, there are more people out there waiting for your next book!
Keep us posted. :)

Ajax1978 wrote: "Write another book, please"

So nice to hear from you, man -- happy new year! I'm grateful you're actually waiting for my next book.

Unfortunately, despite working on it practically every day since I began my first draft nearly two years ago, my latest won't be ready in 2014. But I do hope to have a final draft done before year-end, after which I'll be handing it over to professional editors for (I imagine) extensive revisions. I can only hope that once it's done, it'll be something worth waiting for.

As for what the book's about, all I'll say at this point is that it's closer in intensity to "You Are Here" than it is to "The Love Thing." Maybe for my fourth book I'll consider turning back to the light.

Hope you have a great 2014!

Chris

Write another book, please

Thanks, Yoshi -- happy new year to you! As for the new book ... stay posted!

Chris, Happy New Year to you!
I am still waiting patiently for your next book :-)

Hi.What We Talk About When We Talk About Love?PLZ Answer The Question In My Profile.

Hi Dora,

I'm flattered that you consider it an honor to be my first friend! Please feel free to encourage any of your current friends to approach me -- I'm a little shy, but I definitely don't bite.

Thanks!

Chris

WooHoo! I am so pleased to be your first friend! That makes 3 for me! I'm on a roll!

In Friendship,
Dora