Valley Village Matron after a rough night.

Last night Hank Henderson curated a great (and sometimes scary) evening of gay writers at his monthly reading series homo-centric, one of the few (is it now the only?) regular local L.A. events celebrating LGBTQ literature.

One of the things I like best about Hank’s series is that he champions both the emergent writer as well as the better known. It’s thrilling to be both a reader there (I’ve done it a couple of times) but also a listener, discovering the enormous amount of writing talent we have in our town.

Hank Henderson reading at homo-centric, 10/18/12

Hank started off the evening himself, reading the short story “Peekaboo” by Bill Pronzini.  It’s in a compilation named Graveyard Plots (also available here) which, for me, had me on the edge of my seat with the accumulated anticipation of being really scared shitless all of a sudden. Don’t read it alone. (Queer connection: this story was read by a homosexual. Content is neutral!)

Next, Philip Littell spun a tale from the perspective of two ghosts anxiously awaiting a visit from the realty people. One of the humans is “sensitive” to the presence, one is not. Likewise, one of the ghosts is more assured in his role, the other, not so much. I really liked that this was told from that perspective, as in my usual forays into the realm of the ghostly world (OK, I admit it, reality shows Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State, Ghost Adventures, My Ghost Story, Paranormal Witness, blahdy blahdy boo!) it’s always told from the human POV. Here, we had ghosts who were at times lonely, scared, confused, controlling and funny! (Queer connection: I’ll go ahead and assume the assertive ghost was gay. Either that, or it was Philip’s cool sexy t-shirt with the orange stripes.)

Philip Littell reading at homo-centric, 10/18/12

Finally, Dan Lopez read a selection from his novel wherein an older, partnered real estate agent (what’s all this with realtors? Echoes of the housing collapse? I’ll agree, just the subject alone is scary!) negotiates a morning with a younger, hotter man. I loved that this was set in a model home used for employee shenanigans. I loved how Dan was able to get past the inherent cliched “hotness” of a “young latin stud” to so totally capture the essence of innocent, yet vapid youth. By the end of the selection, who knows whether this young man will survive this liaison? Of course, he thinks he’s smarter than the older guy. They always do. And, I’m not going to tell you what’s hidden in the toilet tank. You’ll have to read Dan’s book. (Queer connection: everything! Writer and both characters, not to mention a wonderful boatload of queer attitude!) Here’s some video of his reading last night:

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