Gay Love, Gay Couple, Love Wins, Love Is Love

If I wake, And he isn't beside me, The thickest blanket Won't keep me warm. ... http://t.co/KqVwxUQqX1 #LoveWins #gaycouple #gayguys #glbt

— StarTrek/Gate/Wars (@DuaneSimolke) June 26, 2015

A lush tangle of small-town life

The Acorn Stories

The Sky Is Always Falling in This West Texas Town!

These tales explore the humor, drama, secrets, and scandals of a small town.

From romantic comedy to razor-sharp satire to moments of quiet reflection, Duane Simolke’s award-winning tales transform a fictional West Texas town into a tapestry of human experiences.

˃˃˃ The Individual Stories:

“Acorn”: When we arrive at the fictional West Texas town of Acorn, the narrative keeps shifting between Regina and Dirk, who both seek control over their relationship.

“Flip, Turn”: A different scene from the narrator's amusing but unproductive life comes to him every time he turns to swim in the opposite direction.

“Keeping A Secret”: A little boy wants to shield his mother and his little brother from a dangerous situation.

“Survival”: A young high school teacher clashes with a popular football coach.

“Paying The Rent”: In this politically incorrect tale, an inarticulate young man hopes to marry a rich woman so he can pay the rent, but he finds her repulsive.

“Morgana Le Fay”: A widow finds her new romance disrupted by her Siamese cat's strange behavior.

“Your Daughter”: Gretchen's approach to raising a daughter and maintaining a marriage requires ignoring problems and carefully orchestrating conversations.

“Knock”: A father sees his daughter abandon her Mexican heritage, and he now fears other types of abandonment.

“Come With Me”: The conflicting influence of her overbearing sister and her supportive husband forces Becky to re-evaluate her ambitions.

“Dead Enough”: Farcical look at English departments, tabloid TV, the publishing industry, and America's superstar culture.

“Mae”: Standing by her husband's grave, an elderly woman looks back at the joys and challenges of marriage and motherhood.

“Timothy Fast”: In this satirical retelling of the Faustian myth, a Jewish businessman finds himself pulled into small-town politics.

“Mirrors: A Blackmail Letter”: The owner of an art gallery becomes the target of a “family values” witch-hunt, spear-headed by Acorn's closeted (and supposedly “ex-gay”) mayor.

“Echoes”: A time of unexpected changes for Becky and her husband.

“Oak”: Julie Briggs can only talk to her mother by leaving messages on her answering machine, but she refuses to give up her voice.

“Acorn Pie”: An unusual weekend in the life of an unusual town.

˃˃˃ Rave Reviews!

“A lush tangle of small-town life branches out in this engrossing collection of short stories.” -Kirkus Reviews

“The ability to depict such a wide cross section of humanity, including details of each character’s breadth of knowledge and experience, takes a talented, insightful author, and Duane Simolke is such a writer.” -E. Conley, Betty’s Books

“There are people that you like, some that you can't wait to see if they get theirs.” -Joe Wright, StoneWall Society

“When you finish, when you put the book aside, Acorn will still be with you.” -E. Carter Jones, author of Absence of Faith

˃˃˃ Award-Winning!

Like Simolke’s books Degranon and Holding Me Together, The Acorn Stories received a StoneWall Society Pride in the Arts Award.

˃˃˃ Read More!

Simolke returned to Acorn by editing and contributing to the spinoff The Acorn Gathering: Writers Uniting Against Cancer.

Scroll up and grab a copy today of this light-hearted and unusual collection!

Books by Duane Simolke

American Author Sherwood Anderson

Read about Winesburg, Ohio and how Gertrude Stein influenced it.

Gay Science Fiction Adventure

In Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure, we stopped racism and homophobia, but face government surveillance of our weight and words.

Visit Goodreads for Degranon discussion or to preview the upcoming sequel, Sons of Taldra.

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 1 Draft

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 2 Draft

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 3 Draft

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 4 Draft

More about Degranon:

On the planet Valchondria, no illness exists, gay marriage is legal, and everyone is a person of color. However, a group called “the Maintainers” carefully monitors everyone's speech, actions, and weight; the Maintainers also force so-called “colorsighted” people to hide their ability to see in color.

The brilliant scientist Taldra sees her twin sons as the hope for Valchondria's future, but one of them becomes entangled in the cult of Degranon, while the other becomes stranded on the other side of a doorway through time. Can they find their way home and help Taldra save their world?

Winner, StoneWall Society Pride in the Arts Award.

Gay Science Fiction News

Gay Love in New SciFi Adventure! Read about Sons of Taldra and more.

First Three Chapters of Gay Science Fiction Novel

“Unidentified space vessels, this is Captain Laaron of the Degran ship Equestar. We’re on a mining mission and mean no harm to anyone, but we have the capacity for self-defense. Please stop firing and identify yourselves.”

Only static came through the com.

Finally, a single broadcast confirmed what they suspected: something was on the planet, killing the Equestar crew members who had been mining the planet below. “Ships! They’re shooting at us!”

The static returned, and neither attackers nor crew members answered Laaron’s hails.

What kind of ships? Was it someone from another circle of Degranon? Equestar hadn’t heard from anyone outside its crew since leaving Degranon’s broadcast range.

Laaron jerked around to see if the other two officers on his deck had anything to report. Their skin-tight red and black uniforms couldn’t conceal their shaking.

Lt. Em stared back at him. With a clean-shaven head and a height that made her look down at most of the Equestar’s men, she rarely looked nervous. Over the past two years, she had remained calm during the middle of a meteor shower, a mine shaft collapse, and a case of oxygen line congestion. But enemy vessels were something new. Laaron could practically see fear throbbing through the veins of her long, brown hands, making them shake.

Read more...

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 1 Draft

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 2 Draft

Sons of Taldra, Chapter 3 Draft

Keywords: gay scifi, sci-fi, science fiction, adventure, gay marriage, Degranon, Duane Simolke, Native American, First Nation, African American, black, Arabic, Indian, Hispanic, people of color, strong women, female leaders, space travel, health care, shapeshifters, aliens, teen heroes, new adult, diversity, social issues, alternate reality

More Positive Reviews for Free Comedy eBook.

Click the book cover to read the reviews and join the discussion at GoodReads.

This short story also appears in The Acorn Gathering. Some of its characters also appear in The Acorn Stories.

Video Science Fiction Receives 2000 Views at YouTube

Watch the video:

In a supposed utopia, people face discrimination--not for race or sexual orientation, but for being overweight, using banned words, or voicing unpopular opinions.

Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure. For fans of Star Trek, Babylon 5, Torchwood, Doctor Who, or Lois McMaster Bujold. Winner of a StoneWall Society Pride in the Arts Award. "Revenge," by Plain White T's, used by permission.

This is an incredible book about the human condition and how one person striving for the good can, in the end, be a source of change. -Rainbow Reviews

In Degranon, author Duane Simolke establishes his voice in gay genre writing by combining current concerns revolving around queer culture with a world of dimensional doorways, advanced technology, and distant planets. -X-Factor, October 1, 2004 issue

It's a very good story. -HomoMojo.Com

A must read. -Joe Wright, for StoneWall Society

A reminder of the danger of fanaticism. -Mark Kendrick, author of Stealing Some Time

Duane Simolke's latest offering is a fascinating scifi excursion into a world as unique as his singular vision. -Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Cinátis

I recommend DEGRANON for its exciting, well-constructed narrative, its often intriguing characters, and its wealth of ideas both political and philosophical. -J. Clark

DEGRANON is sci-fi that warrants the attention of any serious aficionado, gay or straight, fascinated by alien worlds that mirror our own world. -William Maltese, author of Beyond Machu

http://DuaneSimolke.Com/

Vacation Reading

Reviews of West Texas Book The Acorn Stories

I found this book to be a perfect vacation companion. Filled with stories that "packed a punch" for good reading but were also short and often had some good humor spliced into the writing.

Andi's Book Reviews: 'Degranon' by Duane Simoke

Andi's Book Reviews: 'Degranon' by Duane Simoke

Buzz About Free Humor eBook

“Since the book's available in all ebook formats completely for free, I would ask everyone to have a look at this great short story. Trust me, it's worth your time.” –from Tista Ray’s review of Fat Diary.

“Well worth the read for the laughs!” –from SheWolfCat’s review of Fat Diary.

A West Texas librarian makes fun of herself and the other people in her town, while writing about her reasons for wanting to lose weight.

Pamela Mae Willard must learn to love herself. Still, she can’t resist laughing about her problems, and about the adventures of the colorful characters in Acorn, Texas.

This irreverent, politically incorrect tale reveals a woman finding joy in life, no matter what happens to her and no matter who mistreats her.

This short story also appears in The Acorn Gathering. Some of its characters also appear in The Acorn Stories.

Free at Barnes & Noble.

Free at Smashwords.

Discuss Fat Diary and other books at Goodreads.

Categories: humor, comedy, short story, fiction.

Keywords: Duane Simolke, fat diary, weight loss, fat, humor, comedy, satire, West Texas, Texans, Lubbock authors, writers, politically incorrect, e-books, eBooks, fiction, fictional towns and cities, short stories, Sordid Lives, Tuna, gay, ex-gay, exgay, small-town, small town, rural, chick lit, women’s fiction, Acorn.

Blog entry updated June 1, 2013.

Revisiting Diversity in Science Fiction.

Now that I’ve completed a draft to the sequel of Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure, I still find myself surprised by the slow but steadily growing audience Degranon finds. It’s been almost ten years since the first edition appeared. I rewrote the book two years after its publication, following an earlier idea of making some of the major characters gay.

Read more.

Bitsy Bling's Book Review: featured author Duane Simolke.

Attention Xena fans!

Visit AuthorIsland Giveaway for details about winning a paperback copy of The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure. AuthorIsland must receive entries before October 1, 2010.

TROI is a campy novel with gay and lesbian characters and an accidental heroine.

Keywords: science fiction, fantasy, sword & sorcery, gay and lesbian, novels, novel, fiction, contests, drawing, giveaway

Gather: Best short story book!

Duane Simolke is currently writing a sequel to Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure.

Visit the official website at http://ebookweek.com for details about Read an E-Book Week, March 7-13. Many of the participating sites will offer free and/or discounted eBooks. New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio and many other titles are already free, but Smashwords and other publishers will offer discount coupons for many other eBooks.

During that week, use the code RAE50 at checkout, to save half off
The Acorn Stories, Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure (gay-themed scifi), The Return of Innocence: A Fantasy Adventure, Holding Me Together, and many other Smashwords eBooks.

Free eBook Provides Close Examination of Classic Winesburg, Ohio.

West Texas Tales Still Treasured. The West Texas fiction collection The Acorn Stories continues to receive positive reviews and new readers. Now the top customer reviewer at Amazon.Com has recommended it.