Thursday 18 December 2014

Guest Blogger ~ Christopher Stone: Sweet Homo Alabama

Release Date: December 19, 2014


Blurb:
Cameron Cody, one of the biggest-ever gay adult film stars, returns to his small-town Alabama roots during Christmas season, intent on coming out to his sharecropper parents.

December 23, 2003 Enterprise, Alabama Cameron Cody, a principal character in MLR's Frame of Reference, returns to small-town Enterprise, Alabama, just before Christmas, intent on coming out to his sharecropper parents, now that he has found The One - namely Frame of Reference's Grant Jackson. But how do you come out to a father who thinks of homosexuals and lesbians as "those queers," and to a naive mother who has little, or no, background with sexual orientations beyond heterosexual? Understandably, Cam approaches this revelation, His Own Private Alabama, with apprehension and anxiety. The saving grace: Waiting at home, come what may,is Grant Jackson, the love of his life.

Excerpt:
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Enterprise, Alabama
7:37 p.m.

Cameron Cody's tightly muscled physique was slouched on his parents' lumpy sofa, the same one he used to sink into during his school days. Since that time, tatters, wear and fading had been added to the sofa's lumpy nature. It was incongruous that his lounged body was the very same physique that thrilled countless horny fans each and every time it appeared nude and in sexual situations in Hottie International theatrical and home video gay adult films. But here in Enterprise, Alabama, in his parents' modest home, it, and he, were nothing special.

In truth, until puberty had its unpredictable way with Cameron Cody, transforming him from an odd-looking duckling into the handsomest of swans, he had only been known as Fred and Bev's beanpole kid-the boy with the freaky gold-flecked lavender eyes-the one who wore the scoliosis brace in grammar school.

More recently, fame, time and California living had compelled him to reassess that small-town Alabama upbringing. The longer Cameron Cody lived in Los Angeles, the shabbier his childhood home, as well as his hometown, seemed. And this mental downgrading wasn't just his imagination running away with him; nor was it the result of his becoming a spoiled celebrity. Pretty much everything in Enterprise, Alabama, as well as in his folks' house was in decline.

Cam reflected on the truth of the matter: Growing up, he hadn't really been aware of his family's modest means, nor the town's nowhere special status. Back then, no one he knew had anything better, or newer, than what he saw at home, or in his hometown.

Of course, even in grade school, Cam had been aware of the big houses, the mansions on Cherokee Street, and the even bigger estates with acreage, off of Shellfield Road. But his sharecropper family hadn't known anyone who lived on that side of the tracks-the wealthy side.

Television and movies had shown Cameron Cody a world of big cities, where beautiful people lived large. But growing up in Enterprise, they had seemed as far away from his reality as the moon and the stars.

And, even though the Cody family lived on the poor side of town, Cam had come into adolescence feeling blessed-more blessed than many of his childhood peers-the ones who lived in mobile homes. At least, the Cody's house was not on wheels. And it had been large enough to comfortably accommodate him, his parents, and even his paternal grandparents, during their final years.

As for his folks, Fred and Beverly Cody had always made ends meet, if barely. The family's bills had always been paid in a timely manner. There had never been a bill collector at their door, or calling on the phone.

Slouching further down into the sofa, Cam smiled to himself. It was a secret, sly smile. In conversation with his parents, he always called them, Mom and Dad. But when Cam thought about them, the small voice in his head - the voice with a naughty sense of humor - always morphed their first names, Fred and Beverly, into Food and Beverage. Sometimes, in conversations with friends, and even with some of his cousins, that's what he called them. "Of course, Food and Beverage would have none of it," he might tell Cousin Linda. Or, to a high school friend, he might quip, "You can just imagine how Food and Beverage felt about my coming home three hours after curfew, and with a snootful."

But despite his frivolous nicknames for them, Cameron Cody loved and respected his parents.

Yes, Food and Beverage Cody never had bill collectors knocking on their door, or calling them on the phone. But there had never been money to upgrade to things new, and one bad crop could bring financial disaster. That's just the way things were for small-town Alabama sharecroppers. At one time, Cam had believed that was how it was for most everyone, until, at age twenty, he had moved to Los Angeles.

Over the past five years, Cam had done very well financially, and he had tried repeatedly to help his parents. But his father, a proud man, had torn up, and then returned, every check he had sent. When he had bought them a new freezer to replace their broken old one, his dad had refused delivery of the appliance.

Truth be known, just last week, on the telephone, Cam and his dad had gotten into a verbal scuffle about things financial. When Cam had insisted upon renting a car at the Montgomery airport for the drive into Enterprise, Fred Cody had argued that it was a waste of good money. "Your mother and I will be happy to pick you up."

But, for once, Cam had prevailed. He wouldn't have his parents driving the seventy-seven miles to Montgomery, not when he could well afford the rental. And not when they, and everyone else, were extra busy in advent of the Christmas holiday.

Cam shifted uneasily on the uncomfortable sofa. He ran a hair through his coarse blond hair, cut to a crew for his upcoming role in a 1950s-set, sex romp, The Seven-Year-Bitch. And no, he wasn't playing the lead role-not this time. That part had gone to an eighteen-year-old, raven-haired boy, Cal Fontenla, who had literally walked off Hollywood Boulevard and into the offices of the adult entertainment conglomerate that had made Cam a star.

About Author:
Born in Bronx, New York, and raised in Fresno, California, Christopher Stone’s early years were dominated by school, watching television and motion pictures, bicycling, skating, and reading avidly. Summers were spent swimming, and doing whatever it took to survive the oppressive San Joaquin Valley heat. But he also remembers fondly the yearly summer trips to New York, to visit family and friends – and to see Broadway shows.

Christopher left Fresno, for Hollywood, California, during his college years after being accepted into the Writers Guild of America’s Open Door Program, a two-year, scholarship, training ground for aspiring screen and television writers. As it happened, rather than a teleplay or screenwriting gig, his first professional writing job was in journalism – as the Los Angeles Editor for Stage Door, at that time, Canada’s equivalent of the U.S. entertainment trade weekly, Variety.

Christopher would later use his Writers Guild of America training to co-author and sell the original screenplay, The Living Legend, with Jon Mercedes III, to the Erin Organization, and later, and also with Mercedes, to write two seasons of The Party Game, a Canadian TV game show.

As a young freelance entertainment journalist, he contributed to many Los Angeles-based publications, among them The Advocate, for which he wrote a breezy film column, “Reeling ‘Round,” and the Los Angeles Free Press. During this time, he became a member of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.

Christopher dipped his toes into the world of motion picture advertising and publicity, as assistant to the West Coast Director of Advertising and Publicity for Cinerama Releasing Corporation, in Beverly Hills. At the same time, he also did special advertising and publicity projects for 20th Century-Fox. Christopher went on to become an Account Executive for David Wallace & Company, a public relations firm specializing in entertainment accounts – and located on West Hollywood’s legendary Sunset Strip.

Returning to his first love, writing, Christopher became a full time freelance contributor to national consumer publications including Us, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, McCall’s, In Cinema, and The National Enquirer, among others. Many of his stories were syndicated worldwide by the New York Times Syndication Corp.
Another important area of endeavor for Christopher Stone was Re-Creating Your Self. A Blueprint for Personal Change that he first developed for himself, the journalist went on to teach the principles and processes of Re-Creating Your Self to others – first, in private sessions, later, in workshops and seminars, and, finally, for California State University Extended Education. Eventually, one of his students suggested he write a book version.

Re-Creating Your Self was first published in hardcover by Metamorphous Press, and subsequently published in a trade paperback edition by Hay House. It has since been published in Spanish, Swedish and Hebrew language editions.

When not writing, Christopher used his longtime interest in, and study of, metaphysics, to teach meditation and psychic development classes – first in Beverly Hills, then later, in Manhattan Beach.

He went on to co-author, with Mary Sheldon, four novellas for a Japanese educational publisher, and then, also with Mary Sheldon, the highly successful The Meditation Journal trilogy of hardcover books. Subsequently, he returned to journalism, this time, contributing hundreds of print and online entertainment features, columns and reviews to magazines and websites. For eight years, Christopher was the Box-office Columnist for MatchFlick.com, a popular online motion picture site.

In his private life, Christopher Stone met David M. Stoebner on May 17, 1994, and they have been together ever since. In 2008, they were married in Los Angeles.

They share a home with their three pets in Coastal Los Angeles County.

In 2013, Christopher’s pet project has been transforming their rarely used kitchen table area into a killer, retro 1950s Diner Nook, complete with a 1952 Seeburg Table Top jukebox, a neon diner sign, and a malt machine.

Christopher’s first novel, Frame of Reference was e and print published, in fall 2012, by MLR Press. A short story, Sweet Homo Alabama was published by MLR Press, December 19, 2012.

Stone spent much of 2013 writing Frame of Reference 2: The Dark Side of Stardom, a sequel novel to Frame of Reference, as well as, Abracadabra, and a short story, published at Halloween. But the indefatigable scribe also found time to contribute weekly reviews, columns and interviews to Queer Town Abbey.

As 2014 begins, Christopher looks forward to the publication of The Dark Side of Stardom, and he is developing a short story, Camelot Conundrum, as well as a metaphysical mystery novel, Going and Coming.

Find Christopher Here

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