In August 2024, I’m excited to combine two of the loves of my life: cruising and LGBTQ+ fiction and romance. I hope you’ll consider joining me on the first Rainbow Readers Cruise! Until then, I’d love to introduce you to one of the attending authors, Rick R. Reed.
About Rick R. Reed
Rick R. Reed is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than fifty works of published fiction. He is a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Entertainment Weekly has described his work as “heartrending and sensitive.” Lambda Literary has called him: “A writer that doesn’t disappoint…”
Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA, with his husband, Bruce, and their two rescue dogs, Kodi and Joaquin.
Interview
If drinks by the pool are already a given, what are you most looking forward to about the Rainbow Readers Cruise?
Seeing old friends from the rainbow tribe and making new ones.
Which of your books would you recommend as the best way for readers to get to know you before meeting you on the cruise?
My two most popular gay love stories are Dinner at Home and Blue Umbrella Sky.
Even if you don’t use this trip as fodder for a future project, most stories require a bit of research. Can you tell us the coolest thing you’ve learned while researching for your work, regardless of whether it made it into the text?
Many of my darker stories have been inspired by true crime. A couple of the more popular ones include The Man From Milwaukee, where I portray a closeted young man becoming obsessed with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer at the time of his arrest in 1991, and Toxic, which is about catfishing and murder and was inspired by the very true crime story of Dirty John Meehan.
Hey, this is supposed to be a review blog! Recommend your favorite book that I should read and review by another author joining us on this high-seas adventure.
Jordan L. Hawk is an amazing writer and a favorite of both my husband and myself. I’d recommend The Forgotten Dead, although any of his books are guaranteed to be a gripping and powerful read.
Finally, what other projects are you working on currently?
I’m just about to begin a love/ghost story set in the 90s (before the AIDS cocktails changed everything and reduced HIV from being a death sentence to a manageable illness). My main character, recently diagnosed with HIV and grieving the loss of his mother, returns to his small hometown in the Appalachian foothills to grieve and try to find meaning in a life that may have been suddenly cut short. With the help of the caring ghost of a woman inhabiting his late mother’s house and his handsome next-door neighbor, he begins to see that his life may not be as hopeless as he thinks and that love may still come knocking despite tragedy.
I also have a new book coming out from JMS Books this spring called Beautiful Monster, which is an LGBTQ thriller about a happily married, but bored, man who becomes tempted by a handsome stranger in a chance encounter in a Chicago department store. Although he regrets the temptation and isn’t sure he would ever have acted upon it, his flirtation unleashes the rage and hate-filled monster behind the stranger’s gorgeous façade, leading our main character down a road that leads to abduction, torture, and murder.
Connect With Rick R. Reed
Website
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter/X
Amazon Author Page | Goodreads | BookBub
About the Rainbow Readers Cruise
The Rainbow Readers Cruise celebrates the readers and creators of LGBTQ+ fiction and romance. The cruise departs from the Port of Fort Lauderdale on August 19, 2024, and returns August 23, 2024, with stops at Key West and Coco Cay (Celebrity’s private island). Along the way, meet and mingle with some of your favorite LGBTQ+ fiction and romance authors and creators, as well as attend panels, meet and greets, small group social activities, and the Signing at Sea. Plus, the cruise itself, with fabulous destinations, food and drinks, entertainment, and more. You can find all the details about the Rainbow Readers Cruise on our website: https://rainbowreaderscruise.com.
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