GAYVN

Cleis Press Publishes ‘Leathermen: Gay Erotic Stories'

By: G. Zisk Rice

Posted: 08/26/2008

SAN FRANCISCO - "Craig stands naked before the mirror. What he sees frightens and excites him." So begins "Exposed," the first story in Leathermen: Gay Erotic Stories (Cleis Press, 2008), a collection of one-fisted reading that explores the depths of fear and desire among leathermen. Craig's dog collar and leather chaps are only two of the erotic accoutrements on display as whip-wielding masters dispense love and pain to their slaves, who sometimes turn the tables on them.

Edited by Simon Sheppard, Leathermen presents 17 edgy stories detailing the unrestrained fantasies of hard men in supple, redolent leather. Sheppard is the recipient of a 2007 Lambda Literary Award for Homosex: Sixty Years of Gay Erotica. His other book-length works include Hotter Than Hell, Rough Stuff and In Deep in addition to short stories that have been featured in Hot Cops, Truckers, Cowboys and Best Gay Erotica 2008.

In Leathermen, Sheppard is joined by Jeff Mann, Doug Harrison, Shane Allison and others for a collection sure to appeal to men with a taste for power. The experienced daddy in "Introduction" reveals how the theater of leather allows sexual imagination to run wild. In "Southern Gothic," a pudgy bottom tries out holding the leash for a trick and discovers he likes running the show. And the journey from football fan to leatherman can be surprisingly easy "In Shadow of Devil's Backbone."

Leathermen comprises 260 pages in trade-paperback size and has a cover price of $14.95.