Life and Work

Wayne Courtois (wān kôr•twa´). Born and raised in Maine, a place of great natural beauty that I took completely for granted while I was growing up.

Attended Michigan State University. Ah, a “Big 10” school in the ‘70s—acid heads, Jesus freaks, and Animal House fratboys. Graduated Phi Beta Kappa, though I later pawned my gold key when I was down and out in New York.

Went to graduate school at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. It’s great to be in an MFA writing program; you can really bond with the other students—especially if you have a drinking problem, eating disorder, or suicidal ideations. For my thesis I wrote my first novel. I still have it, in a box somewhere. By now it’s probably as yellow as your standard sticky note.

Came out of the closet in ’79, while I was still living in Jesse Helms country. Got the hell out of there as soon as I could, taking a friend up on his offer to room with him in New York. Thought there might be some sort of quirky, semi-glamorous New York Writer’s Life waiting for me. Alas, I only caught glimpses of it, when it was stealing a cab, poaching my mail, or pissing in an alley (a popular outdoor sport at the time). Long story short: if you didn’t live in New York during the Reagan years, you didn’t miss a thing.

Came to Kansas City to live with a guy. Our relationship lasted all of six months, but I stayed on. Kansas City is one of America’s best kept secrets. It may be the last city of its size that you can actually live in. Today I own a house and a car, which never ceases to amaze me, given the ups and downs of my job life.

My husband, Ralph Seligman, and I have been together since 1989. Ralph is from Ecuador, and works as a special education teacher in a mental health setting—which all by itself makes him qualified to be my spouse. It also helps that he’s the most sweet-natured guy on earth.

To keep up with my cranky mind on a regular basis, please visit my blog.

How I Became a Suspect

Early in 2000, a writer named Greg Wharton took the bold move of starting his own webzine, with the intriguing title suspect thoughts: a journal of subversive writing. It was his vision to present “an online magazine that features exciting alternative writing and artwork that blurs the lines between genres and isn't afraid that it might frighten, cause laughter, or confuse, while perhaps arousing sexual desire.”

Hooked by Greg’s first call for submissions, I sent him “Taurus,” an oddball story that weighed in at 10,000 words and was therefore unpublishable in many venues. To my surprise and joy—especially since my publication record had been so meager—Greg loved the story and decided to use it.

suspect thoughts could have been just another editorial exercise in self-indulgence. Instead, the journal took off as a letter-perfect reflection of its mission statement, filled to the brim with talent and chutzpah.

Meanwhile, Greg developed further plans—turns out he wanted to publish books as well. Almost sooner than it takes to tell, Suspect Thoughts Press was born. Its first publication, Of the Flesh: Dangerous New Fiction, appeared in 2001. A stunning anthology, it included authors whose work had appeared in the journal and a host of other alt-lit upstarts and misfits.

By now, STP has brought out collections of essays and poetry as well as fiction anthologies. But I have a particular soft spot for the brilliant job that Greg Wharton and his partner and Editor-in-Chief, Ian Philips, have done in revitalizing the small press novel. At a time when mainstream publishers have committed themselves to mediocrity, STP has brought out Pulling Taffy by Matt Bernstein Sycamore, Burn by Jennifer Natalya Fink, and Mortal Companion by Patrick Califia, as well as my own novel, My Name Is Rand. Who knows what the fate of these manuscripts might have been, if it weren’t for STP’s vision?

Greg and Ian, together with writer/editor Sean Meriwether, have done even more for the novel by creating Project: QueerLit, a literary competition that seeks to give a voice to those writers who don’t fit into the increasingly narrow mainstream. I was honored to serve on the Advisory and Review Committee for the first cycle of Project: Queerlit. The winning novel will be published in 2005.

Frequently Asked Question

What’s it like to work with Suspect Thoughts Press?

It’s fantastic. Greg Wharton (Publisher) and Ian Philips (Editor-in-Chief) are a dream team. I had not had a book published prior to My Name Is Rand, and it turned out that I required a lot of hand-holding, which Greg and Ian performed with great kindness and sensitivity.

Though it wasn’t specified in my contract, Greg told me at the beginning of the process that I would have input into what the book would look like. He was good to his word. As it turned out, I did disagree with a couple of his ideas, but we were able to talk about them and reach some mutually agreeable compromises.

Suspect Thoughts Press has a “bad boy” image, and rightly so; no one would want to meet STP in a dark alley. At the same time, there’s a lot to be said for a publisher that treats writers with professionalism, sensitivity and empathy. Sorry, guys, but I have to point out that you are true gentlemen! There, I’ve said it…I promise I won’t say it again….

Stay tuned for more great things from this Press, which now lists Richard Labonté and Patrick Califia as Editors-at-Large. These are names that speak for themselves.

Publications

Fiction:

“Taurus,” suspect thoughts: a journal of subversive writing (July 2000). Reprinted in the anthologies Of the Flesh: Dangerous New Fiction (Suspect Thoughts Press, 2001) and The Big Book of Erotic Ghost Stories (Venus, 2004).

“Ten Apologies,” suspect thoughts: a journal of subversive writing (July 2001, October 2001, January 2002). Reprinted in the anthology Out of Control (STARbooks Press, 2004).

“Duke,” Velvet Mafia (#1, 2001). Reprinted, slightly revised, as “Breaking the Code” in Love Under Foot: An Erotic Celebration of Feet (Haworth Press, 2004).

My Name Is Rand (Suspect Thoughts Press, 2004). Excerpted in Velvet Mafia (#10, 2004) and Best Erotic Gay Fiction 2005 (Cleis Press, 2004).

Non Fiction:

“A Report from Winter,” Walking Higher: Gay Men Write about the Deaths of Their Mothers (Xlibris Books, 2004).

“Sometimes a Queer Notion,” I Do/I Don’t: Queers on Marriage (Suspect Thoughts Press, 2004).

Interviews:

With Sean Meriwether in Velvet Mafia (#10, 2004).

With Rich Marshall, on MyFriendsFeet.com