Today I am so pleased to welcome B.G. Thomas to Joyfully Jay. B.G. has come to talk to us about his latest release, The Real Thing. Please join me in giving him a big welcome!

Cowboys and More Cowboys!

What is it about cowboys? What is it that makes them one of the bestselling genres within the genre of MM Romance? Why do they appeal to us? They’re romantic figures. They’re heroes and bad guys, and sometime they’re anti-heroes. And truly their golden age lasted only twenty years: between 1866 and 1886, the time of the great open range and cattle drives. And yet….

They’re sexy. Darned sexy. The ones from the Old West and the cowboys that live today.

There are those who would argue that modern cowboys aren’t cowboys at all. Just people taking care of cattle and pretending. Not when they can jump in a car and head to a hospital when something happens. When they don’t have to worry about villains like Doc Holiday or Cherokee Bill, Billy the Kid, or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. When they don’t have to worry about “Indians” or getting scalped (which of course was not a Native American tradition until the white man came).

Billy the Kid: publicdomainclip-art.blogspot.com

Of course those men and women from legend didn’t have showers. No air-conditioning. No deodorant. I’m not sure if cowboy sex and love would have been all that hot.

But that doesn’t stop the hero of my novella, “The Real Thing,” from wanting just that. The real thing. From an early age, he saw cowboys as the representation of the masculine, epitomizing the figure of a real man. Why, he tried to copy them himself. Went to C&W gay bars hoping to find him a real cowboy. And was shocked to find out that the real thing didn’t have much nice to say about copycats like himself.

I first wrote this story back in 2010/2011 and it was one of my very first sales as well. It also began something I’ve been doing in my stories ever since. Characters began to cross over into other books, novellas, and yes, short stories. And readers loved it. In fact, the love interest in the book All Alone in a Sea of Romance first saw the light of day in The Real Thing.

But here’s the thing. The anthology that my story first appeared in has gone out of print. That means the story that in many ways began my whole Universe wasn’t available any more. So I contacted the people at Dreamspinner Press and asked what we could do. What was decided was that I should clean that story up, add a few thousand words, and we would present it in a new edition. And I am so happy we did. The Real Thing is better. Far better. It’s a story that is sweet and sexy and romantic and more. I think you should give it a chance….

The Real Thing is the second cowboy book I’ve had re-released this year. There is also another tale that was given more than a couple thousand words. No. Do You Trust Me? was given a full twenty thousand words. And it’s better too. A lot better. Hey! I’ve been writing heavily for seven years now. You can’t have a story with Dreamspinner Press and not become a better writer. That is a huge part of what DSP is all about. Giving you, the reader, the best story they can, and teaching writers to be the best they can. Just read the blurb for Do You Trust Me? It is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Kenna, right here at Joyfully Jay says, “I highly recommend this book. It will make you run the gamut of emotions and by the time you finish, you’ll feel so happy.”

SO….

Two very different kinds of cowboy stories, One where a young man wants nothing but a real cowboy and upon finding him, discovers things about himself he knew nothing about. And in the second, an older man who wants nothing to do with cowboys, and finds out more about himself than he ever dreamed.

I present them to you! Take a chance. Read my stories! I really think you’ll be glad you did!

B.G. “Ben” Thomas

Excerpt

The first time Bryan had headed out to The Watering Hole trying to look like the real thing, he’d been proudly wearing a pair of five-hundred-dollar snakeskin cowboy boots. He’d no sooner walked in the door, Loretta Lynn crooning about a cabin on a hill in Butcher Holler from a jukebox, when he’d spotted a pair of men who’d made him hard in less than a minute.

They were hot, and both looked like the real thing to Bryan. One was at least forty for sure, and he guessed the other to be a well-preserved fifty, easily old enough to be his father. Hot enough to make his erection get wet. He moseyed his way over to them, wondering whether they were friends or lovers, trying to decide which man was hotter. Both had facial hair—one a thick mustache like Sam Elliott, the other a goatee. Both were darkly tanned, obviously men who worked outdoors, with deep lines carved around their eyes. Bryan couldn’t help but imagine them on horseback, squinting into the sun.

They were each drinking a pitcher of beer, apparently spurning a glass—Even a dirty one, Bryan thought, and grinned at his own joke—and both were smiling. And oh, how very pleased he was when he saw the pair were eyeing a small group of men his own age.

Score! They like younger men! And then he quietly edged closer to the stuff of his dreams, hoping to catch their eyes.

Only to discover that he’d totally misinterpreted why the cowboys were paying the young men any attention.

“Is it Halloween?” the older man had asked his companion.

“Looks like it to me,” the friend responded.

“And here I thought it was July.”

“Yup.” Cowboy Two nodded. “But I know it ain’t time for the rodeo.”

“Just look at that fucked-up shit they’re wearing,” said Cowboy One, pointing with his chin.

“Makes ya wonder if they have ladies’ panties underneath.”

Both men burst into laughter.

“Can you imagine getting one of ’em into bed?” Cowboy Two asked.

The older man grimaced. “What do you bet they shave their assholes and spritz ’em with perfume besides?”

They both laughed again.

Almost as if on cue, Loretta’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter” faded on the jukebox, and a faster song began. With a high-pitched “yippee!” the young men began to move animatedly around the small dance floor.

“Have you ever seen anything so damned silly in your whole life?” Cowboy One said of the spectacle.

“They look like a bunch of ballerinas, prancing around like that,” his friend returned.

“And just look at them boots!” the older man said, gesturing with his half-full beer mug. “They might as well be wearin’ ruby slippers.”

And yes, the young men were wearing expensive, fancy boots, one pair a shining red.

Bryan looked down at the older men’s boots to compare them and saw they were worn and scuffed. A wash of humiliation went through him so huge, so consuming, that he slipped out of the bar before either of the laughing men noticed him.

Bryan had taken his snakeskin boots back to the store the next day and luckily had gotten his money back. They hadn’t had a scratch on them. It was a good thing, too, because it had been money he should have spent on rent, due only a week later. Instead he found a pair of lived-in-looking cowboy boots a few days later at a secondhand store for a hell of lot less money….

Blurbs

Bryan Mills has fantasized about cowboys all his life. Real cowboys, that is. He even dresses in what his roommate calls “cowboy drag” when he visits his favorite bar, in the hope of attracting the attentions of a genuine cowboy. But all he usually finds are posers and guys his own age.

Then one night, to his surprise, Curtis Hansen buys him a beer, and Bryan has no doubt this is the real thing. Curtis is a rugged, gorgeous man who is every bit a cowboy. He even owns his own ranch. What follows is about the most amazing night of Bryan’s young life.

But can they move beyond a night of incredible sex when Bryan admits to Curtis that the only horse he’s ever ridden was a birthday party pony? And that he’s nothing but a poser himself? Maybe, just maybe, Curtis can find the real cowboy inside Bryan, and they can ride off into the sunset together!

Buy Links for The Real Thing:

• Dreamspinner Press: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/the-real-thing-by-bg-thomas-8216-b
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Real-Thing-B-G-Thomas-ebook/dp/B06WV73ZZK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487176619&sr=1-1
• Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Thing-B-G-Thomas-ebook/dp/B06WV73ZZK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1487176729&sr=1-1&keywords=b.g.+thomas+the+real+thing
• Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-real-thing-49

The path to happiness starts with acceptance, and sometimes the chance for a bright, loving future means letting go of the past.

All his life, Neil Baxter has buried a large part of himself—the part that’s attracted to other men. He married a woman and denied that side of him existed. And he plans to keep right on pretending to be straight after his beloved wife has passed away.

To help him deal with his grief, Neil’s sister-in-law convinces him to vacation at a dude ranch. There, Neil meets Cole Thompson, a young, gorgeous, unabashedly gay wrangler—who is unabashedly attracted to Neil. And try as he might, Neil cannot deny he feels the same way. But desire soon becomes something more profound as the two men get to know each other. Cole is much more than a sexy cowboy: he’s kind, spiritual, and intelligent. In fact, he’s perfect for Neil… except he’s a man, and Neil isn’t ready to let go of a lifetime of denial. If he cannot find the courage to be true to himself, he might let something wonderful slip through his fingers.
Buy Links for Do You Trust Me?:

• Dreamspinner Press: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/do-you-trust-me-by-bg-thomas-8117-b
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Do-You-Trust-Me-Thomas/dp/1635332737/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
• Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Do-You-Trust-B-G-Thomas/dp/1635332737/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485743748&sr=1-1&keywords=Do+you+trust+me%3F+Thomas
• Barnes & Nobel: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/do-you-trust-me-bg-thomas/1125465266?ean=2940157436841
• Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/do-you-trust-me-10

Bio

B.G. Thomas lives in Kansas City with his husband of more than a decade and their fabulous dogs Sarah Jane and Oliver. He is blessed to have a lovely daughter as well as many extraordinary friends. He has a great passion for life.

B.G. loves romance, comedies, fantasy, science fiction, and even horror—as far as he is concerned, as long as the stories are character driven and entertaining, it doesn’t matter the genre. He has gone to literature conventions his entire adult life where he’s been lucky enough to meet many of his favorite writers. He has made up stories since he was a child; it is where he finds his joy.

In the nineties, he wrote for gay adult magazines but stopped because the editors wanted all sex without plot. “The sex is never as important as the characters,” he says. “Who cares what they are doing if we don’t care about them?” Excited about the growing male/male romance market, he began writing again. He submitted a novella and was thrilled when it was accepted in four days. Since then the romantic tales have poured out of him. “It’s like I’m somehow making up for a lifetime’s worth of story-telling!”

“Leap, and the net will appear” is his personal philosophy and his message. “It is never too late,” he testifies. “Pursue your dreams. They will come true!”

Website/blog: bthomaswriter.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bgthomaswriter