
Humankind possesses a dual nature, the ability to rise to the brightest heights—or sink to the darkest and most perverse depths. What inspires some to reach the pinnacles of virtue while others cannot resist the temptations of vice? Is it something innate, or a result of destiny and circumstance? Delve into the minds and spirits of saints and sinners alike with a collection of stories that explore the call toward good or evil—and the consequences of answering it. For while rewards certainly await the righteous, there are also pleasures to be found in the darkness. Venture off the expected path with some of the most innovative voices in LGBT speculative fiction as they present their unique takes on the classic vices and virtues. Stories The Dark of the Sun by Amy Rae Durreson The Bank Job by Andrea Speed Prudence for Fools by Sean Michael The Gate by J.S. Cook Heirs to Grace and Infinity by Carole Cummings The Rendering by John Inman Beyond the Temperance Effect by Serena Yates Covetous by Pearl Love Hope by Rick R. Reed Horseboy by J Tullos Hennig Train to Sevmash by Jamie Fessenden Red Light Special by Rhys Ford Traitor by Clare London Couches of Fabric and Snow by Brandon Witt
Authors

J Tullos Hennig likes BIG books. Her award-winning historical fantasy series, The Books of the Wode, is BIG... and a truly innovative re-imagining of the Robin Hood legends, with the notorious outlaw archer as a queer, chaotic-neutral druid. Active in genre literature and conventions in the 70s/80s/90s, JTH returned to the publishing fold in 2013, and in 2018 was chosen to receive the Speculative Literature Foundation’s juried Older Writers Grant.

Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with her other day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with award-winning novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters. Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home. All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello! Clare also writes as Stella Shaw and launched a new series of rent boy romances in 2021.



I’m a night owl and start writing when everyone else in my time zone is asleep. I’ve loved reading all my life and spent most of my childhood with my nose buried in a book. Although I always wanted to be a writer, financial independence came first. Twenty-some years and a successful business career later I took some online writing classes and never looked back. Living and working in eight countries has taught me that there is more than one way to get things done. It has instilled tremendous respect for the many different cultures, beliefs, attitudes, and preferences that exist on our planet. I like exploring those differences in my stories, most of which happen to be romances. My characters have a tendency to want to do their own thing, so I often have to rein them back in. The one thing we all agree on is the desire for a happy ending. I currently live in Canada, sharing my house with a vast collection of books. I like reading, traveling, spending time with my nieces and listening to classical music. I have a passion for science and learning new languages.

Brandon Witt's outlook on life is greatly impacted by his first eighteen years of growing up gay in a small town in the Ozarks, as well as fifteen years as a counselor and special education teacher for students with severe emotional disabilities. Add to that his obsession with corgis and mermaids, then factor in an unhealthy love affair with cheeseburgers, and you realize that with all those issues, he's got plenty to write about.... Visit Brandon's webpage: http://www.brandonwitt.com/ Visit him on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brandon.witt... Enjoy episodes of The Witty Hour: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO5c...

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series and is a two-time LAMBDA finalist and a multiple Gold and Silver Medalist by the Florida Authors and Publishers President’s Book Awards. She is published by Dreamspinner Press, DSP Publications and Rogue Firebird Press. She shares the house with Harley, a gray tuxedo with a flower on her face, Badger, a disgruntled former alley cat, and Gojira, a mercurial Tabico as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep of a 1979 Pontiac Firebird named Tengu and enjoys murdering make-believe people.

Real Men. True Love. 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…” Find him at www.rickrreedreality.blogspot.com. Rick lives in Palm Springs, CA, with his husband, Bruce, and their rescue dogs, Kodi and Joaquin.

Often referred to as "Space Cowboy" and "Gangsta of Love" while still striving for the moniker of "Maurice," Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and persuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to "Chicago." A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys. Barring any of that? He'll stick with writing his stories, thanks, and rubbing pretty bodies together to see if they spark.

A Lambda Literary Award finalist and the author of over forty novels, John has been writing fiction for as long as he can remember. Born on a small farm in Indiana, he now resides in San Diego, California where he spends his time gardening, pampering his pets, hiking and biking the trails and canyons of San Diego, and of course, writing. He and his partner share a passion for theater, books, film, and the continuing fight for marriage equality. If you would like to know more about John, check out his website at—— http://www.johninmanauthor.com/John\_I... or follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/john.inman.79