Has it been a whole week already? I’m back again today with more from Threesome: Him, Him, and Me, the collection of tales edited by Matthew Bright involving exactly what it says on the tin. Today I’m speaking with another new-to-me author, which always makes me happy, Lawrence Jackson. He was willing to have a quick chat with me about his story in the collection, “The Big Match,” and also to introduce me to the idea of a queer family tree.
Few sexual fantasies are as potent or lasting as “the threesome” – as an adolescent, the first time you saw a hot couple walking hand in hand and you wanted to follow them back home and into their bed, as an adult when you discover that your partner has been fantasizing also about the bartender at your favorite club.
1+1+1 = sensual delight!
Editor Matthew Bright, no stranger to threesomes himself, has invited twelve authors to write stories that range from the sweet and romantic to erotic and playful and even a bit depraved.
NB: Tell me a wee bit about your story. What inspired your tale in Threesome?
LJ: “The Big Match” is an epistolary tale, or at least, it would have been called that once upon a time – is there a new word for stories told through email? So I suppose it’s at least partly inspired by that terrible fantasy some of us have of being able to read other peoples’ messages and find out what they get up to behind closed doors.
In terms of inspiration, it also comes from having a rather fit next-door neighbour, and listening to the sounds of pleasure and pain he makes when his wife is out and he’s playing with his Xbox, or with his mates watching their team enter the fray on a Saturday afternoon. It’s not sophisticated of me, but those “Yes, yes, yes”-es are high grade fuel for the imagination. And of course, we all have our theories about straight blokes, football celebrations and means of sublimation.
NB: I have queer friends who watch football, and I’m pretty sure they’re not watching football the way straight menfolk are, yeah. And they certainly all have their favourites (and I’ll admit to image searching the ones they talk about). Speaking of. Though we’re not supposed to have favourites, given that there are three fellas involved: do you have a favourite of the three guys you wrote for your story?
LJ: It’s a funny question with my story, because you’re only reading their messages, and the further you read I think your understanding of who they really are and what they want changes. There’s some smoke and mirrors, some mystery, misunderstandings and outright lies! Hopefully that helps with the verisimilitude, though. Like when you’re at a party and you see two friends together, and for no good reason, you just wonder – and then you hear about their camping holiday and you wonder some more
I think Niall might be my favourite, though. He’s free and single and clearly knows what’s in store very early on, but he still has to play his cards right and maybe even take a bit of a gamble…
NB: After talking with Matthew Bright about Threesome, I learned the stories were split into three sub-themes inside the anthology (fitting, no?) I make my love of anthologies well known, but I’m always curious to know if there is an anthology theme other authors would to see (and contribute to)? How about it? What would you love to see?
LJ: Well, I can’t say Edwardian gents because I know Matthew already has something in the works that is along those lines, but it is a world of experimentation and code and adventure that I dearly love.
I also like the concept of a queer family tree: Derek Jarman talks about an idea like this, somewhere in his wonderful book At Your Own Risk. Jarman once kissed a man who was kissed by Lord Alfred Douglas, so considered himself a few degrees away from Oscar Wilde – but he also talks about a lineage of sex, a kind of inheritance that’s an alternative to heterosexual or matrimonial ones. I like the idea of an anthology that moves chronologically through the twentieth century, so that Albert has an encounter with Edward in the 1900s, Edward with Charles in the 1910s, and so on through to the present day, or even beyond. You could call it The Secret History or something ruder and less classy like Circle Jerk. Your choice.
Alternatively, let’s go to the far future and have sex with beings from outer space.
NB: I love the idea of a collection exploring the lineage of sex. That’s a brilliant idea. I’m a fan of shared world short-fiction and would love to see what a series of authors could do with that notion. I’ll pass that along to my editor friends. Thank you! And thank you for dropping by today.
You can find Threesome: Him, Him and Me directly at Lethe Press here, or—as always—check Indiebound for your closest brick and mortar. It should also be available wherever fine quality LGBT books are sold.
Lawrence Jackson lives in London, mostly in the present but a little in the past and somewhat in the future. He is the author of self-published fantasy erotic novels Misadventure in Space and Time and Muscle Worshipers, and short stories in STARBooks’ Geeky Boys, Freaky Boys and Daddy Does It Better.
'Nathan Burgoine 