BLOG TOUR with AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a 62yo gay man, born and raised in Holland. I lived in Spain for 8 years and moved to the US in 2015 after getting married to Geno. I’m an anthropologist, a drummer, a flautist, a globetrotter, and an author of fiction and nonfiction. My novels are filled with mystery, spirituality, symbolism and music. My nonfiction is a reflection of my eventful life.
What would people be most surprised to know about you?
I’m much into spirituality and sensitive to the paranormal. I use it in my writing, but keep it mostly to myself.
Do you have a favorite quote (either from your own books or one’s you’ve read)?
OK, one from my first novel, Walking Among Us:
Nature doesn’t care about human suffering. Nature is simply there to be born in, to live and die in, merciless, generous and ruthlessly beautiful; like trees in the wind, the leaves flickering in the sunlight, waving at the cancer patient in the backseat of a taxi on the way to his last radiation treatment.
How long have you been writing and what made you fall in love with writing?
Since my thirties. I’ve always liked writing, but not as a career. After a professor at university convinced me to think about becoming an author (after he read my thesis), I began to take it seriously and became ambitious.
Did you always want to be a writer?
I was into music before becoming a writer. I played in many bands and toured a lot.
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
What I like about writing is that I don’t have to retire. My three novels were traditionally published in Dutch, in Europe. That was one ambition fulfilled. Now, it’s just about writing that next story and making it even better than the last.
What’s your favorite part of writing?
My favorite part would be the moment everything comes together, after having done research, after having walked around with this ‘idea’ in my head, after having thrown away many setups. Then, suddenly, there’s clarity and the first chapter comes naturally, and I’m on my way.
Tell us about your writing style.
I’m not trying to write literary. When it comes out like that, wonderful, but I prefer short sentences instead of long complex ones. Clarity. Sometimes I surprise myself.
When/where is your favorite time/place to write?
Mornings, just at my desk.
Why did you choose to write LGBT romance/fiction?
Only my nonfiction is LGBT, because it’s about myself. I have a nonfiction narrative, called Dog Gone, and now there’s my latest, a memoir, called Boy One. My novels are not specifically LGBT, although there’s always a gay character in there somewhere.
Describe a scene in your writing that has made you laugh or cry?
There’s a scene in Dog Gone that has made me cry many times. It’s the scene in which I have to leave my dog behind, in 2015. It was one of the hardest things to do, ever. My dog knew it was for real. When I walked over to him to say goodbye, he fled to his doggy bed and laid down, curled up with a scared look in his eyes, his tail trembling between his hind legs. I left in panic mode.
Thank God, he’s been doing great, and couldn’t wish for a better home. He’s 13yo, and I see him every time I go to Holland.
Give the readers a brief summary of your latest book or WIP. What genre does it fall in?
It’s a memoir about a remarkable part of my younger life. LGBT, M/M intergenerational relationships.
Boy One is a memoir I was afraid to write, let alone publish, because it’s so much about me, about a part of my younger life, starting when I was a naïve teenager in the closet; a part of my life that I’ve been ashamed of for all the wrong reasons.
I was the young lover of John Stamford, the eccentric and middle-aged editor/owner of the famous Spartacus Gay Guide, and together we travelled around the world. The memoir covers how we met, the power games he played, and the rise and fall of the guide, as well as the scandals. In the 80s and 90s, the guide was a travel atlas, the roadmap every gay man on the move had in his back pocket because it opened a world of opportunities to its gay subscribers, not unlike the Green Book for Afro-Americans. No matter where one was around the globe, the gay-friendly bars and clubs were identified. It made travel a glorious funfest.
But the farther I travelled, the deeper I was immersed in a seedy underworld of possibly illegal, certainly immoral activity in which I might be complicit. This memoir details what went on behind the scenes, the power and influence the guide generated, and the attendant misuse of that influence. After appearing on the guide’s cover, I strived to escape the magazine and my lover, but it wasn’t easy. John harbored a manic attraction for me and vice versa.
My husband Geno encouraged me to go ahead and write it. He convinced me it had to be told, because it’s part of gay history, and people should know. Looking back, it was good therapy: I’m not ashamed anymore.
The picture on the front cover is me at 19yo, in the south of France, very much in love, not knowing what I was getting into. Boy One was the license plate of the RV we travelled in. John used to tell me I was his boy one.
Which actor would you like to see playing the lead character from your most recent book?
A young Christopher Atkins.
What genre/s do you enjoy reading in your free time?
Spiritual nonfiction, memoirs, literary fiction.
What was the last book you read? What did you like about it?
Edgar Cayce on the Akashic Records: The Book of Life, by Kevin J. Todeschi.
Some time ago, I had a dream in which I was told to write a book called ‘The Book of Life’. I saw the cover. After I woke up, it didn’t make sense to me, but I never forgot that dream. Then I found this book and saw that it already exists, like I was guided there. Of course, I had to read it. One thing I liked about it is that Edgar says your future is not fixed in the Akashic records, like many people believe, but that the records adjust to choices you make in your life, like interplay. Or at least, that’s what I got from it. You do have a will of your own.
How do you relax?
Listening to my favorite music with a glass of fine wine.
What hobbies do you have outside of writing?
I’m an avid tennis player and I like downhill skiing. I play the drums and took piano lessons two years ago.
THANK YOU
BLOG TOUR
Book Title: Boy One
Author and Publisher: Jaap Cové
Cover Artist: ricacabrex (Fiverr)
Release Date: April 1, 2024
Genres: Gay, M/M Memoir, non-fiction
Tropes: Secret love
Themes: Coming out, shame, fear, intergenerational relationships
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 55 000 words/ 203 pages
It is a standalone book and ends on a sort of cliffhanger.
Buy Links
Coming of age inside the controversial world of the Spartacus Gay Guide
Blurb
It is 1981. Jaap, a Dutch teenager, is a boy taking his first steps towards becoming a man. He’s reclusive, a wallflower with a handsome face and curly blond hair. He loves playing tennis and plays drums for a student rock band.
He is attracted to men and afraid of desires that he has not acted upon. By fortuitous accident, the Dutch teen meets Briton John D. Stamford, and his life changes. Stamford is the eccentric middle-aged editor of Spartacus International Gay Guide, the crucial book for gay male travelers. It listed both welcoming destinations and countries that carried strict penalties for homosexuality.
Jaap likes mature men; John prefers youths. BOY ONEis the record of their relationship, the deluxe global travel they did for John’s work, the eye-opening experiences of a sheltered teen, and the obsessive sexual relationship that developed.
Amid the glamor of five-star hotels and restaurants, conflicts arise. Jaap still thinks about having a girlfriend and wonders if he is bisexual. John is trying to push his young lover into something he’s not ready for—being openly gay all the time. Moreover, Jaap notices the Spartacus Guide lists opportunities for sex with underaged youths in places like Thailand. He suspects this is wrong. So do the police, who begin investigating John.
Despite the excitement and eroticism of their relationship, the moral issues grow until the two are at odds.
In BOY ONE, Jaap Cové tells the honest and gripping story of a remarkable part of his life. Revealing and outspoken, it is a unique, colorful and compelling coming-of-age story. It captures the excitement of international gay life in the early 80s, but it is also a troubling saga about morality and intergenerational relationships.
Excerpt
John picks me up at the airport with a taxi. We drop my bag in the RV that’s parked just outside Basel’s old center, but don’t stay there. John has other plans. I’m in for a romantic weekend. It’s snowy and below freezing point. I never expected the city to be so beautiful, or is it because we’re together again? We lunch in an upscale Konditorei, then walk arm in arm past the historical buildings in the old center. People on the pavement glare at us, but John doesn’t let go of my arm. It feels warm and safe. We visit the Gothic church and head to the quay of the river Rhine, where we kiss. There are people watching, which makes it more exciting. Protected by John, I don’t feel any embarrassment. I exist in a constant state of being crazy in love.
He takes me to my first gay sauna in the old town to warm up. As we enter a dimly-lit steam room, I lose John in the mist. In no time, there are many hands all over my body, touching my ass, my cock and my torso. I am scared.
As I adjust to the light, I look into the faces of the young men groping me and start to panic. I want to break free, but they won’t let me. Someone shoves his tongue between my lips. I wriggle to get away from the mass of bodies. Just as I reach the point of using force, I feel a hand pull me from the crowd. John pulls me close and embraces me. He smiles and tries to calm me.
‘You didn’t like that?’ he asks.
‘No, I panicked.’
‘Come, let’s get out of here.’
He takes me to a private room where we make love on a rubber bed covered with towels. Our session isn’t long and elaborate as it would have been in the RV. It turns me on just the same. I’m quickly positioned on my belly by his big hands, feeling the cold KY-jelly on my ass, after which he carefully pushes his warm cock inside. Pleasing John, giving my lover what he wants, in the way he wants it, excites me. I become hard as a rock. This man owns me when we make love.
Downstairs in the bar area later, we have a drink. I play with the thought that John planned the episode in the steam room. At the same time, the thought is ridiculous. I can’t imagine him telling all those guys that his lover from Holland would be visiting, and asking them to give me a warm welcome.
‘It was almost like they were waiting for me,’ I say. ‘All those hands on me.’
‘Why is that strange? Have you looked in the mirror lately?’
‘Huh?’
‘You’re very handsome, Jake. You’re a fucking knockout.’
I don’t know what to say, since no one ever told me that. I know I’m not ugly, but a knockout? I’m tall and slender, not muscled. And I’ve always been on the shy side, not confident about my looks. All my life people have told me that my blond curls are beautiful. But women couldn’t keep their hands off my hair when I was a young boy and I didn’t enjoy that.
‘And you have such a hot ass,’ he adds with a big smile. Then he kisses me.
As I take a sip of my drink, I think about how my life has changed. In less than three months, I have made the metamorphosis from Dordrecht wallflower to Basel knockout. My self-esteem balloons.
But something is gnawing at me.
‘So when you’re here on your own, I suppose those hands are on you, too, right?’
‘Why do you ask?’
‘I don’t like that thought.’
‘No, that doesn’t happen to me. I’m getting too old, Jake. Older gay people are less appealing in this world. You’ll find out.’
‘I find that hard to believe. When you walk around here naked, people look.’
‘I’m glad you think so.’ He smiles and looks past me, like he’s checking out the other guys. ‘But to answer your real question, yes, I do play around when I’m on my own.’
‘What… you mean, you still do, even though we’re lovers?’
‘Yes.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Remember that black kid we met in a bar in Nice on our last evening? I fucked him soon after you left.’
That’s a sudden bucket of ice water. I put down my drink and sit frozen. I want to go home. Now.
John continues sipping his drink. ‘It’s all right, Jake; it meant nothing. I love you.’
About the Author
Jaap Cové (1962) studied anthropology and debuted in 2011 with his novel Walking Among Us, followed by Cajú (2012) and The Girl in the Web (2017). Dog Gone (2023) was his first nonfiction narrative. Boy One is his first memoir.
From my website:
Jaap Cové is an anthropologist, a drummer, a flautist, a globetrotter, and an author of fiction and nonfiction. His novels are filled with mystery, spirituality, symbolism and music. His nonfiction is a reflection of his eventful life.
Author Links
Blog/Website | Facebook | Instagram
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