Posted by Matthew Lang, on May 17th, 2012% 
Being invited to write a blog post for the International Day Against Homophobia aroused a large number of conflicting emotions within me–there’s just so much to talk about. There’s the attempt to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death in Uganda, our straight brothers and sisters being jailed in Russia for supporting the cause of equality, the still entrenched racism in the Gay community itself or the evils of religions still peddling their so called ‘gay-cure’ remedies.
All of these are serious issues, but there’s one story that we often forget to talk about–those people who are outside the GLBT (or LGBT or GLBITQA or whatever alphabet soup you choose to use) community who are championing the cause of equality. Some of them do it loudly, some not so loudly, but a lot of them do it without a lot of recognition or thanks. And some of them do it in the face of being told by their religious or cultural leaders that they shouldn’t, and quite often their faith or beliefs can be demonised by the GLBT community. So I thought, for today, in addition to giving away an ebook copy of The Secret of Talmor Manor, or my short story, Mr. Perfect, and directing you to other amazing blogs around the internet, I wanted to bring you stories and experiences from our heterosexual allies, because it’s often too easy to forget that we are not alone.
So I put a call out for people to share their stories with me, and I got a few amazing responses, some of which I hope to share with you today, as well as some video footage from the Equal Love Rally from Saturday the 12th of May. So enjoy, be inspired, please share your stories and take inspiration from the people who are all around you–all you might need to do is reach out and maybe have a cup of tea with someone you wouldn’t ordinarily talk to.
Oh and before I forget, simply leave me a comment (and don’t forget to fill in your email address) to go into the draw to win one of my ebooks–and if you can correctly tell me which Teletubby was at the May 12th Rally, you can get an additional draw in the competition!
Kerrie Bietzel of PFLAG Victoria speaks at Equal Love, May, 2012
Kendrie Coonan’s Story: Kendrie Coonan is a married mother of two with strong links to the Amateur Theatre scene in Melbourne, Australia. Although we share a number of friends in common, we’ve never met.
I want nothing more than for my children to grow up to be accepted and . . . → Read More: The Words Less Spoken: IDAHO 2012
Posted by The Admin Team, on April 5th, 2012% 
Our fantastic friends at banQuetpress are searching for stories and artwork for their Men’s and Women’s 2013 Anthologies. They’re also looking for cover art. banQuetpress is Australia’s only dedicated queer publishing house and if you have a short story, poem or piece of art you’d like to see in print, I highly advise sending them your submissions now.
Submissions
banQuet 2013: A feast of new writing and art by Australian Queer Women and banQuet 2013: A feast of new writing and art by Australian Queer Men
These anthologies showcase a broad variety of innovative, engaging quality writings and art by emerging and established queer writers/artists/photgraphers about GLBTIQ sex and sexualities.
Challenge and surprise us. Introduce us to your complex and flawed queer protagonists and antagonists. Take us for a ride on the seamy side of GLBTIQ lives! We’d love to look at writings and images about queers falling in and out of love or bed!
banQuetpress is especially interested in works that overtly explore a diverse range of: • sexual expressions/practices • GLBTIQ cultures (from mainstream gay to queer sub-cultures) • gender expression • relationship types • issues of sex/sexuality particular to the GLBTIQ community
banQuetpress supports community diversity.
Submission Guidelines
banQuetpress will only accept original, previously unpublished material. Please do not submit material that is being concurrently considered elsewhere. Maximum of three pieces per author/artist.
Submission Deadline: Friday, 18 May 2012
Word Length: up to 3000 words Art / Graphics / Images: one or a few cells/photos/images/photostory Short Fiction Guidelines
• Well-crafted, well-written engaging short fiction – short stories, flash-fiction, etc. • A range of genres, erotica preferred for 2013 edition. • Scenarios and themes primarily focussed on LGBTIQ erotica, sexualities.
Non-Fiction Guidelines
• Well-crafted, well-written and accurately researched short non-fiction, personal reflections. • Ideas, issues and information primarily focussed on LGBTIQ erotica, sexualities. • Reviews and academic essays not accepted. Comic Art / Graphics / Photography Guidelines
• One or a few cells/photos, one-page comic strip, photostories • Scenarios, issues and themes primarily focussed on LGBTIQ erotica, sexualities • Material that can be effectively reproduced/published in B/W and/or colour. • Resolution quality at least 300dpi.
Style / Formatting Guidelines
• Please do not submit your first draft. • Submit a ‘clean’ manuscript – that is, a manuscript that has been edited for accuracy and clarity in communication, as well as proof-read for typos. (Works accepted for publication will undergo a full editing and proof-reading process; however, your submission must demonstrate your professionalism as a writer/artist). • Cover sheet with your legal name (essential), pen name (if applicable), title and word count on it only. • Name must not appear anywhere on manuscript and artwork (only on cover). • MS Word document. • JPEG document for graphics. • Document Filename should include title of the work. • Standard 12 point Arial font. • Double spacing. • No paragraph indents. • No headers/footers. • Use single quotation marks for dialogue. Cover Sheet . . . → Read More: Call for Queer Fiction: banQuetpress 2013
Posted by The Admin Team, on October 13th, 2011% In support of NaNoWriMo, Matthew Lang will be donating $1 from every Mr Perfect ebook sold via Smashwords to The Office of Letters and Light from now until the end of November!
So head over to Smashwords, get your copy today, and let’s raise some money for the novelling cause!
Posted by Matthew Lang, on October 7th, 2011% 
The first thing I have to say is the NYWF was awesome, and everyone should go next year. The second thing I have to say is that respiratory illnesses are much less awesome, especially when they hit two days after returning. I seem to have come down with a probably-not-flu-flu-like viral infection, and although I’m no longer aching everywhere, I am still feeling massively fatigued all the time, which sucks. I suppose I can only be thankful it happened *after* the festival. I thought I was being careful and taking care of myself so this wouldn’t happen, but well, that’s a story for another day.
The NYWF happens every year in Newcastle-Newy, as it is affectionately known-and This is Not Art (TiNA), the umbrella festival of which NYWF is a part, has become Newcastle’s biggest tourism weekend. In the words of one person I spoke to on Grindr, the ‘influx of hot gay men’ over the festival weekend is something to look forward to.
It was a rainy Wednesday afternoon, and I was a NYWF virgin. My flight was delayed and when I finally rocked into Newcastle airport, the first thing I noticed was how…regional it was. I guess the first thing that struck me was the feeling that I was about as far away from a major city in Australia as I’ve ever been, and this was the very first time I’d been out somewhere like there as an openly gay man, and visions of homophobic, possibly racist, rednecks swarming along on utes filled my brain. And then I put those thoughts aside, collected my luggage and went in search of the bus to town.
Eventually, I found myself outside my hotel, the Newcastle Ibis, which was a little further from the festival locations than I really would have liked, but on the upside, it was a room for myself, which I wasn’t sharing with another four artists. Not that I have anything against other artists, mind you, but there are considerations–like snoring, smelly feet, and enough space for me to pull out my laptop and get some work and social networking done. Yes, I’m a bit paranoid about my computers at times. Go figure.
In any case, I spent the first afternoon wandering around Newy and trying to find out where all the festival venues were. In doing so I also discovered something I’d forgotten about smaller town Australia-everything shuts early. And when I mean early I mean by 5 PM. And when I mean everything, I mean everything. It then mostly doesn’t open on the weekends…or public holidays, as Monday was in New South Wales. At times I feel like I spent the entire weekend trying to find somewhere to eat that was open.
Thursday was a nice, slow easing into the whole Festival scene, with an Artist Meet & Greet, and then the TiNA launch party. I started Friday . . . → Read More: National Young Writers Festival–Or What I did last Weekend
Posted by Matthew Lang, on August 28th, 2011% So it’s taken me a while to get on board with the whole ebook self publishing thing but I’ve finally taken the plunge and made my first short story, Mr. Perfect, available as a stand alone ebook over at Smashwords. Originally published by banQuetpress in their 2011 Men Anthology, Mr. Perfect was my first published short story and, having placed equal second in the 2010 Midsumma Sex Write Off, was the first story I ever made money from–unsurprisingly, it holds a rather special place in my heart. Special thanks to Richard Stansfield for the awesome cover art.
Mr. Perfect rather sarcastically follows the story of one Alexander “Lex” Cranbourne, a somewhat jaded geek attending a Live Action Role Play event at a local bar–and his encounter with another attendee that turns out to be a lot more than he bargained for.
Available for USD $4.99 at Smashwords, Mr. Perfect will hopefully soon be available on the rest of Smashwords’ premium distribution channels, but in the interim, I’ve giving anyone who gets a copy from Smashwords in the next week a discount–just use the coupon code KL92M when ordering a copy and get 20% off the purchase price, so USD $3.99.
Purchase Mr. Perfect on Smashwords
Posted by Matthew Lang, on March 2nd, 2011%
Well, it’s official–The Secret of Talmor Manor is out as an eBook, available in PDF, EPUB and PRC (Kindle) format. Currently it’s available directly from MLR Books. For anyone after a printed copy, watch this space, I expect it to be available in print shortly and I’ll keep you all posted on that. It hope you all enjoy it–I certainly enjoyed writing it.
If you’d like a sneak peek you can read an excerpt here.
In other news I will be doing a full reading of Mr. Perfect at this year’s Chillout Festival in Daylesford this Labour Day long weekend, Satuday 12th of March at Horvat’s Wine Bar. The events starts at 3:00 PM and will feature full readings from both BanQuet 2011 Anthologies, which will be available for purchase on the day. Tickets are $15/$10 and are available through the Chillout Events webpage. Pop it into your calendars and I hope to see you there.
Love to all
Matt
Posted by Matthew Lang, on February 5th, 2011% A big hello and thank you to everyone who attended the banQuet 2011 launch yesterday at Hares&Hyenas. For those of you who weren’t able to come or who didn’t get a copy of the Anthology, it is available at Hares&Hyenas for $24.95 and includes my story, Mr. Perfect.
Hopefully I’ll be able to post here soon with publication news for The Secret of Talmor Manor–if you’d like to know when that hits the shelves, sign up for my newsletter on the right.
Posted by Matthew Lang, on January 21st, 2011%
If you’re thinking of coming down to the Banquet Anthology Launch of Friday the 4th of February, I suggest you go to Midsumma.org and book a ticket now or RSVP via facebook. I’ve had a chat to the publishers and we’re apparently close to hitting venue capacity already. See you all there!
Posted by Matthew Lang, on November 6th, 2010% 
It’s confirmed. I will be reading Mr. Perfect at Dirty Deeds 2: The Best of the Sex Write off Competition and Awards presentations at Hares&Hyenas on Friday the 19th of November (mark it in your dairies everybody!
The night is part of a fundraiser for Melbourne Leather Pride Festival in April, and should be a heap of fun, and it would be great to see you there.
Details are: Dirty Deeds 2: Sex Write Off Competition Awards and Readings Hares & Hyenas 63 Johnston Street, Fitzroy 7.30pm to 9pm Friday 19 November 2010 $15/$10 Bookings through contactus@hares-hyenas.com.au
Posted by Matthew Lang, on October 27th, 2010%
For some reason I thought the publishing offer was the prize for the Sex Off Write Off Competition – but the verdict is in and apparently Mr. Perfect came in equal second. That’s a bit of money towards keeping me writing and there’s also the possibility of a reading in November. I’ll post about that when details come through. Excuse me, I’m going to go and squee now.
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