Essays ¶ By Dusk Peterson

Some of the essays below are intended primarily for adults.

Sections below:

Essay Descriptions and Links to Essays.

Essays by Category: Disabilities | Freedom of Expression & Human Rights | Gay History | Gender Issues | History of Friendship and Romantic Friendship | Intellectual and Cultural History | Leather History | Religion and Ethics | Writing and Literature.


Essay Descriptions and Links to Essays

"Afterword to Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths," by Andrew Calimach (New Rochelle, N.Y.: Haiduk Press, 2002). On the modern relevance and spiritual significance of homoerotic Greek mythology. Buy the book or e-book: Lovers' Legends (hardback, directly from the publisher) | Lovers' Legends (hardback at various retailers and PDF e-book at Google eBooks).

Ampersand History: Intersections Between History & Science & Art & Music & Literature & Religion & Philosophy. A collection of articles on intellectual and cultural history.

"Drag Queens, Leathermen, and Telling the Truth: Franny and the Life of John Preston." In the 2005 Arsenal Pulp edition of John Preston's novel Franny, the Queen of Provincetown. Describes the way in which the author's gay activism and his participation in leather life shaped his views on gender. Buy the book: Franny, the Queen of Provincetown (paperback, directly from the publisher) | Franny, the Queen of Provincetown (paperback at various retailers).

Editorials from True Tales.  (Off-site link to True Tales, a gay e-zine for adults only.)

The Eternal Debate in Classical Times. The debate in Classical Greece and Rome over the moral worth of sex between males. (Off-site link to The World History of Male Love.)

A Fiction Writer's Ethical Obligations. What can fiction writers do when their characters refuse to behave themselves?

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys Who Like Leather: M/M Writers of BDSM Fiction. The history and current state of a fiction subgenre.

Historical Fantasy Why Not Just Write Historical Fiction? An essay on authorship.

The History of DS and Its Kin. Traces the history of a leather term.

"Introduction to Aphrodite," a poetry collection by Ted Carter (Skarlet Press, 2010). Describes the circumstances in which these sensuous New Orleans poems were written. Buy the book or e-book: Aphrodite (paperback at Lulu) | Aphrodite (paperback at various retailers) | Aphrodite (PDF e-book at Lulu).

The Life and Writings of John Preston. An introduction to the author who was equally well-known for his leather novels and his mainstream gay writings.

The Misguided Search for "Homoeroticism": A Plea for Research on Friendship. Includes links related to the history of friendship. (Off-site link to The World History of Male Love.)

Romantic Friendship: Not Just a Code Word for Gay. Summarizes the history of romantic friendship, with a consideration of its ties to gay history. (Off-site link to The World History of Male Love.)

What is Darkfic? An essay on the various ways in which the term "dark fiction" is used.

What is Historical Fantasy? An essay on the various ways in which the term "historical fantasy" is used.

What is Homoerotic Fiction? An essay on the various ways in which the terms "homoerotic fiction" and "homoerotica" are used.

What is Original Gen, Original Het, and Original Slash? An essay on three genres that originated in the fan fiction community.

Essays by Category

Some essays appear in more than one category because they cover more than one topic.

DISABILITIES

Editorials from True Tales.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION & HUMAN RIGHTS

Editorials from True Tales.

A Fiction Writer's Ethical Obligations.

GAY HISTORY

Afterword to Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths.

Drag Queens, Leathermen, and Telling the Truth: Franny and the Life of John Preston.

The Eternal Debate in Classical Times.

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys Who Like Leather: M/M Writers of BDSM Fiction.

The Life and Writings of John Preston.

The Misguided Search for "Homoeroticism": A Plea for Research on Friendship.

Romantic Friendship: Not Just a Code Word for Gay.

Editorials from True Tales.

GENDER ISSUES

Drag Queens, Leathermen, and Telling the Truth: Franny and the Life of John Preston.

HISTORY OF FRIENDSHIP AND ROMANTIC FRIENDSHIP

The Misguided Search for "Homoeroticism": A Plea for Research on Friendship.

Romantic Friendship: Not Just a Code Word for Gay.

INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY

Ampersand History: Intersections Between History & Science & Art & Music & Literature & Religion & Philosophy.

LEATHER HISTORY

Drag Queens, Leathermen, and Telling the Truth: Franny and the Life of John Preston.

Editorials from True Tales.

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys Who Like Leather: M/M Writers of BDSM Fiction.

The History of DS and Its Kin.

The Life and Writings of John Preston.

RELIGION AND ETHICS

Afterword to Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths. (Greek religion and Christianity.)

The Eternal Debate in Classical Times. (Greek and Roman religions.)

A Fiction Writer's Ethical Obligations. (Ethics. Includes quotations from a book on Christianity by Dorothy L. Sayers.)

WRITING AND LITERATURE

A Fiction Writer's Ethical Obligations.

Historical Fantasy Why Not Just Write Historical Fiction?

Introduction to Aphrodite.

What is Darkfic?

What is Historical Fantasy?

What is Homoerotic Fiction?

What is Original Gen, Original Het, and Original Slash?


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Creative Commons License: Some Rights ReservedThis text, or a variation on it, was originally published at duskpeterson.com. Copyright © 2004-2008 Dusk Peterson. Some rights reserved. The text is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0). You may freely print, post, e-mail, share, or otherwise distribute the text for noncommercial purposes, provided that you include this paragraph. The author's policies on derivative works and fan works are available online (duskpeterson.com/copyright.htm).