GUEST POST: J.C. Long, Author of 'New Year's Eve Unzipped'
First and foremost I want to thank Kimmers for having me back again! It’s always a pleasure to appear here at such a great blog. For those who don’t know me, I’m J.C. Long, and I’m here to talk a little bit about something in relation to my newest release, New Year’s Eve Unzipped. This is the first in a series of erotic short novelettes (the second, I’m happy to announce, has a tentative release date of February 13, 2017) that revolve around guys using Unzipped, a fictional dating app in my writing universe.
This is erotica, so naturally my lovely men find themselves in some incredibly sexy positions thanks to using the dating app, but in the real world life doesn’t always end up that way. I thought it would be fun to talk about dating app disasters with you all today!
We’ve all had them—gay or straight, bad dating app meet ups are not sexual orientation-specific—and sometimes they’re hilarious, and sometimes they’re terrifying in the moment. There is an inherent risk in talking to someone on the internet or via an application that we all acknowledge. Sometimes you and the person that you meet up with just aren’t compatible—maybe personality is too different, or maybe sexual interests just don’t match up. I once made the mistake of making my profile picture a beach picture from a day I’d visited the beach in Busan, South Korea with one of my best friends, a straight Korean guy. The best shot was of the two of us together, so I used it, not really thinking anything. A few weeks later I found myself chatting up a guy, and went to meet him. When we met he was disappointed. Since we were in South Korea, he’d assumed I was my Korean friend (even though my profile specified I was white) and had no real interest in meeting with me the Caucasian guy. No harm no foul, it happens, and I learned a valuable lesson. Always. Crop. The photos.
It’s also important to make sure that we have compatible interests in the bedroom. There’s nothing more awkward than meeting up, letting sparks fly, and then finding that you both play the same position in the bed, and neither of you is much interested in playing the other (been there, done that, the night just ends in frustration—in more ways than one). I did get a friendship out of it, but it does lead us to valuable lesson number 2: express your sexual interests BEFORE you meet up.
I’ll tell you right off the bat what valuable lesson number 3 is: Ask for more pictures. The other two situations weren’t so bad, a little awkward and the slightest bit embarrassing, but nothing that would scar you. This one, though, has the potential to lead to unpleasant encounters. Pictures are super easy to get on the internet. Anyone can pretend to be anyone (I’m pretty sure there’s a reality show about exactly this in America). I now have a policy where I ask for more pictures quickly. If they are unwilling to share even a few beyond what they have on the app, then I’m not interested. I met up with a guy once, he was really cute on the app, but when we met in person it was literally not the same guy. He kept coming up with these lame excuses—“I took those pictures a few years ago, so they’re a little old”. That’s well and good and all, but a few year’s difference doesn’t alter your height by about four inches or completely reshape your facial features, and I’m pretty certain most peoples’ eyes don’t change color over time! That night ended as quickly as I could justify doing so.
The final valuable lesson from dating apps is this: Always expect the worst. It sounds bad, I know, but even if everything looks great on paper (so to speak) and you’ve hit it off, and he even looks like the guy in his photos, things could still go wrong. I had a nightmare encounter that I would absolutely love to share with you (that’s why I’m here, after all). I met up with this gorgeous guy, actually same guy pictured, and we seemed to hit it off wonderfully…until we got underway.
The first incident: he made me sit in the back seat. He said he didn’t like people riding next to him, it made him anxious, and he didn’t want to drive badly with me in the car. I found it to be incredibly weird, but I got in anyway.
The second incident is also car related. Before we could even start the date he told me he “just needed to get a little money to pay for everything” and proceeded to pick up an Uber fare. WITH ME IN THE CAR. There I was, on what should have been a nice date, and I was sitting in the backseat with some slightly intoxicated stranger trying to get to the local university in order to get even more intoxicated.
Things only got worse from there. He proceeded to give me a list of things I wasn’t allowed to order at the restaurant, asked to see my teeth after we ate, and even told me when he felt like I was eating too much popcorn at the movies (popcorn I paid for separately, I might add). He even told me how to sit properly during the movie. Needless to say, when the movie was over I tried to make a subtle exit, but he was STILL logged in to Uber so he saw my request for a ride. Needless to say, things got awkward from there, but there’s no shame in beating a hasty retreat.
Thankfully you’ll find none of that in New Year’s Eve Unzipped. What you will find is a sexy, fun erotic read that you’ll enjoy and that will leave you really wanting more!
Title: New Year’s Eve Unzipped
Series: Unzipped Shorts, Book 1
Author: J.C. Long
Published: November 28, 2016
Publisher: NineStar Press
Cover Artist: Natasha Snow/Natasha Snow Designs
Genre: Erotica
Length: 24 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Age Difference; Holiday: New Year’s; Novelette
About New Year’s Eve Unzipped
Colby, a caterer, is working New Year's Eve at the Crestview Hills Country Club, a place full of rich, uppity people, promising a boring night. The night becomes a lot more interesting when he starts receiving erotic messages on Unzipped, a hook-up app, from someone who happens to be at that very party.
About the Author
J. C. Long is an American expat living in Japan, though he’s also lived stints in Seoul, South Korea—no, he’s not an army brat; he’s an English teacher. He is also quite passionate about Welsh corgis and is convinced that anyone who does not like them is evil incarnate. His dramatic streak comes from his life-long involvement in theater. After living in several countries aside from the United States J. C. is convinced that love is love, no matter where you are, and is determined to write stories that demonstrate exactly that. J. C. Long’s favorite things in the world are pictures of corgis, writing and Korean food (not in that order…okay, in that order). J. C. spends his time not writing thinking about writing, coming up with new characters, attending Big Bang concerts and wishing he was writing. The best way to get him to write faster is to motivate him with corgi pictures. Yes, that is a veiled hint.
For more of J.C.’s works be sure and visit his website.
