From the moment I first picked up and finished Scorcher #3, I knew I wanted more. Up until Scorcher #4: BE BILLY came out, I couldn’t decide if it was because I actually wanted to read more or if I was just trying to flirt with it’s creator, Max Steele. I’ve decided it’s a little bit of both.
BE BILLY is the perfect combination of sex, arrogance, self-depreciation, cynicism and acceptance. For those that like erotica with a bit of edge, emotion and self-reflection, this is a perfect read.
The character, Billy, is introduced to the reader as a person but also as various emotions and states of being. Each story details the inner monologue in Billy’s mind as he breaks down and investigates his current bed mate. For every brilliant social statement (“I’m an empty glass that you fill up with a mirror. You can make me real into a reflection of you.”) there is a provoking steamy block of fucking and flirting (“Joey dances pressing his hips into mine. We both wear tight skin pants, his cock is half hard and he presses it into mine.”). All of this is enhanced by Billy’s listless acceptance of how he perceives reality combined with the various boys and their odd social neuroses.
Scorcher #4 is being published under the Bird Song Micropress and features cover art by Todd Gilmour. It’s only $5 and can be purchased either by contacting Max Steele at billycheer@gmail.com or the publisher Bird Song Micropress at birdsongmag@gmail.com.
Better yet — pick one up in person at the Scorcher #4 zine launch on June 6th from 6PM – 8PM at the acclaimed Envoy Gallery (click here for a map). The release will feature readings by Max Steele himself as well as original work by Tommy Pico, and Thain Torres. It will also be featuring new drawings by Danielle Rainbow Rosa who is super talented and doesn’t even know it.
[...] enough to let me interview him as this week’s crush in lieu of the release party for his zine Scorcher. I am hoping that by the end of this interview I will somehow manage to convince him that he is in [...]