Exposition VBT

Blurb:

Meet Benjamin Wyatt, a handsome young architect helping create the magnificent 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.  While immersed in work at the famous architectural firm of Burnham and Root, Benjamin’s pugnacious, social climbing father, Walter Wyatt, pushes him to marry the stunningly beautiful debutante, Evelyn Van Buren—thus securing the family’s position in Chicago society.  Yet, when Benjamin meets the cocky young electrical engineer, Spencer Bowles, who is also working on the fair, his world and its ambitions are forever shattered.

Set amidst the opulent splendor of Chicago in the late Victorian Age, Benjamin Wyatt must confront the perils of accepting his own true love and risk destroying everything he worked so hard to achieve.  Meticulously researched and filled with lush images of the Gilded Age, Exposition, tells the epic story of a love that dare not speak its name…

Exclusive Excerpt:

Their two bodies entwined in rapturous passion. The intensity of the experience emboldened each to advance their innermost desires and push each other further. Lost amidst each other’s affections, they became one, forgetting time and place, floating in transcendent bliss. It was like nothing either had felt before …

“Hey you goats! Keep your traps shut!” came the high pitched voice from the other side of the door.  “You’re upsetting my clientele!” Madam Cleo shouted to Spencer and Benjamin as she pounded on the door to Spencer’s shabby, rented room in the back hall of her business establishment.  “They don’t wanna hear a couple of mandrakes grinding! Don’t make me have to throw you out on your ear!”

With the moment ruined, Spencer and Benjamin uncoupled on Spencer’s single bed. Both exhaled heavily. They lay together side by side. Spencer started to laugh while Benjamin was silent and turned away from Spencer. Spencer, who lay closer to the window with the drawn shade, looked over at Benjamin.

“You don’t take her so seriously?” he asked Benjamin, wrapping his arm around Benjamin’s waist, pressing his front into Ben’s back.

“She called us mandrakes.”

“Yeah, she sure as hell did.”  Benjamin was silent. He felt Spencer’s body next to his, entwined in his. It felt so right for him. He savored being with Spencer. He treasured the time they spent together. Spencer made him laugh and feel at ease. There was something so utterly captivating about Spencer. Benjamin felt their encounters gave him power and strength. Yet, he was disturbed by Madam Cleo’s comment.

“I guess I never thought of myself as one of those.”

“Mandrake?” Spencer uncoupled from Benjamin and stared up at the ceiling from his little wedge of the space on the narrow bed. “I can’t think of when I didn’t consider myself one,” Spencer said.

Kyle, thanks so much for stopping by. So, how did you get started writing?

I came to novel writing just recently.  My first novel, Billion Dollar Dreamer was published in 2011. I have a journalism degree and I have written for a living for many years, but I there was something about this time in my life when I felt this deep yearning for a different type of expression.  Novel writing opens all of these synapses in one’s psyche.  It isn’t just about plot or technical skills.  It’s about a connection - connection to the reader, connection to the characters and through the characters, one finds this connection to the truth of one’s own inner self.

What was the inspiration for your book?

Exposition was inspired by a conversation I had with a former apprentice of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  I spent some time at Taliesin West interviewing him for a couple of magazine articles and after a while, he revealed this sort of hidden underlayer of gay culture in the architecture world which fascinated me.  

I combined this fascination with another -- the love of the Columbian Exposition - a world’s fair held in Chicago in 1893.  The fair, to this day, is a marvel to study.  It was so opulent, so grand -- as if the Roman Forum was reconstructed on the shores of Lake Michigan, only more spectacular.

Anyway, I also wanted to write an epic sort of gay story.  I wanted to explore the hidden gay world of the Gilded Age -- make something sumptuous and yet, gritty.  And I wanted it grand -- an inspiration was the film and novel The Age of Innocence.  I remember thinking, when rewatching that film, Oh, how I wish the main characters were gay!  So in my mind, even though the plots are very different, Exposition is my own take on an epic novel like The Age of Innocence, except the lead characters are gay.

What’s the one genre you haven’t written in yet that you’d like to?

I always say Kyle Taylor books have a depth of character and presentation about the gay experience -- and I swear I won’t write about a gaggle of twinks heading off to the beach for a weekend to do get high and shack up -- but now that I say I disdain it, it makes me want to write one.  I already have a title: The Planet Fabulous. (I personally would love to read a book with that title.)

Are there any genres you won’t read or write in? Why?

If I say there is one – oh my gosh – I’m going to dare myself to write one from that genre.   

So, what are you working on right now? Got any releases planned, or still writing?

I just finished the manuscript for my next novel.  It’s called, Wildflower:  The Dramatic Life of Barbette -- Round Rock’s First and Greatest Drag Queen.  It’s based on the real life of an aerialist/entertainer who was from the town I live in, Round Rock, Texas.  He went on to headline in the swankiest theaters and nightclubs of Europe in the 1920’s.  I swear, this novel busted my butt!  It covers sixty years of time in Barbette’s life.  The research was incredible.  But at the end, it wasn’t about the research.  Barbette was an angel, a flower, a bird.  It is a very moving story.

Alright, now for some totally random, fun questions. Favorite color?     Gold.  

Favorite movie?    Remains of the Day.   Second place: Hannah and Her Sisters.

Book that inspired you to become an author?

My mother was a librarian - We just always read.  So there was no one book in particular.

Alright, you have one superpower. What is it?

Everyone says it, and I have to agree -- I would love to fly!

Ramon Novarro

You can have dinner with any 3 people, dead, alive, fictitious, etc. Who are they?

Marilyn Monroe (people say she was even more beautiful in real life, plus very well read), Frank Lloyd Wright (a genius, who was never afraid of sharing his opinions) and Ramon Novarro (silent movie star - because I would want to kiss him during dessert).

Last question: Which of your characters are you most like and how/why?

The lead character in Exposition, Benjamin Wyatt, is so very flawed.  He thinks he knows what he is doing, but the reality is he has so much to learn. I am certainly like that.  

That’s all from me, thanks so much for taking the time to stop by!

Thank you for sharing Exposition with your fans!  I wish you all the best! Here is a link to the trailer. Feel free to check out my web page.

Kyle will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and as a special prize, Kyle's previous book, Billion Dollar Dreamer, will be given away free on Amazon the last day of the tour. So the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

December 2: Christine Young Romance Writer

December 3: Wickedly Wanton Tales

December 4: Its Raining Men

December 5: Bunny's Review

December 6: Wake Up Your Wild Side

December 6 SECOND STOP: Decadent Delights

December 9: The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat

December 10: Dawn's Reading Nook Blog

December 11: Books to Light Your Fire

December 12: Sharing Links and Wisdom

December 13: Unabridged Andra

December 13 SECOND STOP Eden Glenn, Author

Author Bio and Links:

Kyle Taylor is the author of both Exposition and Billion Dollar Dreamer.  The Kyle Taylor character debuted in Billion Dollar Dreamer as a journalist who was assigned to write a story about high school history teacher cum overnight billionaire John Driskil.  Kyle has begun his next book, tentatively titled Wildflower.  He resides in New York -- and of course he is a work of fiction!

Facebook | Author Web Page | Video

Buy Links:

Whiskey Creek Press

Amazon