Photo by Maria Pascua
As one gay author, I tell queer stories with a dose of LGBTQ+ reality beyond the plot. Maybe with queer history and culture so readers hear my authentic voice. My standalone romantic comedy novel Love’s Not Welcome at the Hotel Cairo connects to the 1980s AIDS crisis. My mystery series Fantabulous! is about a queer bar in 1990s Venice, CA after “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” I’ll shatter my characters’ lives to mirror our community’s heartbreak and heroism. Like sixty-year-old, out-of-work soap actor Hughie Roman selling his hotel and twenty-something Filipino chef Ricky Luna struggling to fit in, I give them humor, heart, and a chosen family.
I’m grateful my life isn’t as interesting as my characters. I grew up in Redlands, CA, and completed my studies at California State University, San Bernardino. I worked in Hollywood for a bit at Oscar-winning Soundelux before crossing the street (Hollywood Blvd.) to DVD Express, an early e-commerce business. Later, I launched and managed the European sleep store Axel Bloom in the gay capital of West Hollywood before becoming a full-time freelance writer. Despite my boringness, I wrote a couple of angsty songs that were professionally published and made me an ASCAP member, too.
All inquiries: garyhidalgo@gmail.com.