Six Neckties a finalist

I'm as happy as a wedding guest about to catch the bridal or groomsman bouquet.

I learned this week that my sixth novel, Six Neckties, is one of the finalists in the Gay Romance category for The Lammys. That's the annual awards in gay and lesbian literature organized by the Lambda Literary Foundation.

I think this novel is probably the most romantic of my six books.

The book brings back Cuban-American journalist Tommy Perez who finds himself being the best man or groomsman at his friends' weddings in Boston, Provincetown and Key West. But with each occasion, he goes back home to Ogunquit with another necktie. (Hence the title.) But when he meets a cute photographer at one of the weddings and then a handsome guest house manager in Ogunquit, Tommy must decide whether he is really ready for love again.

It's a fun summer read and I truly enjoyed writing the story. And I'm excited that it's getting a little love from Lambda reviewers, editors and members. Whether it wins the category or not, I'm just grateful that people have enjoyed the book and have taken the time to read it.

Thank you Edge Media Network

A huge thank you to Edge Media Network's Kilian Melloy who recently interviewed me about sixth novel Six Neckties and the inspiration behind that book and gay marriage.

Kilian asked me some thoughtful questions which I took the time to answer. These were some tough questions.

Here's an example:

EDGE: "Six Neckties" addresses the issue of marriage equality head on - not from a political vantage, but from the point of view of Tommy, who feels like he's missing out. He's always a best man, never a bride! Why make marriage such a touchstone for this book? 

Johnny Diaz: I was living in Boston when same-sex marriage was legalized in 2004 and I remember the celebrations and outpouring of love and support. That always stayed with me. But when I moved to Miami, same-sex marriage wasn't legal in Florida. There were several news articles about couples from Key West and Miami fighting for their right to marry. Their stories also stayed with me. And once gay marriage was legalized nationally, I kept seeing couples posting their engagements and wedding celebrations on Facebook. And I thought, how would it feel to be that guy who goes to all his friends' weddings but hasn't found his groom? I also found myself attending a lot of weddings in the past three years and they inspired me to write the book too. I took a lot of notes on napkins. 

The interview was like coming full circle with the books because I remember in April 2007, Kilian interviewed me at The Border Cafe in Cambridge to discuss my first novel Boston Boys Club.  Thanks again Kilian for then and now.

Thank you Miami Herald

This is the surprise I saw when I opened The Miami Herald this past Sunday. A HUGE thank you to my old paper and Steve Rothaus for the lovely story in Sunday's paper. It captures my writing career that began at the Herald when I was 16 and how I shifted into fiction writing in Boston. He also talked about the movie that inspired my new book Six Neckties and why I called it that. There's even a photo of my parents from one of my book readings at Books & Books in Miami Beach. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Here is the online version of the story.

Six Neckties, "A Summer Page-turner"

A big thank you to Boston Spirit Magazine for recommending my new book Six Neckties as a "Summer Page-turner" in New England.  For more details about the book, follow this link.

Six Neckties is here

My sixth novel Six Neckties is finally here, just in time for the summer wedding season.

The book is a literary postcard to Ogunquit, Maine where it takes place during the summer (along with some Boston/Dorchester and Miami.) 

The book should feel like one of those fun, light and sweet Saturday night Hallmark Channel movies (my favorite) but with gay men and a cute doggie. (I heart dogs too.)

Here's the description:

Now that gays are getting hitched, it seems that everyone is saying I Do. Except for Tommy Perez. 

He's always the best man or groomsman for his friends' nuptials. And with each occasion, Tommy goes home alone with another necktie. He's already on number four. But things seem to improve for the Maine magazine writer when he suddenly meets Danny, a confident freelance photographer who shoots a friend's wedding in Provincetown. Danny is cute enough that he should be in front of the camera rather than behind it. 

And complicating matters is the arrival of a sexy and slightly older guest house manager named Ignacio who begins to court Tommy's heart in their small town of Ogunquit. But is Tommy ready for love again? As he helps his best friends Rico and Carlos prepare for their weddings, Tommy must reexamine his past relationship with his ex Mikey who had issues with the bottle in Boston. And with two potential love interests on the horizon, will it finally be Tommy's turn to walk down the aisle in his own necktie? 

To order the paperback version or ebook, click here. 

A Providence Throwback

It's hard to believe that it's been two years since I published my fifth novel Looking for Providence.

While I currently edit/revise my sixth novel to be called Six Neckties (an updated blog post to come soon), I thought it would be a fun flashback to post this video of me chatting about the Providence book at Boston's Channel 7, WHDH.  I was giddy (I think I was blushing throughout the interview) at the NBC affiliate that afternoon in downtown Boston.

Summer reads

Since publishing my first novel Boston Boys Club in 2007, my books have been associated with summer. They're light, fun and breezy reads, perfect for the beach or pool (and they make for good towel weights too.)

As I set my sights on finishing my next novel (working title is Six Neckties because it's my sixth book and the theme revolves around New England and Miami weddings), I hope you or one of your friends may consider one of my five novels for your summer travels.


The books are available on Amazon, at some Barnes and Noble stores, Books and Books in Coral Gables and Calamus Books in downtown Boston.  Happy summer and happy reading!

Below is a sweet review of the Spanish version of Take the Lead or Tomar La Iniciativa.  Gracias Gaby Franz por leer mi libro. :)

Debo reconocer que cuando leí el resumen de esta novela no me llamó mucho la atención. Pero como Johnny Diaz era un autor que nunca había leído le di una oportunidad. Y sólo puedo decirles que amé esta novela.

Ha llegado a mis manos en un momento en mi vida en el que me hizo revivir muchas cosas pasadas con mi padre. Desafortunadamente falleció hace casi dos meses y sentí en carne propia muchas de las vivencias de Gabriel, el protagonista de esta fantástica historia.

Un relato muy humano, muy real, creíble hasta la médula.

Ha pasado a ser una de mis historias favoritas.

Me enamoré de la forma de escribir de Johnny, de su forma de sentir, de su forma de expresar tanto sentimiento contenido.

Quiero darle las gracias al autor. Sé que sólo es una única palabra para tantas que me ha dado, para tantos recuerdos que me ha hecho revivir y volver a sentir y reír y llorar al mismo tiempo.

Esta tal vez es una reseña algo extraña, pero sólo me sale escribir qué sentía mientras leía y cómo me sentí al llegar al final: paz, esperanza, dolor liberado, entendimiento.

Oh Ogunquit

Folks have been asking me, "Johnny, what are you working on?" So I thought I'd post a little teaser about where the book will be set. 

Unlike my previous novels that were set in Boston, Providence and Miami, I'm shifting the story just a little north to Ogunquit.

Ogunquit? Maine? Oui, Ogunquit! When I lived in Boston for 10 years, I enjoyed embarking on day trips and the small artsy town of Ogunquit was one of my favorite destinations. Whether it was walking along the cliff walk where the Atlantic beach breezes greeted visitors or passing by the shoulder-to-shoulder small Victorian inns flanked by crushes of pansies, mums and other flowers, this small town was a New England post card come to life.

That's me on the right with my wingman in Ogunquit 

Even munching on a haddock fish sandwich was relaxing in Perkins Cove, the small harbor of lobster shacks, cedar-shingled shops and art stores. I enjoyed leaning against the dock's wood railing to watch the small collection of bobbing sailboats, fishing vessels and row boats. I always imagined, what would it be like to live here so I am setting a fictional story there. 

This book, to be called Six Neckties, centers around Tommy (yes, that Tommy Perez from Boston Boys Club and Beantown Cubans) who is always the best man but never the groom. He lives in Ogunquit where he's a New England-based correspondent for a national magazine. (Hey, it can happen.)  His assignments dispatch him to cover celebrity weddings and writing profiles of ordinary folks doing amazing things. On his down time, he winds up being the best man or giving the toast at his friends' weddings who all seem to be getting hitched since same sex marriage is legal in most states (including Florida!)  The book follows Tommy's search for his own groom.

I was up in Ogunquit recently snapping photos and doing research. I wanted to see how the town compared from my earlier trips in the summer. Two words: BRRRR and BRRRR!  It was a bone-rattling 30 degrees so the town was empty and everything was closed like something out of The Walking Dead but thankfully, no zombies.  As I wandered about, I felt like I had the whole place to myself which was cool and eerie at the same time. For my Dunkin' Donuts fix, I had to head over to the neighboring town of Wells.

Anyway, here are some photos from that trip.