The alleged Vincent Diamond (vincentdiamond.com) is a Central Florida writer who once drove from Tampa to Anchorage, Alaska in the days before the Alcan Highway was paved. Once. Like many writers, Diamond has had an odd assortment of day jobs that included being an inventory auditor, a pet sitter, a graduate student in Criminology, and a data entry drone. For the past few years, Diamond has written, edited, and proofread for various publishers. Time away from the keyboard is spent trying to pick up the correct diagonal at the trot, collecting caladiums, and pondering the beauty of tigers.

Diamond’s erotic short fiction has been finally collected together under one cover in Rough Cut, a book of sensual encounters between real men that will leave readers feverish to turn the next page. I was fortunate to have the chance to speak with Diamond.

MS: Vincent, so after I read over your collection—very sexy stories, by the way—I'm really curious what you yourself find most alluring: a wounded cowboy limping back to the rodeo or the athlete soaking in a hot bath? And don't skimp on the why.

VD: Oh good grief, already you're starting with the impossible questions? How can anyone resist the cowboy—wet, gritty, smelling of horse and leather and sweat, a man who can lasso a steer, ride a bronc, or take you for the ride of your life. But then, a fit jock, all muscles and shoulders and legs, with taut abs and a thick neck and that kinda macho shithead attitude that many jocks have. And the slippery soaking in the tub with bath oils and bubbles and...

Uh, excuse me a few minutes, 'kay? I'll be right back.

MS: So, I noticed that several of the stories feature the same characters, creating a mosaic of relationships. Did you decide early on to revisit these characters or did you find yourself going through withdrawal, missing these men after you left them?

VD: I'm one of those sappy types who kinda falls in love with my characters. Honestly, the main guys: Steven and Conrad, Marcus and David, Sandy and Tanner? I'd fuck 'em all. Really. Maybe not all at once but you know what I mean.

Some of the characters seemed to demand more stories. It all started with "Deep Trouble Undercover" and the whole cop scenario really grabbed me by the—throat. I went to grad school with cops and listening to them talk about working undercover was fascinating. And listening to what they didn't say about undercover was even more fascinating. It's really a tough line to walk.

In putting together the stories for the collection, it was interesting to see how the characters were developing relationships on the page that I hadn't necessarily intended in the first place. Steven and Conrad were always on ongoing long-term thing, though I don't think there's a classic happy ending with those two. (If I ever get off my ass and write them all). But David and Marcus, the thoroughbred owner and the farm intern kinda surprised me. They were supposed to be a bit of a one-off, but that's not how they turned out.

MS: Who's your favorite guy from the book? And what porn star would play him on the video? What legit actor would portray the porn star playing your character?

VD: Right now, my favorite character is Tanner, the tattooed ex-con who hooks up with a former cop. Naturally, fireworks ensue. Or volcanoes. Or at least something like lava flowing. Oh, never mind. I've also written two non-erotica stories with him as the main character, and I've ambitions to write a novel about him.

As to porn question, I can't really answer that. Legit actors? I guess a young Val Kilmer in his Iceman personae could play Steven in the Steven/Conrad series: all that tall, blond, lankiness going on. As for Conrad, heh heh heh. It's pretty obvious. And I did used to have a bad thang for Lou Diamond Phillips. Just sayin'.