JERY TILLOTSON

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The very few people who know me well will sometimes ask: "Who are you today?"
That's because I have several distinct literary alter egos I write under. Two of these beings are fairly well known: 'Jason Fury' and 'Andrea D'Allsandra.'
Another one has occasionally popped up, "'Big' Bill Jackson." Yet another one is writing Harry Potter type books. Her name is Kandy Kristmas and her first book, "Doofus, the Little Christmas Boy" quickly zoomed to the best-sellers list last year.
And when writing dozens of stories during the late seventies and eighties, I used so many pen names that one editor was convinced I was a literary agent who represented a roster of "gifted but decadent writers." Just some of the names I used and which attracted passionate fans were Jimmy Valentine, Korky Joe Kristable, Jerry Tucker, Sjorstrom Sudermann and Jimmy Jack Johnson.
When you grow up lonely in a tiny, isolated Southern town, you develop your own secretive ways of coping with an unfriendly and often hostile environment.
Although I had seven brothers and sisters, we mostly hated each other--although I did become close to two of my sisters. A younger brother became an alcoholic at fourteen and at the age 54 now resides in a nursing home in North Carolina. His old charm and wit sometimes comes through. My mother died April 29, 2003. Our relationship was torturous and grim. We were true strangers in every sense of the word. We had the rare good times but an intense quality of hostility and dissaproval on her part created a harsh relationship that I wanted no part of. Her ideas of what a "real boy" was supposed to be clashed violently against the type of person I was. Our battles were many. I experienced no grief when I heard she had passed on.
My father was beautiful enough to be a movie star--but he wanted to be left alone. He had a dreamworld he escaped into when he faced problems as a parent. He was too gentle for this world and should have never married. Instead of the dead-end jobs he usually found, I always thought he would have made a brilliant teacher or pastor of a church. With a sharp sense of style and fashion, he was a fashion plate to watch in our drab little cowtown. My mother was also considered a sharp dresser as were all her children. Clothes played a dynamic role in our upbringing.
Yet another brother, Robbie, became a famous artist, especially well known in the South. He was definitely gifted, brilliant but touched by madness. He was a troubled, tortured person who died of AIDS in l987. During his life, he wreaked havoc on everyone who came in contact with him. He was another family member that the rest of us learned early on to avoid. My mother taught him well.
The only reason I visit North Carolina now is to spend time with my sisters, Jennifer Miller and Nancy Freeman. We've grown close over the years.
Both in my home town and later in the colleges I attended, I was always regarded as the "freak...the queer...the homo...fag." This didn't really bother since my mother had been calling me those names all my life so I had become used to it.
Although I had to contend with the usual deadbeat bigots in college, I became intimate with a number of jocks. They were my favorite people to hang around with. The ones I knew back then were nonjudgemental of my lifestyle and enjoyed my quirky sense of humor.
I've written about them in my fiction, especially in "Eric's Body" and "Naked Fury." Many other stories that appeared in all the top gay magazines of the 80s were literal pages from my journals.
After a career in journalism for l5 years, I moved to New York City in l979 and have enjoyed a successful career as writer.
When the "Plague Years" began to receive coverage in l980, the landscape changed forever here in Manhattan. AIDS and its horrific aftermath destroyed the feverish exhiliration of being a sexually free male in the world's most hedonistic metropolis.
My novel, "The Rope Above, the Bed Below" has been recognized at last as the parable I meant it to be when it appeared in l993. Although I never mention AIDS, readers quickly understood that the nightmarish world I describe is exactly how my city had become.
Over the years, I've developed an intense loathing of being pigeon-holed into the very narrow niche of "gay." I didn't mind this during the 70s and 80s. It was a much nicer label than the one I had usually heard all my life,like "faggot", "homo", "freak," "cocksucker," "girl boy." But the label of "gay" has become so homogenized that it means nothing anymore. I think of myself as just as a "person."
I don't like belonging to any group. When you're a member of a "group," then you're not an individual. I like being around natural people. Their sexual orientation, ethnic background, skin color means nothing to me.
I see very few people today. As far as having a boyfriend, there is none right now. I'm in no hurry. Sometimes I prefer the fantasy of the perfect boyfriend than the real thing.
Although Manhattan has some fascinating men of all backgrounds and colors, I still prefer those who live in the South and those in North Dakota. They have a unique charm and beauty found nowhere else on earth. My year in Fargo, N.D. was one of the most romantic I have ever spent anywhere.
When I tell people this they stare at me in disbelief. The men there were simple, down-to-earth with no hangups. Like the jocks in college, they were non-judgemental and enjoyed male-male friendships.

READER'S CORNER!

June-July 2008
Here's some recent fan mail for both Jason Fury and Andrea D'Allasandra:
"Hi Jason Fury!
Some of us here at Vanderbilt Universty have been reading your story collection, Eric's Body. The stories are great and we wonder if you're writing a sequel--to let us know what happened to this gallery of fascinating guys! By the way, we're all gals--but we have several gay buddies who recommended this book to us. Just wanted you to know in case somebody says you've only got gay guys reading your stuff! You're a terrif writer!"
Susie and Kimberly and Dawn of Vanderbilt!
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Dear Jason Fury--
I am enjoying your stories. I have just started reading your work because of the reviews I saw on the Amazon and Barnes and Noble websites. I like your stories because the men are down-to-earth and real. I hate gay stories that always take place in bars and big cities. I live in a rural area so it gets lonesome here. I would like to meet you and take you to dinner since I plan on visiting New York City this Christmas. I'm considered handsome and safe and pleasant."
Kirby of Dallas
Jason Fury replies: "Hi Kirby. I would enjoy meeting you somewhere in my new hometown of Wilmington, N.C. YOu name the place and the time.
***
"Dear Andrea: I have really enjoyed your scary stories and books! I've just finished The Master of Hell Mountain and it was fabulous! Sexy, creepy and very believable. I felt like I was really there. Billy Mulligan is one dude I'd love to meet--if somebody had a chain on him. Dangerous but gorgeous. A real turn-on!"
Gloria of Prattville, Alabama
***
"Greetings to you, Mr. Jery, from the big, grand Soviet Union! I am Arkady and I have recently read your really good books. I want to tell you that I like them very much. My English is not so good as of this moment but I am working hard on my English. I would like to visit with you if I come to America. My favorite of your good books are: Eric's Body and His Eyes Were Dark, He licked His lips. I am also ordering my copies of your books written as the beautiful Andrea D'Allasandra. Other people like your books, too. Gay people are just now coming out into our public here. They are still nervous. It is not like it is in your United States. There are now gay bars and places for gay people. Things are slowly improving here. Good bye, Jery and company. I am your good friend and reader, Arkady Bolobodorev."
***
My reply to Arkady: "Hi Arkady! I always love to hear from my readers, and especially those so far away as in Russia. For some reason, I have received many letters and cards over the years from Russian men and women who have read my work. Some of my favorite people in New York City were Russian men. I find them charming, very droll and witty and they like to live on the edge. They remind me of guys from Texas and from Australia. There's nothing timid or retiring about them!"

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"Dear Jery and Jason and Andrea! I love your website. I have all of your books, including the memoirs of that devastating hunk, 'Big' Bill Jackson. When is Big Bill ever going to write a sequel to EIGHTH WONDER? Also, I understand that you, Jason, are working on a new collection of scary and sexy ghost stories. Will they be published anytime soon? I loved your SECRET OF JIMMY X. I've visited Asheville several times and I returned again in fall, just to savor it anew after reading your tales of spooky, sexy nightmares. I am sending you my latest picture. I work out every weekend and strip for fun. I am in my early forties. I want to meet someone sexy and handsome. Any suggestions? Angel Rivera, Pasadena, CAL.
Jery's reply: "Thanks Angel for your note and I don't think you'll have any problems at all in meeting someone. Confidential to Tom W. of Newark, NJ: "I'm no professional counselor but I would definitely NOT get into that scene unless you're completely aware of the risks involved. When you're doing something that dramatic to your body, the dangers become real. When you're even piercing and tattooing your body, you're already messing with Mother Nature. But what you're planning to do, goes beyond all that. Be very careful! And that's a word from your Mama!"

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