Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure.

Pride in the Arts Award.

“This is an incredible book about the human condition and how one person striving for the good can, in the end, be a source of change.” –Rainbow Reviews

“A must read.” –Joe Wright, for StoneWall Society

“It's a very good story.” –HomoMojo

“In Degranon, author Duane Simolke establishes his voice in gay genre writing.” –X-Factor

“A reminder of the danger of fanaticism.” –Mark Kendrick, author of Stealing Some Time

“A fascinating scifi excursion.” –Ronald L. Donaghe, author of Cinátis

“DEGRANON is sci-fi that warrants the attention of any serious aficionado, gay or straight, fascinated by alien worlds that mirror our own world.” –William Maltese, author of Beyond Machu

The brilliant scientist Taldra loves her twin gay sons and thinks of them as the hope for Valchondria’s future, but one of them becomes entangled in the cult of Degranon, while the other becomes stranded on the other side of a doorway through time. Can they find their way home and help Taldra save their world?

Please also see We’re Glad Our Son Is Gay/Degranon Book Trailer and Science Fiction for Gay Readers.




Holding Me Together.

Pride in the Arts Award.

This collection, quoted by many authors and Web masters, includes the multi-part essay Reactions to Homophobia, followed by poems and short essays on a variety of topics, such as writing, AIDS, religion, violence, family, friendship, and gay relationships.

Home/Holding Book Trailer 1, Reactions to Homophobia Resources/Holding Book Trailer 2, Children in the Streets, Bareback. Now at a special low price, Holding Me Together: Kindle Format.


GeoCities is closing. Please point your link or bookmark to my domain name: http://DuaneSimolke.Com. You’ll keep finding my writing there.




The Acorn Stories.

Pride in the Arts Award.

“A lush tangle of small-town life branches out in this engrossing collection of short stories.” –Kirkus Discoveries

“The ability to depict such a wide cross section of humanity, including details of each character’s breadth of knowledge and experience, takes a talented, insightful author, and Duane Simolke is such a writer.” –E. Conley, Betty’s Books

“If you liked WINESBURG, OHIO…rejoice.” –Watchword

“A well-crafted collection of short stories.” –L. L. Lee, author of Taxing Tallula

“It was a real pleasure to read about the fictional town of Acorn, Texas.” –Mark Kendrick, author of Desert Sons

“Simolke makes good use of his vivid imagination in creating credible dialogue and satirical images.” –Huda Orfali, author of Blue Fire

“Each of Simolke's stories lets us look into the lives of some of the most interesting characters I have ever read about.” –Amos Lassen, Literary Pride

“When you finish, when you put the book aside, Acorn will still be with you.” –E. Carter Jones, author of Absence of Faith

Read the reviews at Kirkus, Amazon.Com, bn.com (2nd edition reviews), and bn.com (1st edition). Please also see Texas Fiction/Book Trailer and Acorn Chamber of Commerce.




Stein, Gender, Isolation, and Industrialism:
New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio.

This book examines Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, as it relates to Gertrude Stein, gender roles, gay subtext, failed communication, and the machine in the garden.

Gertrude Stein Links, Sherwood Anderson Links.


Join the fight against cancer!


The Acorn Gathering:
Writers Uniting Against Cancer.

From a scandal-rocked town in West Texas to the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Montana, these short stories take readers to surprising places in America and the human heart! I edited this fiction collection and wrote four of its stories. The talented and unique authors Jan Chandler (Austin, Texas), Shawna R. Van Arum (Lubbock, Texas), Huda Orfali (Damascus, Syria), Timothy Morris Taylor (Houston, Texas), and Bill Wetzel (Cut Bank, Montana) also contributed stories. All author and editor royalties from The Acorn Gathering go to the American Cancer Society!

Book Reviews, News and Authors, Cancer Fund-Raiser Preface.




The Return of Innocence.

Allbooks Reviewer’s Choice Award.

In this comical and magical novel, a young swordswoman learns that, sometimes, going home is the most dangerous adventure of all! Written with contributions by Toni Davis, from a short story I wrote in 1983.

The Return of Innocence blends humor and romance with exciting fantasy action. Visit Theln, a planet of magic, dragons, nobility, and heroes. Sasha Varov was born into a noble home in the Thelni kingdom of Jaan, but Sasha’s father dared to oppose the king’s sorcerer, Wuhrlock. Sasha and her family became exiles on a desolate island.

At sixteen, Sasha left her island home to buy seeds in Jaan. She stumbled into a series of misadventures that ended with the death of Wuhrlock and made Sasha a legend, known as “Innocence.” Never mind that the legend barely resembled the truth, or that Sasha caught Wuhrlock in an unguarded moment. When Sasha returned for more seeds, the people of Jaan expected her to defeat a much more ruthless and powerful sorcerer.



If you like my work, please support it by ordering one of my books at a local or online bookstore.