“My models are sort of the strongmen of my dreams,” Michael Alago told us when we first ran a piece on his hot-daddy photobook rough gods.

Now he tells us he’s working on a new book, due out next summer, called road trips. And guess what? — it will feature even more of those big, nasty, tattooed Daddies that made our heart go pitter-pat the first time around.

“Most of the men I shoot are in their 30’s and 40’s,” Michael confides, adding “I love this age group, especially when a mature man has a big hulky body and a daddy-like quality. These men exude sex. They have lived their lives and it shows in the way they carry themselves.”

Ah yes, big-titted pecs and a dirty look — always pure heaven!

And can we make a confession of our own? We can never look at Michael’s men without feeling like a character in Gaywyck, that dizzy homo retelling of Jane Eyre where the prose runs the deepest purple.

In this Gothic novel, we find ourselves in the slender frame of a prim, young lad with “pellucid green eyes,” who is repeatedly described as being “almost too beautiful” (squeal! It’s the almost part that keep us decent). Anyway, as Robert we are about to enter the employ of a dark, brooding Daddy, the lord of the sinister manor house Gaywyck.

Who can ever forget the woozy cover blurbs?

Robert…..with his soft blond hair, emerald eyes, and porcelain skin, Robert was almost too beautiful to be alive. He was only 17 when he went to Gaywyck to catalogue the vast library, never expecting to be flung into a terrifying web of danger and lust.

Well, Danger and Lust has ever been our middle name. And it warms our heart that Robert (please don’t call him Bobby) is a librarian — our own fall-back career path had the porn not panned out.

Now what about that Daddy? That difficult, demanding, haunted persona that Michael Alago’s photos never fail to conjure for us?

Donough….The master of Gaywyck was the epitome of elegance and sophistication, it was only his brooding Irish good looks that hinted at the fires raging beneath the surface. Though he longed to return young Robert’s love, Donough was haunted by the dark sexual secrets of his past.

Slowly, breathlessly, the passions of Donough and Robert rise to a towering crescendo. But the lovers are unaware of the hidden evil that is watching…waiting….determined to destroy them.

Do we have to tell you that this towering inferno of manlove was on the New York Times bestsellers list for two months? That it was considered “ground breaking” for being the first gay romance novel — maybe the only one ever — to break into the top ten?

Gaywyck is now out of print but thanks to the wide global reach of Amazon, it can still be had . Also available is Michael Alago’s first book rough gods

Samples of Michael new work, some of which are shown here, are currently on display at New York’s Lesbian and Gay Center. They will be up during the entire Gay Pride season, right through to August 11.

We recommend the show to all of our readers who may be the area for the festivities.

ATTENTION INNER CIRCLE MEMBERS: See more of Michael Alago’s work in our exclusive rough gods photo gallery.
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©2006 Nightcharm