The London Olympics are over.  The Rio Olympics are four years away, with only unglamorous Russia to distract in between.  It’s kinda like that downer point I hit on every international trip, where I’ve had loads of fun eating and shopping and carrying on, but now I’ve checked out of the hotel room — the Fun is over, and there’s still a 10-, 12-, or 14-hour flight between me and my bed.  Boo.

Luckily, Gold-Medal Cutie Patootie Matthew Mitcham doesn’t seem to feel any such post-London depression.  As you see, he has taken his trusty ukulele and galavanted off to Rome, from which hot spot he does us the twin favors of taking off most of his clothes and reinterpreting my very favorite B-52s ditty.

If it’s the sudden dearth of half-naked hot guys that has you missing the Olympics, then, take heart: not only have we apparently not seen the last of Matthew Mitcham (which is already something for which to be plenty grateful), but this Friday, August 31st, we will herald the release of the new anthology, Going for Gold (which you can buy here),a collection of Olympic-themed M/M romantic shorts curated by EM Lynley.  “In this collection of stories,” says Lynley’s blog, “you’ll find there’s a lot more to competing at Olympic level than being the best in one’s field. Expectations and pressures from family, friends, coaches and country add up, and sometimes it’s only the love of the right man who can make the effort worth it. And sometimes, love is more important than going for gold.”

My story in Going for Gold isn’t about diving (don’t fret, Nico Jaye’s is), and it certainly isn’t about Matthew Mitcham, but it is about a hotty named Beau and his life’s ambition to compete in the Olympics.  Not because he’s the World’s Greatest Athlete, you understand, but because he’s “ass-over-teakettle nuts about jocks” and longs to use the Olympic Village as the world’s largest Man Buffet.  In short, he is convinced that the Olympics would be a great place to be gay, and if Matthew Mitcham doesn’t make being a gay Olympian look like a blast, then nothing will.

So if you’ve been going through Olympics withdrawal, pining over Chad Le Clos and Danell Leyva on an endless YouTube loop, stay tuned.  I’ll post all the pertinent info on where and how to get your very own copy of Going for Gold when it is released on Friday, and you’ll feel like you’re right back in London.  And it’ll be way better than the TV coverage was; you’ll get all the drama, you’ll get all the poignant backstory, and we didn’t edit out any of the sexy parts!