Arthur Wooten has just published Fruit Cocktail, the follow-up to his 2005 novel On Picking Fruit. Arch, witty and also romantic, both books follow the travails of Curtis Jenkins as he navigates the path to true love.

Arthur Wooten was once an actor, then a Shiatsu practitioner and now he’s a bestselling author. You may have seen earlier incarnations of his work anthologised, or you may have seen one of his plays. One thing’s for sure, the man is highly adaptable and multi-talented. Having self-published his first novel, Wooten caught the eye of the people at Alyson who offered him a book deal, of which Fruit Cocktail is the final component.

Wooten describes these books as "autobiofictional," that is, names and identifying details have been blurred to protect those involved. But one of the qualities of this style of writing is that although it’s full of drama and pathos, the author is presenting scenarios to which many of us can relate, they have an undeniably broad appeal that, Wooten boasts, even straight people get.

So Fruit Cocktail follows yet more dating misadventures of our ill-fated hero Curtis Jenkins. Curtis has had so many dodgy dates with men that he’s written a book about them entitled, catchily, 101 Ways to Collide into Your Gay Soul Mate. Whilst on a book tour to promote this fine piece of high-minded literature, Curtis finds that men across the US are, well, perhaps not what he hoped they would be.

What works so well in this book, and the series, is Wooten’s choice of protagonist. Curtis is no youngster, not only is he middle-aged, he’s sexy with it. Given gay culture’s unfortunate obsession with youth, often to the detriment of older people, it is great to encounter somebody who busts open ageist stereotypes. That’s not all, Curtis is HIV+, a fact that does not define him but is just part of life.

Wooten has a great grasp of the dynamic between friends, and Curtis’ best friend Quinn is another one of the series’ highlights. They are a classic pairing, "like Lucy and Ethel," says Wooten in a recent interview, referring to the friends in the classic American sitcom I Love Lucy.

If you’re the kind of person who reaches for the remote control whenever a re-run of Sex and The City comes on, Wooten’s fiction is unlikely to be the kind of thing that you might want to read. At its worst, Fruit Cocktail slips into a hackneyed "Men! You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them!" line, and it’s hard to imagine how the author might sustain this entertainingly through the next book, or more if the series continues.

But despite its flaws, the book is unpredictable and madcap, Wooten’s prose cranks up the energy and then, whilst you’re laughing, brings you back down to earth with a poignant jab. As well as the laughs, Fruit Cocktail contains some unexpectedly moving passages, it’s campy but the book has heart.

By the way, the author is still single and looking for love.

Read our interview with Arthur Wooten Click here