Troy Gurr lies before me, naked, vulnerable and spread over 195 pages. While most of us would be content with confiding in our best mate over a pint of beer at the pub, his autobiographical novel, Olive Juice, reveals all about his early love life after coming out at 26, and his longing desire to not only want, but to be wanted in return.

I met Troy in his Toorak apartment, where he resides with his life partner – his cat, Max; who actually appears in the novel but as Troy says, "I gave him a pseudonym just in case he tried to sue me. He’s a litigious little pussy." Troy’s dressed casually in jeans and a black t-shirt – there’s nothing in particular about him that would make him stand out in a crowd. He’s sitting before me in front of the fireplace; alternating between playing with his cat and eating a block of Cadbury’s chocolate I brought as a sweetener – I figure any hopeless romantic will open up over some cocoa-laden treats.

I asked him to explain what Olive Juice is about, but beneath protests he can’t succinctly summarise it, he concedes that it’s the story of his three failed relationships after coming out. "The first one ended because we slept together, the second one ended because we didn’t and the third one shouldn’t have even started because he was already sleeping with someone else." And the title? "When mouthed to someone, means ‘I love you’. It’s basically when you want to say I love you to somebody but you can’t." At this point I should interject and explain the full title is ‘Olive Juice And Other Things I Don’t Tell You’.

But Troy has told all within the pages of his novel, which prompts me to ask – with millions of hears being broken every day, what makes his love life so interesting and book-worthy? "It’s probably just that – that what I went through what everyone went through, only I did it at 26 instead of 16. There’s plenty of gay fiction out there, but there mostly AIDS memoirs or celebrity autobiographies or coming out or ‘coming to terms’ stories. I wanted to tell a love story. I’d lived a love story. I wish I’d read this when I had come out and started dating. It might have helped. I also like to think I was more honest than most. I did some bad things that I wouldn’t normally tell people, let alone write about. I like that I didn’t sugar-coat or omit because it was embarrassing."

I ask what the experience of writing the book was like, and Troy reaches for the cigarettes – Peter Jackson Super Mild, if you were curious. After taking his first puff, he exhales, "I only cried once, and the same scene still makes me a little sad. But I laughed out loud a lot, too. I tell people it was a cathartic exercise, but truth be told, it was nice to tell a story for the first time in my life where I wasn’t the supporting character or the comedic relief." Did the process of putting pen to paper make him wish that he had done anything differently? "I don’t know – it’s all made me the person I am today, and I like that person. If anything, the book’s taught me you can’t change – or get hung up on – the past."

Some factors of the past that may not react so flippantly are Troy’s three written-about lovers. How do they feel about being thrust centre-stage? "Well, once word of it got out, some were a little concerned. Others were a little tickled. One broke into my home to read it, and then tried to sweet-talk me to affect the outcome of his character. But this was never meant to be a vindictive thing – despite walking around at one point saying ‘don’t get mad, get published’ – it’s not really about them. I’ve protected their identity without compromising what happened. Besides, they knew I was a writer when they started dating me…"

So his emotions ravaged thrice, and then once again through the cathartic process of writing his novella, Troy’s heart has definitely been through the wringer. Beyond the hurt, the lies, and the humiliation, to cap off my time with him I had to ask if he still has faith in love. "I’m an optimist with a chip on my shoulder. I still very much believe in love and that I’m capable of it – I’m just wiser now. The things couldn’t happen to me now – well, they could, but they wouldn’t drag on for 67 pages."