Turning Away

I would never ever expect my readers to fully remember everything that has happened in prior books. I certainly don't commit everything to memory when I read novels. We do it for entertainment. However, I'm wondering if there is anyone out there who might remember Kenneth. I brought back a very minor character. He has appeared on a few occasions before.

Kenneth was the cop that told Jakob it was safer to be in the shelter than sleep on the park bench. He also was the person who Graham, Jakob's former roommate, wound up with. One day, I'd love to do a one-off story about that couple. Kenneth even pulled over Cooper early on in Coffee at 9. 

Click here to read the specific chapter in Book Four, Ascension: Jakob's Ladder, Chapter 11.

None of this is relevant, of course. It has nothing to do with the plot. It was fun to just drop an Easter Egg in there.

The real development here is Mitchell understanding different types of men. Gay men are no different than straight in terms of everyone has their own life to lead, but we gay men have different challenges that straight males don't. Kenneth exemplifies one such situation.

Click here to read Say Goodbye to Sparkleland, Chap. 13.

Among my readers are those that live similar lives. They don't feel they can ever be honest with their families. And this decision is up to them, and I would never advise them to think any other way because I haven't lived a day in their shoes. 

I do have a friend who really loved someone, and he loved him back. They were a great couple for a couple of years. But then, the boyfriend — who was a youth minister! — made the decision that he couldn't live a gay life and was attempting to change to a straight one. I heard he even got married. My friend, however, truly loved him and was crushed. Like Kenneth, it was not a promising future. 

But what can one do?

It's a shame that people are subjected to such pressures and fears and crushing expectations. I do hope that as the world sees more and more gay people living healthy, normal lives that the prejudice and misconceptions decrease. 

2,700 Pages

2024 seems to be just zipping along.

We are just a couple of months away from it being four years since the pandemic became a global crisis. It's almost hard to believe that moment is so far in the rearview mirror. For the most part, people don't find silver linings when recalling the pandemic. For me, the stay-at-home situation provided me an opportunity to clean like mad and to find something I had scribbled down years and years earlier. Those hand-written pages could have been discarded, but on a whim, I typed them up. Those became the first two chapters of Extracurricular. I had no intention of writing books. It was just erotic smut at that point. But my life changed forever. I was captured by writing. After writing for the enjoyment of it, I began posting almost three years ago.

This week I wondered if I had reached 2,500 pages of material. After adding it up, I have surpassed 2,700 pages. That should be frightening — since I had no intention of book writing becoming a hobby. But it has become a huge reward in my life. I enjoy creating these characters. The fact that readers have come along for the ride with me is simply extraordinary.

Four years ago, there was no Jakob, no Cooper, no Laramie, no Corey and Aiden. Although these characters are just fictional individuals that live on the computer screen, I'm glad they are in my life, unreal as they are. It's astonishing how sometimes a character just takes off and their story starts to write itself. It's a joy as an author.

I've learned a lot, often from readers. A reader taught me that people in AA are encouraged not to date the first year. I included that in the story, further bringing authenticity to Lance's story. I learned there is no period in Dr Pepper. And I've learned a lot of personal stories that readers have been gracious enough to share with me. I feel we are friends and certainly connected.

I thought when Extracurricular ended, that was it. But then I wanted to write more and flipped the script to make Trent the protagonist instead of Mike. Lance became fascinating to me and was soon a favorite character, and in time I wanted to tell his story. It should have just been a trilogy, but it happened again with Jakob. Then Cooper. Then Laramie. By the end of Book Six, I knew Aiden and Corey could have a different kind of love story, one of friendship, so I challenged myself to write it.

Things have changed since my college days. The world is more understanding and progressive, but I'm quite confident that people's feelings aren't dramatically different. Everyone goes through personal struggles and their own worries. Those insecurities and quirks in each of us are what makes the characters in my books feel real to me.

In this latest chapter, Aiden fucks someone for the first time. That's a universal feeling — the ball of nervousness and excitement and anxiety that such an act entails.

Click here to read Chap. 7 of A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate.

The transition from adolescence to young adult is fraught with peer pressure and uncertainty. The desire to be your own person and yet fit into society is typically not an easy procedure. I've enjoyed watching Aiden find himself at college. He's gone from a loner in high school to being a principal figure in building a second family on campus. We feel for him wishing he could have something that can't change, yet somehow he and Corey make it work, creating a kind of love in a different way.

The further we get into the story, the more the characters are developing. Forrest and Manny are becoming more interesting to me, so much so that I have made them principal characters. (When I was outlining the book, they didn't even exist.) I'm enjoying figuring out Ace's and Geoff's flaws and strengths, wondering where to take them. Is someone growing on you?

It was a long chapter. I hope you found something in it you liked.

Book One, Extracurricular
Book Two, If It Weren't For the Two of Us
Book Three, Hi, I'm Lance
Book Four, Ascension: Jakob's Ladder
Book Five, Coffee at 9
Book Six, Laramie
Book Seven, Say Goodbye to Sparkleland
Book Eight, A Bed, A Desk and My Unfortunate Soulmate

Apps

This chapter of Say Goodbye to Sparkleland has a backstory.

Click here to read Chap. 11.

It was fun for me to write Mitchell's reaction to dating apps, which for all intents and purposes are hookup apps.

As a person in a long-term relationship, I have not had the need — or interest — in such apps. But that's me. Not everybody. There are many gay apps out there with millions of people on them. 

In a slight way, this chapter is true. Last summer, friends and I were sharing a hotel room at a resort. My other half and I were arriving later. By the time we got there, a close friend was at the bar, saying his day had started out well. He was able to check into the room first, and he said he had already hooked up with someone. When I inquired where, he said in a matter-of-fact way, "Our room."

I was astonished. He hadn't been able to check in that much sooner than our arrival. He said it was some guy at the resort who "didn't have much time" because his wife and kids were at the pool. That, too, blew me away. But again, that's me. Not everybody.

My reaction to it convinced me that it needed to be in a chapter at some point. I thought it fit Mitch's book perfectly.

So what about you?? Do you love these apps? Did you actually find someone you were looking for? Nightmare situations? Do you dabble or are you a frequent visitor? I'd be fascinated to hear your stories. Email me or post in the comments. I'm an advocate for love stories, so this isn't my wheelhouse. Teach me.