It Started With Brian

[Square]

Thank you for the information. I don't post much and I am pretty picky about the stories that I read, but this story really caught me.

 

Thank you for continuing this story. I am sure that however you complete it will be the correct way.

 

I am sorry for your, and his family's, loss.

[hh5]

I am sorry to hear about the loss.

 

I look forward to reading what happen to Dan after finding peace with himself.

I am surprise such events occur in the 1990s

I got the impression this story would be of 50s to 70s

 

RIP DAN

 

SAM your story will live on forever

[DanK]

This is Adam, posting from Dan's account. Chapter 19 of his story It Started With Brian has been posted to the eFiction section.

 

It Started With Brian, Chapter 19

 

It's funny--I never met Dan face to face. But I hurt over the loss of him as if I'd known him face to face for years.

 

I am honored and humbled that he was willing to entrust the completion of his story to me. As I've mentioned, this is a true story, and he had his own special reasons for wanting to share it.

 

I have tried to use Dan's words verbatim as much as possible. I've had to do some fairly significant filling in, though, and as many of you have noted, my style is very different from his. At first I tried to stay with his style, but discovered that that sort of thing is impossible with a person of my limited literary ability. So, what I end up with is writing that's not his style and not mine, either. There are sections that are his, word for word, intermixed with material I've had to write myself, trying as much as I can to capture his way of saying it.

 

By and large, then, if the writing leaves a bit to be desired in your eyes, the fault is mine. Try to focus on the story rather than the style.

 

--Adam Phillips

[Mark Arbour]

This is Adam, posting from Dan's account. Chapter 19 of his story It Started With Brian has been posted to the eFiction section.

 

It Started With Brian, Chapter 19

 

It's funny--I never met Dan face to face. But I hurt over the loss of him as if I'd known him face to face for years.

 

I am honored and humbled that he was willing to entrust the completion of his story to me. As I've mentioned, this is a true story, and he had his own special reasons for wanting to share it.

 

I have tried to use Dan's words verbatim as much as possible. I've had to do some fairly significant filling in, though, and as many of you have noted, my style is very different from his. At first I tried to stay with his style, but discovered that that sort of thing is impossible with a person of my limited literary ability. So, what I end up with is writing that's not his style and not mine, either. There are sections that are his, word for word, intermixed with material I've had to write myself, trying as much as I can to capture his way of saying it.

 

By and large, then, if the writing leaves a bit to be desired in your eyes, the fault is mine. Try to focus on the story rather than the style.

 

--Adam Phillips

"Limited Literary ability" my ass. Adam is a good friend of mine, and one of the best writers on the web. If you haven't read his work, I recommend that you do. You can find his stuff at his group:

 

Adam Phillips' Group

 

or at Archerland. You'll find that the time, effort, love, and energy he's putting into this story is the same kind of emotion and energy he puts into his own stories, and quite frankly, into everything he does.

[Adam Phillips]

Chapters 20 and 21 of It Started With Brian have been posted.

 

It looks to me, from working through his notes, that the story will finish with a total of 29 chapters. So you can see we're on the home stretch.

 

I wanted to bring up a topic that has been both intriguing and vexing to me.

 

Those of you who have read Chapter 21 (won't spoil it just yet, so go read it), are likely to reach the end of the chapter and think to yourself, "Oh brother, not again!" There's a sense in which, from a literary standpoint, anyway, a writer is asking a whole lot of his readers when he keeps subjecting them to the same situation over and over again.

 

If I were making this story up from scratch, I'd take that strongly to heart, and would probably plot the story somewhat differently.

 

But this isn't a story I'm making up from scratch. It wasn't even a story Dan made up from scratch. It's the story of his life. And I'll be damned if I'm not going to represent it accurately now that he's gone.

 

So when you encounter motifs in the story that seem repetitive and feel like literary overkill, just remember that this isn't your standard-issue piece of gay erotic fiction. This is autobiography.

 

I'm glad so many of you have stayed with Dan's story. I hope you'll hang in there to the end of it. It won't be too much longer, and you won't be sorry.

 

--Adam Phillips

[Cynical Romantic]

Adam, kudos to you for keeping this story going and getting Dan's tale told. It's not only a great read, it's the story of a man's extraordinary life.

[Former Member]

Adam, thank you for continuing with the story. I am looking forward to seeing where Dan's tale leads.

[Adam Phillips]

I've just posted Chapter 22 of Dan's story, It Started With Brian, in the eFiction section.

 

https://www.gayauthors.org/efiction/viewsto...&chapter=22

 

I hope the remaining chapters will be coming a lot more quickly now.

 

 

Adam Phillips

[DanK]

C

[methodwriter85]

I don't normally advocate violence, but god I wish someone had taken a baseball bat to Neal's head.

 

My sister got stalked by an ex-boyfriend for about a year- he stopped, but god that was some of the scariest crap my family ever's gone through. I couldn't imagine dealing with it for a decade or so like Sam did.

 

And "RipTide"...hmm. Sounds like a good story.

[hh5]

I HATE Neal!!

 

I expected better of Joshua like integrity but maybe sam is giving him the better of the doubt

 

but Sam is consistent to not let Chris get hurt.

 

Joshua should understand that!

[Adam Phillips]

I HATE Neal!!

 

I expected better of Joshua like integrity but maybe sam is giving him the better of the doubt

 

but Sam is consistent to not let Chris get hurt.

 

Joshua should understand that!

I'd feel the same way, but in conversations with Dan he was always clear that, though what Jonah did hurt Sam and Jonah has his own share of the blame to carry, the way Sam dealt with the whole situation--utterly shutting Jonah out, and being utterly unwilling (or unable) to let Jonah know the problem--forced Jonah to draw his own conclusions; and when a guy recoils from your touch, how can you not help concluding that the guy finds you repellant? Dan has also mentioned within the story that Jonah was very insecure. It's also the case that for Jonah, physical touch, physical intimacy, equalled love. Rejected by Sam, he was soaking up as much love and affirmation as he could, for anyone who'd give it. That he went about it the wrong way goes without saying. But Sam always had sympathy and understanding for Jonah, and he accepted the lion's share of the blame for what went wrong.

 

Don't misunderstand me--I think in the story Sam's the good guy. It's just that I think it's unfair to put all the blame on Jonah. Sam definitely has his share.

 

Also, from here on out, for the sake of clarity I'm going to stop fussing around with the Dan/Sam distinction. Many of his readers already know this, but "Dan Kincaid" was a pseudonym Sam adopted for the sole purpose of writing this story. His name really was Sam. The rest of the names in It Started With Brian are pseudonymous, but for reasons I won't go into, Sam kept his real name when naming the protagonist of It Started With Brian.

 

Adam

Edited March 18, 2009 by AdamP

[hh5]

I'd feel the same way, but in conversations with Dan he was always clear that, though what Jonah did hurt Sam and Jonah has his own share of the blame to carry, the way Sam dealt with the whole situation--utterly shutting Jonah out, and being utterly unwilling (or unable) to let Jonah know the problem--forced Jonah to draw his own conclusions; and when a guy recoils from your touch, how can you not help concluding that the guy finds you repellant? Dan has also mentioned within the story that Jonah was very insecure. It's also the case that for Jonah, physical touch, physical intimacy, equalled love. Rejected by Sam, he was soaking up as much love and affirmation as he could, for anyone who'd give it. That he went about it the wrong way goes without saying. But Sam always had sympathy and understanding for Jonah, and he accepted the lion's share of the blame for what went wrong.

 

Don't misunderstand me--I think in the story Sam's the good guy. It's just that I think it's unfair to put all the blame on Jonah. Sam definitely has his share.

 

Also, from here on out, for the sake of clarity I'm going to stop fussing around with the Dan/Sam distinction. Many of his readers already know this, but "Dan Kincaid" was a pseudonym Sam adopted for the sole purpose of writing this story. His name really was Sam. The rest of the names in It Started With Brian are pseudonymous, but for reasons I won't go into, Sam kept his real name when naming the protagonist of It Started With Brian.

 

Adam

Oh - I get that Sam is the good guy. Thanks for the clarification for Jonah. I do understand the need for the physical in order to feel love. - That does explain that the bit of the blame for Sam was shutting out Jonah. - Its just that - I hate Neal - punching a hole - in someone life - when its really Neal own fault.

 

Much like the economy is punching a hole in our lives.

[Former Member]

Once again Adam, thank you so much for finishing Sam's story. You're doing an amazing job. Each chapter draws me deeper and deeper into the story. Thank you.

[Adam Phillips]

I've just posted a new chapter of Sam's story, It Started With Brian, to the eFiction section:

 

Chapter 23

 

From here on out I'm not going to refer to Sam as "Dan" anymore. There were reasons he began writing under a pseudonym, and of course I have to use his "Dan Kincaid" account to post in the eFiction Announcements section. But now that he has died, I think it's not so important to preserve the pseudonym. I haven't asked his man specifically about this, but I have reason to believe that he's in agreement.

 

The chapters are going to get easier for me to write from here to the end, I think. I should also tell you that, though the material I'm working with right now is just Sam's notes, before Sam died he wrote out the final chapter himself. So the very end of the tale will be authored word for word by Sam. Somehow I think that's fitting. That's still a few chapters away, though.

 

I miss him so much, and I'm honored to bring you his story.

 

--Adam Phillips

[blksantos]

Hi Adam!

 

I've been reading ISWB for a time now. I commend your passion and dedication in continuing Sam's story. It's a heartbreaking tale that I can relate to as much as Sam can relate to Drew's story and although it made me cry there is a sense of hope of overcoming my, Sam's and Drew's trials. How wonderful an "internet story" could bring strangers together and experience them in the most intimate way. Adam, thank you for finishing this and to Sam-Dan- you're an inspiration and i hope you're happy wherever you are right now because you deserve it. I may not know you personally but I want you to know you have a special place in my heart.

 

 

Blake

[Adam Phillips]

Hi Adam!

 

I've been reading ISWB for a time now. I commend your passion and dedication in continuing Sam's story. It's a heartbreaking tale that I can relate to as much as Sam can relate to Drew's story and although it made me cry there is a sense of hope of overcoming my, Sam's and Drew's trials. How wonderful an "internet story" could bring strangers together and experience them in the most intimate way. Adam, thank you for finishing this and to Sam-Dan- you're an inspiration and i hope you're happy wherever you are right now because you deserve it. I may not know you personally but I want you to know you have a special place in my heart.

 

 

Blake

Thanks for the kind words, Blake. By the way, if you're interested, I could probably direct you to "Rip Current" and Drew's own story and group. You're right--it's amazing that one random guy's story on the internet could have such a powerful impact on another guy's life. I'll bet that Drew himself is sort of blown away by it.

 

--Adam Phillips

Edited April 3, 2009 by AdamP

[Former Member]

I'm so glad Sam is reaching out to Brian. I hope they both can help each other on the road towards healing. I'm excited to see where the next chapter leads.

 

Thank you again Adam.

[blksantos]

Thanks for the kind words, Blake. By the way, if you're interested, I could probably direct you to "Rip Current" and Drew's own story and group. You're right--it's amazing that one random guy's story on the internet could have such a powerful impact on another guy's life. I'll bet that Drew himself is sort of blown away by it.

 

--Adam Phillips

You deserve it Adam! I wish I could have personally thanked Sam. His story had affected me so much and that's why I still have hope in life. I know it sounds cheesy but that's the truth. And about that Drew's story, I would love to!Thanks again Adam. I can't wait to see what happens in the end.

 

 

Blake

[Adam Phillips]

And about that Drew's story, I would love to!

 

 

Blake

I sent a message to your gayauthors inbox with the relevant information.

[Adam Phillips]

This isn't really relevant to It Started With Brian, but I thought I'd mention that I've started a blog here at gayauthors. If you're interested, I'd love it if you'd stop by.

 

--Adam

[Adam Phillips]

Chapter 24 of It Started With Brian has been posted to the eFiction section.

 

I'm starting to see light at the end of Sam's tunnel! Three more chapters that I have to create from his notes; the very last chapter he wrote himself. It's only fitting that Sam should get the first and last word on his story.

 

Man, I miss him. I wish he'd have been able to read the story to the end. But then, he lived it, so I guess it doesn't matter.

 

--Adam Phillips

[Cynical Romantic]

I think it's amazing that you're keeping this going and telling Sam's story.

 

These past couple of chapters must have been a bit weird for you to write, no? I mean, writing about yourself in the third person and all?

[Adam Phillips]

I think it's amazing that you're keeping this going and telling Sam's story.

 

These past couple of chapters must have been a bit weird for you to write, no? I mean, writing about yourself in the third person and all?

 

Yeah. Very weird.

[Adam Phillips]

I think it's amazing that you're keeping this going and telling Sam's story.

I made a promise to Sam. He wanted this story to be finished. Short of getting hit by a truck, I intend to keep my promise.

 

There are five chapters to go. I'll only need to work on four of them, because Sam wrote the final chapter himself. It means a lot to me that It Started With Brian will get to end with Sam having the final word.

 

--Adam