Carlos Hazday

To me, lots of discussion is a thrill. It tells me my work reached readers sufficiently to have them comment. So thank you all for the lively conversation. Colt's been a secondary character in the CJ series for a while. Mostly (maybe exclusively) when I've written scenes set in New York.

Hell, Wilton Manors is gossip monger central. It's so inbred everyone who wants to listen can hear anything. BTW, I've met those neighbors but we don't interact. In contrast the guys across the street and the ones in the other unit in my duplex I consider friends. In a smaller town, everyone living on the block would probably know everyone else's names. Funny you mention West Virginia. Last week I tried to include bungee jumping off the New River Gorge Bridge in a story. Unfortunately, the days the MC had available for doing it did not include Bridge Day. I sent him to Kings Dominion in Virginia instead.

I think you and Colt have a similar outlook. If you screw up, don't come back wanting to start again.

SPOILER: Colt eventually gets his shit together. LOL

Yep, he should have confronted Sam way before. Not sure the outcome would have varied much, though.

Nailed it! His mother didn't reject them but as is often the case, she would prefer to sweep unpleasant facts under the rug.

My characters have been accused of being too perfect in the past; it's refreshing to see at least some readers don't feel that way about Colt. I don't think he cares about how Sam feels these days, Colt did mention if Sam died he would not mourn. Harsh, immature, unforgiving, vindictive... call it whatever you want but it's his attitude. Since he doesn't care what other people in town think aboout him, he at last vented his anger. Personally, I would have simply moved away from Sam and not talked to him at all. The concept I was trying to get across is that in smaller communities more people tend to meddle and gossip than in larger areas. Maybe because in those town more residents know each other than in larger environments? I don't know the names of the two guys who live next to me.

I'm an equal opportunity detractor for all SEC teams.

Thanks for the praise. Is it immaturity or the need almost all of us have for acceptance? Some of us are unwilling to compromise. In his mid to late 20s, Colt's lived openly for a while and is not interested in hiding who he is. I think he had written Sam off a long time ago. If they had not bumped into each other, Colt would not have gone out of his way to put on a show at the diner. I doubt he was trying to get Sam's approval; as far as Colt was concerned, Sam was the past and should stay there.

That explains a lot. LOL I tried to show Colt having shed the Iowa persona and replaced it with a more aggressive Gotham attitude, so you nailed that part. I think if we embrace our surroundings like Colt's done with NYC, the city influences more than your options for eating out.

Aside from Sam, I did not detail any overt acts of rejection. But his previous actions and his mother's concerns are mostly about what others may think. That's based on personal experience. My mother was always worried about what others would think and say. Our fights were mostly because I didn't give a crap.

And here I thought it was because you hated the Crimson Tide. Take a look at my response to Parker's comment. The exodus to larger cities is common.

I'm a city boy and my area is, like NYC, LA, and a few other larger cities, a magnet for small town gay people seeking acceptance. My knowledge of those areas comes from friends. Hope I got it right.

The t-shirt was my way of showing Colt's lost some of the farm boy innocence and has adopted some of the 'in-your face' NYC attitude. Let's see if it works in the end.

I'm not sure it's always homophobia, with someone like Sam, it was obviously fear of what others' reactions would be.

I'm not sure Colt realized all he had been holding in for a while. I do think airing out his issues and having someone (even if Apollo's just a friend) and something new in his life will help him move forward.

I wiggled in the airplane seat, trying to find a comfortable position. Apollo had mauled my ass before driving me to the airport, and it felt as if his lamppost of a dick was still inside me. The man was hung. We had progressed from workout buddies to casual friends and after a gym planning lunch, we ended up in bed. We repeated the afternoon a few times over the subsequent months. It was now April, and the previous night he had spent at my place, so he could drive me out to Newark Airport t

Thanks. I've told people my stories are not meant to be read one-handed before. I include sex references/scenes when I think they're important to advancing the story. In Malibu I mentioned the MCs going at it in every chapter, because I wanted to show a couple of middle-aged DINKS going at it with abandon while on vacation. Here, Colt and Apollo ending up in bed is important to this story and future ones. A few raunchy words can get the idea across better than another description of inserting part A into slot B.

I read it first thing this morning.

I'm not always happy with what I produce but have felt less that way in the past year. Experience helps.

I like it when I can hook readers on my stories. LOL

I found one picture on Pinterest but it's rather small. When I enlarged it, you can tell the guys are stacked and appear well hung.

For someone in his line of work, 80 hours a week is probably a standard they often exceed. I think someone as big and hairy as Apollo could be intimidating. The guy smiles a lot, so that would soften his appearance enough to allow Colt to explore the personality without being repulsed or scared.

Thanks, bud. Glad you enjoyed it.

I do like humply men. LOL When's your birthday?