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It's a brotherly thing maybe they both have in common, Toby was fucking Mikey, or intending to, and he assumed, probably correctly, Ryan would fuck Connor.

I have always found it unbelievable that two teenage boys would have some kind of romance other than a sexual entanglement. Toby and Mikey seems normal, Connor and Ryan a little weird.

Yep, now we're getting to the bare bones... something must happen!

The end of this chapter lays it on a bit thick, repeating the sorry situation Connor finds himself in. A terrible mother, her boyfriend the lumberjack, endless drug taking and continuous beatings, love lost with his only friend in the world, Ryan, and bullied at school by Trent Lomax. As the days and weeks went by, the talent contest drew nearer actually it's only two weeks away! Connor takes car of everything at home, earns a living, pays the bills, keeps doctors and social services at bay, endures bullying and beatings, sleeps on a dirty mattress in a filthy trailer, but manages to still be a good student. It's unbelievably too much, so over the top it is not realistic. If this is supposed to be a slice of life, coming of age, coming out, finding love, drama, I'm sorry but it fails by being unrealistic and rather extremely unrealistic. Maybe it gets better after the talent contest, but this seems like a build up to a reconciliation with the brothers, Ryan and Toby, and maybe the best friend of Ryan and the group of friends. If it turns out to be another punch in the gut then I don't know where this story is going?

You and me both. It's one of the few stories that hooked me so much I don't care about any little inconsistencies, I'm still reading it. The most interesting aspect is the two brothers, Toby and Ryan, that is clever, entertaining, poses lots of questions, and I don't think has been done before.

Wow, pretty much expected when Toby asked for a proper kiss. Only question is why did Ryan walk in on them? One little point, Toby was smoking on the terrace at breakfast and his mother kissed him goodbye before going off. Surely she would smell the tobacco?

I wonder (to myself, because there's no one else here in the conversation) when everything will explode. I find it hard to believe Connor plays piano in a country bar, not at 14 going on 15, plus his mother must be clear headed and together some of the time for accomplishing the formalities of changing school, for example.

I don't think I've read any of this author's work before and yes, it seems full of inconsistencies, but I guess you have to place it in the context of when it was written, that is some fourteen years ago as I am reading it today (2025). A lot of earlier gay writing follows a kind of formula, the abused school boy with rough home life, moves home finds new friend, comes out... etc. It's a classic teenage romance painted black and white, with no shades of grey, told in the first person where all the supporting characters are good or bad and have very little depth. These stories are all about our terribly badly off protagonist, the teenage boy desperately seeking love and a better life, struggling with his predicament. You have to read it for what it is, there is the ever present, strangely American thing of always describing the car the kids drive, a newer model Toyota Camry. It's a million miles away from the Europe where I grew up, but again you accept it for the different culture it portrays. As stated, it's still a good story that keeps you reading despite all the things pointed out. Perhaps the author will read and reply to these comments, perhaps it's so old or they are, that they don't care, but this site is here to promote reader author interaction and I'd like to here the author's comments on this early story.

My approach is you have to have a story to write a book, a start, a middle, and an end. It doesn't need to be in detail, but you need to know where the story is going. You don't need this outline on paper, it can be in your head, but I'll come back to that. If you have a great idea, a start, you can enthusiastically write chapter one, anything from 2k to 5k words. If you can't write chapter two, don't know where this great start is going, the middle, the end, then you have a short story and that's all. Outline in your head means you seriously need the time to write it, the whole story. Or you have to start writing the outline down. I can't come back to stories unless I'm writing a sequel, and those are difficult. Coming back to a story means reading what you have, timeline, plot, characters, a lot of work when it's not fresh in your head. Timeframe from weeks to months, but I'm not spending a year writing a novel, not unless you pay me 😁 Currently, I don't write anymore, just read and comment, and sometimes review.

@Valkyrie thanks for clearing that up. I do think the number of threads for Secret Author made it a little difficult to follow what was going on, but perhaps that is just me forever searching for the voting, the author reveal etc. I'd just add I didn't vote, didn't find it or quite understand the process.

It's fascinating to see history through the eyes of Jeff, a young American in 1968, however, Jeff seems uninfluenced by the counterculture movement, the hippies, flower power, "love is all you need." In 1968 the first Isle of Wight festival (UK) was held at Hells Field, Ford farm, near Godshill, attended by about 10,000 people, Jefferson Airplane headlined,. The following year saw 150,000. The line-up included Bob Dylan and several celebrities attended, including John Lennon and Yoko Ono. In America there was Woodstock (1969) 460,000 people at one of the largest music festivals in history, the peak musical event which reflected the counterculture of the 1960s. Both sides of the Atlantic there was a massive youth movement totally opposed to the existing political system. A revolution of sorts, fuelled by drugs, cannabis and LSD, and supported by music. Yet none of this seems to have touched Jeff, maybe it never reached his part of the world?

@Gary L the numbers in "vote here" are not the same numbers of votes for the winners. If you look at "vote here" it's different: Family Secret 9 votes My Dead Ex 8 votes What it takes 7 votes and Thetis, Green Lightning, The Reunion, Scallopini-ed Mayor, 6 votes So unless I'm looking at the wrong "vote here" that doesn't add up? I may be simply all mixed up, quite possible , because there are lots of different threads for Secret Author.

There were some good stories in the competition and all the authors gave it their best shot. Congratulations to the winners. Just one point, I don't begrudge Thetis by Mark Arbour being up there with the winners, only where I come from if two people tie for second place the next place is fourth, third place gets skipped. I guess that's knit picking. 👏 Out of interest, how many competition votes were there? I know a lot of people read the stories, you can see that from the page views, but how many readers voted, do we know?

1968 was a turning point, you have to look outside of America a bit, although dramatic events (as described in the story) occurred in the US. In France protests, strikes, and civil unrest began in May and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. On March 8, 1968, politically active student groups, the Komandosi (Commandos) held a rally on the campus of Poland's Warsaw University to demonstrate against repression by the Communist regime. On August 20, 1968, the Soviet Union invaded Czechoslovakia with the help of all the Pact nations except Romania and Albania. On a lighter note, Jeff is a Star Trek fan What about the other planets, and the stars and the galaxies? Didn’t God create the Klingons too?” But don't forget, in 1968 the film 2001: A Space Odyssey came out, written by Arthur C. Clarke, who really did predict the future by imagining satellites in geostationary orbit. And I think he had an altogether more spaced out (forgive the pun) view of God, the universe, and everything.

I like this story as an autobiographical account of Jeff's early life, but I find the narrative dry. It lacks dramatic description, tells a story, but doesn't let you live the moments.

The background is interesting and we're creeping forward to the events that will take place in Iowa, albeit ever so slowly. This chapter focused heavily on education and educational achievement. Okay, it was where Jeff's head was, but as his fellow students pointed out, maybe he was missing a bit of life along the way? Not that he should have fucked his cousin, only he seems awfully alone in his study bubble.

I think the FDA were right, evidence points towards cyclamates indirectly causing cancer and affecting the testicules. It's a personal opinion but I don't believe any artificial sweetners are good for you, just like ultra processed food isn't good for you. You just can't drink lots of soda and expect an artificial sweetener to counter the effects of over indulgence. Same for McDonalds.

Judging by my own younger years experiences, girls can be quite cunning at manipulating boys to just where they want them even when you're not at all interested. Jeff had enough wits about him to make his escape from his cousin Zoe.

"much of the rest of the story is based on real events." which makes it extremely sad to really lose your father on Christmas Eve and at such a young age. Being an anxious child myself, it was my worst imagined nightmare to be orphaned. Well he wasn't an orphan, but life changed that day.

As prologues go, this was excellent, emotional because it talked about the past, one full of promise yet constrained. The idea that homosexuality was a mental disorder persisted at that time, but not everywhere. Certainly, different countries posed different problems for gay boys growing up, and today how things have changed. So it was kind of sad to read this introduction.

How do you review a story that has no ending, only extends into part two? You don't, you can't, you can only comment. It isn't really a story, but a scenario featuring the muscle stud Dylan with huge fat cock and Troy, the twink best friend of his younger brother Jake. It's well written soft porn that teases the reader to the climax. There is not too much characterisation other than body descriptions, but that's all you need for soft porn, to be able to conjure up the images and get turned on. This story is what it is, no more, no less, and you'll like the characters and like following how things develop in the basement play room. There's not much else apart from a few brief excursions into the outside world, but it's all you're really interested in, isn't it? If you come here expecting a story you will probably be disappointed, but if you want to read about how the stud gets his twink, you'll be more than satisfied. Plus, if you've a little cash to get rid of, you can buy more of the same, or get it up front on Patreon. Otherwise, wait for it to get published here. I recommend it for what it is, a well written soft porn scenario with a bit of characterisation and a little bit of background. Exactly like some of the better online porn.

Wow, what a turn on and Dylan is the master in control and teasing, drawing it out until he's ready. Will Troy end up begging? I wouldn't be surprised...

Very hot 🔥 downstairs!