James Carnarvon

Thanks guys! I wanted to write this story because, while Sami moving in with Gianni and Angelo at the end of Lanterns in the Dark seemed like the perfect solution, it also seemed a bit too clean and simple. This story explores the inevitable challenges that such an arrangement would bring up and, ultimately, whether it’s realistic. I also wanted to take one step back from the Marco/Dani/Giaco triangle to give those characters some more time to grow up and to provide a slightly different perspective on each of them. It’s set in winter for a couple of reasons. For starters, it needed to follow fairly closely on the heels of Lanterns in the Dark so the arrangement with Sami is still fresh for the characters concerned; but I also wanted to consciously deprive myself of some of the arguably slightly lazy Ravello tropes I’ve come to lean on too much: the cicadas, the beautiful summer days, the long rambles through the hinterland… instead, more of this story takes place indoors (but not all of it… don’t worry!). @drpaladin Always one of the first to comment - thank you for your continued interest! As usual, you’ve got the premise of this pretty much down. @Summerabbacat I’m glad you like the pets. They’ve been around for a while - they were introduced in Toto - but the problem I have is that I keep forgetting Gianni and Angelo have them! Even in this story, they drift in and out a bit - they’re not central to the plot, so they just add a moment of charm now and then. @starboardtack Obviously I’m honoured to still be on your list! What is it about my writing that keeps you interested when you’re otherwise in need of a break? Is it because I steer away from some of the common online gay fiction tropes (like, dare I say it, the constant sex?), or is it just something in the atmosphere and characters?

I'm back! This came out a little shorter than my other long-form stories, but I hope you enjoy it. Chapters will be posted every couple of days. I had Covid when I was writing this chapter. 😷

A leaden winter sky hung low over the white villas and terracotta rooftops of Ravello. Pines and cypresses clung stubbornly to their dark green foliage, shadowy and stark against the banks of cloud. Over the surrounding, rocky peaks, the chestnut woods were brown and bare, while the olive groves and lemon orchards in the valleys were still and silent, the summer’s cicadas and lizards deep in hiding. The cliffs and terraced mountain slopes below the town tumbled down into a steely grey-blue sea.

A short novel in ten chapters. As Ravello slumbers under the grey skies of winter, Gianni and Angelo try to come to terms with looking after their new foster son Sami. Gianni is trying his best, but Sami seems more attached to two local boys who took care of him in the summer. Meanwhile, teenager Marco’s carefully controlled home life unravels when his father uncovers a truth he has been trying desperately to conceal.

That's so sad. As an author myself who was lucky enough to capture his interest, I found him to be an attentive, appreciative and insightful reader... and a fellow Brit, if I remember correctly? Thank you for sharing the sad news with us @drpaladin. It's so much better done this way than to have him simply disappear and be the subject of rumour. RIP Mawgrim, I hope you find freedom from illness and pain in whatever comes next...

Whatever your views on the monarchy, there has never been a more dedicated servant of the British people. She has reigned for all my life and, indeed, most of my parents' lives. RIP Queen Elizabeth II.

Yes, he is. Don’t worry about it - you don’t need to know about Dani to enjoy this story!

Sadly not although I have just ordered a purple tie dye t-shirt. I need to wear one in Ravello!

I own music by ALL those people (you love and hate), although I only have Bananarama via 1980s compilations (I own over 1,000 albums and compilations on CD). I didn't know Bananarama were from Bristol - that's cool. I know the city well, along with several of their other musical exports. The Pet Shop Boys are one of my all-time favourite bands and I recently attended a show on their Dreamworld tour. I'm wearing an official tour t-shirt right now.

Popular? 🤔 I looked into this, and all of those names are pretty old-fashioned. So is Otto, in fact. According to the site I found, anyway, a current German boy's name would tend to be something much more familiar to the rest of the world, like Noah, Ben or Felix. My character was originally called Oscar/Oskar (another more current name), but I decided that Otto suited him better.

So, you’re suggesting what - a different German guy each time? 😉 I’m afraid my own personal story is one of missed opportunities rather than conquests!

I can assure you that everything that happened with Reza and Otto was just a product of my fevered imagination. 🤪😎

I’m travelling with my family, such as it is!

Thank you!!

Autobiographical note: When I was sixteen, just after completing my GCSE exams, my parents "dragged" me off on a holiday to Ravello. It was the first time my Mum, who had spent a happy time living in Italy as a student, had been back to Italy in many years, and she was quite excited about it. She would say "when we go to Ravello..." and I would quietly roll my eyes. We stayed in a hotel with a pool overlooked by the square. There was a German family who spent the whole week lying around on sun loungers while we went off walking and exploring. However, that's where the similarity ends. Honest. I swear. 😅 During the course of the week, everything about the place blew my mind and I have never recovered. In a week's time I'm going back for a week in the same hotel, as long I don't catch Covid or have my flights cancelled. It will be my seventh visit to Ravello and my fourth time staying in that particular establishment.

@Summerabbacat it seems that even at the age of four, Marco would go wherever Giacomo led him!

Thanks for all the comments and reviews, guys. I’m chuffed with the reception this has had, given that I plotted it out in about half an hour and speed-wrote it in eight days! Obviously I’ve been tweaking it steadily since I finished, but it’s still a speed-written product.

If I were to consider that, it would be lucky that I happened to set this story ten years back in time, wouldn’t it? 🤯😀

Friday For the first couple of seconds after Reza awoke the next morning, he felt the same way as he did every day… …but then the memory of the previous evening crashed in on him, and his hands flew to his nether regions to make sure everything was still there. Oh, man… what did we DO? Reza cast his mind back, recalling the evening’s activities in lurid detail. When Otto had finished his work, he had crawled back up the bed for a cuddle. Reza, feeling the other boy’s still unm

Hmm, no, the double entendre was never intentional… 😉

I had a day trip to Capri a few years ago that was a lot like Reza’s visit to Positano in this story. It was frustrating, and I was left feeling that I would really like to stay there for a few days to experience the place without the crowds after the day visitors had gone. The Caprese salad I had on actual Capri, though, was one of the best lunches I’ve ever had. The tomatoes were beautiful!

I’m glad you guys are finding this meaningful, although first and foremost it was just meant to be funny. 😅 Father Stefano has always been a moderate / realist when advising young people on dealing with their sexuality. However in this case particularly so as he doesn’t presume to have moral / spiritual authority over Reza, who comes from a different faith. Nobody has ever asked me about this, but I’ve always written the character of Father Stefano with the possibility in mind that he might be gay himself. That being the case, his advice to Gianni in The Summer of the Firefly would directly relate to the moral / spiritual dilemma he had faced himself for his entire adult life.

Thursday On Thursday morning, Reza made his excuses at breakfast time, explaining that he had agreed to spend the day with the local boys he’d met earlier in the week. Mum and Dad seemed a bit surprised by his sudden sociability, but they raised no objection. Reza wasn’t sure exactly when Gianni and Angelo would be arriving, so he headed straight to the cathedral square after breakfast. As it happened, they weren’t there yet, so he perched for a little while on one of the stone benches

I’m ashamed to say I know exactly what you’re talking about! 🤫 (despite generally disdaining SF and fantasy here at GA)

@Summerabbacat I hope it doesn’t disappoint too much! Sadly Claudia won’t be there, though: she has to help Mamma with the shopping. (Ingiusto!) edit: And, yeah, holidays in Ravello always end too quickly!