Stories

Asher and Seth are on a mission to save two younger boys with a troubled past. Kyle is not quite 10 and a genius. He knows he's gay, but has very troubling thoughts about the future. Freck is a freckle-faced boy, not quite 12, a gay high school sophomore with a history of drug use and a suicide attempt. Can Asher and Seth help both boys and give Kyle the greatest gift of all for Chanukah, the gift of love?

When Josh and his sisters move from the Brooklyn neighborhood of Manhattan Beach to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, he quickly befriends a group of gay kids that go to Stuyvesant High School, where he's a freshman. His youngest sister, Robin, forges her own relationships with fellow students at the Salk School for Science. In the meantime Freck's mother attempts to make amends. All look forward to the festivals of Passover and Easter, but then a global Pandemic forces a change of plans.

When Altaf’s sister calls to tell him is father in Pakistan is dying, ghosts from the past return and he must face the prospect that honoring his father's last wish could very well cost him his own life. (2008 Fall Anthology - Ghosts) This is the 15th story in the Naptown Tales series, which can also be found at Awesome Dude and Nifty. Please see the Introduction for important background on the series.

Four boys who attend one of New York City's elite specialty public high schools face a unique set of challenges as the year draws to a close. Faced with a lost bet, Asher and Seth have agreed to spend a New Year's Eve together that neither will ever forget, and they've talked their friend, Freck, into hosting a party for the special occasion. In the meantime, Kyle's father makes a surprise offer that will help solidify his burgeoning relationship with Freck. As they count down the final seconds and sing Auld Lang Syne, the four boys will find that their lives have been changed forever.

Could you make a choice between the life you lived, or an alternative life you might have lived, knowing someone you loved would have to die, either way? (2007 Winter Anthology - The Road Not Taken)

Seth and Asher are two boys growing up on New York's Lower East Side. Nearly finished with their first year at Stuyvesant, one of New York's elite public specialty high schools, they’ve become inseparable as boyfriends. Asher dreams of opening a restaurant and looks forward to helping his father open a new Cajun place. As the son of a politician, Seth helps to find a prize location for the restaurant nearby that they can afford. When tragedy strikes and faced with the possibility of it closing before it even opens, the young teens take over and manage the restaurant by themselves.

In the author’s serial novel, Brilliant Boy Billionaire, Chapter 34, J.J. remembered how he was taken in by the Rodriguez family, seemingly by fate. Known to them as Simon, he learned the true meaning of All Hallows Eve as they celebrated the Day of the Dead and remembered the son they’d lost in Afghanistan. In the end, J.J. learned that his suspicion of having a guardian angel was true.

While attending a Memorial Day 18th birthday party, Seth is asked by a friend's brother about being interviewed for his high school newspaper. The interview brings back vivid memories of serving as a Congressional intern and being trapped inside the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Shunned since he came out, Zach finds a way to get even with the one behind his misery, helping the other gay freshmen of Carmel in the process. (October, 2009)

This is the 23rd story in the Naptown Tales series, whcih can also be found at Awesome Dude and Nifty. Please see the Introduction for important background on the series.

When Will thinks Brian wants to get married this Thanksgiving rather than next, his mother isn’t about pass up the challenge of planning a wedding in only 3 weeks, but will the weather cooperate? (November, 2009)

This is the 24th story in the Naptown Tales series, which can also be found at Awesome Dude and Nifty. Please see the Introduction for important background on the series.