Stories

Being the oldest and growing up in a large family can be hard, especially when you are gay and the family is extremely homophobic. You are constantly being compared to your deceased father. A man whose stature and deeds are always increasing, as time goes by, and are held up as your goals. Anytime you reach those goals, your mother moves the goalpost further away.

You never seem to measure up. You are always being told that you are worthless and will never amount to anything since you cannot measure up to your father. It never mattered that you were a straight "A" student and that you were an athlete.

This is a continuation, roughly fourteen years later, of my previous story, 'My Friend and Protector' (https://gayauthors.org/story/lee-wilson/my-friend-and-protector/).

Carlo no longer needs Karl as his protector, but as a result of something related to his psychiatric practice, he needs his husband Brandon more than ever. I don't believe needing to read that first is a requirement to enjoy this one.

I remember my life now as if I'm looking out a window. Streaks of my life flash by me. I try to open the window and catch them, but the window won't open. So, I sit and watch them, and I wonder did they really happen or was it just a dream? Take a journey back in time as 78-year-old Phil Reid relates his life experiences to a younger man.

Former policeman Dan and art critic Vaughan’s relationship has an unfortunate start, but second time around they find that life has something different in store for them. Amidst interfering family members and lively friends, their relationship develops. But then Dan’s employer, Francis Heyward starts to take an interest. Heyward is seemingly stupendously rich, a giver of notorious parties and the possessor of an enviable art collection. There’s a question of whether a line should be crossed, and whether Heyward can even be trusted at all.

Former Delta Operative, Sam Trammel’s entire world has just collapsed and with no other option, he returns to Florida to bury his twin and his past. Ben Santiago is an Episcopal priest, a man with a checkered past, and a close friend of Sam's family. After a chance meeting brings them together, the two men navigate the tangled web of regret and forgiveness as friendship turns into love despite the obstacle of Sam's PTSD, and his reluctance to move toward Ben instead of away. Family and new friendships help Sam to rebuild and realize that sometimes the path to healing and finding home, is by confronting your past head-on.

Newly coming to terms with being gay, following an abusive childhood and a failed relationship with a girlfriend, electrician Keith meets Thomas, who runs a local arts charity. Despite coming from vastly differing backgrounds, the two discover much in common, not least the need to come to terms with complex relationships to their fathers. But they also learn to enjoy exploring life together.

14-year-old Bryan Padilla is caught between worlds he doesn't feel connected to. Having been abandoned by their birth parents at a young age, Bryan and his younger brother, Caleb, were adopted by a family friend, Diego Padilla, and raised in a culture not of their own. Though it is the only life Caleb has ever known, Bryan inwardly struggles with his feelings about life, death, race and sexuality. Things escalate shortly after the death of his birth mother. Can Bryan come to terms with his situation as a figure from his past tries to upend his entire life?

The French Revolutionary War is finally coming to a conclusion, and after eight years of conflict, George Granger is going to have to adapt to a world at peace. While the conflict with France may be at an end, George has his own challenges to face. He has returned home to find himself richer, but estranged from his wife. His best friend and lover, Francis Calvert, has been wounded in the Caribbean and has not yet returned to England. Join George as he navigates this fraught era, which may be even more dangerous than when England at France were at war.

It is August of 2004, the month that the Olympics were held in Athens. Will Schluter will be there, then he'll start his freshman year at Harvard with his cousin Marie. It's a bittersweet event because the man he loves, Travis Buck, has to remain in Hollywood to work on his acting career, and they'll have to deal with being separated by thousands of miles.

Meanwhile, Will's brother JJ is firmly established in New York City, trying to deal with the inevitable challenges life throws at him, while his father Brad will face a crisis that could ruin his marriage.

How does a man deal with the death of his wife and picking up the pieces? Sometimes not well.

This is an updated version based on some user input. Hopefully it reads a little better.