Stories

Kent Nakamura enlists in the United States Marine Corps, believing distance is the only way to protect the person he loves. Over the next thirteen years, war, brotherhood, sacrifice, and forbidden love shape him into a respected Marine leader, while the battlefield leaves behind wounds no one can see. As he struggles to find his place beyond the uniform, Kent must confront the invisible scars of war and discover what it truly means to keep living. Safe Distance is a prequel to Still Alive, Dumbass, but can be enjoyed as a standalone novel.

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.

(Spoilers if you haven't played the Dispatch video game, specifically Episode 5 and on)

Robert and Flambae (Chad) begin spiraling toward a collision of past and present. Drowning the day in whiskey and smoke, their professional facade crumbles, revealing a dangerous attraction - only further complicated by Robert's hidden identity.

You are the Nameless Hacker and Brandon is writing his story for you. Gay, confused, and deeply closeted he shares his struggles and his triumphs with us here. Despite all that goes on he always manages to smile and shine on through. Share Brandon's smiles and his tears.

Owen has been hiding his whole life. Closeted in a Catholic funeral home family, fake-dating his best friend Margot for three years, headed to a college he doesn't want. Then Ryder messages him on a dating app and everything shifts. Ryder is rough, honest, reckless, and completely unwilling to be someone's secret. As their connection deepens over one Ohio summer, Owen finds himself caught between the safe lie he's been living and the terrifying truth Ryder keeps pushing him toward. Something has to break. And Ryder's determined to take him on the ride of his life before it does.

Having crashed and burned after early success as a composer, Alex has managed to rebuild his career and his life. Carpenter Neil is between girlfriends, and his knowledge of music is limited. Yet despite their differences the two come together, and each spurs the other on to explore life further and to take risks. Add in a pair of mothers who are friends and Neil’s fragile younger brother—as well as a manipulative rich uncle and some lively friends—and you have a dynamic mix.

Life is filled with surprises. We are constantly reminded that we are at the mercy of the universe; from the people we meet, to the events that shape us, to the places we find ourselves in. If we are among the lucky ones we will find our place in the world, and someone to share it with, and life will be sweet. But even then, everything is subject to change, and we either roll with the flow, or find ourselves fighting against the tide, because you just never know what might come at you from out of the blue.

Emory had his whole life planned out. Go to college, become successful, marry Danielle. Then one night, he met a boy who took his virginity, and now Emory is about to turn his life upside down and follow the boy across the country. It's time for this boy to meet other boys.

Harry Ellis knows how to make loneliness look like independence. He has friends who love him, a dry sense of humour built for deflection, and a life arranged carefully enough to keep wanting at a safe distance.

But winter brings familiar desks, Friday drinks, old damage and new almosts, until every kindness feels dangerous, every glance a risk, and every missed chance like proof of what he has always feared.

Funny, intimate and quietly bruising, Salt and Stone is a slow-burn novel about friendship, shame, desire, and the fragile hope of being chosen.