Stories

Book Two of The Last Statue follows on from Heart of Black Ice Bay and traces the lives of five new characters across roughly similar timelines.

• Marica is almost duped by a night caller accelerating her future plan to escape the palace;
• Jasmar's instincts tells him to accompany Marica’s siblings on their escape to Loq;
• Tad, a menial in Aulderly, stumbles upon the missing Lore of Invocation;
• Brokerman has to help deal with an emerald explosion that rips through the grounds of the Aulderly;
• Duke Ervine holds together a fragmented empire while a new ruler is being agreed upon.

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.

During the COVID pandemic, two thirteen-year-old boys fall in love while attempting to deal with the climate crisis. They meet while rescuing a racoon. Their relationship strengthens as they add information to parked vehicles, restaurants, and a fountain. Later they demonstrate in drag, practice foreplay, run around naked on the prairies, develop a close relationship with prairie dogs, and experience an extreme weather event.

Colt has a violent past. He was expelled for beating up another classmate, and he and his family are moving to another town because of it. New house, new town, new start. Only Colt foresees a lot more violence in his future once he realizes his new friend, Noah, is in trouble.

Thiago Zeca Baravento, the son of an American woman and a first generation Brazilian father, rises above the expectations of many for a black man born and raised in the predominantly minority Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Anacostia. After graduating from Howard University with a doctorate in pharmacology, and looking to provide his son Fabricio with a good life, Thiago leaves the District of Columbia, promising to one day return to his hometown.

Mike is is neighbors to Jamie and Jamie falls in love with him

It's time for Sam and Pam to take a vacation, and they know just the place to let off some steam, among other things. What could entail in their adventure to the supernatural world's most illustrious nightclub?

Wrong number...usually a person would delete the number, right? A mistaken text leads to blood money and danger. Chris Johnson, a gender fluid male, receives a text from a mystery guy who shares a card number. Aware that it's an accidental text, he uses the money to his advantage until things intensify.

A story of what might have been if only I had known then what I know now. . .

Characters:

Dan, 15 years old, confused about his sexuality.
Dad, 40 years old, more understanding and compassionate than most dads of that era.
Joseph, Dan’s friend, same age, perhaps more aware of his sexuality than Dan.

There is so much wishful thinking in this story. I wish every gay/straight/bisexual/confused/questioning young person, male or female, could have this kind of understanding and support.

A place to put prompts