Stories

The Squire’s Tale is the final episode in Tales Along the Way, a trilogy of stories told by three business men traveling together on a long-haul flight. As the title suggests, this is a tale about a young gay man who is drawn into a dangerous adventure and an international intrigue. This is a admittedly a complex story, with 25 scenes spread over nine chapters. The story moves between two continents, such that simultaneous events have to be described more than once from different points of view. There is also a flashback chapter, which is clearly identified. I hope I have made it clear enough where and when each scene takes place.

Two very different men board the #3 Express New York Subway at the 96th Street station. Their encounter on the crowded train will result in a special friendship and an awakening in the younger one that results in significant life changes.

Jay Petermeyer is everyone’s favorite All-American football player. He’s spent his entire career living above reproach as he patiently waits for the husband and the life he knows he’s meant for.

There wouldn’t be influencers if there wasn’t Loren Patrick. He transformed YouTube into a social platform and revolutionized what it means to live for the public. His life is free and easy. No attachments, no expectations. Just the way he likes.

Sometimes the life we’re destined for looks different from the life we dream of.

This is the story of two high-schoolers in the mid-70s growing closer and learning about life and love in rural Ohio. All songs and key phrases are linked to a video.

A young man enters the confessional. He tells Father Peter Ruxton that he is gay, in love, and filled with self-loathing because the Church teaches that what he is doing is a sin. The priest, who struggles with his own sexuality, tries to offer counsel that shows compassion and empathy, while remaining within the strictures of his Church’s position on homosexual behavior. It does not end well. The young man leaves filled with bitterness, and Peter faces the reality that he must leave the Church if he is to be true to himself. He begins his search to find himself and his authentic life.

Dear, Grocery Shoppers is a journal kept by Aaron Stone and his husband, Noah Fields. Here they speak about nuances, moments of self-reflection, and just silly experiences that these two men can't help but make fun of. No matter the cost to their morality and reputation, Aaron and Noah love to turn anything and everything into a laughable moment. As they work in common retail jobs, they are here to instruct the masses on proper store etiquette through comedy. There will be consumer stupidity, nonsense from co-workers, and, worst of all...Karens.

After attending the local Pride, will Eric Whitehouse reconnect with his old workmate, Rob? What might it mean to both men if he does?

Aleksander has finished university and come home to his father's estate accompanied by his new friend and companion, Daniil Vinogradov. Daniil is a modern man who has been studying art and has ideas and passions that both influence and overwhelm Aleksander. There is a clash of old and new, a furore that threatens the peace and calm. Revolutionary ideas and sensuality form a heady mix that one might not survive.

“But whom to love?
To trust and treasure?
Who won’t betray us in the end?
And who’ll be kind enough to measure
Our words and deeds as we intend?”
― Alexander Pushkin, Eugene Onegin.

Nick is a bisexual man who is enjoying a 'friends with benefits' situation with a Jenny, but when she gets him to help her and her younger brother move out of the house for the very first time to go to college, they take a road trip that has him experiencing feelings that he was never able to act on before. Her brother, Maddox, is beautiful, both inside and out...and may be hiding a few secrets of his very own!

The Knight's Tale is the story of Lord Henry Sandringham, a gay British nobleman who is secretly an agent for MI6. He is sent to Tehran to rescue the son of the Foreign Minister, who faces the death penalty for being gay. Using a secret new drug called SOMNOS, the agent is assigned to conduct the young man to safety over the Alborz Mountains, across the Caspian Sea, and back to Britain.

DEDICATION
To Jeff, my first love - where are you today?