Stories

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.

Nearly a century before this story begins, a race known as the Cereneans conquered and subjugated the people of Loran. Seeking to expand their empire, they set their sights on Earth, unaware that a refugee from Loran was already there. Although young Lansley was unable to prevent the attack, the knowledge he brought with him allowed the humans to fight back and ultimately rebuild. Little did he and his boyfriend, Steve, realize they were about to play an even bigger role.

Jake and Ken are getting married, and then they're taking their sons, Roger and Kyle, on a ten-week European vacation. Francis (Freck), Kyle's boyfriend, will be going with them, but he has a history that includes drugs and a suicide attempt when he was only eleven. On top of that, Freck, a freckle-faced redhead who was raised Catholic, now has a Jewish boyfriend and has come to realize that he's one-quarter Jewish. Naturally, he's curious about what it all means. But what will happen when his life hits a minor bump in the road?

Like the namesake movie released in 2000, which is set in LA, What's Cooking (in NYC) explores the lives of four families as they make preparations for the Thanksgiving holiday. As with the movie, there is much unexpected drama, but with the added wrinkle that all four families, who are well-known to NYC Holidays readers, are waiting for loved ones to arrive on the same flight from California. When a glitch in Air Traffic Control occurs, anything can happen.

Seth Moore grew up on New York’s Lower East side, the son of a New York State assemblyman. He loved his dad and admired his dedication, but then his dad was arrested on federal charges of corruption. It couldn’t be! When the Feds moved against his boyfriend’s family and seized their restaurants, their only means of support, something had to be done. Would Seth’s dad cop a plea to insider trading and go prison for a crime he didn’t commit, all for the sake of his son and the boy he loved?

David and Jeremy aren't about to let tradition keep them for dancing together at Homecoming. GSA president Paul has a plan, but it seems to run into a snag at first. (Fall 2007 Anthology - Worth Fighting For) This is the 3rd story in the Naptown Tales series, which can also be found at Awesome Dude and Nifty. A slightly modified version more suitable for younger teens can be found at Codey’s World. Please see the Introduction for important background info.

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.

Following graduation and a double wedding, joined by their younger brothers, the newlyweds honeymoon in Europe. Upon their return, the younger teens start high school, but then tragedy strikes, bringing all Naptown Tales characters home for a final farewell. (June - August, 2010)

This is the 28th and final story in the Naptown Tales series, which can also be found at Awesome Dude and Nifty. Please see the Introduction for important background info.

It was a very restless time for the boys in New York City. Forced indoors by the pandemic, the school year was coming to a close in name only, as much felt left undone in the paradigm of remote learning. Then on Memorial Day, a black man in Minneapolis was lynched by a white police officer who strangled the man with his knee, touching off a firestorm of pent-up rage. Naturally the boys had to get involved in the protests. They had to, but then one of their own fell victim to police use of excessive force

What do Bar Mitzvahs and food carts have in common? Nothing… unless you’re talking about a precocious young teen with a Jewish boyfriend and a best friend who's half black Cajun and half Asian, and who’s a gifted teenage chef. With a double Bar Mitzvah on the Fourth of July weekend, why not make it a pool party? Oy Vey!