Stories

My entry for the 2025 Poetry Anthology - Diversity! Quite possibly a topic we can all relate to.

A free verse poem for the 2025 Poetry Anthology - "Diversity".

Some poetic offerings based on the anthology theme of "Diversity". The Haiku included here are a departure from the usual and expected subject of nature, more reflective of inner turmoil.

Book 3 in the Jacksonville Jaunts series centers around Bart Hamilton. Bart was once a teammate of Carlo Marini's on the cross-country team. Even as a senior in high school, Bart was unsure of his sexuality. He waffled between thinking he was gay, bi, and periodically straight since his early teens. It wasn't until after he turned thirty-four before his feelings were cemented on the gay side of the fence. That was when a man named Noah Hankins changed his life for good.

Levie and Greg have been together for three months, and are moving in together. The young couple learns that no matter what life throws at them, they've always got the Love Of Family to help and strengthen them.

Chandler Cross, a student at the Chicago Institute of Art, comes across someone new, one day. Someone very much in need of a mentor and a protector. The last thing Chandler ever thought he'd ever be was someone to be looked up to, but that is what he became. A guardian angel for a lost and broken boy, struggling as Chandler once struggled as a gay teen in a less than accepting world. How will he cope with this awesome responsibility now that he has Brandon . . .

It's a common belief that places can be haunted due to things that occurred there. This seems especially true for prisons, hospitals, and hotels. As I have done before, I thought it would be interesting to tell a story from a unique perspective; this time, a haunted hotel story, but from the hotel's most notorious room's perspective. So, once again, this is an anthropomorphic story. We'll get to experience some of the nasty things that happened in room 606 of the fictional Memphis-Mississippi Hotel. We will experience what the room witnesses. Witnesses, or is the room itself an active participant?

A Myth in Eight Parts

I wrote this many years ago as an experiment in building a cast of characters and finding ways to weave their stories together. I didn't realize until recently I only ever posted the first section on this site. It's been a treat to revisit this old tale with new eyes.

The Empire is torn into two, with brothers competing for the throne. War divides families and upends lives. The people suffer and plead to the Four Gods for deliverance -- but the Gods move in mysterious and unexpected and not always entirely pleasant ways.

Prompt Team member Aditus provided the ending to a story and challenged GA members to continue the story until the beginning. Let's just say that the membership delivered in a big way! Here is the collaboration created by GA members Thirdly, Valkyrie, Tim Hobson, Paladin, LJCC, E K Stokes, Bryson, and Aditus.

We meet Zelt and learn why he missed a train. Buckle up, because you're in for one heck of a ride!

Granddad Tom Rules is the sequel to The Education of Grandpa. The story tells the adventures of the two grandfathers, Geoff and Tom, and their teenage grandsons during a recent summer at the lake house.