Literary Fiction - Stories

It is August of 2004, the month that the Olympics were held in Athens. Will Schluter will be there, then he'll start his freshman year at Harvard with his cousin Marie. It's a bittersweet event because the man he loves, Travis Buck, has to remain in Hollywood to work on his acting career, and they'll have to deal with being separated by thousands of miles.

Meanwhile, Will's brother JJ is firmly established in New York City, trying to deal with the inevitable challenges life throws at him, while his father Brad will face a crisis that could ruin his marriage.

Welcome to Philpott Towers! Ten years apart in age, living different lives, the Philpott brothers are not close. Their Father’s death brings them back to their grandiose family home. Gray Philpott, a successful poet but less successful human being, & Vince, his solicitor elder brother, now living together in their Father’s shadow, what could go wrong?

Close proximity forces both brothers to reassess their lives, and the Summer wreaks remarkable changes as the two settle into a new relationship, both their lives and their emotional lives going in new directions.

Nicolas, a 14-year-old teenager living in a housing estate, starts smoking occasionally after being approached by a dealer named Khaled. After accumulating a debt with him, the boy finds himself forced to negotiate repayment methods he could never have imagined. The teenager will very quickly have to face a downward spiral that he will need to learn to manage and control.

A decade after drifting apart, four millennial friends who once bonded online reunite at a secluded cabin, answering an invitation from the friend who always promised they would one day meet. As old memories resurface and new ones take shape, one question lingers.

Where is Chris?

For Tony Scott coming home, five years since he left Thompsonville, to chase his dreams, is daunting. Five years since he has seen the only place he could call home, the only people he has been able to call family, and the only man he has ever loved!
If he is to find happiness he knows he must face the mistakes of his past and face those left behind.
What will he find there? Will the town have changed, or will it still be that sleepy seaside haven he had grown to love? Will he be welcomed back, or will he be shunned? All he can do is step off that bus and knock on that door. Only then will he know if he really is in a good place!

Coming out, finding and recognizing one's true self, can be both a painful process and a rewarding quest.

The boys are back! We return to Parborough to catch up with Brian & Gordon after an eventful year, what with new jobs, new relationships and new friends. Brian, his soon-to-be husband, Gordon and son, Toby are discovering life as a family, along with working out just what their relationship is with the rich and sexy Russ Kahn.

But life isn't all roses and Toby's relationship with his friend Noah is called into question whilst his Mother's boyfriend remains a worrying threat.

Kade is perfectly content keeping his tickling interests confined to the realm of fiction, where everything is safe, controlled, and comfortably distant. But when a fan of his writing reaches out and suggests meeting in person, Kade suddenly finds himself faced with a terrifying prospect: actually living the kind of moments he’s only ever written about.

After a long period of emotional distance and self-reflection, Jim, a middle-aged man recovering from a divorce, is learning how to navigate life and fatherhood. When he meets Jon, a younger, confident man with whom he shares a mutual interest in fitness and running, Jim feels a spark he hasn’t felt in years. What begins as a casual friendship soon develops into something more, but Jim’s hesitations and fears about his age, his past, and his responsibilities as a father complicate his emotions.

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