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The Normal Heart & The Destiny of Me (two plays)


Larry Kramer - 2000
    It has been produced and taught all over the world. Its companion play, The Destiny of Me, is the stirring story of an AIDS activist forced to put his life in the hands of the very doctor he has been denouncing.

Slaying Isidore's Dragons


C. Kennedy - 2015
    Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is 'out' to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.5 Weeks of hell, 4 Attempts on their lives, 3 Law enforcement agencies, 2 Dead high school seniors, 1 Jealous friend & a love that won’t be deniedDeclan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan's love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster's popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan's mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.5 New family members, 4 BFF’s, 3 Countries, 2 Extraordinary Psychologists, 1 Courageous Mother & a new beginning for two young men in love Read the first chapter of Slaying Isidore's Dragons here:http://ckennedyauthor.blogspot.com/p/...

Jump First


Charles Edward - 2011
    The leader, Marguerite May, writes romance novels, and not just any kind: The dude/dude kind that are so freakin hot, Heath gets embarrassed to critique them. But don't tell anybody: He secretly adores her books and buys them all. With a fake ID.Marguerite’s son, Ryan, just happens to be the most beautiful guy in the universe. Confident, athletic, and with such a cool mom, Ryan’s got everything a high school senior could want—which is everything Heath lacks. Too bad Ryan is straight. But thanks to a flaky computer and an unexpected request, Heath will get to know his idols better, and he’ll discover that nothing he believes about them is true.

Yesterday


Cleo Fox - 2020
    Their band, Stuck, started to take off. With Evie as their manager, they felt they would always be there for each other. And then they got signed, and Evie disappeared without a whisper of a goodbye.Now, ten years later and a chart-topping sensation, Stuck comes off a world tour and needs a vacation. They go to the cabin their families share and once again find her, their first love, but she's changed. Cold, bitter, broken. The boys of Stuck must help Evie find herself again and mend her broken heart. But will Evie let them? Multiple POV Drugs Alcohol Characters are in their 30s

Perhaps I've Said Too Much (A Great Big Book of Messing with People)


Rodney Lacroix - 2013
    Whether you're carving evil messages into your coworker's banana peel or telling your kids that, yes, raisins are actually dehydrated people, there's a certain, sinister-yet-fun draw to really messing with people. In Perhaps I’ve Said Too Much (the much anticipated follow-up to the heralded, award-winning Things Go Wrong For Me), Rodney Lacroix gives the reader some insight on what it's like to live the prankster life. No one is safe, including Rodney himself as not all of his antics go entirely as planned. Join him as he spins some yarns, gives you some new ideas and lets you relive the catastrophic consequences of jokes gone terribly wrong. Complete with original hand-drawn artwork and graphics, one-two punch Brain Nuggets, and the ever-popular Draw Something Files, Perhaps will not disappoint.* (Assumes you are an immature child who enjoys potty humor and making fart noises with your armpits.)

In Mike We Trust


P.E. Ryan - 2009
    He wanted it. He craved it. He could barely remember what it was. When Garth's uncle comes to visit, he's like a breath of very needed fresh air. Mike is laid-back and relaxed—and willing to accept Garth for who he is, without question. For the first time in a long while, Garth feels like he's around someone who understands him. But before long Garth is helping Mike with some pretty mysterious things and finds himself keeping secrets from everyone around him. He's forced to wonder: Is his uncle Mike really who he says he is, and can Garth trust him? More importantly, can Garth trust the person he's becoming? P. E. Ryan has crafted a clever and compelling novel that asks the question: How far will you go for your family, to find yourself?

And If I Fall


Robin Reardon - 2013
    For those who fit into the local church’s narrow confines, there’s support and fellowship. For those who don’t, there’s ostracism in this life and damnation in the next.Jude wants desperately to be saved—to believe with the fervor of the charismatic Reverend Amos King, whose sermons are filled with brimstone and righteousness. But every time Jude thinks he’s found the right path, there’s a fork in the road, and Truth seems to be in a different direction.As much as Jude craves the certainty the church offers, he finds himself at odds with it. Without intentionally rebelling, he befriends Pearl Thornton, considered an unrepentant heathen; he craves the support of Gregory Hart, whose church standing is questionable; and the feelings he has for his friend Tim Olsen make him fear for his own soul. But then Reverend King offers Jude sanctuary, special guidance, and a path into the Light.Will Reverend King be able to help Jude preserve his place in heaven? Or will the reverend's own demons cause hell to swallow them both? The answer lies in Jude's willingness to follow his own path—even if it leads him far from everything he's known.[NOTE: This book was previously published as The Revelations of Jude Connor.]

Bleeding Blue: Giving My All for the Game


Wendel Clark - 2016
    The pro league just seemed too far away from the young man’s small-town life in the Prairies. But Wendel had a talent for hockey that was surpassed only by his love for the sport, and it wasn’t long before he embarked on a path that would take him away from his hometown to a new life. Wendel honed his talents in cities across western Canada and earned a reputation as a force to be reckoned with on the ice. Drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs first overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, Wendel burst onto the pro scene and immediately made an impact, all the while staying true to his roots. As he learned from the players around him, Wendel steadily matured into a respected leader. He soon assumed the mantle as the Leafs captain, and his willingness to lay it all on the line transformed him into a player who could inspire courage in his teammates and fear in his opponents in equal measure. The future seemed limitless for the young star. But just as Wendel’s talents were set to peak, everything unraveled. Years of no-holds-barred, physical play were taking their toll, and soon his greatest competitor wasn’t anyone on the ice, but his own body. Every movement brought agony, every shift was a challenge, and every game meant the decision to keep fighting. But as Wendel’s body broke down, his resolve only grew. Determined to succeed no matter what the cost, Wendel set out on a course that would allow him to keep doing what he loved and that would turn him into one of the most beloved hockey players of all time. Emotional and uplifting, Bleeding Blue is the story of a man who refused to say no, who wore his heart on his sleeve, and who would do anything to keep going, even when everything told him to quit.

Lot Six


David Adjmi - 2020
    Born into the ruins of a Syrian Jewish family that once had it all, David is painfully displaced. Trapped in an insular religious community that excludes him and a family coming apart at the seams, he is plunged into suicidal depression. Through adolescence, David tries to suppress his homosexual feelings and fit in, but when pushed to the breaking point, he makes the bold decision to cut off his family, erase his past, and leave everything he knows behind. There's only one problem: who should he be? Bouncing between identities he steals from the pages of fashion magazines, tomes of philosophy, sitcoms and foreign films, and practically everyone he meets—from Rastafarians to French preppies—David begins to piece together an entirely new adult self. But is this the foundation for a life, or just a kind of quicksand?Moving from the glamour and dysfunction of 1970s Brooklyn, to the sybaritic materialism of Reagan’s 1980s to post-9/11 New York, Lot Six offers a quintessentially American tale of an outsider striving to reshape himself in the funhouse mirror of American culture. Adjmi’s memoir is a genre bending Künstlerroman in the spirit of Charles Dickens and Alison Bechdel, a portrait of the artist in the throes of a life and death crisis of identity. Raw and lyrical, and written in gleaming prose that veers effortlessly between hilarity and heartbreak, Lot Six charts Adjmi’s search for belonging, identity, and what it takes to be an artist in America.

First


Declan Rhodes - 2019
     For Mason Matheson, being first-born into a large, prosperous family meant the responsibility to compete to be first in many ways. When Kyle Greene, a childhood friend of Mason and his family, decides its time to broaden his horizons and experiment with men, Mason is determined to be Kyle’s “first.” Mason began the week shoehorned into a minivan with his four adult brothers and one sister on the way to Kyle’s mountain ski lodge for a vacation week. Matheson and Greene, the company founded by the elder generation of two close families, enjoyed a windfall of business, and Mason’s father, John, decided that it was time to gather around, bring the two families together for the first time in years, and celebrate. For a whole week. Away from work. Away from the city. With brothers and sisters. Mason dreaded the upcoming seven days. Then he saw Kyle again for the first time since high school. Former Olympic slalom skier Kyle is hurting from the three-pronged lousy luck of a blown-out knee ending his competitive skiing career, the death of his mother, and the disintegration of his marriage. All that he had left was his family, disapproving father Bentley and loving sister Lily, and his recently purchased ski resort, The Hideaway. He saw the arrival of the Matheson clan as an opportunity to get back on his feet and surround himself with a crowd of people who cared. Mason represented one more opportunity. Kyle’s curiosity about men lingered in the back of his mind since high school, and he knew that it played a role in his divorce. As part of a promise to his mother before she died, he was determined to explore his dreams, even the long-hidden ones. Hard-driving, hard-working gay Mason could help with that. It doesn’t take long for the week to turn complicated. There is a hidden pregnancy, a new ski injury, and bitterness from Kyle’s father to contend with. At the center of it all, two men are falling in love. For Mason, that would be a first. First is a 57,000-word gay romance with friends-to-lovers, first-time themes and steamy scenes. It is the first book in the series The Mathesons and can be read as a standalone story. There are no cliffhangers, and it includes a guaranteed happy ending.

The Otto Digmore Difference


Brent Hartinger - 2017
    But he’s also a burn survivor with scars on half his face, and all indications are that he’s just too different to ever find real Hollywood success. Now he’s up for an amazing new role that could change everything. Problem is, he and his best friend Russel Middlebrook have to drive all the way across the country in order to get to the audition on time. It’s hard to say which is worse: the fact that so many things go wrong, or that Russel, an aspiring screenwriter, keeps comparing their experiences to some kind of road trip movie. There’s also the fact that Otto and Russel were once boyfriends, and Otto is starting to realize that he still might have romantic feelings for his best friend. Just how far will Otto go to get the role, and maybe the guy, of his dreams? Author Brent Hartinger first introduced the character of Otto Digmore in 2005, in his Lambda Award-winning books about Russel Middlebrook. Back then, Otto was something pretty unusual for YA literature: a disabled gay character. Now, more than a decade later, Otto is grown up and finally stepping into the spotlight on his own. The Otto Digmore Difference, the first book in a new stand-alone series featuring Otto, is about much more than the challenges of being “different.” It’s also about the unexpected nature of all of life’s journeys, and the heavy price that must be paid for Hollywood fame. But more than anything, it’s a different kind of love story, about the frustrating and fantastic power of the love between two friends. Praise for Brent Hartinger: “Hits the narrative sweet spot." — NPR's All Things Considered "Downright refreshing." — USA Today "Touching and realistic...hilarious." — Kirkus Reviews

The Blue Lawn


William Taylor - 1999
    Sixteen-year-old Theo is an outsider, not altogether likable, and not particularly interested in making friends. Initial hostility turns to an unlikely friendship, masking a growing attraction neither boy understands. A powerful novel of relationships, set against the backdrop of a small New Zealand town, exploring the complicated emotions of two young men who don't yet understand what they are feeling and have nowhere to turn for help.

The Last Exit to Normal


Michael Harmon - 2008
    But he never thinks he’ll end up yanked out of his city life and plunked down into a small Montana town with his dad and Edward, The Boyfriend. As if it’s not painful enough living in a hick town with spiked hair, a skateboard habit, and two dads, he soon realizes something’s not quite right with Billy, the boy next door. He’s hiding a secret about his family, and Ben is determined to uncover it and set things right. In an authentic, unaffected, and mordantly funny voice, Michael Harmon tells the wrenching story of an uprooted and uncomfortable teenaged guy trying to fix the lives around him–while figuring out his own.From the Hardcover edition.

Copping a Sweetest Day Feel


Andrew Grey - 2011
    He feels even more guilty when he finds Peter has prepared a special dinner for him, complete with a Sweetest Day cake – and David doesn’t even consider Sweetest Day a real holiday. But after nearly twenty years together, David knows just how to make things up to Peter…

Just Between You And Me: A Memoir


Myles Goodwyn - 2016
    He is the only remaining original member of the group since the inception of April Wine in 1969. Goodwyn grew up poor and is the classic “small-town kid makes good” success story. As a young teen, Goodwyn honed his skills, playing in bands such as East Gate Sanctuary and Woody’s Termites. From the very beginning, Goodwyn plotted the course of the band. His unique but classic rock voice gives April Wine a distinct and immediately recognizable sound. Ranging from hard rock classics to soulful ballads, his vocal range and style can really grab a hold of you. His songwriting skills are prolific. He has penned virtually every April Wine song. He has a knack with words and seems to have an ability to write a catchy tune at will. Through the ups and downs and changing faces of the band, the one thing that has remained constant is Myles Goodwyn. Even today and with their latest release and shift in direction, his voice is as strong and apparent as ever. Now in its fourth decade, April Wine continues to charge ahead as one of Canada’s very best rock bands. And as far as rock history goes, Myles Goodwyn is already a living legend (especially in the annals of Canadian rock history), being known as one of the all-time greats.In Just Between You and Me, Goodwyn shares the story of his upbringing, first at home in rural New Brunswick and then in the music business as the lead singer of one of Canada’s most popular bands ever, April Wine.