Fiction by Author: N-S

Russ, a twentysomething-looking gay man, is searching for his true identity while he struggles with keeping an otherworldly secret. Russ is a changeling... a shape-shifter who will never age, and who, perhaps, will never die. Living a carefree beach life in San Diego, he uses his uncanny abilities to feed his desire for men of all shapes and sizes--but something important is missing. This suspenseful novel unfolds as Russ realizes that his obsession with image has become empty and that what he really needs is a relationship with another man that will encompass more than the satisfaction of his sexual needs.

In the spirit of Gabriel García Márquez and other authors whose stories bring an element of magic into an otherwise very real universe, David M. Pierce uses Russ's supernatural abilities to underscore Elf Child's true-to-life themes: the search for identity, personal growth and transformation, and being the "outsider"--which are all central to the struggles of those of us who have grown up gay in a straight world.

Lani Garver’s arrival on Hackett Island creates quite a stir.  The Island’s residents have never been particularly welcoming to strangers, but in the case of Lani, it’s even worse.  Everything about this new kid is a mystery: Where does Lani come from?  How old is Lani?  And most disturbing of all, is Lani a girl or a boy?

Popular Claire McKenzie isn’t up to tormenting Lani along with the rest of the high school elite.  With real troubles of her own, Claire reluctantly befriends the intriguing outcast.  Instantly, her entire world is turned upside down.

Within days of Lani’s arrival, torment turns to tragedy, and Claire is left wondering just who—or what—Lani was.

In this unusual coming-of-age novel, author Jay Quinn surveys the expanding emotional and sexual boundaries of Matt, an eighteen-year-old surfer in coastal North Carolina. Set against the broad skies and beaches of North Carolina's Outer Banks, Matt's story of claiming his place as a surfer and as a gay man in the small and large worlds of construction sites, fishing piers, and surf breaks, is a triumph of storytelling.

As Matt's dedication to surfing and learning the nuances of the technical aspects of his job join seamlessly, he also learns of his own capacity for erotic adventure and need for emotional connection. Matt's many layers of learning to be a man are the stuff of hard-earned experience and a textured reading experience that is rare in the coming-of-age genre.

As a star basketball player in her last year of high school, Nancy Takahiro’s life is about to change forever.  Faced with the college recruitment process and unsure of where her skill will take her, Nancy is not prepared for meeting Raina Webber, an All-State shooting guard whoe passion for basketball is matched only by her talent for it

When Nancy’s father and Raina’s mother move in together, the girls are faced with the challenge of negotiation their already intense friendship and rivalry.  As Nancy’s love for Raina grows and both prepare to leave the inner city neighborhood that has nurtured them, they find themselves looking toward a future that is no longer easily defined.

Five years later the friends are drawn back together and what was held to be a tragic accident is discovered to be murder. Other secrets begin to unravel and the casual cruelties of high school develop into acts of violence that threaten an entire city.

But the past does not die so easily, and the intricate webs of deceit that they have spun to protect themselves are slowly twisted into shackles that chain them to their doom. Snowbound and trapped on the campus, the friends find themselves unwilling pawns in the machinations of a malevolent force that has taken hold of Atherton -- and all their oldest fears, veiled passions, and secret nightmares are about to come to life in...The Snow Garden.

Meanwhile, Caroline Hughes, an intense young surgical resident, scours central California, also seeking a serial killer: an avenger of such legendary violence he seems more demon than man.

The truth that Adam, Caroline, and James Wilton discover  is far more diabolical than they could ever have imagined.

From the mansion-strung Hollywood Hills to the drug-ravaged hamlets of the Central Valley, they enter a labyrinth that leads to the darkest core of the human heart--uncovering a conspiracy so extraordinary that it threatens both their sanity and their lives.

Light Before Day is a riveting and complex mystery set within a gothic twenty-first-century California landscape that Rice makes his own.

Ancient Prejudice is a story of love, friendship, understanding, and an age-old prejudice that still has the power to kill. It is a story for young and old, gay and straight. It reminds us all that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect and that there is nothing greater than the power of love.

(Note: this is an expanded version of Ancient Prejudice, Break to New Mutiny)

What do the poorest boy in town and the captain of the football team have in common? More than you might think. Casper has nothing, but a trio of bullies who hound him, a distant father and an older brother who makes his life a living hell. Brendan has it all; muscles, money, fame and popularity. The boys come from different worlds, but both share a constant desire.

A Better Place is the story of an unlikely pair, who struggle through friendship and betrayal, hardships and heartbreaks, to find the desire of their hearts, to find a better place.

Sixteen-year-old Sean sets out on a quest that takes him into the supernatural and beyond. A haunted mansion, gay ghosts, a cult of hate, and a hundred year old ax murder all await Sean as he races to discover the murderer before he strikes again.

Someone is Killing the Gay Boys of Verona is a supernatural murder mystery that goes where no gay novel has set foot before. It is a tale of love, hate, friendship, and revenge.

Sixteen year old Avery is in trouble, yet again, but this time he’s in over his head. On the run, Avery is faced with hardships and fear. He must become what he’s always hated, just to survive. He discovers new reasons to hate, until fate brings him to Graymoor Mansion and he discovers a disturbing connection to the past. Through the eyes of a boy, murdered more than a century before, Avery discovers that all is not as he thought. Avery is soon forced to face the greatest challenge of all; looking into his own heart.

Sean is head over heels in love with his new boyfriend, Nick. There is trouble in paradise, however. Could a boy so beautiful really love plain, ordinary Sean? Sean cannot believe it and desperately tries to transform himself into the ideal young hunk, only to learn that it’s what’s inside that matters.

Keeper of Secrets is the story of two boys, one a gay youth, the other an adolescent gay basher. Fate and the pages of a hundred year old journal bring them together and their lives are forever changed.

It's hard hiding a secret. It's even harder keeping that secret when someone else knows.

Someone is watching. Someone knows. It was a nightmare come true for seventeen year-old Ethan. It's hard hiding a secret. It's even harder keeping that secret when someone else knows. Who is the mysterious note-writer, the secret tormentor? Who is the enemy that hides among Ethan's friends and teammates? Who holds Ethan's secret over his head, threatening to destroy his entire world?

Someone Is Watching is the story of a young high school wrestler who must come to terms with being gay. He struggles first with himself, then with an unknown classmate that hounds his every step. While struggling to discover the identity of his tormentor, Ethan must discover his own identity and learn to live his life as his true self. He must choose whether to give up what he wants the most, or face his greatest fear of all.

Kyle Meeks doesn't look gay, but he is. And he hopes he never has to tell anyone -- especially his parents.

Nelson Glassman is "out" to the entire world, but he can't tell the boy he loves that he wants to be more than just friends.

Three teenage boys, coming of age and out of the closet. In a revealing debut novel that percolates with passion and wit, Alex Sanchez follows these very different high-school seniors as their struggles with sexuality and intolerance draw them into a triangle of love, betrayal, and ultimately, friendship.

KYLE MEEKS finally has the guy of his dreams and is ready to do anything to stay by his side...but will "anything" include sabotaging his own future?

JASON CARRILLO knows he has to face his future and is prepared to face it out and gay...but is he prepared to let go of the dream that has sustained him all of his life?

As their high school days draw to a close and these three friends move toward one of life's most defining crossroads, each will be compelled to choose his own direction -- and prepare for the consequences.

This is the story of Ista's quest for her true identity in a future where you cannot live without an official identity.  She must leave the security of her home on a trading ship and return in secret to the isolated mine where she was discovered as a baby.  There she encounters and must overcome a menace hidden by the huge interstellar Night Sky Mining Corporation.

But now Grom is dead, and Willie is selling the contents of the house at auction and going off to college.  While cleaning out his mother's old room (always kept locked and still as a shrine), Willie discovers a box of old letters.  In them he finds some answers to the secrets that have surrounded him all his live, and new questions only he can answer.

Unlived Affections is a strongly felt, painfully honest novel about one young man's search for his place in the world.

Jamie's compelling search for origins brings her unexpected answers along with an awakened sense of confidence and independence that startles everyone, including herself.

Acclaimed author Nancy Springer's mastery of suspense underlined her understanding of the need to ,now oneself and sweeps the reader along to the exciting and unexpected conclusion.

I've discovered that if you wear a big enough hat, no one worries much about what's going on inside your head.

Cary should know. Her head is a mess behind the floppy Audrey Hepburn hat she wears. Her best friend is a boy who speaks to her in song lyrics--a boy that only she can see. And no one, not even Cary's boyfriend Danny, knows about the things inside Cary's head. Especially the feelings she has for Wendy, a girl with bright green hair and hard-candy sadness in her eyes. Wendy is sexy and dangerous. Cary thinks that Wendy could love her the way Danny does. There's just one problem. Wendy is Danny's sister.

After skipping the ninth grade and entering high school in an accelerated program for gifted students, fourteen-year-old Eric and his best friend Paul seem to undergo a dynamic change in their relationship.