Desert Sons

Book excerpt: Time: Summer, 1990. Place: Yucca Valley, CA. Scott Faraday, sixteen, is fun loving, in a small town rock band, and out - but only to a select few. Isolated in his high desert town Scott doesn't know anyone else who's gay. When Ryan St. Charles, a troubled seventeen-year old, moves to town, everything changes. Ryan is brash and hot headed, the complete opposite of Scott's demeanor. In fact, Ryan has just severed a long-term relationship with a man, but still considers himself straight. As Scott and Ryan's unusual friendship develops, Scott begins to suspect Ryan might be covering up that he's gay. When Scott comes out to Ryan, their friendship is transmuted and it becomes Scott's first intimate relationship. Tightly focused on these two characters, Desert Sons follows the ups and downs of a young adult gay relationship. Filled with first-time wonder, teenage angst and the swirl of emotions that can only be expressed by youth, readers are pulled headlong into a highly charged drama.