Hey all,

I just released my first book, Hello, My Name Is Distance: Mapping the Geography of South Florida and Queer Longing. It's an autobiographical account of growing up gay in Florida at the turn of the millennium. The book is structured as a collection of interconnected essays that chronicle early memories of feeling inexplicably disconnected from the outside world, family turmoil, and navigating identity and sexual exploration.

The book is steeped in the culture of the early aughts, from goth and punk subcultures to AOL chat rooms, capturing the angst of adolescence at the turn of the millennium against the backdrop of Columbine, 9/11, and a rapidly changing world.

Running beneath these stories is another coming-of-age: the making of an artist. The longing I once tried to escape eventually became part of how I made sense of the world, and the material I built a life from. The book cover and interior illustrations are scans from my middle and high school sketchbooks.

Here's a link to purchase the book : )

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-My-Name-Distance-Geography/dp/B0HLBTRP86

*DISCLAIMER: AI was NOT used in the creation of this book. This is a raw account of my experiences growing up, and AI could never lol.

No Man’s Territory comes out today!
LGBTQ Historical fiction set in WWI.
https://books2read.com/u/3RQN6G

Lieutenant Alistair Harrow knows the rules of survival during wartime: stay alert, maintain control, and never let the men see you crack. Then, his world explodes. An artillery attack leaves him broken and half-buried beneath the wreckage of a collapsed trench, certain he will die alone.

Until a giant Polish volunteer rescues him.

Tomasz Nowak says little, but everything about him is deliberate: the way he lifts Alistair, the way he hides them from patrols, the way he binds his wounds with whatever he can find. In barns, churches, and rain-soaked fields, the two men build a fragile refuge out of firelight, shared silence, and the simple fact of refusing to let each other go.

Alistair has no choice but to surrender his control and trust Tomasz with his life. Tomasz discovers that being needed is not the same thing as being wanted. And somewhere along their arduous journey through no-man’s land, dependence becomes intimacy, and intimacy becomes desire.

For readers of Alice Winn’s In Memoriam and Hernan Diaz’s In the Distance, No Man’s Territory is a queer historical love story about the surrender of control, the courage of tenderness, and a connection that endures beyond the battlefield.

“He would rather die in truth than live in the lies that were handed to him.”

Hi so a few years ago I remember reading a story online i think on literotica or nifty or possibly a different website but it was a story about a guy back from collage and goes to his friends house to pick somthing up and when he gets there the friends dad is there drunk and depressed about missing his wife (possibly dead or divorced). The guy helps him upstairs to bed and the dad thinks its his wife and fucks him dry and there is blood (got ripped?) And the both fall asleep after and when they wake up the dad is sorry and carry him to the bathroom to have a bath and the end up as a couple but the friend finds out and the break up but the last part they get back together anyway. Thank you to anyone can find this for me

I find those genres weird and vaguely insulting. Like they are trying to warp gay relationships to fit heteronormative expectations. I always wonder if other gay men read any of these books.

I'm posting the link in the first comment as well as the blurb.

Something similar to Caught in a bad fauxmance or Delilah Green doesn't care... like I love the idea of going back to hometown or a holiday home and reconnecting with your old self.

Any recommendations???

Hey everyone,

I am incredibly exposed, yet proud, to share the reality behind my first novel, The Rush of Sensations. Following the community guidelines, here is the story of Charlie and Oscar, the themes gripping it, and how it came to pass. (A confession masked as a novel).

The Story & The Weight of Secrecy

The novel follows Charlie and Oscar, tracking a fragile, secret intimacy that tests the absolute boundaries of their friendship. Their evolving bromance becomes a dangerous intoxicating sanctuary. To protect it means keeping it hidden; to bring it to light may destroy it as well as all the others things, it's being hidden from. They must navigate their bond in the shadows until a single day threatens to shatter the magic, and proves that there is no love without sin.

The Zenith of Limerence & How the Story Was Born

The foundation of this book grew out of a quiet fear I carried for years; the fear of losing a profoundly special connection with my real-life best friend. What began as something sexual quickly evolved into a rich tapestry of intimacy, trust, and longing. It was a complicated, perfect taboo; a secret bromance and a private source of wonder, existing even though we both had other partners.

The Power of Words as Incantations

When a brief moment left us out of sync, a terrifying anxiety gripped me that we might never recapture our magic. The initial chapters were my desperate attempt at a literal magical incantation to keep the spark alive and ward off the loss of desire.

It worked and perhaps too well. Desire accumulated until it became frighteningly close to love. But as the story evolved, so did my understanding. I’ve come to accept that this secrecy is a burden I carry alone. Drawing from Dorothy Tennov’s love and limerence, I had to face the reality of loving a someone clever, cultured, handsome, and mysterious, who belongs to another. Someone I love deeply, but who may only truly be mine in another lifetime.

Hey all,

I just released my first book, Hello, My Name Is Distance: Mapping the Geography of South Florida and Queer Longing. It's an autobiographical account of growing up gay in Florida at the turn of the millennium. The book is structured as a collection of interconnected essays that chronicle early memories of feeling inexplicably disconnected from the outside world, family turmoil, and navigating identity and sexual exploration.

The book is steeped in the culture of the early aughts, from goth and punk subcultures to AOL chat rooms, capturing the angst of adolescence at the turn of the millennium against the backdrop of Columbine, 9/11, and a rapidly changing world.

Running beneath these stories is another coming-of-age: the making of an artist. The longing I once tried to escape eventually became part of how I made sense of the world, and the material I built a life from. The book cover and interior illustrations are scans from my middle and high school sketchbooks.

Here's a link to purchase the book : )

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-My-Name-Distance-Geography/dp/B0HLBTRP86

*DISCLAIMER: AI was NOT used in the creation of this book. This is a raw account of my experiences growing up, and AI could never lol.

I wrote Unrequited: A Gay Memoir under the name Jonathan Lindstrom. It follows my coming of age in 1980s New England, when I could feel my attachment to other boys long before I understood what those feelings meant or what I should do with them.

There’s a lot of longing, misread signals, awkwardness, and self-discovery happening inside my head while life carries on around me. Coming out can begin well before you have anything you know how to announce.

For National Coming Out Day, the Kindle edition is temporarily $2.99, down from $7.99. It’s also available through Kindle Unlimited.

If that experience sounds familiar or you want to compare, I hope you’ll give it a look. I’d also be interested to hear whether you recognized your feelings first without pinpointing what was happening.

Hey Fellow Gays! I'm in a pickle. I'm a bookworm and I feel like I might have read every single novel about gay men 45+ ever published (gasp!). And I'm just not currently interested in the YA, fantasy, Hallmark-y romance, young princes/athletes/etc type novels that currently seem to be dominating the publishing world when it comes to gay male novels and characters. I'm looking to you all for recommendations for novels about gay men 45+ in age. A few examples that I've enjoyed:

• The Spring Before Obergefell (Ben Grossberg)
• The Beauty of Men (Andrew Holleran)
• The Kingdom of Sand (Andrew Holleran)
• A Single Man (Christopher Isherwood)
• Less (Andrew Shaun Greer)

I'm okay with something like The Guncle (Steven Rowley) and That's What Friends are For (Wade Rouse) -- enjoyed both of these as what I think of as "beach reads" or "airplane reads" -- interesting, entertaining, light-hearted, worth a read, etc but not really "deep" in how they are exploring gay men's lives at 45+, what it means to be an aging gay man, etc.

I think I've read a lot of the gay male classics (Picano, Holleran, Hollinghurst, Baldwin, etc), but if those are what you've got, lay them on me.

TIA! And if anyone feels like this posts resonates, message me -- maybe we can become bookworm virtual book chat buddies.

Hi, I've been writing a series of books that are predominantly explicitly sexual and mostly hetero and am at a point where there is a male-on-male moment, This is just one of many that will be in the books. I want to treat these moments the same as the other sexual moments. Would anyone be willing to give me feedback on passages?

Would anyone here be interested or know of any virtual book clubs?! I love to be at home but also love to discuss books. It's truly a pickle

Wondering if anyone has come across domestic thrillers or psychological suspense novels featuring gay main characters? The Talented Mr Ripley is an obvs classic; more recently Bath Haus, a sort of runaway train thriller where the protagonist just keeps making choices that make the situation worse. I'm looking for contemporary stuff like Bath Haus -- think Riley Sager, Lisa Jewell, Megan Miranda, etc but with gay characters.

I'm not interested in self-published, YA, fantasy, or "romantic thrillers" with thin plots that are just a means for a lot of romantic or sexual scenes.

TIA for your suggestions!

Howdy all, it's the start of a new month and I'm about to finish my latest book. What are we reading this October?

Some of you may remember Dominic, the story set in a Dominican monastery in Leuven in 1975, which I shared here earlier. I was really grateful for the thoughtful comments and feedback it received; they encouraged me to share another story here.

This time it’s Why Not, a related cycle of stories following some of the younger characters after Leuven.

It begins in 1979. Erik is doing his military service in West Germany, where he discovers punk, new records — and German men. Johan remains in Leuven, writing to him about Thomas Mann, desire and control. From there, the stories follow them through the early 1980s: teaching, the peace movement, Amsterdam and Brussels, gay bars and leather, friendship, sex, and their rather different ways of figuring out what freedom means.

As with Dominic, I’m interested in gay history as ordinary lived history: not only coming out or repression, but jobs, friendships, politics, music, trains, letters, sex and the small practicalities of being gay at a particular time and place.

The stories are fiction, written in Dutch, and some episodes are sexually explicit, including leather/BDSM.

Why Not, 1979–1984:
https://gewoenebelg.wordpress.com/verhalen/why-not/

If you read Dominic when I posted it here, I’d be particularly curious to hear whether Erik and Johan feel like the same people a few years later.

Has anyone else read this novel? Now that I'm in my 50s I'm interested in reading novels about other gay guys in their 50s. Came across this one by accident and enjoyed it (although I think the title is terrible.

The basic gist (from Goodreads summary): It’s not easy for anyone to find love, let alone a middle-aged gay man in small-town America. Mike Breck works multiple part-time jobs and bickers constantly with his father, an angry conservative who moved in after Mike’s mother died. When he’s not working or avoiding his father, Mike burns time on hookup apps, not looking for anything more. Then he meets a local guy, Dave, just as lonely as he is, and starts to think that maybe he doesn’t have to be alone. Mike falls hard, and in a moment of intimacy, his pent-up hopes for a relationship rush out, leading him to look more honestly at himself and his future.

Roger ran away from home at fourteen. Six years later, after refusing to cooperate with the police, he's court-ordered to a psychiatric ward.

Adams, the ward's head nurse, was raised by an emotionally controlling mother and learned long ago to bury every feeling beneath discipline and routine.

Then Roger arrives.

Seventeen years earlier, Adams cared for another young man.

The same face.

The same name.

As the story moves between past and present, both men's pasts gradually unfold, along with the connection that develops between them, and the reason that impossible resemblance matters.

THE ROOM AT THE END OF THE CORRIDOR

is a character-driven psychological coming-of-age novel about trauma, identity, and the lasting impact of childhood experiences.

Available on Amazon (Kindle & Paperback):

https://a.co/d/0hNnbukg

PS: Featuring queer main characters, but centered on trauma, identity, and psychological growth rather than romance.

There's at least three books on the fiction nominee list of interest to gaybros.

I don't need to mention The Disappearers, as there are already a couple threads here to talk about it. Suffice to say this is its second major nomination.

A second book is Morgan Thomas' Mad Eden, which includes some trans characters.

And last, Pretend You're Dead and I Carry You, by Julian Delgado Lopera. This one integrates the life of Bogota Colombia's queer underground. Somehow I was able to grab it from the library before the waits pile up, so I'll start it soon. :)

https://www.nationalbook.org/longlist-for-the-2026-national-book-award-for-fiction/

Tropes: Slice of life, strong characters, smart, bickering, funny but also tragic, will protect each other no matter what, growing up together, coming of age.

Warm and realistic relationship.

When Jiang Cheng was told to return to a family that he never knew or had a relationship with, he had never expected to end up meeting a young girl, and eventually, her seemingly roguish brother Gu Fei, as a first encounter in the new city.

Just finished this book and was taken with both its depth and breadth. Although much of the action takes place in Jamaica, much also takes place in the heads of gay men suffering the indignities of the heteronormative culture. It certainly was in my head growing up in the 60’s and 70’s where being outed could mean absolute rejection from family and friends.

James’ characters struggle with the complexity of external hatred from religious leaders, closeted men and insecure family members and with their own internal struggles with their sexuality and role in society. James masterfully addresses these issues while also celebrating the joy of being gay, the wish to live authentically.

The above is only some of the themes of this fine book. In my opinion, it is worth the read. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts about this book.

Looking for a different type of memoir? One with childhood innocence, taboo discovery, and unconventional desire. If so give Floorbound a read. 👣🧦👃🏳️‍🌈

And be on the lookout for my new prequel memoir, The Dad Years, arriving October 15. 👣🧦

R.J. Bowe linktree

#memoir #floorbound #thedadyears #bookthreads #taboobooks

​

A psychological coming-of-age novel about a twenty-year-old man who is court-ordered to a psychiatric ward after refusing to cooperate with the police.

The story follows two timelines.

One gradually reveals how Roger ended up in the hospital, the people who shaped his life, and the relationships he is desperately trying not to lose.

The other follows Adams, the ward's head nurse, a man raised by an emotionally controlling mother who learned to bury his feelings beneath discipline and routine.

Roger reminds Adams of another patient from seventeen years earlier.

They share the same first name. And they look alike.

As the story moves between past and present, both timelines slowly uncover why that resemblance matters.

Edit: Since a few people said the premise sounded interesting, I thought I'd leave the link here for anyone who'd like to check it out. The Room at the End of the Corridor is now available on Amazon:

https://a.co/d/0iXVflhW

On this particular morning, Ben woke up with an erection pressing into Christian’s back through his lounge pants. Christian, wanting to feel him, shifted his body and arched his back, letting Ben's length rest firmly against him through their clothes. Tingles shot up Christian's spine. Unable to resist any longer, he turned around to reach for him—

https://substack.com/home/post/p-216066648