Love Is Proud
GENRE Gay • Multi-Author Anthology • Erotic Romance
ISBN 9781634862080
PUBLISHER JMS Books LLC
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In the early morning hours of Sunday, June 12, 2016, a gunman entered Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and opened fire. Forty-nine innocent people lost their lives that night, and many more were injured. The LGBT community reeled when the news broke, not only because it was the deadliest mass shooting in the US to date, but because the act of terror and hatred was aimed directly at them.
In the aftermath, many of us struggled for a way to express our grief and fear. With that goal in mind, the authors of JMS Books sought an outlet for their emotions; thus, this anthology of short stories and poems was created.
Love Is Proud celebrates queer love in all its forms, showing that love must triumph over hate. Whether it's spending a quiet evening together at home, a night out on the town, or attending the local Pride event, this collection embraces how empowering love can be between men -- or women, or any and every shade under the LGBTQIA umbrella.
Featuring never before published work from 49 different authors, Love Is Proud is a collaborative effort whose entire proceeds will go to Equality Florida to benefit the victims and their families of the Pulse nightclub shooting. All the work in the collection, including the editing, has been donated to offset the costs. This stunning anthology will be a charitable keepsake whose message of pride in who and how we love is an enduring testament to all those affected by this tragedy.
Authors included in this anthology are: Jeff Adams, Addison Albright, John Amory, Leska Beikircher, Mychael Black, Mel Bossa, David Connor and E.F. Mulder, T.A. Creech, Nanisi Barrett D'Arnuk, Kim Davis, Annie Dean, Vivien Dean, Keelan Ellis, Paul Alan Fahey, Eric Fahnestock, Dean Frech, Francis Gideon, Lisa Gray, La Toya Hankins, William Holden, Drew Hunt, Rebecca James, Nickie Jamison, Shawna Jeanne, Iyana Jenna, Dilo Keith, Shawn Lane, Kassandra Lea, W.S. Long, Rae MacGregor, Wayne Mansfield, J.T. Marie, Matthew J. Metzger, Ruby Moone, H.D. Nels, Deirdre O'Dare, R.M. Olivia, Terry O'Reilly, Jessica Payseur, Matthew Robbins, Rob Rosen, Feral Sephrian, J.M. Snyder, Louis Stevens, Michael P. Thomas, Tinnean, J. Tomas, J.D. Walker, and Emery C. Walters.
EXCERPT FROM "Alphabet Pasta"
They'd reached P on Garth's A-Z pasta education course. Previously Garth had asked what they could eat when they reached X.
Tony had merely grinned and said Garth should focus more on Z. When Garth had asked why, Tony had told him he'd celebrate his graduation with baked ziti as part of their wedding feast. Seemed ziti was a traditional bridal food.
Garth had opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, so not expecting Tony to offer to marry him. But on reflection it was exactly the "I'll protect you and keep you safe" type of thing Tony would do.
The only slight downer to the evening was Garth's concern for Adam.
The night after the shooting Adam had wet the bed. This caused him, as well as Tony and Garth much distress. Again Tony came to the rescue. He called his employer to tell them he wasn't coming in. Garth would have preferred to have stayed home with Adam, but he'd recently changed schools and although the pay was better in the Ann Arbor public school system, he found he had a lot more non-teaching crap to deal with. Therefore, Garth felt it would be difficult to take a day off at such short notice.
That evening, Garth discovered Adam and Tony had spent the day bonding. This made Garth more determined to put into action an idea he'd been mulling over for a while.
Adam had been okay to attend school Tuesday, although Garth could still see signs of separation anxiety. Reluctant to go out and leave his son with his parents the weekend after the shooting, Garth and Tony had taken Adam out with them. They'd let Adam pick the venue and not surprisingly he'd chosen Chucky Cheese.
Tony had insisted he and Garth were going out on a date on Friday, May 24, as it marked their eighteen-month anniversary. In truth, Garth had completely forgotten, although hadn't admitted this fact.
Tony, superhero parent that he had become, had had a serious talk with Adam and they'd come up with a strategy that the two of them had planned with military precision. Garth's mother would come and watch Adam. Usually Adam went to his grandparents' but they didn't have Wi-Fi, and that was crucial to the mission. Adam had added Tony as a 'friend' on his iPad so he could track the location of Tony's iPhone on a map. Tony had also agreed Adam could text him any time while they were out. Garth knew he should have been the one in contact with his son, but as he only had a basic cell phone, that wasn't possible. However, Adam's texts soon turned humorous, or at least what passed for humor to a ten-year-old. When the new text chime sounded for the eighth or ninth time, Garth threatened to take Tony's phone from him but Tony refused and pushed the phone down the front of his pants.
"Don't think I won't go in there to retrieve it."
Tony smirked. "Am hoping you will."
