I've posted this story before, and at least a few have read the original. Aside from some tweaking – for the better, I hope - the first twenty chapters are almost the same as before, so the overall story remains the same...
Until I decided to add more characters to the original story. Twelve, to be exact, and that was a mistake. When almost to the happily-ever-after part, introducing a rebellious Boy Scout troop along with their de facto leader, a deeply conflicted Eagle Scout, is not a good idea. Only problem was, I'd already posted that twentieth chapter, ending it by saying that things were about to get more complicated, without stopping to consider just how much more.
So this time around, the Scouts will be more like a ship passing in the night, and story-wise, I think that'll help.
In terms of writing, I'm learning as I go. I've always liked telling stories, but until a few years ago, I never had the nerve to post anything, and at first my stories were only an attempt to explain the part of me that I'd always tried to hide. I'm not sure how successful that explanation was, because more often than not the pathos was left between the lines and then I'd probably be off on a tale about an attempted ducknapping or something... not for any unnatural purposes, mind...
But anyway, early on, my alter-egos always shared my background. I saw very little point in creating an alter-ego who couldn't relate to me. I grew up in a parsonage. In the South. And I could go into lots more detail...
But in terms of this story, there's really no point, because Nathaniel Halverson - the narrator – is about a million miles removed from a fundamentalist preacher's kid. Not that there still aren't similarities between him and myself at that age, but so far, that's been true of all my alter-egos. Small for their age, bookish, often prone to wising off... and gay.
In real life, I kept that last part hid, though. I hid it so well, sex wasn't possible, but as might be guessed, that's not the case with my alter-egos. Even if in some cases, getting there was a bit torturous, they always managed at least something before they were out of their teens.
Once I'm really into it, it's as though I become the boy narrating the story - so much so, I've sometimes found myself wondering if that boy could have coaxed me out of the closet when I was growing up. It wouldn't have been an easy task, but I think the one most likely to have accomplished that would have been someone like Nathaniel Halverson. Even if he'd been someone else's one and only by then, if he'd been enough of a friend to share his story, I think I would have been willing to take a chance a lot sooner.
For one simple reason: being gay doesn't have to be a curse. It can be great fun, and if it's with someone you love, then it becomes something that's very wonderful.