#RainbowSnippets 24-Feb-2018 – Closets Are for Clothes

Posted on by Addison Albright 22 Comments

I’ve joined the Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook. From their description: “Rainbow Snippets is a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).” Pretty cool, eh? Don’t forget to “Like” my Facebook page and/or my Facebook profile while you’re over there checking out this fantastic group!

IT’S RELEASE DAY! 🎉

I’m continuing the thread I started a few weeks ago from Closets Are for Clothes featuring Mike & Wes. For general context, Mike is heading “home” to Kansas to come out to his parents.

Told from Mike’s 1st-person POV.

Click to toggle open refresher scenes from this thread:

Closets Are for Clothes - Flying Home Part 1 – 3-Feb-2018

The plane taxied down the runway and took off, and I turned my gaze to my book. I’d brought Andy Weir’s The Martian because I’d read it before and loved it, and I’d figured I might be distracted, so it’d be best not to try to follow a new story.

I opened the book, read the first three lines with the character thinking he was “pretty much fucked,” and closed it again. I didn’t believe in omens, but that summed up how I felt. It was just a question of degree.

Closets Are for Clothes - Flying Home Part 2 – 10-Feb-2018

The beverage cart rattled down the aisle with the two flight attendants working together. I was near the back, so it didn’t take long to reach me. I got a ginger ale, hoping it would settle my stomach. My seat partner got a beer, and thankfully didn’t do or say anything rude. Apparently, he was more of a behind-your-back bigot rather than in-your-face. Not that he deserved any honor for that.

Closets Are for Clothes - Flying Home Part 3 – 17-Feb-2018

I sipped my ginger ale, reopened my book, and flipped through the pages as if I was reading. Instead, my thoughts slipped back to the goodbye I’d shared with Wes. I’d gone straight to the airport from work, which I’d left a little early, so I didn’t get to see him then.

But before he’d left for the hospital this morning, he’d trailed a finger down the side of my face, then used it to tip up my chin for a light but lingering kiss. “Remember, whatever happens tomorrow, your life here will be the same.”

As I recalled that beautiful kiss, my hand came off the open page and was halfway to my lips before I stilled it, remembering where I was. I finished the movement and camouflaged the action by scratching my nose instead.

This Week’s Snippet:

Closets Are for Clothes - Flying Home Part 4 – 24-Feb-2018

Wes’s words meant a lot to me. I appreciated that he hadn’t tried to say he “knew” everything would be fine. Because we couldn’t know that for sure, and that wouldn’t have been reassuring.

He was right. I’d absolutely hate it if things blew up with my father, but knowing Greg and Helen were on my side would cushion the blow. And unless I let it eat away at me, it would have no effect on my day-to-day life in Austin. I would still be accepted and treated fairly at my work. I would still have my friends. And I would still have Wes.

Title: Closets Are for Clothes

Series: Dream On (book 1)

Author: Addison Albright

Publisher: JMS Books, LLC

Cover: Written Ink Designs

Length: Short Novel / 42,719 words

Heat Level: 3 flames – Moderate – While physical details are described, they are not graphically depicted.

Genres/Tags: Contemporary Gay Romance, M/M Pairing, Coming Out, Roommates to Lovers

20% off at publisher through March 2

Books2Read Universal Buy-Link | Publisher/JMS Books, LLC |Amazon Kindle (Universal Link)

Misc. distributors not supported by the universal buy-link:

Bookstrand | Blio (Author Page) | BAM! Books-a-Million

Mike’s life is carefully compartmentalized. He’s deep in the closet to his family back in Kansas, but lives life honestly and openly in Austin. He’s unnerved when Wes, his old university crush, turns up at his door in answer to a roommate advertisement, but quickly sees the potential…benefits of the arrangement. Wes has never doubted nor denied his sexuality. With the support of his family he’s an out and proud LGBT activist.

On the scale balancing his self-esteem on one side, and the love of his family on the other, Mike has to decide which weighs more. Is Mike being fair to his parents by not giving them the chance to know his real self? When the delicate balance of his life is disrupted, he decides he’s tired of living a lie. Will Wes understand his concerns, or will their fledgling relationship crumble under the strain of Mike’s uncertainty?

NOTE: Closets Are for Clothes  is a from-the-ground-up comprehensively rewritten and reedited version of A Dream Come True (published by Addison at Torquere Press in February, 2009). While the theme of the original story is the same, and many important scenes will be recognizable, the way the characters deal with important events is handled differently than in the original story and much of the story’s backdrop and side characters have changed. Beyond converting the story from an alternating 3rd-person POV to being told entirely from Mike’s 1st-person POV, this is a significantly changed retelling of the story.

#RainbowSnippets

22 thoughts on “#RainbowSnippets 24-Feb-2018 – Closets Are for Clothes”

    1. Thanks! It’s kind of like the cartoons where there’s an angel on one shoulder telling him to chill, everything’s gonna be all right, and a devil on the other, whispering worst-case-scenarios into his ear. 😄

      Reply

  5. Happy Book Birthday! Right now I want to cheer Mike for being so brave and positive, trying to move forward even while he’s facing his fears, remembering what he has, even while he’s confronted with the danger of losing something else.

    Reply

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