While
fairly well-known these days, I don't fit into the 'well established' category
even as a poet, not least because I write gay-interest alongside general poems;
the latter are (still) considered more commercially viable. Whatever, I have
decided to share some of my published and unpublished works of gay-interest and
other fiction with readers, hopefully reaching many of those who enjoy
my poetry blogs and Google Plus site.
Dog
Roses is the first novel I ever wrote (in 1994) although
it has been revised several times since. Although a gay-interest novel, I
hope it will appeal to a wide range of readers. No publishers were interested, but I enjoyed writing it and positive feedback from blog readers has been its own reward.
DOG
ROSES: a
gay man’s rites of passage by
Roger N. Taber (95,868 words)
SYNOPSIS:
Dog
Roses is a rites-of-passage story told from the point of view of
its narrator, ROB YOUNG. After the death of his father, Rob feels obliged
to help his mother and brother by leaving school and taking a job at a local
café. Attracted to one of a bunch of evening regulars, BILLY MACK, Rob
realizes that he is gay. Although Billy appears to have a girlfriend, MAGGIE
DILLON, the two young men embark on a closet affair. When Billy is killed
during a fracas at the café, Rob is devastated. He feels abandoned and blames
Billy for leaving him.
One of Rob’s
best friends is SHAUN DEVLIN whose mother, Nancy offers solace in her bed and
also helps Rob come to terms once and for all with the knowledge that he is gay.
Maggie
finds Billy’s diary and gives it to Rob but he cannot bring himself to read it
and shuts it away in a drawer. By now, Maggie is dating local yob NICK CROLLEY
to the horror of all Billy’s friends. Rob is appalled can seemingly forget
Billy so easily.
Rob jumps at the chance to manage a new club, The Constellation, owned by
CLIVE RIDER. While it is being built, he runs the gamut of management
apprenticeship at another club owned and run by the flamboyant BO DEVINE.
Following a disastrous affair with another member of staff, Rob meets and falls
in love with MATTHEW JORDAN.
Rob and Matthew enjoy a deep but troubled relationship, and
eventually part although each is heartbroken and hope for
a reconciliation.
Meanwhile, Rob and Maggie call a truce and she starts
work behind the main bar of The
Constellation, The club is a huge success. Shaun is now Rob’s right hand
man and engaged to marry Maggie’s best friend, LOU Simmons. Rob has also
employed ex-con, ED MACK, Billy’s brother, as a bouncer. One of Ed’s tasks is
to deal with local yobs Nick Crolley and his brother Vince.
As Rob’s relationship with his mother PATRICIA and
brother PAUL goes from bad to worse, Patricia forms a close attachment to
her boss, PETER SHORT. Emotions intensify when Rob finally tells them
all he is gay.
Following a fight at The
Constellation in the course
of which Rob pulverises Nick in a blind rage, the Crolley brothers start a
fatal fire. Rob has Ed Mack to thanks for his survival and is not only forced
to review his priorities but act upon a new maturity that demands he make his
peace with his brother and his lover.
At first,
Matthew rejects both Rob’s apology and declaration of love. Rob is
inconsolable. Even so, he finally makes his peace with Billy Mack and, in doing
so, with himself.
By the
end of the novel, Rob has matured sufficiently to have a more positive and less
selfish take on life, a fact those closest to him will certainly
appreciate.
Copyright R. N. Taber 2011; 2017
[Note: I
hope, eventually, to upload Dog Roses as an e-book. Meanwhile, enjoy the
serial.]
