Cutest Couple
You've probably seen this already: Dylan Meehan and Brad Taylor were voted "Cutest Couple" at Carmel High School, and this adorable picture of the two was in the school's yearbook.
In 1986, when my gay young adult romance novel Act Well Your Part was published, quite a number of reviewers commented on how unrealistic the story was. (The book is set in a then-alternate universe in which being gay is unremarkable.)
Publishers Weekly said: "In this pat treatment, potential conflicts are small: the characters don't experience school and neighborhood bullying or violence; their biggest fear is group ostracization because girls are jealous that Keith gets Bran." Another reviewer lamented the lack of "...angry families, persecution, and a 'strange' love unrequited, or at least misunderstood."
Well, thanks to Dylan & Brad, and the students of Carmel High, I'm glad (even at this late date) to be able to say the following to those reviewers:
Nyaah, nyaah!
P.S. Act Well Your Part is available in print here and in Kindle format here.