Independent bookstores not only offer selections of quality books from non-mainstream writers, they also provide much-needed support for the communities they serve. I’m proud and honored to have my books carried by these stores. To find out the nearest merchant in your area or to purchase my books from online indie bookstores, click on the Indiebound links below.
DESMOND AND GARRICK (BOOK TWO)
As the vain and self-absorbed poets continue their campaign of destruction via awful verse and catastrophic romantic advice in Dryden Abbey, tutor Garrick finds himself struggling in the classroom, with increasingly distracted and agitated pupils eroding all of his hard work and reducing him to using all things dead and decaying in order to keep Desmond and Lavinia’s minds on their lessons. As if that isn’t enough, his parents embark on a mad countryside ramble, their ultimate destination being Dryden Abbey and a face-to-face meeting with their son’s unholy employers.
Meanwhile, with Phillip Priestley’s unexpected appearance, Desmond’s world slowly unravels as infatuation, lust, confusion, and revulsion drive him into wilder mood swings and an overwhelming desire to play with his father’s antique executioner’s axe. Mr. Sherbourne’s coldly distant yet attractive presence in Dryden Abbey further complicates things, prompting Desmond to do something he never thought he’ll ever do: reach out to unlikely allies for help.
In the midst of the wild goings on around them, Garrick and Desmond will realize that the chasm that separates them as distinct species will not only teach them important lessons on understanding and acceptance, but also forge a stronger bond of friendship than they expected.
Prizm Books (e-book) | Indiebound (print and e-book)
REVIEWS:
” Delightfully clever and exceedingly charming, the Desmond & Garrick series is one that is like a full immersion into the year 1815, though with a very contemporary feel. ” The Novel Approach
“The characters definitely mature and grow and learn stuff about themselves, especially Desmond and Garrick and someone else, although of course Desmond does not suddenly become a mature gentleman, he is still a sixteen year old teenager. The humor was still dark and understated, but so funny for me.” Reviews by Jessewave
DESMOND AND GARRICK (BOOK ONE)
It’s 1815, just after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and Garrick Mortimer is a scholar extraordinaire, an underemployed and starving genius. Desperate, he agrees to sign on as tutor to Desmond Hathaway, the youngest son of a vampire family living in Yorkshire. Desmond, who’s suffering terrible heartbreak caused by another boy’s callous treatment of him in school, rebels against Garrick’s attempts at educating him and does everything he could to chase Garrick away, which proves to be a greater challenge than he first believes.
When Desmond’s older brother returns from Italy for a visit, bringing with him a small group of talentless and self-absorbed poets, his (and Garrick’s) world turns upside-down, mainly when he meets Leigh Blaise Sherbourne, a vampire poet who seems to detest Desmond and also harbors secrets regarding his past. Throw into the mix a desperate mother’s plea for grandchildren, a family-owned torture chamber, a curious cottage-abbey-and-quarter-castle, and a grumpy family magician, and Garrick finds that life in the Hathaway household is a great deal more than he bargained for.
Prizm Books (e-book) | Indiebound (print and e-book)
REVIEWS:
“The book targets a teenager reader and I think that it’s right to the point: there is enough bitchery in Desmond to appeal a boy his same age, there is even just that touch of romance that maybe even a girl, or a romantic boy, would be pleased, but there is also the weaving of a setting that capture the reader.” Elisa Rolle
“Where Desmond and Garrick forms most of its amusement is in the characters. These are probably the most developed and enjoyable characters of Thorne’s to date. Probably because this is one of the more character-centered stories Thorne has written.” Dreaming in Books
“The vampire lore is clever, inventive, and often very witty. Imagine vampires having evolved from their blood thirsty murdering ancestors to civilized members of society.” Three Dollar Bill Reviews
“Its incredibly inventive, original, and snarky at the same time. The way vampires are protrayed as creatures at the mercy of their emotions made this vampire tale very different from most.” Reviews by Jessewave
THE GLASS MINSTREL
The Christmas season in mid-19th century Bavaria is brought to life in The Glass Minstrel, a new, original historical novel from Hayden Thorne. Two fathers, Abelard Bauer and Andreas Schifffer, are brought together through the tragic deaths of their eldest sons. Bauer, a brilliant toymaker, fashions glass Christmas ornaments and his latest creation is a minstrel with a secret molded into its features.
When Schiffer sees Bauer’s minstrel ornament in the toy shop, he realizes that Bauer is struggling to keep his son’s memory alive through his craft. At first he tries to fault him for this, but then recognizes that he, too, is seeking solace and healing by reading his son’s diary, a journal that reveals, in both painful as well as beautiful detail, the true nature of his relationship with the artisan’s son.
Then there’s fifteen-year-old Jakob Diederich. The young man is burdened with his own secret; he develops an obsession with a traveling Englishman who stays at the inn where Jakob works. The lives of all three men intersect during the holiday as Schiffer tries to focus on his family in the present, Bauer struggles to reconcile his past, and Jakob copes with an uncertain future. The lyrical prose and rich period detail will keep the reader engrossed from the very first page in this tale of redemption, hope, and haunting, but timeless, themes.
CP Retailers (print) | Rainbow E-Books (e-book) | Indiebound
REVIEWS:
“Jakob was probably the most fleshed out character, and I love how accurate the author was concerning the thoughts of someone his age. He was three-dimensional and well-balanced.” Flamingnet Reviews
“I strongly recommend this novel, trust me, it’s not tragic as you can think, also since, well, all the tragedy already happened, and now it’s time for the aftermath, dealing with the pain and healing the hearts, and be ready to help who comes next.” Elisa Rolle
“While The Glass Minstrel shows that it could be much harder to deal with in the past…that didn’t mean you could not be happy.” Let’s Get Beyond Tolerance
“Nor should the absence of a strongly-defined setting be mistaken for shallowness. I have read countless books double the length of The Glass Minstrel, books targeted for adults, that achieve not half of its emotional realism, sensibility, and insight into grief, longing, pain, and love.” The Romantic Armchair Traveler
“Thorne weaves this entrancing story through trails of despair, hope, unfulfilling meanderings of the flesh, the pain of loss, the grasp for soulful reconciliations; all within 197 pages.” Out in Print
“While the characters are unequivocally the stars of this beautiful tale, the atmosphere is truly stunning. The mid-19th century Bavaria landscape is vivid and breathtaking.” Three Dollar Bill Reviews
“One of the successes of the story was in the way it looked at being gay and coming out from different perspectives, whilst also remaining true to the historical setting.” Reviews By Jessewave
“Nothing immediately catches your attention, but you are pleasantly surprised by what the pages of the book hold. By the end of the story, you are invested in the characters and analyzing their motives like you would in the best of novels.” Dear Author
THE TWILIGHT GODS
London during the Great Exhibition of 1851 is a new world of technological advances, eye-popping inventions, and glimpses of exotic treasures from the East. For fifteen-year-old Norris Woodhead it’s a time of spectral figures mingling with London’s daily crowds, and an old rectory in a far corner of the English countryside, a great house literally caught in time, where answers to curious little mysteries await him. Confined by his family’s financial woes, Norris suffers a lonely and unsatisfying time till the day he (and only he) notices “shadow-folks” in the streets. Then a strange widow appears, rents a vacant room in the house, and takes him under her wing. She becomes his guardian, slowly revealing those shadows’ secrets, Norris’ connection with them, and the life-altering choices he has to face in the end.
The Twilight Gods is a retelling of Native American folktale called “The Girl Who Married a Ghost.” Set in Victorian England, it’s an alternative perspective on a gay teen’s coming-out process, with Norris’ journey of self-discovery couched in magical and supernatural terms and imagery.
Prizm Books (e-book) | Indiebound (print and e-book)
BANSHEE
Nathaniel, or Natty as his family calls him, is a young man at a crossroads. His mother wants him to spend time with her family, far better off than his father, who is a poor vicar. His father would rather he do just about anything else, and his cousins have no interest in getting to know him. So what’s a young man with very few prospects to do?
When Natty meets Miles Lovell, a sophisticated friend of his cousin, he thinks he’s found something worth his while. During their long visit together, Natty discovers things about himself that he never expected, and manages to acquire a ghostly companion, as well.
Haunted by a faceless woman, who seems to appear when he’s at his weakest, Natty struggles with his own nature, and with his family’s increasing difficulties. His mother is distant, hiding things from him as she never has, and his father is growing old and tired before his eyes.
While Natty tries to find his place in the world, his childhood is crumbling around him, and he becomes more and more convinced that his persistent spirit is a harbinger of doom. Caught in a web of deceit and desperation, Natty must decide whether he will let his life be ruled by others, or if he can make his way on his own, or if the family banshee will bring about his ruin.
Prizm Books (e-book) | Indiebound (print and e-book)
ICARUS IN FLIGHT
James Ellsworth is a bit jaded, especially for his young age. He hates school, and longs for his parents’ estate, where life is far more pleasant. Meeting new schoolmate Daniel Courtney is a much-needed distraction, one that will prove more and more engrossing as James and Daniel grow older.
When his father dies, James is thrust into a position of responsibility, not just to his estate, but to his mother and sister as well. He leans as much as he can on his friendship with Daniel, but young Courtney has his own problems. His brother, George, is all Daniel has left in the world, and when he loses his brother to a freak accident, Daniel is left alone and without prospects.
All the while, the two young men are discovering a relationship that their Victorian world will never approve of. Trying to deal with their loss and their love drives them apart – James to a life of debauchery, Daniel to a life of study and work.
As they grow older, James and Daniel discover that life is not what they thought it would be when they were schoolboys together, and that, even as they try to make their own way, they always come back to one another.
