When I began writing decades ago, I wanted to offer stories that might allow gay youth to see there was hope. I wanted to encourage them to stick around to explore it. Gay teens make up the largest group of suicides each year, then as well as now. I didn't think I'd be at it, but here I am, trying to expand how we are seen.

Even in our own gay nation, breaking stereotypes is resisted. There are commercial enterprises selling a version of being gay, but there are excellent free stories written by wonderful author's telling you about all kinds of ways to be gay on the Internet.

I salute the mainstream voices and our banned and ignored alternative to the commercial view. With LGBT youth able to Tweat, Twitter, Blog, Face Book, word can spread in a second. You have more diversity to chose from, when you wonder how do I want to be gay? You can pick what you like, spread the word, give your friends an opportunity to better understand how you feel. You get to say, 'this is close to how I see myself. This story speaks for me,' and this validation will free you to explore life on your terms.

Make your voices heard. Don't let life happen to you. Create the life you want and change the world while you're at it. The movement is in the hands of the young and they won't be denied.

Our straight friends and allies have stood up to be counted. Their voices are minimized by the powers that be, but their presence is monumental as we march toward a united nation of peace seeking brothers and sisters. There is no reason to hate anyone and the momentum is with us.

Rick Beck

A Civil Discord

14 February 2024

People who said I had no right to a voice, gave me my voice.

On Valentines Day I finished my umteenth novel, The Gulf & the Gift. It was Gulf 6, or my sixth Gulf novel. I felt very good, as I always feel once a novel is finished.

It became apparent as soon as I began patting myself on the back, I strained my shoulder, which isn't all that remarkable, but as I listened to my morning dose of Stefanie Miller, progressive talk host, while rubbing my shoulder, she got my attention with her memory.

"It's the sixth anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School."

Ouch!

I was writing Gulf 3 at the time. I dedicated Gulf 3 and the Gulf Series to the kids at that high school. The Gulf Series is all about the Gulf of Mexico. I fell in love with Florida, and the Gulf the year I turned twelve and began spending the summer with my grandparents in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

The day of the shooting I needed to speak. All I had to say is, I dedicate this novel and the Gulf series to the kids at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. On the 6th anniversary, I needed to speak again. I wanted to recognize those kids and that event.

A Civil Discord was born. I began writing, until a little after noon.

It was the sixth anniversary and I just finished Gulf 6, a series dedicated to the kids I wanted to speak to.

It was all more than some coincidental happenstance. It was more than just one of those things.

I stopped writing when a bulletin came on the radio.

"Shots have been fired at the end of the parade route marking the Kansas City Chief's super bowl win. Police are responding."

I didn't write for most of the afternoon.

"Police report one dead and a number of other people have been wounded at the end of the parade route in Kansas City. One reporter says that several children have been shot."

This is impossible. It was the sixth anniversary of the Parkland shooting, and there is another shooting.

In the middle of writing this tribute concerning one shooting, and there's yet another shooting? I write fiction. I couldn't write that.

"Police say there are twenty-two wounded, one dead, and 11 shooting victims are children."

I'm sorry, but tell me again why we tolerate this?

How can parents live with the knowledge, when they send their kid off to school in the morning, he might come home in a coffin?

The problem is guns. We need to disarm these crazy people who think they need to carry around a weapon of mass destruction. No one needs a flame thrower, grenade, or guns in a civilized country. I don't care what anyone wrote down on paper two hundred and fifty years ago. Two hundred years ago you could fire three shots in a minute if you were really good. I don't need to shoot at anyone ever.

Who can possibly live with this hanging over their family? You don't even need to go outside to be shot. People are being shot in their houses. This isn't normal. It isn't civilized.

If all this isn't enough to get someone's attention, it was later on Valentines Day that I was hit like a brick with one more blow to what started as a delightful day in my life.

The voice was that of a young man. I heard him speaking of a shooting. It turned out he was shot six years before at Marjory Stoneman Douglas. He was shot and he died six years ago. It was the voice of a boy six years dead.

I was dumbstruck. I couldn't hold back my tears for what might have been the boy speaking about his own death.

His parents, using recordings of his voice, used artificial intelligence to have their son comment on his own death.

How much courage does that take?

How much courage would it take to end this madness?

How many lives are prematurely lost because some mental deficient need to be packing when they leave the house?

I started a note to mark the finish of my latest novel. I feel like I've been rode hard and put away wet. I would like to do something, say something, to make a difference, but today, I'm not sure anything I do matters.

Nothing will ever impact me more than hearing the voice of that dead young man.

When is someone going to stop the madness?

Rick Beck

   Proudly presented on The Tarheel Writer with the express permission of my friend Rick Beck
   Presented with recent works first by category, so check back often!

Spotlight
Rick's latest work

"The Gulf and the Gift"
   Part Six in the Gulf Series
   13 of 25 Chapters posted
   Updated 12 April 2024

    The story opens with Dylan in the South Pacific Ocean on board the research vessel Horizon. His father Clay stayed home this year and didn't accompany his son. Dylan is once again teamed up with Logan, the expedition's filmographer. A mystery lies on the ocean floor beneath the Horizon, a mystery and something. Something that might be a ... monster?
    Half the world away, Ivan is under contract with the Company in Vietnam. Ivan is the bate to hopefully, for the Company, entice a Cambodian General out so he can be captured/killed. Ivan remembers him as a friend, humble, intelligent and engaging; not someone that needs to be captured/murdered. Ivan feels like the Company is going to kill his friend and kill himself too.
    Clay is at the conservancy slowly driving himself crazy with worry about his men.


Quick Move Menu

Novels
Stories with multiple chapters

Joe Buck, Trucker Extraordaire
Ya gotta love Joe!

Series
Novels with sequels and more

Short Stories
Stories in one chapter

Poetry
Rick writes poetry? You betcha!

Christmas Stories
It's a magical time of the year!


Novels and Novellas

"Hitch"
   Complete with 13 chapters & an epilogue
   57,217 words

   George knows he has a nose for news. He is sure he's on the way to the full-time reporters job. Once he gets noticed. He'll be on his way, as long as he isn't noticed too closely. George Hitchcock, Hitch to other reporters and his friends, is not what he appears to be. That's a story he won't be telling to City News readers.

"Sea of Tranquility"
   Complete with 9 chapters & an Epilogue
   30,495 words

   After the fastest sprinter in the city, stops appearing at track meets. Levi Cordoba benefits, because of Moony's absence. He now wins the hundred, after becoming accustomed to finishing second to the faster Moony. It has not left Levi feeling good about winning. Unable to get answers about the boy's disappearance from Moony's teammates, Levi decides to investigate on his own. What he finds out is disturbing. He isn't sure what to do, but he has to do something.

"A Long Time Passing"
   Complete with 25 chapters
   64,101 words

   I worked myself up for it as the day grew near, but little could I have known that this meeting would lead me on a life-altering journey. It wasn't the meeting itself that would consume me. The events that took place, while I was on my way to the meeting, opened a door that linked me with my long ago past.

"A Conversation with Carlton"
   Complete with 16 chapters
   72,708 words

   "I was born the year I turned 12."    Being born is usually a step in what becomes a longer story, but being born is no guarantee those steps will be easy or even point you into a direction that yields up the best result. Being born is merely a condition, and what comes next has little to do with that young and helpless life.

"Walking Into Clouds"
   Complete with 26 chapters
   120,523 words

   "I had no difficulty hiding the fact I was gay. I'm an athlete. I played soccer and lacrosse in high school and after high school I joined a local rugby team. Rugby is a rough sport. No one looking at a rugby player thinks he's gay. That doesn't mean he can't be gay. That is no one until I decided to come out and I made my first foray into the seedy side of Aurora. I'd lived in Aurora for my entire life and I didn't know there was a seedy side of town, until my best buds and I went searching for it."

"Age of Discovering"
   Complete with 22 chapters
   93,387 words

   It's risky to fall in love while you're still in high school. Making a plan to get the attention of a boy you don't know is tricky. Gordon would need to have some good luck and he hoped for an accidental meeting with Glenn alone.

"East on St James"
   Originally titled "Anatomy of AIDS"
   Complete with 22 chapters
   90,953 words

   When people cooperate, there is no limit to what they can accomplish. Take an attorney, Dury, newly retired, and a chef and vagabond, Keith, and put them together ..., well you'll see what they come up with. As unlikely as it seems, this meeting takes place over a tuna sandwich on a bench in a North Charleston park. It's all it takes for a beautiful friendship to begin.

"Browning Incident"
   Originally posted on Nifty 18 August 1999
   Complete with 3 chapters
   16,149 words

   The phone call came at 8 o'clock in the evening. It was an event destined to become forever imprinted upon my psyche, although at the time there was no way for me to understand that my life was about to be forever altered. This wasn't an ordinary phone call and the sequence of events that had been set into motion seemed surreal and only a quirk of fate prevented them from becoming fatal.

"Lancelot and the Big Bang"
   Complete with 9 chapters
   57,749 words
   You can order your own copy of this book on Amazon.com

   A dorm fire at Maryland University worsens the dorm room shortage. A scramble is on to house two dozen displaced boys from the school's athletic program. When Lance, a dedicated soccer player, goes to room with Bang, a certified geek, neither is aware of the other's propensities or what might be coming. It sets up an age old battle and answers the question, can a jock and a geek inhabit the same room and live to tell the tale?

"Bonner"
   Complete with 6 chapters & an Epilogue
   26,502 words

   Everything isn't what it seems at Grant High School. On the road to football glory, Bonner isn't the all-American boy he appears to be. An anonymous note in Coach Winger's Grant High School mailbox tells him the truth about the newly discovered star quarterback, Bonner. The coach needs to decide what to do. Would he forfeit a perfect record, a dream season and his first shot at the league championship, on the basis of an unsigned note? Who would do that? Dropping this bomb could, almost certainly would, cost him his job. It was Coach Winger's football team after all.

"Gay Boy Running"
   Complete with 7 chapters
   20,533 words

   Our first meeting meant little in the greater scheme of things, but the events surrounding our first meeting left an impression on both of us. It was a chance meeting that set me on the road to discovering my identity. I didn’t know I didn’t know who I was, because I’d never dared to consider myself beyond my family. I still wonder if this was fate, destiny, or an accident. I still don’t know.

"Silent Fields"
   The Companion to "The Farm Hand"
   Formally "The Redemption"
   Complete with 7 chapters
   33,161 words

   In the novel, The Farm Hand, Robert's desire to leave the family farm falls prey to hard times. After his father is crippled in a farm accident, Robert, the eldest son, is expected to run the farm. In the novella, Silent Fields, the difficulty communicating between fathers and sons is never more apparent. It certainly isn't anything new. And so Robert and Robert Jr. embark on a journey of understanding, after taking a twenty-five year time out. It could be the last thing Robert ever does.

"The Farm Hand"
   Complete with 19 chapters & an epilogue
   81,123 words

   This story is about a man’s man living in a man’s world and the people he touches. This is a story about how he loves. I do have a request before you start reading. Please be sure to read the first two pages if you want to understand the foundation on which "The Farm Hand" was built.

"A Mann's World"
   Formally known as Antiques and Homicide/Homocide
   Complete with 17 chapters
   92,140 words
   You can order your own copy of this book on Amazon.com

   "Gay men aren't going to tell cops anything, and the ones assigned to this case are going to be like bulls in a china shop in queer bars. That's why they're scared of us. They've been harassed, beaten up, and intimidated as a regular course of business. They don't trust us, and you can't blame them. Mann will be just another pretty face. They'll love him, and just maybe we'll get lucky and he'll find something out that will lead us to the killer."

"In Skater's Time"
   Complete with 18 chapters
   78,534 words

    Acceptance was a tricky substance. You needed to be original enough to be interesting and not so original that people looked on you as being different. Different could be a deal killer. I was different but it wasn't something I was going to spread around. All the guys I ran with back at home were different. It was the kind of different like one of us played classical piano and one of us was taking ballet lessons. Not everyone knew these little details about their lives and those of us in the know would never tell tales. As long as you stayed true blue to your buds you were okay. As long as your wheels turned together you were kewl.

"Keith's Pictures"
   Originally posted on Nifty 9 October 2002
   Complete with 4 chapters
   14,668 words

    "Well," he said, "I met this one dude a couple years ago and we got a case of beer. I'm happy as a clam with a six pack understand, but he got me this here case and he says he wants to take my picture, you know what I'm saying. Really take my picture! He says we can go to his place and hang out. He'll give me twenty bucks if he can take these certain pictures he likes. Hell, what was I doing? Not a damn thing. I said yes."

"Rising Affairs"
   Originally posted on Nifty 12 August 1999
   Complete with 5 chapters
   18,466 words

   "I can't read any better than you can," Billy said. "Hey, Craig, you read it to us. Then I can concentrate on the action. You're on the honor roll, don't cop out on us. We need your reading skills to get the maximum benefit from this rare erotic literature that has only recently come into my possession."

"Discovering Neighbors"
   Originally posted on Nifty 19 April 1998
   Complete with 7 chapters
   28,528 words

   When I was sixteen, I was dealing with my sexuality in a big way. I'd been in love with Kent, and had crushes on half a dozen air force guys that had come to my neighborhood a couple years earlier. They were all involved with one another in some sexual undercurrent that had them relating to one another with their dicks in their hands hoping for a way to get them serviced while doing as little as necessary in return.

"Discovering Love"
   Formally Discovering Gregory
   Complete with 60 chapters
   273,005 words

   I was walking alone up the gravel section of Schultz Road that led into my subdivision and to my house. That's when I first saw him coming toward me from the opposite direction on Schultz. He was a new boy and he was walking with a townie I knew, Alfred. It wasn't Alfred who got my attention.
   This is the story of my first love. I never loved anyone until I discovered Gregory. I love him still.
   Rick Beck

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Quick Move Menu

Novels
Stories with multiple chapters

Joe Buck, Trucker Extraordaire
Ya gotta love Joe!

Series
Novels with sequels and more

Short Stories
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Poetry
Rick writes poetry? You betcha!

Christmas Stories
It's a magical time of the year!


Joe Buck
   Trucker Extraordinare'
   Ten complete individual works
   Featuring Joe Buck
   73,827 total words in the series


"A Run To Misery"
   Complete in one chapter
   13,802 words
   Added 7 March 2024

   Click on the picture for a larger version
      My eyes fell on the only other person in the entire place. In the last booth along the wall with the windows, a lonely figure sat looking out the window. The light coming in the window plainly lit up a young distraught face. His face was turned toward the window. His cheeks shined from the wetness.

"A Run from Baltimore"
   Complete in one chapter
   4,743 words
   Added 2 October 2023

      The first time I noticed Mark, he stepped out in front of my car. There are many ways to get someone's attention. This is how Mark got mine. It began years of him coming and going from my truck. Even in those early days, Mark proved his value to me. Mark wasn't what I'd call handsome, but he exuded sexuality.

"A Run to Aurora"
   Complete in one chapter
   14,134 words
   Added 31 January 2023

      An hour after I drove onto the super slab, my windshield wipers weren't keeping up with the rain. I strained to see ahead. I was on the verge of pulling off the highway. I'd lose way more time if I had an accident. The traffic was almost nonexistent but it only took one car to do something stupid that caused accidents.
      It was then I saw a lone figure walking along the side of the road. He was walking. Before long he'd be doing the backstroke. I was looking for a reason to pull over. This seemed like it.

"Breaking New Snow"
   Complete in one chapter
   2,949 words

      The streets continued to be wet and it looked like three to four inches of fresh snow had fallen. When I turned onto the ramp that led down onto Route 43 that I stopped. The snow was crunching under my wheels. It hadn't been plowed. Chemicals hadn't been put out on 43. There was snow for as far as I could see and I could see a long way. The sky had become crystal clear and a full moon shined overhead. A million stars were spread out toward the south as I pondered my situation.

"Six Days on the Road"
   How I became a trucker
   Complete in one chapter
   2,956 words

      I rarely looked at people. They didn't interest me for one thing. I was always in trouble when I got too close to people. I was either doing something I shouldn't be doing, or I wasn't doing something I should be doing. One thing was for sure, anything I did needed to be criticized. After a while I didn't do anything. It was all very confusing to me. Did I mention I was ten.

"Buffalo Creek"
   Complete in one chapter
   3,790 words

      "At forty miles per hour it'll be eight tomorrow morning if we keep moving at this rate. I don't think we'll keep moving at forty if the snow keeps coming down like this. We've got some big hills ahead of us."

"Amarillo by the Afternoon"
   Complete with 4 chapters
   12,420 words

      I'll be keeping my eyes open for the next hitchhiker, somewhere down the road, and once he gets in, his story won't be much different from the story of the boy who has just left me. The road is weird that way, and how many reasons can there be for a young guy to hit the road.

"Darnell Rice"
   Complete in one chapter
   3,145 words

      As a truck driver you’re always moving. You’re always meeting new people. A few you remember, but most are gone from your mind as quick as you leave them in your rearview mirror. Darnell was one of the guys I remember vividly. He was more impressive than most.

"Endless Black Ribbon"
   Complete in one chapter
   17,829 words

      Joe Buck doesn't have a lot of creature comforts but he'd trade comfort for a good lumper. A good lumper handles the freight, cleans the truck, and has it ready to roll when it's time. For a cross country trucker, that's as good as gold. The best lumper is an indispensable friend on the long haul. Troy is about to become Joe Buck's best lumper.

"Flagstaff"
   Complete in one chapter
   1,054 words

      It was mile marker 212 where the first signs of the snow started to show up. By marker 218 there was six inches of snow on the ground and it was coming down hard. I did my usual, cutting my speed, and taking my time. There were a few cars and a few trucks traveling along with me. From time to time, one of the big boys would come sailing past, slowing down neither for hell nor high snow.

"That Iowa Boy"
   Complete in one chapter
   13,178 words

      The road is a hard lonely place filled with opportunity and adventure. Joe Buck rarely needs to look far for a friend and those friends often find themselves admiring the man who takes them on. Giving them a little taste of hard work along with a good dose of TLC, they remember him long after they've gone back to sort out their own lives. Even a few of them thing they might become truckers.

"The Lumper"
   Originally posted on Nifty 28 September 2002
   Complete in one chapter
   4,419 words

      He was a polite boy, a college sophomore, working on Saturdays to help buy his books and supplies. That wasn't so much a surprise as his appearance. His eyes were deep blue and they played well against his shinny black hair that had been cut short and with precise styling. And he was my lumper for the whole day.

"I-Beams and Infinity"
   Complete in one chapter
   901 words

      A fraction of an inch made all the difference to me. So, when someone tells you, an inch here, or there, doesn't matter, I'm hear to say, a half inch was enough to save my life, and if it wasn't the difference between life and death, it was the difference in me getting a frontal lobotomy.

"Bridges of Mendocino County"
   Complete in one chapter
   1,917 words

      I don't know if I've told you how handy West Coast mirrors can be. They are great for passing and they make lane changes a breeze. They're instrumental in watching your backdoor so smoky don't sneak up on you.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Quick Move Menu

Novels
Stories with multiple chapters

Joe Buck, Trucker Extraordaire
Ya gotta love Joe!

Series
Novels with sequels and more

Short Stories
Stories in one chapter

Poetry
Rick writes poetry? You betcha!

Christmas Stories
It's a magical time of the year!


Series
Note: It is suggested the reader start with book one in order to immerse oneself in the entire experience.


The Gulf Series
   It took me from 2014 to mid 2018 to complete the first three novels. I didn't write anything else for those four years.
   Rick Beck


"The Gulf Between Us"
   Part One of the story of Clay and Ivan
   Complete with 32 chapters
   158,043 words
   
      Clay Olson and his family are leaving Tulsa. At fourteen it’s the worst thing to happen to him. Life in Tulsa is good. His friends live on his block. They don’t do anything that exciting, but they’re kids. Their job is to have fun together. The family is uprooted and moves over a thousand miles. They’ll live near a tiny town in a house on the Gulf of Mexico. The closest house is nearly a mile away. There’s only one. There are no kids except for the ones living at his house. While testing the boundaries of his new world, he sees Ivan Aleksa. Clay decides this handsome, graceful, athletic boy is going to be his friend. Too scared of rejection, he hesitates. Ivan disappears. Clay’s first opportunity to make a new friend, and he doesn’t talk to him, but he doesn’t forget him. He has no idea how he’ll find this regal boy again. The distance between them proves not to be so great, but the question remains, why would a popular talented boy like Ivan want to be friends with the very ordinary Clay?

"The Gulf of Love"
   Part Two of the story of Clay, Ivan and Dylan
   Complete with 36 chapters
   184,532 words
   
      The Gulf of Love begins a decade after The Gulf Between Us ends. Clay is a marine biologist working at the Sanibel Island Conservancy. His job is to preserve the Gulf of Mexico. He takes it seriously. Boris has been lost. Ivan has set out to find him. That means Ivan has left the beach and Clay knows Ivan intends to find Boris, no matter how long it takes. Clay intends to wait. Clay's son Dylan, his wife Sunshine, and his sister Lucy figure prominently into what Clay needs to do to finish growing up. These are turbulent times. The beach has not escaped the sting. Ivan promises to return. Clay believes he will but the wait seems endless.

"The Gulf and The Cove"
   Part Three of the story of Clay, Ivan and Dylan
   Complete with 32 chapters
   159,121 words
   
      The Gulf & the Cove is a story about Ivan being home to stay. He has big plans for the cove but the old Bait Shop and a dozen slips in the marina hardly amount to the empire Ivan envisions. Clay lets Ivan back into his life faster than he thought was possible. Ivan is saying the right things. He's making the right moves. This piece of Clay's life comes together but his career is coming apart. Recapturing his passion for the sea is impossible. On the rise as an expert on the Gulf of Mexico and things in the sea, Clay struggles to regain his momentum.

"The Gulf and the Horizon"
   Part Four of the story of Clay, Ivan and Dylan
   Completed 10 September 2022 with 33 Chapters
   143,534 words
   
      Look as far as your vision takes you and you'll see the horizon. The Horizon is also a state of the art research ship. Clay's former professor, Bill Payne wants Clay to join him in the Pacific for a summer of reseaarch. Clay's boss, Senator Harry McCallister isn't too keen on Clay going, and neither is Clay. Clay and Ivan's son Dylan is becoming quite the photographer. Is he headed for the Pacific too?

"The Gulf and the Spy"
   Part Five of the story of Clay, Ivan and Dylan
   Complete with 32 Chapters (143,887 words)
   
      Clay and Dylan are back from the summer's research trip in the Pacific. Almost as soon as they returned, Clay was reminded of why it wasn't a good idea to spend a lot of time away from the Conservancy. Ivan remains at the cove to take care of business. He has promised Clay and Dylan, he isn't going anywhere, and that means giving the Cove Campground his full time and attention.
      But there's trouble afoot. A murder brings Angus McCoy into the picture to find the killer!

"The Gulf and the Gift"
   Part Five of the story of Clay, Ivan and Dylan
   Thirteen of Twenty-Five Chapters posted
   Updated 12 April 2024

    The story opens with Dylan in the South Pacific Ocean on board the research vessel Horizon. His father Clay stayed home this year and didn't accompany his son. Dylan is once again teamed up with Logan, the expedition's filmographer. A mystery lies on the ocean floor beneath the Horizon, a mystery and something. Something that might be a ... monster?
    Half the world away, Ivan is under contract with the Company in Vietnam. Ivan is the bate to hopefully, for the Company, entice a Cambodian General out so he can be captured/killed. Ivan remembers him as a friend, humble, intelligent and engaging; not someone that needs to be captured/murdered. Ivan feels like the Company is going to kill his friend and kill himself too.
    Clay is at the conservancy slowly driving himself crazy with worry about his men.


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Angus McCoy Mysteries
   

"Benz"
   Book One of the Angus McCoy Mysteries
   Complete with 20 chapters
   63,280 words
   You can order your own copy of this book from Amazon.com

   Take one prominent neurosurgeon, a lovely new acquaintance, a street kid and his girlfriend, and you get the ingredients for a criminal case that defies logic. The unexpected meets the unexplained in a maze of dead end leads, as Angus McCoy sorts through the clues.

"Corey Wade is Missing"
   Book Two of the Angus McCoy Mysteries
   Complete with 24 chapters
   106,838 words

   Cory Wade has gone missing. Angus is asked to find him. Cory's father is a hood from New Jersey. He's financed by the mob, and no matter which way Angus turns, Tony Wade is in the way, which does complicate the case. Each time Angus gets close, Cory slips away, which leaves Angus with one question. What makes Cory run? The answer surprises even Angus McCoy.

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The Taz and Kodak Series
   Completed 6 January 2010

"Taz and Kodak"
   Book One of the Taz and Kodak Series
   Complete with 18 chapters
   98,213 words
   You can order your own copy of this book from Amazon.com
   
     Paul Anderson, photojournalist, wants to cover a war. First he must do battle with Taz, an irregular soldier. War seems a simple affair to Paul, nicknamed Kodak by 1st squad, when compared to the verbal jousting Taz foists upon him. Always irreverent, sometimes poignant, war has never gone so far out of bounds.

"Montana Sky"
   Book Two of the Taz and Kodak Series
   Complete with 15 chapters
   57,546 words
   You can order your own copy of this book from Amazon.com
   
    Taz and Kodak have settled into life on the mesa above Gen. Walker's Montana ranch. Taz rides fence to help to keep the cattle contained, while Kodak goes about making the line shack their home. When Kodak gets an offer from Nature magazine, he takes it. While heading for an island to photograph the animals, Kodak's plane goes missing over the Pacific. Once hearing the news, Taz realizes Kodak may never return. Confronted by rustlers, helped by Indians, a Shaman threatens Taz's stability by giving him a message from the lost Kodak.

"Metal Peace"
   Book Three of the Taz and Kodak Series
   Complete with 15 chapters
   63,622 words
   
     Taz is back to work on the mesa. He’s accustomed to a Spartan life, leaving the jungles of Vietnam before settling in Montana. He mends fences, herds cows, chases rustlers, and lives in a cabin with the beloved Kodak, his trusted companion. They like a life where they depend on themselves and each other. Little does Taz know that Sam Jones, head of the White Brotherhood, cultivates a grudge. Taz helped bring down the WB's foothold in rural Montana. Jones calculates the best way to get to Gen. Walker is through the B.A.R. Wielding cowboy. Out of reach, Sam Jones is determined to strike back. After spending years stockpiling weapons and manpower, it's destroyed in a couple of days by Gen. Walker, who knows a thing or two about tactics and how to flush an enemy out into the open. Forced back into action when his ranch and Taz are threatened, Gen. Walker doesn't plan to let Jones win. What Sam Jones has set into motion can't be stopped.


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Outside the Foul Lines Series
   Complete series with six books
   278,549 total words in the series
   This series of books may be set substantially on a baseball diamond, but have no doubt, the story is about love, and as I've tried to demonstrate in over two dozen novels, it isn't the setting that matters, it's the love my LGBTQ characters share that is important.
   Thanks, Rick

"Outside the Foul Lines"
   Book One of Outside the Foul Lines
   Complete with 13 chapters
   42,270 words
   
  Before I knew it my senior year was fading fast with no way apparent for me to afford my plan. At eighteen I needed to use the awkward talent I’d mysteriously discovered in the infield of the high school baseball team to reach my goal. Baseball was never a central piece in the plans for my future. The pastime I took up to pass time at fifteen would now surprise me by opening doors I hadn’t considered.

"Starting Shortstop"
   Book Two of Outside the Foul Lines
   Complete with 8 chapters
   22,737 words
   
  At the end of my first year at State I brought Andy home with me. My mother fed him, thinking he needed to add some weight. My father played catch with him in the backyard, wanting to keep him in shape, and I took him with me when I caught up on my lawn mowing. That took all the first week and into the second, but the weather was perfect and Andy followed me everywhere.

"Captain John"
   Book Three of Outside the Foul Lines
   Complete with 10 chapters
   35,885 words
   
  Andy spent two weeks at my house the summer between my sophomore and junior years. He seemed totally comfortable and we settled in there almost as easily as we did at school. My parents had never crowded me as long as I didn't require attention by acting like a fool.

"The Senior Season"
   Book Four of Outside the Foul Lines
   Complete with 9 chapters
   27,830 words
   
  I was captain last season. I was Coach Bell's captain. Coach Bell is gone. The heart of the team is gone. I don't know if Coach Martin will be back. Jeff Henry is probably going to be starting shortstop no matter who the coach is. I got the scholarship from Coach Bell. I don't know they want to honor the final year. He arranged for me to have the final year on it on his way out the door. If they don't want to honor it I won't fight them.

"A Minor Success"
   Book Five of Outside the Foul Lines
   Complete with 19 chapters
   59,405 words
   
  John Dooley graduates college and settles into a temporary job as supervisor for Bartlett Roofing. Mr. Bartlett has given him a pay boost, fitting of a college graduate, his own car, but little else has changed. John is left to his roofing, while lamenting his unanswered applications for work he is qualified to do. Nothing seems to run smoothly after John’s baseball career ends. Baseball was in his blood and he has had little success in getting it out.

"A Major Success"
   Book Six of Outside the Foul Lines
   Complete with 26 chapters
   90,422 words
   
  Having left their small farm in south central Indiana, where Do and Andy have called home for several decades, they get ready for an induction ceremony in a hotel room near Cincinnati.

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Billy Joe's Journal
   Billy Joe's Adventures

"Billy Joe's Journey"
   Book One of Billy Joe's Journal
   A complete story with 23 chapters
   125,931 words
   
   After his best friend commits suicide, Billie Joe decides he must leave home to find out what it means to be gay. He wants to find people who are like him and accept him as he is. He never imagines the hardship and emotions he'll face on his journey to find a place where he's welcome.

"The Return Home"
   Book Two of Billy Joe's Journal
   A complete story with 16 chapters
   67,267 words
   
   Yes, Billie Joe has come home, and getting off the street turns out to be easier than getting the street off him. He has to learn to live back at home once more, but that’s the least of his troubles once his adversary finds out he is testing for AIDS and he spreads it around school.

"The Center"
   Book Three of Billy Joe's Journal
   A complete story with 29 chapters
   126,427 words
   
   There is still something Billie Joe needs to do. It doesn’t become clear to him until he is back in Carl’s arms, but their happily-ever-after must be put on hold. There is unfinished business. The one thing he’s vowed never to do, return to San Francisco, is the only thing that will quiet the upheaval that lives inside him. The happiness Carl’s return brings only makes the unfinished business more disturbing.

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Christmas Stories
It's a magical time of the year!


Short Stories
Stories complete in one chapter.


"Eric and Eugene Get Married"
   A complete story in one chapter
   2,001 words

   It was raining in Seattle. No newsflash there, but it was also raining in Portland. That meant something to Eric and Eugene, although, in spite of the rain, the sun is shining brightly on them. You see, Eric and Eugene are going to get married.

"Palisades Park 'I Got You Babe'"
   A complete story in one chapter
   13,951 words
Completed 5 March 2022

   You start with a layer of hot fudge. On top of the fudge went a layer of vanilla ice cream. On top of the vanilla ice cream you added a level of chocolate ice cream. One more layer of vanilla goes on top of that and a rich level of hot fudge followed. Then you liberally applied the whipped cream and an obligatory cherry on top and you had a Mighty Mo sundae.
   This isn't a story about the Might Mo. It isn't even a story about high school. This story is about love. This story is about David. If there is great love, David was mine.
   We both liked Mighty Mo food, David and me. It was on the way home from anywhere we went, because it was a habit. David was a habit to. Many a night I sat admiring him as he dug into a Might Mo sundae.

"Pat Batt"
   A complete story in one chapter
   5,371 words
Completed 1 April 2016

   This story is about the author's relationship with David and then Pat. It sets the stage for Palisades Park.

"Ode to Robbie & Bill"
   A complete story in one chapter
   1,320 words
Completed 27 February 2022

   A Writer's letter to two friends too soon gone from us ...

"The Levee"
   A complete story in one chapter
   6,482 words

   I caught sight of my father coming toward me. He came right to me and grabbed me in his strong arms. I could feel his weariness. He walked like an old man. He held me in a way my father rarely did. "Ian," he said with a gasp. "You came home." I did my best to ignore his tears. My father didn't cry. The river was beating him and it took its toll. My being home would steady him the way nothing else would.

"Brandy"
   A complete story in one chapter
   5,001 words

   Brandy was a Labrador Retriever. Brandy was no longer a young dog. Brandy belonged to Doctor Jim. He started out working at the local children's hospital. He worked in the cancer wing and he was accustomed to the pale faces, bald heads, sunken eyes, and pained expressions of his patients. He wanted to work with children because he had none. He wasn't sure he would have children anymore.

"Mama's Kitchen"
   A complete story in one chapter
   8,618 words

   "People fall on hard times for a lot of reasons. No one sets out wanting to beg to eat. There's a genuine need by folks who've lost everything. If they ever had anything. They are humiliated by a needing to seek out a free meal. I suppose there are always freeloaders, but it isn't my job to worry about them. I'm here to feed the hungry," Mama said matter-of-factly.

"A Teenager's Wisdom"
   A complete story in one chapter
   12,362 words

   At a time when the world faces the coronavirus pandemic, there are children at risk who aren't considered. They are the throwaway and runaway children, who can no longer live at home. 40% of homeless children are LGBTQ. While Bart Jordan, a busy teen, might not have the covid-19 epidemic on his mind, he does have less fortunate kids there.

"A Summer Passing"
   A complete story in one chapter
   5,336 words

   Tonight Rick took Joanne, his accountant, out for a long overdo dinner treat. It might have turned into a trick on Rick, after he saw his long ago lost love.

"Principal Miscalculation"
   A complete story in one chapter
   7,573 words

   It's said, 'Revenge is sweet.' It's also said, 'Success is the best revenge.' Kenny Lutz knows the truth about revenge ...

"Careful Picking Friends"
   A complete story in one chapter
   5,532 words

   It had to be a Wednesday, because it's my day off. I wouldn't have paid any attention to the ad otherwise.

"To Convert or Not to Convert"
   A complete story in one chapter
   865 words

   This story was prompted by a petition to outlaw Gay Conversion "Therapy" in the UK in May 2021.

"Heron Island"
   A complete story in one chapter
   5,109 words

   Nylin didn't hear the boat arrive, but when he stood and turned toward home, there was the boat and the boy in it was watching him.

"That's a Lot of Bull"
   A complete story in one chapter
   7,057 words

   Lying in a combination of rich Wyoming soil adulterated by bullshit, which was obviously too close to his nose, Pardo Hemsley lie dying for all he knew. With spit and sweat from man and beast thrown in for good measure all he could do was to lie there and pray he wasn’t.

"Hitchhike"
   A complete story in two chapters
   14,843 words

There are two stories that tell a tale of hitching up Route 101, going north out of San Francisco. One story tells it like it happened. The second story tells a tale that can only emerge out of a writer's imagination. You'll need to decide which version is true.

"Robbie's Desire"
   The much requested Adult Version of "To Robbie with Love" (6,819 words)

This is the adult version of 'To Robby With Love.' It has been requested by many. Hope you enjoy a glimpse of my world.

"To Robbie with Love"
   A complete story in one chapter (14,981 words)

Love is like a feast after a famine. You live in and through someone else and they live through you and for you. There is no longer a border between you, only things that connect you.

"Bombardiers"
   A complete story in one chapter (7,625 words)

Danny, a colorful ice skater, was a rose in a bouquet. In the roller derby he'd bloom on his own. He'd be the orchid among the crab grass. Doing it differently made Danny dizzy with delight. He saw no reason for fright.

"Blue Jean Bulge"
   A complete story in one chapter originally posted on Nifty 22 June 2003 (3,104 words)

Sometimes a roommate is not quite as straight as he claims to be.

"Bean Ball"
   A complete story in two chapters originally posted on Nifty 20 May 2003 (8,956 words)

Pete knew better than to get into the car. He was aware of all the stories about what could happen when you did. He wasn't going anywhere but it was such a great spring day he didn't want to go to his house and so he disregarded all the precautionary tales he'd been taught.

"Sailing, Sailing"
   A complete story in one chapter (13,690 words)

Avery was my summer friend, but he was hardly a friend back then. We'd only met a few weeks before. He was Granny's selection as friend of choice for me on my first summer vacation in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. It was my first vacation anywhere and my first time away from home for more than a couple of days.

"Train Trip Trick"
   A complete story in two chapters originally posted on Nifty 7 October 2002 (7,457 words)

Bobby got on in a small town in Illinois. He was carrying an oversized gym bag. He was dressed in what turned out to be college travel uniform. Bobby was a wrestler. I was dressed in my navy uniform because it got me a discount.

"Farm Fun"
   A complete story in one chapter originally posted on Nifty 17 February 2000 (1,516 words)

I'd been forced to move to my grandfather's farm when my father died. My mother said we couldn't afford the house.

"Bike Boys"
   A complete story in one chapter originally posted on Nifty 21 January 2000 (4,938 words)

We road our bikes for a long time before we stopped for sodas at the DGS store near the elementary school where I'd first met Larry. We sat on the curb sipping orange Tru-Aide he'd bought because I hadn't brought money for the ride.

"A School Story"
   A complete story in one chapter originally posted on Nifty 17 January 2000 (1,310 words)

I knew Larry Burton in elementary school. We were in third, fifth, and sixth grade together. When I went to a new school in ninth grade, it was the first time I'd seen Larry since I'd left the sixth grade. He had grown tall and thin and still smiled all the time.

"Civil War Battlefield"
   A complete story in one chapter (5,526 words)

Brian and Gene visit a Civil War Battlefield, but only one leaves alive. The other fights a battle 150 years in the past.

"Explore"
   A complete story in one chapter originally posted on Nifty 7 August 1998 (3,201 words)

When Gene accepted an invitation to a special camp in the Great Smokey Mountains, he knew there was much to be learned, and he loved to practice his survival skills.

"Birthday Bat"
   A complete story in one chapter (1,405 words)

Sometimes packaging around an item is almost impossible to open. Here is a humourous story about just such situation with not so good results. Enjoy.

"I Always Called Him Johnny"
   A complete story in one chapter originally posted on Nifty 29 July 1999 (7,043 words)

I lived down near Dupont Circle in my first year of college at Maryland University. It was the center of activity in the lower part of Northwest Washington D.C. I met a lot of people there, and one of those people was Johnny Davis. He preferred to be called John, but somehow he just wasn't a John to me, so I always called him Johnny.

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Rick writes poetry? You betcha!

Christmas Stories
It's a magical time of the year!


Poetry


"David in My Arms"
   A complete poem (178 words)

words about David

"Cherokee Rose"
   A complete poem (355 words)

words about Native Americans

"Sioux Time"
   A complete poem (178 words)

words about Native American Sioux

"Brain Bombs"
   A complete poem (221 words)

words about young gay youth

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Quick Move Menu

Novels
Stories with multiple chapters

Joe Buck, Trucker Extraordaire
Ya gotta love Joe!

Series
Novels with sequels and more

Short Stories
Stories in one chapter

Poetry
Rick writes poetry? You betcha!

Christmas Stories
It's a magical time of the year!


Christmas Stories


"A Christmas Demon"
   A complete Christmas story in one chapter (7,414 words)

   Horatio Arnold stood at the door of the stable. He liked smelling horses, what they left behind mingling with smells of hay and oats. He listened as a commotion came from the rear.

"A Christmas Demon Part Two A Father's Joy"
   A complete Christmas story in one chapter (3,756 words)

   Father Samuel parked his car off to one side and he walked toward the pasture fence. He'd seen Michael's blond hair flowing in the breeze on top of the black Arabian that adopted the boy before the Horatio Arnolds adopted him and young Kenny Kelly five years before. And the story continues.

"Comfort and Joy"
   A complete Christmas story in one chapter (5.558 words)

As you enjoy your friends and families, don't forget to smile at people you pass. Say hello. It could brighten someone's day. It'll brighten yours.

"A Lasting Loving Christmas"
   A complete Christmas story in one chapter (3,441 words)

Tom only left Afghanistan three months ago. Most of that time was spent in hospitals. He moved into the small residence once he was an outpatient. The community center van came once a week to take him to the library and then to the community center for a hot meal. Tom was a giver and never asked for anything in return.

"Rainbow Ranger Rescue"
   A complete Christmas story in one chapter (2,458 words)

   Cold, homeless, hungry, Christmas, all is lost until the Rainbow Rangers arrive.

"A Pleasant Valley Christmas"
   A complete Christmas story in one chapter (6,123 words)

A Christmas Card from Rick Beck from Mama's kitchen somewhere in North Charleston, South Carolina.

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A note from Rick

    Realize life isn't about stuff. It's about us, the people. If we want to be first class citizens, we need to work toward it. Resist the need for greed. Take seriously our challenges. Create the better gay nation we seek. Why be in a hurry to follow a belief in greed that's bankrupting a society too fond of war and too quick to hate.       Hatred corrupts the heart. See the Middle East. Is that what we aspire to become?
      When AIDS struck, our government and society turned its back on 'the gay.' LGBT people united, figured out what needed to be done, made a plan, setting up free services to feed, cloth, house, and get medical attention for those in need. We didn't hesitate to take action.
      Society ignored AIDS for 5 years, content to watch gay men die.
      We took a massive deadly problem and tamed it, keeping it in manageable terms to allow as many of us to stay alive as possible. No, everyone wasn't saved, but without the LGBT nation, double or triple the number would have died.
      How heroic was that?
      Celebrate our past, present, our future. Give one day a month to help homeless gay kids survive. Devote a day's pay a month to create a better place to be for you and the rest of the gay nation. Renounce greed and embrace brotherhood. This will serve us all.
      You don't know how? Follow the young. They've just survived the most dangerous period in any gay person's life, when gay youth are killing themselves in record numbers. They are cruely handled because they are able to love in a society too fond of hatred and war. We can make suicide less likely if we give the young a vision of a gay nation that cares and is in touch with the love we share. Let society fight over who gets the last crumbs, as we take care of each other.
      We aren't merely a people. We are a movement. The movement will succeed when we refuse to be ignored.
      Tarheel Writer, Awesome Dude, Gay Authors, Author's Haunt, all figure into the many ways there are to be gay. I am a single writer, writing to tell you of things that are and of things that can be.
      Before we can succeed we must have some idea of who we are and of where we want to go. I do my best to give you a view of all the ways to be gay I know about. I'm one source among endless sources, all speaking of the many ways to be gay. Seek other writers out, search the identities for one closest to your own in a world that's at your fingertips.
      If none of the stories speak for you, write your own. Tell us how you feel. Each story is a milestone, making it more difficult to see us as anything but the beautiful creative diverse people we are. We have nothing to be ashamed of. The shame is in those who can't love and hate us because we can. They deserve our pity not our hate.

Love & Peace
Rick Beck



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