Double Life

Richard Maxwell, a gay teenager struggling with his sexuality, is forced to leave home after a violent confrontation with his father and moves to San Francisco, where he meets Sean Montero, a complex and fearless teenage male prostitute, who teaches Richard the tricks of the trade while also encouraging him to live openly and proudly as a young gay man in 1970s San Francisco. After Richard falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy San Francisco public relations executive, his life becomes increasingly complicated as he fights to maintain his marriage to Chelsea and family life while leading a double life as a closeted gay man and trying desperately to keep his past a secret. When Sean re-enters Richard’s life he’s forced to choose between Sean and Chelsea and confront the reality of AIDS in the 1980s and its impact on his sexuality, family, work, and old friends in the gay community.

Richard Maxwell, a gay teenager struggling with his sexuality, is forced to leave home after a violent confrontation with his father and moves to San Francisco, where he meets Sean Montero, a complex and fearless teenage male prostitute, who teaches Richard the tricks of the trade while also encouraging him to live openly and proudly as a young gay man in 1970s San Francisco. After Richard falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy San Francisco public relations executive, his life becomes increasingly complicated as he fights to maintain his marriage to Chelsea and family life while leading a double life as a closeted gay man and trying desperately to keep his past a secret. When Sean re-enters Richard’s life he’s forced to choose between Sean and Chelsea and confront the reality of AIDS in the 1980s and its impact on his sexuality, family, work, and old friends in the gay community.

Kathey Norton is a novelist, screenwriter, and poet who was born and raised in Sacramento, California. She wrote her first novel while still attending high school. In her twenties she published articles and poetry in various anthologies and poetry magazines, and went on to complete three more novels before taking a break from writing at age 23 to care for her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. After completing a BA in communication studies and a MA in political science from CSU, Sacramento, Kathey returned to writing and sold her first one-act screenplay to Arts & Understanding Magazine and published her rock and roll based novel, What Becomes a Legend Most, in 2014. When Kathey isn’t writing, she spends her time studying music, with the goal of starting her own band, is very active in politics and animal rights issues, and enjoys exploring her interests in mixed media collage, filmmaking, noir and graphic comics, vintage pop culture, and social media. www.katheynorton.com Also connect with Kathey on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Pinterest.