Longbranch

Shawn is drawn in by the apparent sensitive side and affection of "the tiger lady", who respects his intelligence and is attracted to his sexuality. She takes him to live on her estate where he falls under her spell and complete emotional control. At a time when women's liberation was on the front pages, and impressionable boy could be exploited and changed forever.

This work makes use of an interior monologue to convey the private thoughts, doubts and dreams of the fifteen year old male protagonist in the sub-culture of 1960s Toronto, the luxurious Halton Hills and an idyllic private island in the Bahamas. Shawn is sent to live with a well-heeled spinster aunt in the town of Longbranch where he is placed into the public system. He rebels at the system, the rejection of his first lover - a forty year old friend of his aunt's and leaves home at fifteen to discover life on the streets of Toronto. As a young teen he seeks the meaning of love, sex,and friendship in the skewed values of Toronto's subculture. His quest for self-awareness draws him into the violent and sexually ambiguous world of loan sharking and prostitution and ultimately into the high-life of the ultra-rich and powerful when, as a male prostitute, he meets the 'Tiger Lady', a troubled and ruthless female captain of industry. His inner dialogue expresses the naivete and confused emotions of a sexually active teen seeking validation, nurturing, and love busting the stereotype of the callow youth after easy money and sex.

Born in Toronto Craig is a first time author who now resides near the village of Sharbot lake in Ontario. Having had a life-long love of the land, he lives simply and as self-sufficiently as possible.