I was off for a couple weeks on a vacation to Mexico City and Oaxaca City, both places I highly recommend. I’m always surprised and touched by how Mexicans treat Americans better than America treats Mexico. We don’t deserve it but I’m grateful.

Also, I’m writing a story that features Dan’s son Jack from Compound Fracture. The story is a riff on Lolita by Nabokov. I’ve always wanted to write a story from the youth’s perspective because there are definitely adolescents who go out of their way to seduce adults.

I should know because I was one of them. At 14, I went after a jock in his twenties and was rewarded with one of the best relationships of my life as well some of the best sex. I’m all about protecting children and support age of consent laws in general but I believe we need to be more clear-eyed. A teen going after an adult can sometimes be a healthy thing for both. It’s nuanced. My relationship with Griffin certainly did not leave me emotionally or psychologically scarred. If anything, it helped me to grow up and figure out what I wanted.

I’ve always liked the character Jack in Compound Fracture. He’s mouthy, insouciant, scheming and manipulative but also perceptive, intuitive and wise beyond his years. His worldly/cynical personality conceals a tender heart. In the end, he gets more than he bargains for and learns a thing or two about love. I think you’ll enjoy the story if you can get past the initial age difference that, over the course of the story, begins to disappear. (It’s a transformation story after all.)

On a completely unrelated note, I highly recommend the movie Enemigos. It’s not a gay film but OMG is it queer as fuck! You have to see it to understand. The main character Chimo’s acting is superb. He almost doesn’t need to talk because his eyes are so expressive. Be forewarned that it’s violent, especially in the beginning, but most of the movie is a very touching bromance that develops between Chimo and the bully Rubio.