Bryan T. Clark

I can’t believe spring is here. The only thing that excites me more than spring was the release of Hawthorne Manor on May 2, 2023. This story is a humorous exploration of the foibles of aging and the beauty that exists in a found family. The book is filled with witty banter and eccentric characters and yet addresses important issues about family, life, acceptance, understanding, and unconditional love. The heart of the book is a topic that is deeply personal to me—autism.

I have a niece and nephew who are on the autism spectrum. They are incredibly beautiful people who have endured more than they should have to. I witnessed their struggles as teenagers. They are survivors, thriving in a world that doesn’t always understand them. So, when Elliot and Mikael came to me in my sleep, asking me to tell their story, I couldn’t say no.

Hawthorne Manor is a story with which everyone will resonate. We all have imprints from early childhood. As a young boy and throughout my teens, I was teased and bullied because of my skin color. In the book, Elliot is teased and bullied in school for being on the spectrum.

Mikael is an amazing person and a compassionate nurse. He acts as a caregiver and nurturer, an innate quality that comes with a price. My husband is an excellent ICU nurse, and I drew from his many years of work—from patient care to family care to his own self-care and discovery of who he is and why. When you witness a caregiver in action, it’s pretty amazing how they are wired.

Mr. Hawthorne plays an important role in this book as well. Ageism is a real discrimination in this world that no one seems to want to talk about. Society places beauty and youth on a pedestal. Ageism is extremely prevalent in the LGBTQ+ community. The older a person gets, the more invisible they become. Mr. Hawthorne is eighty-eight years old, and Elliot and Mikael are in their early twenties. When we can look past someone’s age, we will see their relevance and gift of wisdom.

One of the differences in my characters that ultimately sets them apart from characters in other books is that they are like you and me. They hurt and feel pain the same as we do. They love deeply and—most importantly—they are flawed.

The core of the plot is not just a beautiful love story but a sense of realism that allows readers to escape their lives as they are reading.

Hawthorne Manor is about finding your place in the world and connecting with people who understand the core of who you are. We don’t get to choose the family we’re born into, but we do get to choose the family we find—our “found family”. In Hawthorne Manor, a found family forms for everyone. It’s an amazing place to be.

Warmly,

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When I first decided to write this month’s blog, I was thinking about Valentine’s Day and what I would do this year for my spouse of thirty-eight years. Initially, my go-to was what I could buy him because that’s the love language I speak.

You may find yourself asking, as I did many years ago, what a love language is.

Your love language is what makes you feel loved by others. Do you respond to words of affirmation or quality time with your loved ones? Or do you feel loved when others do something special for you or buy you chocolates, flowers, or something else you want? Maybe your love language is a physical touch—a hug or kiss on the neck that gets your juices flowing.

If you’re unsure what your or your partner’s love language is, let’s examine each one more closely so that you can decide.

Words of Affirmation

People with words of affirmation as a love language value verbal acknowledgments as affection. They feel appreciated and understood when hearing “I love you,” “great job,” or “you’re beautiful,” and knowing the speaker is authentic.

Quality Time

If spending quality time with your partner makes you feel adored, then quality time may be your love language. You may value having your partner’s undivided attention without the TV or phone or enjoy having a meaningful conversation with just the two of you.

Acts of Services

If your love language is acts of service, you likely value even the simplest tasks done for you to make your life easier. To you, actions speak louder than words. You prefer your partner shows you rather than tells you how much you’re appreciated. Washing the dinner dishes without being asked, making you a cup of coffee, or doing the grocery shopping all earn big brownie points with you.

Gifts

Gifts are a straightforward love language. You feel loved when people gift something to you. It’s not about the monetary value but the sentiment behind the item. This is my love language. I once got all choked up when my husband unexpectedly ordered a case of protein chips from Amazon that I accidentally left in the online shopping cart. To me, there is no better way to say “I love you” than by giving an unexpected gift. So, the next time your cat brings you a mouse, understand that this is their way of showing their love for you.

Physical Touch

For people whose love language is physical touch, they value expressing and receiving love through consensual physical contact. Touch is the way they connect with others. The touch can be as simple as holding hands or a kiss on the cheek, or it can be as intimate as cuddling or sex. The warmth transmitted through a touch makes those whose love language is physical touch feel appreciated, recognized, and valued.

Ironically, my husband and I don’t speak the same love languages. His are physical touch, quality time, and words of affirmation. With no uncertainty, mine are gifts and acts of service.

The important thing to remember is that you don’t always have to share the same love language, but if you want to make your partner, child, parent, or friend feel valued and loved, try expressing your love through their love language, and make sure they understand yours as well. Understanding each other’s love language fosters a deeper relationship with the other person. It says, “I get you, I understand you, and I love you.”

So, I think I’ve solved my dilemma as to what to do for Valentine’s Day this year. Now I have to put the plan into action!

Warmly,

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As we begin our holiday season, I want to wish you a happy holiday and check in to let you know what I’ve been up to these last couple of months.

Writing and staying in the creative space in 2021 and 2022 has been challenging for me, to say the least. My current work, Hawthorne Manor, was supposed to be released in May of this year. However, with the world shutting down because of the pandemic, crazy politics, and just all-around dark days, I took several months off to focus on my own well-being. However, these last six months I have felt the creative spirit return within me.

I am happy to share that, with a little discipline, I’ve finished the final edits on Hawthorne Manor. The book will be going out to my beta readers the first part of the year and then back to my editor for a final proofread. I must say, you’re going to really enjoy this story, because it’s a little different than your average romance. Hawthorne Manor is more of a contemporary exploration of the foibles of aging, friendship, love, and the beauty that can exist in a “found” family. It features a house full of eccentric characters, witty banter, and a deeply emotional M/M romance. I am 100% positive that the release date will be May 4, 2023.

On a more personal note, my mother, for whom I am a full-time caregiver, was diagnosed with breast cancer in both breasts late in 2021. Her cancer is responding positively to treatment and her spirits remain good. Each week, she and I show up at the Women’s Cancer Treatment Institute, and although she is hurting, she has a smile on her face when she walks in for her injections—and every week, I am once again reminded how young most of the women suffering from this disease are.

I’ve had much time to reflect on life these past few years, and I think that most definitely came through in Hawthorne Manor. If life has taught me anything these last two years, it is that time is not on our side. Say the things you need to say to the ones you love, live out your dreams, and be as authentic as you can for your own well-being.

Happy Holidays,

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Do you enjoy all four seasons of the year, or do you dread the cold or hate the sweltering heat? Do you have a favorite season? As much as I love summer, my favorite season is fall. After months of scorching temperatures here in the Central Valley of California (and this year, we had sixty-four days of summer over one hundred degrees), the nighttime temperatures are finally cooling enough to allow me to open up the windows in the house. There is nothing better than a nice breeze coming through the window at night as I sleep. With my asthma, I am not always able to open the windows because of poor air quality, but when I can, I do.

In the next couple of weeks, I look forward to seeing the bright green leaves on the trees slowly turn to a beautiful bouquet of reds, oranges, and browns in the neighborhood. I can’t wait to resume some of my outdoor activities, such as hiking and biking in the park.

Being outside is good for my health for many reasons. The fresh air is rejuvenating to my soul, and studies have shown that vitamin D may play a vital role in regulating mood and warding off depression. This is a big win for me.

This month, Brian and I celebrated our thirty-seventh anniversary. We spent it outside—a major perk of an anniversary in September. We’re both big fans of the beach, and escaping to the coast of California is something we enjoy. What could be more romantic than a walk on the beach? Well, maybe sipping a glass of wine with the love of my life as we enjoy the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

I love watching the fog bank roll in from the sea and cover everything around me, making it all disappear. It’s like seeing a magic trick performed by Mother Nature.

As a reader, do you have a favorite season to read about? Do you enjoy Christmas-themed stories or summer romances? As a writer, I love incorporating the seasons into my writing. In Escaping Camp Roosevelt, the boys dart through the crowded streets in an unexpected downpour of piercing rain, and in Diego’s Secret, Diego’s shirt is drenched in sweat and stuck to his back and chest as he mows Winston’s lawn in the blistering mid-summer heat. In Far Away, the smell of fresh thyme is in the air, and in Come to the Oaks, the first snowstorm of the year marks the beginning of winter, and Ben and Tobias are forced to take shelter from the storm in the barn. This scene in the book with the winter storm as the backdrop was one of the most romantic scenes in the book. These are all ways in which I pay homage to Mother Nature.

Whatever your reasons are for enjoying your favorite season, whether it’s sitting poolside during the summer, seeing beautiful foliage in the fall, or sipping pumpkin spice lattes in the winter, enjoy them as soon as you can—and as often as you can—as if you don’t have tomorrow. Let the season be a reminder that nothing is forever, so live life now.

Warmly,

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