Novel: "One for the Gods"

"One for the Gods" is just a dynamic as the "Lord Won't Mind." It offers many more twists and turns in Peter and Charlie's relationship, however, their love for and commitment to each other is unwavering. Merrick puts the Mills-Martin to the ultimate test. Will their survive? Of course it does. It is a trilogy after all.

"Gods" picks up ten years after "The Lord" ends. In the beginning of the novel, Charlie and Peter are on summer vacation in St. Tropez. When all hell breaks loose, they seize the opportunity to escape St. Tropez sea.

New York City GLBT Film Festival

So Ken and I checked out a couple movies at this year's festival. Nothing blew me away, but I was not disappointed either. Here's the rundown: Stewart Wade's "Coffee Date" is non-stop laughs with great dialogue. Hopefully, it will find a distributor and you will be able to check it out. If you want a different sort of gay in high school flix, check out Todd Verow's "Vacationland." If you want to be weirded out, check out João Pedro Rodrigues's "Two Drifters." If you want to see brooding teenager, great script and acting, check out Christoph Hochhäusler's "Low Profile."

Check out Ken's blogs for more info on these films. http://kennethtl.blogspot.com/

Novel: The Lord Won't Mind

"I say, if it's love, the Lord won't mind. There's enough hate in the world." Mrs. Sapphire Hall -- Harlem 1940.

"The Lord Won't Mind” by Gordon Merrick, was written in 1970, one year after Judy Garland died. It is the first in the Charlie/Peter trilogy. Merrick followed "Lord" with "One for the Gods," and "Forth in to Night." "Lord" and "Gods" are without a doubt my all time favorite love story. The trilogy tells of the abiding love between Charlie Mills and Peter Martin--two young men who falls madly in love with one another the summer of 1940.

Charlie narrates "Lord" in the third person; in an effort to distance himself from the person he was when he and Peter first met. Don't be fooled. The beginning of the novel reads like porn, but it is anything but. It is a deeply honest love story about two young men at their sexual peaks. It also satisfies Merrick's big cock fetish.

So Charlie is all head; Peter is all heart. Charlie is experienced; Peter is a complete innocent. Within an hour of meeting him, Charlie seduces the virginal Peter. At that point Peter didn't even know he was "queer." Peter immediately falls in love with Charlie, and the reader just knows he is asking for trouble. But Charlie falls hard as well. After reminding himself not to return Peter's over abundance of endearments, Charlie wakes up the morning after they meet with Peter's "golden head...nestled in the hollow between his shoulder and chest." Then Merrick hits you, "My boy, my lover, my baby, my love, he thought, so befuddled with exhaustion and happiness that he didn't know his mind was singing a litany of treacherous endearments."

"The Lord" is your classic; boy meets boy, boy gets boy, boy loses boy, boy gets down on his hands as knees and grovels for boy to take boy back." All in all, the novel is about Charlie learning to overcome his fears in order to commit his life totally to Peter; even at the risk of losing everything, even the love and respect of his grandmother, C.B, the person most dear to him. Of course he does, or we wouldn't have a trilogy.

Some notable quotes from "The Lord":

Peter: "There's something else I've got to say...Now, I must. I'm -- I don't know what you're going to think, but I can't help it. I'm -- I'm in love with you. I didn't know it could happen with two guys, but it has. There's no doubt about it, no matter what you say. I'm just -- completely madly in love with you."

Peter: "Oh, God, I'm so in love with you. It hurts. It hurts so damn much, sometimes." Charlie responds: "I won't let it. Honest. Never again, baby. I'm sorry. Please. Please, my love."

Peter: Oh, well, think, darling. I'm so proud of us -- of being in love with you and you saying you love me. I hate having to hide it. It doesn't make any sense. Why should you hide something that's so perfect?"

Charlie: "It is amazing, isn't it? About us,' he said."

Charlie's letter to Peter: "I'm discovering that being in love isn't all fun."

Peter's letter to Charlie: "How is this for a love letter? It turns out that a love letter is just saying what you think to someone you love. I love you more than anybody has ever love anybody ever, I’m thinking about your cock and having it inside me. I'm thinking about you having my cock in your mouth. I wish we could do both a once."

Charlie: "I've been thinking about you." (Then Charlie makes Peter's wish come true).

Charlie: "See? Here I am groveling at your goddamn feet. Is this the way you want me? Let me go! For Christ's sake, let me go!"

Charlie groveling again: "We've got to be together, baby. I'm nothing without you. You said it, but I wouldn't listen. I need you, baby."

Peter: "He wants me back. I'm going to him."

Charlie: "I love him, C.B. He explained it to you. How did he say it? 'I love him in every possible way, the way men love women.' I don't know how it happened, but I wouldn't want it any different."

Don't miss this novel. It will make you happy.