With that in mind, I wrote and my husband published a novel entitled “Normal?” which endeavors to demonstrate that when it comes to the trials and tribulations of growing up, infatuation and love, the experience for us all is the same no matter where we stand in the spectrum of the human rainbow. The truth of the matter is that anyone who has ever loved, desired, or reached for some yearning just beyond their grasp has experienced the same highs and lows, the same dramas and traumas, the same hungers and thirsts, and the same heartaches and heart-quakes; no matter who they are, no matter who they love. We are all the same, only different. And that’s normal.
“Normal?” is written as a coming of age journey of a young gay boy at the center of an unusual extended family that includes everything from a few professional drag queens to a well respected rabbi. It is a story that grows and evolves in love, as every loving family must; and illustrates that when it comes to family, at the heart of the matter, it is the heart that matters most.
One of the amazing aspects of human nature this book endeavors to demonstrate is that we can create the love and the family that we want if we don’t have it now. Though it is seldom easy to free ourselves from the ties that bind, even when they are choking us, we must always remember that we are never helpless. There are always alternatives. We are bound first and foremost to the pursuit of our own happiness, wherever and with whoever that pursuit takes us. Without that foundation, we have nothing to build on. With it, we can build castles.
We are all creators, and a true family is a creation whether we have been born or have evolved into it. With the bricks of faith in one another and the cement of respect for each other, it is built day by day, hope by hope. And the most amazing part is ... all it really takes to build one is a little time, an open mind, and a lot of love.
Click HERE to read our True Colorz Review of Normal?
Blurb: “Were it a dream, it would be a most wondrous dream; but it’s more. It’s a life. And I don’t have to remember any of it. It remembers me.” With these words, Gene Poole-Hall takes us on a beautiful coming-of-age journey that will leave you questioning any preconceived impressions of the definition of normal, and lead you to the conclusion that when it comes to family, at the heart of the matter, it’s the heart that matters. Gene’s story begins with his adoption into an extended family that includes everything from a few drag queens to a well respected rabbi. If Gene’s life is anything but normal, he isn’t aware of it. He enjoys all the advantages of being an only child at the heart of a family of unrelated adults bonded together by mutual love and respect.
The core of Gene’s family is Mother, who is actually his biological uncle Ben. Mother is a bigger than life female impersonator whose warmth and compassion has attracted the most unusual extended family you will ever meet. Mother’s partner, Tom, whom Gene calls Dad rather than Uncle Tom for obvious reasons, is a Wall Street executive. Gene’s Uncle Josh, the rabbi, is Mother’s life-long best friend and first unrequited love interest. Gene’s aunts, Allie and Sue, whose lives are anything but a drag, are famous, if not infamous, drag queens from Mother’s band of performers. And that’s just the beginning of Gene’s family.
A sudden move to the suburbs and the unexpected addition of three new family members, Chip and Dale, an unusual set of twins, and Robbie, an attractive farm boy, soon add colors that Gene has never imagined, to his already colorful world. Travel through all the trials and tribulations of a young teen’s life as he explores all the joys, wonders and pitfalls of coming of age and experiencing the emotional and biological dramas and traumas of infatuation and love for the first time.
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Post by Stephen J. Mulrooney
After reading what you said here and what Jeff wrote in his review, I am so looking forward to reading Normal? One of my favorite things authors do is give their characters a pack, whether it's the family they were born with or the one they made. We are not an island (or hopefully not), and when characters have those people who enrich or affect their life, it makes the story that much better for me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts here. Also, I need to add, I LOVE that cover; it just struck me so powerfully from the first moment I saw it.
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