A book marketer recently asked me what genre my new series is, and I had to think for a minute to figure that out. Eventually, I came up with
Autobiographical Supernatural Horror.
Now, I realize that sounds more like fantasy than reality; but consider this: if your family has monsters in it, and you write about that family, what do you call it? Franz Kafka wrote about a man who transformed for unknown reasons into a cockroach (obviously autobiographical), and no one batted an eye. My story covers adoption, abortion, LGBT rights, cancer, gay marriage, science, violent crime, small farming in California, missionary work, the arid, modern university environment, AIDS, teaching, and the terrible toxicity of an insular family submerged deep within an abusive religious cult.
And all I did was describe my experience growing up in a “normal” American family (of monsters).
For the purposes of focus and variety, I’ve framed the first book around my family's oldest sibling, MY SISTER, SUZIE, a girl who was adopted at birth, and had all the cards stacked against her. The second book recounts the life of OUR LITTLE SISTER, who started her life as a sick and weak little girl but eventually won a college diploma and a man. The final book details some pretty horrific transformations and catastrophes, since it deals with a disastrous mother-son relationship. If you have a mother or a son, …AND THE DRAGONS might keep you up at night.
PERFECTLY HUMAN is the unforgivable saga of a boy born into one crazy family, raised by an even more dysfunctional family, and in love with another boy from a third family. There's enough sex to keep it spicy, and enough analysis to excuse all the sex.
PERFECTLY HUMAN: The Unexpected Autobiography Of A Hick.
The eBook containing all the text from all three of my memoirs, MY SISTER, SUZIE, OUR LITTLE SISTER, …AND THE DRAGONS!
For people who are concerned about such things, I have compiled an Official Offensive Word Count in the 3-volume eBook:
71 christians; 48 shits; 23 damns; 22 jesuses; 16 cocks; 16 dicks; 15 assholes; 15 fucks; 10 bitches; 9 pisses; 7 christs; 4 penises; 4 pussies; 2 bastards; 2 cocksuckers; 2 farts; and one shart.
MORE From Bayla Dornon!
My eighth novel has been published. Get the first book in the exciting new series, SLUDGE: The Lemony-Fresh Apocalypse
A women's adventure novel, set in an apocalyptic hellscape called Los Angeles!
Click to find out more about SLUDGE and buy the first novel of the series.
The Jake Bennett Adventures: A three volume series!
The JAKE BENNETT ADVENTURES takes the reader on a delicious spin through the underbelly of California's gay life as a young, hot bi cop named Jake tries to navigate between bitchy drag queens, corrupt politicians, and his toxic family. Can he pull it off? Or will his world of bullets and rhinestones all fall apart in a heap of guilt and shame?
Read the powerful RESTORATION series of novels, available from all fine book sellers.
The RESTORATION series of novels, written and published during the Covid shutdown of 2020-2021, tells the fictional story of Chris, a young gay man who flees from his abusive, hyper-religious family and finds refuge within a small humanist organization called Restoration. There he makes friends, falls in love, and begins to rebuild his life, against the political backdrop of America's violent turmoil in the twenty-first century.
All four novels, available in one titanic set!
Or, buy them separately and in paperback
Book One * Book Two * Book Three * Book Four
A modern-day classic, filled with new and ancient wisdom: GAY TESTAMENTS: Old & New
Gay Testaments: Old & New (1997) NOW ON SALE at Amazon.com! Since the dawn of recorded history, gay men have formed a special and unique part of humanity. These selections from both famous and obscure literature paint a vivid and exciting portrait of men loving men. Great poetry and classical prose showcase a spectrum of social and cultural roles available to gay men, while philosophical writings put forth a series of inclusive world views, with meaning and dignity for all people. Gay Testaments: Old & New introduces essential, timeless, uplifting messages from more than a dozen diverse writings, each one concisely edited and presented for the first time ever in one volume.
Married to one man since 1988, Bayla Dornon is a storyteller who has expressed his creativity in photography, literature, and videos for half a century. After decades in the desert, he and his husband left San Diego for the glorious rain forests of the Pacific northwest. They successfully raised five wonderful cats.