GUEST POST with EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: Sherrie Henry of 'Flag on the Play'
Title: Flag on the Play
Author: Sherrie Henry
Published: February 7, 2017
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press (Imprint of Dreamspinner Press)
Cover Artist: Alexandria Corza
Genre: Contemporary Romance; Young Adult
Length: 180 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Bisexual; Athlete/Sport: Football; Angst; Coming Out
About Flag on the Play
Sixteen-year-old football punter Liam Hartley has come to terms with being gay, but it isn’t something his religious and conservative community will ever accept. He’s isolated in his Midwest town until Cody Williams transfers to his school from Chicago. A proud bisexual young man, Cody shows Liam he isn’t alone—or abnormal—and they soon become more than friends.
Despite the intimate, secret world he shares with Cody, Liam is in pain. The hatred spewed by bigots has an effect on Liam, even if Cody carefully hides their relationship with a pretend girlfriend. Liam is jealous—he doesn’t want to have to share Cody, and he doesn’t want to have to live in shame. Cutting himself seems to be the only way to deal with everything he’s suffering, and things only get worse when Liam and Cody are outed in front of the school. And even if they can make it through the hardship, they know their relationship is destined to end when Cody’s family returns to the city.
Liam can’t go back to facing the hatred and religious judgment by himself. He won’t survive it. Somehow, Liam and Cody must secure a future for both of them, and that means finding a way to stay together.
We’ve made it to stop four on my blog tour to promote my newest release, Flag on the Play. Thank you Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter for having me!
In Flag on the Play, the two main characters, Liam and Cody, are comic book aficionados, specifically liking the Marvel Avengers world. Thought I’d give you some trivia regarding The Avengers (2012) movie and their human portrayer's:
Hawkeye is supposed to be ambidextrous; however Jeremy Renner is not.
Tony Stark wears a Black Sabbath t-shirt in honor of their song “Iron Man.”
Black Sabbath’s song “Iron Man” is NOT about the Marvel character.
Real military police were used in the movie; 25 members of the Ohio-based 391st military police force battalion were recruited for the battle of New York.
Agent Coulson’s death originally garnered the movie an ‘R’ rating. Quick cuts and less gore got the rating down to PG-13.
Pepper Potts doesn’t wear shoes in her scenes because she’s taller than Robert Downey, Jr. and you can’t have Iron Man’s girlfriend towering over him.
The Chitauri have thumbs, not fingers. Two thumbs on each hand to be exact.
Joss Whedon didn’t want to kill off Phil Coulson; it was the studio’s decision. Joss brought Coulson back for the television show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The movie had to have a title change to Marvel Avengers Assemble in the UK as The Avengers in the UK conjures up images of an iconic spy franchise, not comic book characters.
As the nuclear missile is being released toward Manhattan, the pilot calls out a detonation time of two minutes, 30 seconds. The actual amount of film time between the missile being launched and it detonating is two minutes, 30 seconds.
Hope you like trivia as much as I do! Gives the film a whole new perspective. With that I leave you an excerpt from Flag on the Play. Enjoy!
A few hours later, Liam snuck down the stairs, really needing something to drink. He’d been through the wringer, that was for sure, and all the stress and anger had done a number on him. He was parched. He poked his head out of his bedroom, and all seemed quiet. The kitchen night-light was on, and there was no sound coming from the living room. A quick glance to his parents’ room showed it was dark as well. Seemed everyone had indeed turned in early.
He quietly traversed the stairs and rounded the corner to the kitchen, only to be confronted with his mother sitting at the kitchen table, holding a picture and crying. She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes as she looked up.
“Liam.”
“Mom.”
The air grew heavy in the silence. Liam could hear his heartbeat in his ears. His mom studied the picture in her hand. He wondered what it was, maybe a picture of him as a baby? Back when they thought they had a normal son? It wouldn’t do any good to speculate. Someone needed to make the first move.
“I’m sorry for making you cry. I’m sorry I’m a disappointment.”
Sarah didn’t take her eyes of the picture. “You’re not a disappointment.”
“I’m everything you hate.”
She looked up. “Oh, hon, no. I don’t hate you.” She patted the table next to her. “Sit, please.”
Liam grabbed a bottle of water from the counter and sat down next to his mom. He drained half the bottle, ignoring the pain in his lip.
Sarah put her hand over his. “You’re my son and I love you. So does your dad. We’re having a little trouble dealing with your, um, revelation, but that doesn’t negate everything else.”
Liam let out a breath he was holding. “Then why are you crying?”
“I realized I’d been fed a load of bullshit for quite some time.”
Liam almost jumped out of his seat. He’d never, ever heard his mother swear. Not a “hell” or “damn” or even “darn it.”
“Sorry, I’m upset.” She showed the picture to Liam. It was the one Cody had taken of the two of them during their camping trip. “I found it on the stairs. I guess it fell out of your backpack?”
Liam nodded.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you happier. And in love. It’s the love that literally pierced my heart. I didn’t think I could ever see it between two men, but there it is, in stunningly bright colors staring me in the face.”
Liam fingered the edge of the picture, but let his mother keep holding it.
“The church is wrong. Love like this can’t be a sin.”
“You’re changing your convictions based on a picture?”
She turned the picture back to herself, running her index finger over it. “This is a picture of a part of me. You’re a part of me. This is my son, being loved, in love. How can a mother deny that? How can anyone not see it? How dare any church tell me my son is an abomination? If this is an abomination, send me to hell.”
Of all the things Liam expected to hear, this was not it. Nowhere near it. Like not in a billion years it. He felt tears welling up in his eyes, a relief running over him. His mother accepted him, accepted who he loved and had left her own long-held beliefs behind. He twisted in his chair so he could hug her, tears freely running down his face.
They held each other for long minutes, the clock in the kitchen softly ticking away the moments. Liam loosened up to look at his mother. “Thank you.”
“There is no thank-you necessary, sweetie.”
Liam sat back in his chair. “How’s Dad doing? He hasn’t talked to me much in the past couple of weeks.”
“I will admit, he’s still a little shaken. I think between the way it all came out, so public, and the questioning of his own feelings, he’s having a bit more difficulty coming to terms with it. He is a very private person, you know.”
“I know, and I’m truly sorry for that. I lost it at the banquet. I can’t… I can’t imagine my life without Cody. And I want to be with him.”
About the Author
Sherrie was born and raised in Southern Indiana, in a small farming community. A stop-over at Indiana University in Bloomington to earn bachelors and masters degrees was the next step before she struck out to the big city of Chicago. She has lived in the ‘burbs of the Windy City for the past 19 years, currently residing with her dog Rocky and teaching at the local community college. She is a third-degree black belt in hapkido and is considering a run for a fourth-degree before hanging up the ol’ black belt. Writing and photography are her hobbies, and hopes that she can add travel to her hobbies soon.
For more of Sherrie's works visit her website.
