You Can't Tell by Looking
Gabe Dillon’s life changes when he gazes across his new school’s commons and spies handsome Kerem Uzun, and he wants to know more. Kerem is senior class president. He is mostly very well-liked. He comes from a family of doctors, is of Turkish heritage, and he is Muslim.
At first, Gabe doesn’t understand the ritual he sees Kerem performing. But as the boys bond, Gabe is eager to learn about Islam. He’s falling in with a boy who may or may not be gay, a boy whose religion may condemn Gabe’s open homosexuality.
Complicating the budding relationship is Timur, Kerem’s cousin, who has grown up alongside Kerem as his brother. A family tragedy left Timur homeless, and Kerem’s parents took him in. But as Kerem grows into his own way of looking at life and how it fits into his devout practice of his faith, Timur is becoming more fundamental in his practice of Islam. And he isn’t the only one opposed to the friendship between Kerem and Gabe. Can they forge a lasting relationship amid so many challenges?
Russell J. Sanders
Russell J. Sanders is a man on a quest. In his travels all over the world, he searches out Mexican restaurants. A born and reared Texan, raised on Tex-Mex, he wants to try the enchiladas and other delicacies that pass for Mexican food in the far reaches of the world. He has been pleasantly surprised in Tokyo and Indonesia and left wondering in Rome and a few other places. Sometimes what the menu says and what you are served is not what is expected. But the joy is in the quest.
Russell’s also on a quest to spread a very important message: love is found in many forms in this world, and being gay or lesbian or bisexual or any other variation is normal, healthy, and wonderful. He wants his novels to bolster the confidence of GLBTQ teens and change the minds or further educate all the others who may stumble upon his prose.
Russell’s writing joins his long career of acting, singing, and teaching, adding to his passions for cooking and reading. He has won awards for his acting and directing and has taught theater to hundreds of teens. He has also taught additional thousands of teenagers the art of writing and the love for literature. He is always in the middle of a good story, whether reading it or writing it. And he can whip up a delicious meal in minutes. He does all this with the support of his husband, a man he has loved for over twenty years and married a few years ago. They are now transplanted in Las Vegas, Nevada. And to Russell’s dismay, the Mexican food in Nevada is not too much to his liking!
Website: russelljsanders.weebly.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/russelljsandersauthor
