Coming to Life on South High (Paperback or Softback)

For 21-year-old gay virgin Gabe Rafferty, the first decade of adulthood is unpredictable and intense.

Flat broke upon college graduation, Gabe navigates the passage from menial work to globetrotting corporate drudge, then strives for a real chance at professional fulfillment. His journey exploring his sexuality-from inhibited innocence, to first-love crises, to random hookups-doesn't seem to lead to the more sensual, committed relationships he wants. Then he meets Marty, an African American art student, and Gabe must face his white working-class background and racist father for a chance at true love.

Throughout, he traverses the joys and hazards of loving a headstrong cast of friends, including a lesbian couple, and Candy, a straight female friend whose life intersects with Gabe's in unexpected ways.

For Gabe, what happens after coming of age and coming out is a scramble to survive first journeys into sex, love, and livelihood.

A native of California's Mendocino Coast, Lee Patton has enjoyed life in Colorado since college. His fiction and poetry have been widely published and his plays produced nationwide. His novels include Nothing Gold Can Stay, a Lambda Literary Award finalist; Love and Genetic Weaponry; and My Aim Is True. "Faith of Power," a novella, is featured in Main Street Rag's 2017 anthology, In The Middle. He received an MA in Fiction from the University of Denver's Writing Program.