Long Way Out

Inside a sprawling suburban home, Russell's wife and sons know him as a devoted husband, father, and provider. At the office, co-workers know him as a no-nonsense, master salesman. On the Little League diamond, the Pirates know him as their inspirational coach. But there's an essential part of himself Russell only reveals to nameless strangers. Although he can't deny his same-sex attraction or his bisexual identity, he fears that coming out would be devastating to those he loves most, that revealing his truest self would blow his entire world to smithereens. So, Russell finds himself living a double life, governed by an explicit set of self-imposed, self-protective rules. The curtain separating Russell's dual personas is already beginning to unravel when he meets Bryan, at which point Russell embarks upon a precarious, personal journey from deception to honesty, from fracture to wholeness, from the closet into the light.

Rand Bishop enjoyed a 45-year music-business career as a major-label recording artist, touring musician, hit songwriter, platinum record producer, talent development executive, and music publisher. He garnered a Grammy nomination, several BMI Awards and more than 300 songwriting credits with artists as diverse as the Beach Boys, Heart, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Indigo Girls, Cheap Trick, and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Bishop has authored six books, award-winning and optioned screenplays, a stage play, numerous essays and, for six years, contributed a bi-monthly column to American Songwriter Magazine. Medium lists Bishop as a Top LGBTQ writer on its platform.

Long Way Out is Bishop's second novel. He resides in Newport, Oregon, where he acts as music director for the Oregon Coast Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.