Patricia Nell Warren Books In Order

Front Runner Books In Order

  1. The Front Runner (1974)
  2. Harlan’s Race (1994)
  3. Billy’s Boys (1997)

Novels

  1. The Fancy Dancer (1976)
  2. The Beauty Queen (1978)
  3. One Is the Sun (1991)
  4. The Wild Man (2001)

Non fiction

  1. The Lavender Locker Room (2006)
  2. My West (2011)

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Patricia Nell Warren Books Overview

The Front Runner

First published in 1974, The Front Runner raced to international acclaim the first novel about gay love to become popular with mainstream. In 1975, coach Harlan Brown is hiding from his past at an obscure New York college, after he was fired from Penn State University on suspicion of being gay. A tough, lonely ex Marine of 39, Harlan has never allowed himself to love another man. Then Billy Sive, a brilliant young runner, shows up on his doorstep. He and his two comrades, Vince Matti and Jacques LaFont, were just thrown off a major team for admitting they are gay. Harlan knows that, with proper training, Billy could go to the ’76 Olympics in Montreal. He agrees to coach the three boys under strict conditions that thwart Billy’s growing attraction for his mature but compelling mentor. The lean, graceful front runner with gold rim glas*ses sees directly into Harlan’s heart. Billy’s gentle and open acceptance of his sexuality makes Harlan afraid to confront either the pain of his past, or the challenges which lay in wait if their intimacy is exposed. But when Coach Brown finds himself falling in love with his most gifted athlete, he must combat his true feelings for Billy or risk the outrage of the entire sports world and their only chance at Olympic gold.

Harlan’s Race

In 1974, The Front Runner was published, a novel of love and loss that became a best loved classic about gay life. Now, twenty years later, comes the sequel a story of passion, and victory pulled from defeat. After his young athlete lover is assassinated on the Olympic track in Montreal, coach Harlan Brown is forced to enter the race of his life. To survive the hate and violence which threaten his chosen family Betsy, valiant lesbian mother, Vince, angry activist seeking revenge, Chino, Vietnam vet with a wounded heart, and the secret child of Billy Sive, The Front Runner. In time, a second chance at love comes. Vince Matti, 25, a runner who was Billy’s best friend, has harbored an unrequited passion for his ex Marine coach. Handsome, volatile, and passionate, Vince challenges Harlan’s stoic and lonely heart in unimagined ways. Harlan must race with the shadow of the past that memory of the brief idyll with Billy and reach a present where love is enduring and real. Meanwhile, Harlan’s ordeal with bias and bloodshed is not over. Snipers often work in pairs, and the Montreal shooter evidently had a cohort who escaped arrest. This mysterious stalker moves implacably into Harlan’s world. And yet another stalker is moving into gay life a disease that has no name. As events move to the climax, Harlan runs the most desperate race of his life risking everything to win the victory torn from his hands at Montreal.

Billy’s Boys

For those who know Warren’s previous novels, this is the third in a series. The first, The Front Runner, is about a young gay distance runner who was outed on his way to the Olympics. For those who haven’t read The Front Runner yet, Billy’s Boy stands alone as a story. Billy’s Boy is a first person story, about a teen’s passionate search to know more about his dead gay father, his lesbian mother’s past…
and his own sexual destiny. John William, 14, describes himself as ‘the science geek from hell.’ He loves astronomy, dreams of exploring the universe as a NASA astronaut. But lately his attention is focused on Earth, his best friend Shawn, and his own awakening body. New in L.A., he hangs out with his straight girl buddy Ana and two Latino club kids, Teak and Elena, that he just met. William is sure he’s straight, and he is irritated by Teak’s effeminate attitude.

The Fancy Dancer

Tom Meeker is a handsome rookie priest stranded in a dying rural parish. Vidal Stump is a proud, gay half breed with a criminal record and unlawful desires. Father Meeker must choose between his sacred vows and his secret attraction to this Fancy Dancer who lures him into forbidden love. First published two decades ago, this provocative, hard hitting novel was the first bestseller to portray a gay priest and to explore gay life in a small town.

The Beauty Queen

Ex beauty queen Jeannie Colter is a born again politician who hates homosexuals, and wants to crush them. William Laird is her devoted father a wealthy financier who has kept a secret all his life. He is gay. When his fervent daughter runs for Governor of New York, and he has the money to get her elected, Bill Laird is trapped between family and fanaticism. A riveting chronicle of politics, religion and gay rights in the 70’s.

One Is the Sun

Surviving a massacre of wise Mayan priestesses, Earth Thunder flees her temple and journeys north to teach those who wish to know Mother Earth and Her great circles of life. A European noblewoman sends her family across the ocean to renew a spiritual link with Native America. To her grandniece, Helle, she entrusts a special mission. Along the way, in her quest to share her ancient knowledge, Earth Thunder meets River Singing, a slave girl who becomes her apprentice, as does Helle. They build a new temple of learning in the Deer Lodge Valley of Montana Territory. There they live by the old wisdom of life: One Is the Sun, two is the Earth five is the human self. When enemies threaten to destroy them all, the Deer Lodge people will fight bravely and leave their mark in time. A brilliant historical novel that was ten years in the research and writing back in print by popular demand!

The Wild Man

Antonio, a handsome and disillusioned bullfighter, secretly longs to release the wild bulls back to primordial freedom. Juan, a lusty, gentle peasant youth, has a gift for healing and burning passion to become the world’s finest veterinarian. Together, these unlikely companions nurture an ancient tract of Spanish land while pursuing their fervent, radical dreams. When they discover their forbidden feelings, a brutal clash erupts with family, church, and the terrifying regime of Spain in the 60’s. Only two people share their perilous secret Antonio’s fearless twin sister and the beautiful fianc e his family demands he marry. This new love story from the most popular author of gay fiction is a searing, stunning chronicle of turbulent Spain of the recent past, with a powerful message of the present.

The Lavender Locker Room

Winner of 2007 Independent Publisher Gold Award for Gay/Lesbian literature. Some are legendary such as pilot Amelia Earhart and golf champion Babe Didrikson. Others are less familiar balloonist Alberto Santos Dumont and javelin thrower Ana Maria Sagi. Some went public NFL running back David Kopay and downhill skier Erik Schinegger. Others, such as Wilhelm von Homburg, were known only to sport insiders. Some, like jockey John Damien, figured in milestone court cases. Some, like jouster Joan of Arc and racehorse breeder George Villiers, were historical figures. Others, like tennis player Martina Navratilova and figure skater John Curry, competed in modern Olympics. But they have something in common: they were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. And they stood out extraordinarily in their chosen sport. Their stories, carefully researched and movingly written by landmark author Patricia Nell Warren for Outsports. com, create a sweeping panorama and a heart pounding literary experience.

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