Books by L.A. Fields

River Trash (Feb. 2025)

Lethe Press | Playlist
Singer-songwriter Whitney Thorn is a fifty-year-old recovered crystal meth addict and the well-known son of country music royalty. Struggling comedian and former nurse Graham Morrow is down and out at thirty-five, living back home with his mother. They meet at an unauthorized, socially distanced show in a Louisiana field and take a chance on shacking up together.

At first, their bubble is untouched by tragedy. They adopt a golden-pitbull mix puppy and name her Honey Bun. They create art at leisure and explore each other with curiosity and wonder. Friends from Whitney’s checkered past check in with him regularly, worried he could relapse. Graham watches his mother, aunt, and cousin Sage struggle in isolation while he escapes into Whitney’s world.

But with hurricanes ravaging other parts of the South and death tolls rising due to COVID-19, eventually trouble finds them. An unexpected surgery poses a serious risk. The presence of pain meds strains sobriety. Hospitalizations end in sudden losses. Homes are lost and must be rebuilt.

River Trash is a slice of Americana, a love story, and a bottle novel that takes place mainly indoors. Two men seek to know one another while a chaotic world swirls around them.

Riot Son

Lethe Press | Amazon | GoodReads | Playlist | Shepherd List

In an unnamed American city during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, two people meet in a cloud of tear gas, and experience love in the time of COVID-19.

Devon Amis is a thirty-something Texan and journalist dealing with the emotional fallout of a recent breakup and previous war correspondence. Garrett Robertson is a homeless genderqueer teen and freelance reporter newly emancipated from a cult religious upbringing. They and their fellow freedom fighters (lawyers, medics, and activists) experience right-wing violence, police brutality, autonomous zones, federal crackdowns, and murderous vehicular attacks — all of which combust in one life-altering conflagration on the Fourth of July.

Riot Son weaves real-life news events from one turbulent summer with a romance for the ages.

My Dear Watson‍

Lethe Press | Amazon | GoodReads | Audiobook

One of the most famous partnerships in literature yields, over time, to a peculiar romantic triangle. Sherlock Holmes. Dr. John Watson. And the good doctor's second wife, whom Doyle never named. In L.A. Fields's novel, Mrs. Watson is a clever woman who realizes, through examining all the prior cases her husband shared with the world's greatest consulting detective, that the two men shared more than adventures: they were lovers, as well.

In 1919, after the pair has retired, Mrs. Watson invites Holmes to her home to meet him face to face. Thus begins a recounting of a peculiar affair between extraordinary men. "You are such a unique person," Holmes says poisonously. "What a shame that history will most likely never remember your name." The question Mrs. Watson faces: Did Holmes simply take advantage of her husband's loyalty and love, or did the detective return those feelings? And what to do now that the pair are no longer living together at Baker Street and Watson has other claims on his affections? A finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, My Dear Watson offers readers a romance that requires as much reasoning to puzzle out as it does passion. Mrs. Watson proves a worthy opponent-in intellect, in guile, in conviction-for the great detective.

Mrs. Watson: Untold Stories

Lethe Press | Amazon | GoodReads | Shepherd List

In the halcyon days between WWI and WWII, Sherlock Holmes is a frequent presence in the lives of the Watsons. Mrs. Watson is a unique wit and astute observer of the Great Detective. While she's mindful of the true nature of the relationship between her husband and Holmes, Mrs. Watson is also along for the ride.

A group trip to Australia occasions "The Nightmare Pygmalion," an ironic twist on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. A visit to London to hear the symphony has Holmes describing the unhappy marriage of composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky in the epistolary story "The Pathétique Symphony." For Halloween, there is "Hell-Home," which reveals the secrets in Bram Stoker's closet. For Christmas, a former patient of Dr. Watson's from Afghanistan, Colonel Hayter—known by her husband's readers as the man from "The Adventure of the Reigate Squire"—returns many years later with somber news.

Homo Superiors

Lethe Press | Amazon | GoodReads | Audiobook | Shepherd List

Two college seniors: Noah, frail like the hollow-boned birds he enjoys watching, caged by his intellect, and by his sense that the only boy as smart as himself is his best friend; Ray who has spent years aping leading men so that his every gesture is suave, but who has become bored with petty cheats and tricks, and now, during summer break in Chicago, needs something momentous to occupy himself.

Noah’s text says, I’ve found some candidates for murder. Ray chuckles and knows that Noah sent the message to cheer him. Both boys realize they stand apart from others their age. One lacks social graces, the other has perfected being charming. Both are too willing to embark on a true challenge of their superiority but neither realizes what such a crime will do because no matter how they see themselves, how they need one another, they still possess the same emotions of H. sapiens.

Maladaptation (Disorder #1)

Rebel Satori Press | Amazon | GoodReads

Sixteen-year-old Marley Kurtz is an incurable bookworm who is sent to a program for maladapted youth in Loweville, Colorado after his parents discover he has been having an affair with a man forty-three years his senior. Once there, Marley befriends the wry yet optimistic Missy, who is fifteen and pregnant in the lowest town on earth, and falls in love with Jesse, an ice-eyed sociopath with an outlaw for a father and a corpse for a mother.

As the stress of the summer causes Marley s physical and mental health to decline, it is unclear which of his new friends has the worst influence on him, or whether the instruction of a small town s Baptist-run therapy group will do more harm than good to everyone involved.

Dysfunction (Disorder #2)

Rebel Satori Press | Amazon | GoodReads

Recent runaway Marley Kurtz is back home in Florida after a long road trip. He and his boyfriend Jesse get jobs, move into a loft above a mechanic’s garage, and start living the good life. They don’t stay free for long however; Marley is eventually pressured into reuniting with the family that sent him away. Far from being disowned, Marley soon finds himself pulled in too many directions at once.

Along with his sister, Lindsay, and his boss’s new foster son, Tristan, Marley must figure out what kind of family he’ll choose to call his own. Will it be the parents who raised and abandoned him, or the friends and adults in his life who have proven they really care? It should be an easy decision, but letting go is never easy.

Repression (Disorder #3)

Rebel Satori Press | Amazon | GoodReads

Marley Kurtz thinks his past is behind him. Comfortably estranged from his family and working at a bookstore in South Florida, he expects nothing interesting to ever happen to him again. But when a flirtatious author visits the store, and some friends and lovers from his past resurface, Marley is plunged into a world of problems he thought he had left behind.

The return of his best friend, Missy, and the introduction of a volatile new substance, alcohol, kick off a series of painful events: the deaths of loved ones both old and young, the loss of trust between Marley and his longtime boyfriend Jesse, and the reemergence of some Kurtz family curses (alcoholism, abandonment, abuse) which affect his younger sister as well. Far from being free of the past, Marley and his friends are mired in it yet again; some will sink, some will swim, and some will merely float.

Compulsion (Disorder #4)

Rebel Satori Press | Amazon | GoodReads

After years of upheaval, Marley Kurtz feels like his life is finally secure. He has his job, his friends, his boyfriend Jesse, and a pretty good hold on his compulsions and addictions too, or so he thinks. Unbeknownst to him, this period of rest has only been a plateau, and the edge is near. It’s the reappearance of Jesse’s younger cousin, Billy, that brings everyone to the precipice.

When Jesse starts thinking about his past, he decides he no longer wants Marley for his future. With an unexpected breakup to endure, Marley’s coping mechanisms start to fail him. While Jesse returns to his own old patterns, Marley scrambles to find some stability. His best friend, Missy, tries to usher him into the wind as best she can, but no one can save Marley from the horror of having to rely on himself. Marley and his friends must each face their own struggle to know the difference between being independent and being alone. They’ll find out what they’re capable of, even if they have to find out the hard way.

Fixation (Disorder #5)

Rebel Satori Press | Amazon | GoodReads

In this last installment of The Disorder Series, these friends are finally forced to grow up. Marley Kurtz is still looking for love when he discovers he’ll also need to look for a new job. Is college still an option? His best friend Missy survives another health scare, and tells her long-suffering boyfriend he needs to move on to be happy. Can she take her own advice? Marley’s ex-boyfriend Jesse bites off more independence than he can chew. When he comes crawling back, will anyone accept him?

No one is left untouched from the realization that they’ll have to change to move forward. Faces emerge from the past, relationships are tested, and the one thing that’s clear across the board is that complacency is not an option. Join these characters one more time as they grieve their mistakes, alter their behavior, and learn to prosper.

Gay A Day

Lethe Press | Amazon | GoodReads

From pirates, politicians, and pornographers to starlets, serial killers, and saints, Gay a Day showcases a multicultural mosaic of real-life stories. Each day features the biography of a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or intersex person of note: their accomplishments, their loves, their tragedies, and their times.

With every page you turn, you'll find beautiful heroics, chilling horrors, and secret histories that will scandalize you, and by the end of the year you'll be prouder than ever. A great read for people interested in the rich yet often hidden past of queer folk.

The Annotated Joseph and His Friend: The Story of America's First Gay Novel

Lethe Press | Amazon | GoodReads

*Contains the original novel by Bayard Taylor, with annotations and commentary by L.A. Fields.‍

‍Joseph and His Friend is the story of a young Pennsylvania farmer, Joseph Asten, and his marriage to Julia Blessing around the same time as a more powerful friendship arises in his life. Joseph’s chance meeting with Philip Held casts doubts on the motivations of his bride-to-be, and as her duplicity is revealed during their marriage, Joseph’s love for Philip becomes more and more vital to his survival.The notes accompanying each chapter of this book move from the private life of the man who inspired the story (Fitz-Greene Halleck), through the secrets of its author (Bayard Taylor), noting especially his private love for and public rivalry with Walt Whitman (Leaves of Grass).

The notes then expand on Whitman’s unique position in gay and American history: the nascent coming-out letters Whitman called “avowals” from the likes of Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde; Whitman’s witnessing of the Civil War, the Lincoln presidency, and his lover’s chance attendance at Ford’s Theater the night of Lincoln’s assassination; as well as Whitman’s own understanding and defense for writing honestly about the love of men.​

The structure of the project combines Taylor’s original 1870 novel with brief strings of American history, contemporary anecdote, and curiosities from a more secret history. A new topic is positioned behind every chapter, providing the background that reveals just how important this novel was at the time, how rare it is now, and how daring it’s always been to tell the truth.

Countrycide

Lethe Press | Amazon | GoodReads‍ | Audiobook

*Contains connected stories: The Funeral Director / Do The Right Thing / Bad Sects
*Solo stories: Bluff / Happiness / Countrycide
*Disorder Series tie-in stories: Big To Small / Summertime Blues / The Wanderer / Groom / Exit Signs / Like Ribbons / Lay-by / Burning Woman / The Gaze / Walls.

Pack light, nothing heavier than a backpack, before you open the pages of L.A. Fields's collection of stories. A never-ending journey awaits you along a Mobius strip that runs the circulatory system from flushed head to rapid heart, along asphalt lanes stinking of gasoline fumes and vulcanized rubber.

Join Fields's feral boys, captivating Peter Pans in flight from detestable home life, school life, everyday life. Along the way, you'll pick up passengers, hitchhikers-runaways plotting wicked larks, stay-at-homes longing for a nudge, grown ups ready to be bent to a boy's whims. Pack light, only the essentials. Make sure to keep a few crumpled emergency bills in your pocket. Then open Countrycide and set out.

Short Stories

(+) indicates the story can be read for free online at the link provided.

• "Against the Grain" — Brute: Stories of Dark Desire, Masculinity & Rough Trade, Lethe Press, October 2023.
• "Let the Night Inside" — Blood on His Hands: A Vampire Erotica Anthology, Lethe Press, October 2021.
• "Whatever a Body Is Not Obliged to Do" — Bachelors, Vol. 1 (+), Lethe Press, March 2021.
• ‍"Lit Up" — THCock: Stoner Boys, Lethe Press, April 2018.
• ‍"King of Fruits" — His Seed: An Arboretum of Gay Erotica, Lethe Press, 2017.‍
• "Walls" — Blue, Too: More Writing by (for or about) Working-Class Queers, FourCats Press, August 2014.‍
• "Big To Small" — Every Day Fiction (+), November 20, 2013.‍
• "Moving Up" — Every Day Fiction (+), September 13, 2013.
• ‍"The House of the Resonate Heart" — Where Thy Dark Eye Glances: Queering Edgar Allan Poe, Lethe Press, June 2013.
• ‍"Lay-by" — Boys In Bed, Xcite Books, 2013. Reprinted in Best Gay Stories 2014, Lethe Press, 2014.
• ‍"The Ties of Friendship" — Corporate Affairs, Xcite Books, 2012. ‍
• "The Gaze" — Cougars and Jackals, Xcite Books, 2012. ‍
• "Burning Woman" — Foreign Affairs, Xcite Books, 2012.
• ‍"The Proximity of Seniors" — Speaking Out: LGBTQ Youth Stand Up, Bold Strokes Books, 2011.‍
• "Closet Cases" — Essay published in the Catalyst, New College of Florida's Academic Journal, 2011.‍
• "Like Ribbons" — Kinky Girls, Xcite Books, 2011.
• ‍"Hustling Myself" — Indecent Proposals, Xcite Books, 2011.‍
• "Exit Signs" — Polari Journal (+), 2010.
• ‍"Countrycide" — Icarus magazine, Lethe Press, Issue 4, Spring 2010.
• ‍"The Wanderer" — Best Gay Romance 2010, Cleis Press, 2010.‍
• "The Funeral Director" — Ignavia Press, Vol. 3, 2009.
• ‍‍‍"Bluff" — Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet, Dark Scribe Press, 2008. Reprinted in Wilde Stories 2009: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction, Lethe Press, 2009.‍
• "Happiness" — Cool Thing: The Best New Gay Fiction From Young American Writers, Running Press, 2008. Can be read free online in Google Books preview: "Happiness" (+).‍‍‍‍‍