Film - pitch

[The following is a pitch for the completed, unpublished novel Film by JD Fox]

Do you want to see my penis? classmate Brian Ott asks Seth Ellsworth as they watch a film in social studies. Seth answers that question and many more, both concrete and abstract, on a bumpy road of self-discovery.

FILM is not a “coming out,” “dealing with being gay,” or “hey, let’s form a club and pass out pamphlets” story: its 108,000 words and nine weeks chronicle how one boy’s Weltanschauung is altered by the experiences he has, the choices he makes, and the never-ending, all-too-human construction of his own singular identity.

Self-absorbed twelve-year-old Seth has started seventh grade, getting erections, and looking at his since-before-kindergarten best friend Ralph “Thack” Mewthakis in a whole new wondrous way. Brian's salacious offer complicates such nascent thoughts. After initial declinations, Seth engages Brian in weekly escalating levels of intimacy. Thus preoccupied, he is slow in appreciating the subtle and ultimately more affirming overtures of another boy, Alec Fields, who enters his world.

Although explicit at times, such scenes are not gratuitous. Humanity and what it means to be human are more conscious themes in FILM than either sexuality or socially obligatory gender preferences. I believe FILM would appeal to progressive readers of all orientations who enjoy character-driven stories where a character's interpretation of events is of greater importance than the events themselves.