Dark Stages

Daniel P'Lopez' latest novel Dark Stages is the first of a series of memoirs he will publish about his own life called The Dark Chronicles. The book details the trials and tribulations of growing up in southern, California and the relationships with family and friends that he has along the way. It is a very candid expression of young life told with a refreshing honesty and intimate truth. You feel like you know the author as he details his experience coming of age as a young gay man and experimenting in all kinds of relationships. It is an intensely personal chronology of one person's early life experiences. Confronting bullies as a teenager is something that comes and goes through his early years. He is at first the victim and then the perpetrator. He describes these conflicts in a way that makes you feel the fear that the author feels as an outsider and as a lonely, confused teenager trying to fit in. Like the title suggests, he goes through some dark times of personal paranoia and devastating teen angst as he confronts rumors and stories about his sexual past that may or may not be real. It shows the beginnings of a pattern of over reaction to perceived insults and slights that may or may not be there. It clearly leaves the reader wondering what is true and what is cooked up in the author's very vivid mind. It also shines a light on a sometimes difficult family life, with issues that keeps the drama moving in the home life. All the pain of the family is laid bare, but there are also good times and upbeat moments like moving into a new home or putting up a Christmas tree or even falling in love. Dark Stages is a candid look at one young man's coming of age that is told with a frankness and straight-forward voice that keeps you reading as the author moves through childhood incidents, teenage romances and all kinds of early life drama that one understands and can relate to. Daniel P'Lopez is the author of six published books including The Vendetta House, The Story of Myles, Alestir, Lost in a Journey, Creations of Daniel and The Hiding Seekers. His next novel Pals is due out in the near future. All the books are available in paperback and as E-Books at Barnes & Noble, Amazon or DanielPLopez.com.