Alan Keslian

Alan Keslian was a Gay Liberation Front activist in London in the 1970s, among other things setting up West London GLF and organising gay dances attended by hundreds in Fulham Town Hall.
He has experienced and benefited form the huge change in attitudes towards Gay men and Lesbians in England and elsewhere during recent decades. During his teenage years, in the UK any sex between men was a crime, whereas now civil partnership offers a legal status on a par with marriage, and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation is increasingly outlawed. This transformation has huge implications for gay relationships, and his motive in writing is to explore the impact of this new freedom and portray its effects through his writing. His first novel, Goodmans Hotel, was published in 2003. His second, a more humorous book, Closer Than Breathing - A Light Gay Odyssey - came out in 2009.
He lives with his partner in West London, and is a member of GALHA, the (UK based) Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association.

	Works by Alan Keslian

“Closer Than Breathing” is a full length novel which, among the characters, includes gay men and lesbians leading busy lives. It tells the story of Ben, a young gay man new to the metropolis, who is confronted by a series of odd, eccentric people, including drug dealers, goths, psychics, a veteran author, Loyd Larcher and ageing rock musicians Rick Shwagger and Heath Prityards. He survives the dangers of the world of sex, drugs and rock and roll, engaging the world with goodwill and good humour.
Making use of opportunities along the way to achieve success, he ghost writes a rock star’s autobiography, and finds true love with a level headed and down to earth boyfriend. Together they deal with life’s distractions, enticements and challenges. Whilst the ‘straight’ world around them becomes ever more weird and out of control, the couple are determined to be true to themselves and each other.

This novel is a gay love story, set in 1990s London. Mark, a City high-flyer, is irresistibly attracted to Tom, a manual worker from a tough neighbourhood. Both men have been marked by past ordeals.
Conflict between powerful cabals in the City firm cause Mark to leave with a generous pay off. Tom’s boss, Andrew, a determinedly independent small businessman, convinces him he should put all his resources into setting up a gay guest house, the ‘Goodmans Hotel’ of the title. There he hopes for release from the heartlessly competitive ethos of his old working life. He takes in an eighteen year old runaway, Darren, driven from home by his parents' religious bigotry. Mark comes to think of Tom, Darren and Andrew as his ‘family’. A crisis forces Mark and Tom apart, until eventually the family are reconciled and reunited in the final chapter, their understanding deepened by the challenges they have faced.