FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A bold new book explores the struggles of a young man who is both disabled and gay.

(Los Angeles, CA) – If sexual orientation is a sensitive enough issue in today’s times, imagine how challenging it must be for those with disabilities. The subject has rarely been widely addressed in either LGBT or disabled circles, leaving those among this very special group to feel excluded from two fronts.

A bold new book, “Chasing Echoes through the Dark,” written by first-time author D.J. Wessler in collaboration with Adam McDaniel, explores the life of such a person.

BOOK SYNOPSIS

Blindness is just a handicap. But loneliness is a curse.

No one understands that more than sixteen-year-old Daniel Wessler. Blind since birth, he struggles to find his place in the world in spite of his disability. Resourceful, talented, creative and intelligent, he seems more than up to the challenge, making a name for himself through his sculpture and gaining respect and admiration from family and friends.

But Daniel is also gay—a fact he desperately hides from everyone around him. Trapped between two worlds of prejudice, he is unable to see, unable to love, and almost unable to live.

It is only through meeting Aaron, an adult gay man and creative mentor, that Daniel can come to terms with his true self at last. But as the friendship between them deepens, Aaron learns that Daniel is harboring other secrets—secrets far darker than the shadows of his blindness, setting off a chain of events that will change both their lives forever.

“Chasing Echoes through the Dark” is a poignant story of friendship and love, told through the eyes of someone who can not see, but has experienced more than many could imagine. Filled with both humor and heartbreak, it is also a tale of perseverance in the face of immeasurable odds and immeasurable loss.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Now 23, Wessler lives in Philadelphia and has been working on the book for almost three years. McDaniel is an award-winning illustrator and writer whose novel, “How to Succeed in Heaven Without Really Dying,” was published in 2002. His first screenplay, Heaven Spent, was also featured by entertainment website Aint It Cool News as one of the best "undiscovered" scripts of 2000, and won honors at Words From Here's Third Annual Screenplay Competition.
Wessler was recently interviewed for an upcoming article in THE ADVOCATE examining the hardships faced by those who are both disabled and gay.

The manuscript of “Chasing Echoes Through the Dark” is still in progress, with a projected mid-year completion date. Wessler and McDaniel are currently exploring publishing venues, and hope to have the final book released by early 2007.

More information on the book can be found at www.chasingechoes.com. The site also features a special links page designed as a resource for the disabled and gay community: http://www.chasingechoes.com/chasing_echoes_links.htm.

xxxx

####