Howard Rayner

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About Howard Rayner
Howard Rayner writes novels for both adult and young audiences.
He loved reading from an early age, and between his formative years of age 5 to 18 devoured a varied diet of books from 'The Bobbsey Twins' to 'The Front Runner' (which probably explains everything!)
After a successful career as an actor/singer/dancer in film, theater and TV, he went on to study fine art, design, and screenwriting, all of which influence his body of work.
He has traveled extensively, lived and worked in the UK, USA and Australia and spends a portion of each summer in Venice, Italy.
As well as five novels for young readers, he regularly writes short stories and factual pieces for English language programs.
'Until the Fall of '19', the sequel to his debut adult novel 'That Summer of '74', will be published in the second half of 2021.
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Titles By Howard Rayner
Spring – 1974. After inheriting his grandmother’s beach house in the laid-back artists' colony of Sunset Cove, 28-year-old Alex Morgan has lived there alone. Intent on making his name as an artist, he planned to spend his days on the South Californian coast painting. But, two barefoot summers of white sand and turquoise waves cloistered by rocky cliffs later, he's spending more time working as a lifeguard to buy art materials and patch up the cottage than painting. Losing faith in his talent, he wonders if yet another summer will slip by in a haze of martinis, surfing, and sexual frustration.
All that changes, however, when on his morning jog along the beach he spots a guy climbing the cove's crumbling cliffs. Fearing the guy missed seeing the 'DANGER' sign or, worse, is venturing to the summit with a darker intent, Alex's lifeguard instinct kicks in. Barefoot, he goes up in pursuit of a stranger in peril.
The enigmatic young man Alex finds on the cliff’s edge is Rick Stradman, son of a Hollywood movie producer, who despite his privileged background carries his own burden of insecurities and loneliness. And after Rick inveigles his way into his beach house, and then his bed, Rick's alluring presence restores Alex’s self-belief and releases his repressed sexuality in a sensual summer of self-discovery.
and that's finding it again.
March 2008. Having put the heartache and loss of seven years ago behind him, 62-year-old artist Alex Morgan lives comfortably behind high walls in his Venice Beach compound. With a devoted housekeeper, a loyal studio assistant, a compliant male lover and a badly behaved dog, his life is totally under control ... apart from the dog.
But a heart attack during his morning swim shatters his pleasant existence. The brush with death raises ghosts of repressed grief, unresolved hurts and self-doubt. During a period of enforced recuperation, Alex discovers not everyone in his little kingdom is as content as he thought. The palm trees, fiery sunsets and clack of skateboards on concrete may be the sights and sounds of home to him, but he suspects his lover’s heart lies elsewhere.
And when the re-emergence of a familiar nemesis pressurizes the crack in his long-term relationship into a split, should Alex let go of the past and pursue a new love in LA, or venture to a place he vowed never to tread and fight for an old one?
We rejoin the well-loved characters from That Summer of ’74 as they negotiate reality TV, gay marriage, a Presidential election and an unfolding financial crisis during a very different summer – the summer of 2008.
Moving between LA, New York and Italy, Until the Fall of ’19 is a seductive, warm-hearted, gay romantic drama about addressing your faults, embracing your dreams and never being afraid to shout ‘I love you’ right out loud – no matter what age you are.