~SYNOPSIS~

       Manhattan, 2011. Broke + broken Darin has just stumbled from the closet into reality. He’s invited to a place he’s fantasized about for 7 years: a wealthy “gay Narnia” in the Atlantic Ocean.

       56 miles later he disembarks in Fire Island … feeling like a merman out of water. First, a quippy stranger humiliates him in public. Next, a legendary sex forest does not honor its hype. And his eccentric host? She unironically compares herself to the Loch Ness Monster.

       But then Darin meets Eden, a stunning former prom king. The two men embrace, igniting a heaven-on-earth sequence of events that echo history-making pop songs and fairy tales.

       A midnight storm approaches. It could cleanse Darin of the years he spent breathing underwater. If that happens, though, the human may lose forever what now makes him magical: his childlike wonder + gratitude.

~DEBUT~

I produced a booth at Palm Springs Pride, November 8 and 9, 2025, to promote the publication of PARADISE BLOOMS. Here are some outtakes:

 

~CHAPTERS~

1         THE HOPE DIAMOND         

2         FREEDOM ISLAND

3         MUSCLE EMOTION

4         CROSS AN OCEAN

5         ATLANTIS RISES

6         I NEED PRIZES

7         FLEX ON THE BEACH

8         EDEN’S IN REACH

9         TEENAGE DREAMLAND

10        CARNAL QUICKSAND

11         THRU THE WOODS TO BRITNEY’S HOME

12        THE RIGHT KIND OF NOT ALONE

13         HEAVEN’S STORM HAS BEGUN

14         I WILL HELP YOU OVERCOME

15         THIS IS ME, FROM THE DEEP

16         SAFE NOW TO FALL ASLEEP

 

~TO ORDER THE BOOK~

Find me on Venmo by searching for @Branden-Hayward. (Or, you can use this link: https://venmo.com/u/Branden-Hayward)

Donate $35. (You may be asked to confirm the last four numbers of the phone number on my account. They are: 1365.) 

Then, text me at my business phone number. It is: 323.686.1602. Tell me your name, address, and that you’ve ordered the book. Of course, you can also text me with any questions prior to donating. 

I will respond back to confirm that I received your donation. I will get PARADISE BLOOMS into the mail within 3 business days. I’ll text you when I am putting the book in the mail.

Please note: I am a one-man team currently. I do not have a fulfillment center.  This is an 8.5″x11″ self-published work, not a professionally printed/bound one.

To learn even more, read on.

 

~ORIGIN STORY~

PARADISE BLOOMS is a small, self-contained portion of the entire fiction world I’ve built across three completed, full-length novels. This trilogy of full-length novels are not yet published. 

I spent a year elevating the profile of my work. I wrote, produced, directed and starred in a 55-minute, one-man show featuring 15 characters from the trilogy. Thank you to my friends + relatives who came to that show! (You can watch the full show, lower down on this page.)

Then, I pitched the first novel to 150 literary agents in the spring of 2025.

Not finding the right agent fit, I decided to take a portion of the first novel, give it its own compelling ending, and self-publish it. This is PARADISE BLOOMS. The debut almost didn’t happen, though; I was rushed to the E.R. for hydronatremia, less than 48 hours before. 

So, getting to actually attend my event was a kind of a miracle. 

 

~ONE MAN SHOW/ TRILOGY~

On Feb 28, 2025, I debuted a one-man show. It’s based on the first of three novels I’ve written.

Set largely on July 4, 2013, as well as the preceding two years, the show takes the audience on a coming-of-age roller coaster. It introduces some of the characters and plot threads that play out in the trilogy. The trilogy is a romantic comedy thriller saga about a broken young man discovering his biological parents in the wake of AIDS. I welcome the chance to bring this show back in the future.

Here is the show, in its entirety:

This is the synopses of the entire novel trilogy:

In early 2010’s NYC, a shattered, strapping Midwestern Millennial stumbles from the closet into the arms of a wild new community. While disparate in generation and gender, one thing connects them all: impossible choices made — and haunting secrets buried — during the desperation of AIDS. 

Traveling from Fire Island to Miami … from P-town to Vegas … from San Fran’s 1978 Gay Pride to erotic, moonlit nights in Australian deserts … 

A man blooms alongside a comedy, a love story, and a mystery. 

And as all paths merge onto one fateful road, every fabulous, broken character grows willing to pay the ultimate price for their idea of closure.

 

~THANK YOU~

I am profoundly proud that I published PARADISE BLOOMS.

If you’re a fan/fellow artist, I see you. Thank you for being here.

If you’re an experienced literary agent who wants to explore working with me, let me know: branden@brandenhayward.com or 323.686.1602.

Thank you for supporting my mission to help people survive & thrive; especially the dreamers, the singers, and the magic-believers. Because the world needs their art. It needs yours.

-B.H.