Sequel Sees Author Open Up

Savas Abadsidis for Huffington Post

High-school teacher and writer David Berger has just released the second volume of his superhero meets Greek myth epic, Task Force: Gaea -- Memory's Curse, the sequel to Task Force: Gaea -- Finding Balance. But before the openly gay writer could write about his heroes, he had to overcome a hero's journey himself, escaping an abusive relationship, and finding his own balance.
How was writing an escape/outlet for your sexuality when you were younger?

Actually, writing was less an escape for my sexuality and more an escape from my reality. I didn't really start writing stories until I was about ten, and back then I wrote my way into worlds where being the child of divorced parents didn't matter. With my sister, I wrote tales of Smurf adventures, largely due to her infatuation with them, so I suppose that was my first foray into the fantasy genre, even before I knew what either 'fantasy' or 'genre' meant. Coupled with my love of comics, I wrote stories that encompassed the realms beyond the everyday world I lived in, stories of superheroes saving the world because I felt my world needed saving. My stepfather and I didn't get along, and I was constantly looking for doorways to other places, whether through painting, reading, models, and especially writing.

What was "gay life" like in the age of AOL messenger? I think to some people it seems like the dark ages.

That age was indeed a dark age for many, especially for those of us who had to be honest with ourselves. When I got my first computer in 1993, a PC with a 2400-baud modem, my world then became limitless. AOL saved my life, I believe. Growing up as the eldest son of three children, I was expected to marry a "nice Jewish girl" and have a family, but I knew from around the age of 8 that my interests lay elsewhere. Having AOL and access to the online chat world allowed me to enter the global community and pioneer my way across chat room after chat room. I had two different screen names -- one for the regular rooms, and one for the gay chat rooms. Even with the anonymity of a screen name, I didn't want my straight "cyberfriends" to see me in gay rooms. I found two rooms in particular where I could live in both worlds, the GnuMemberLounge and an LGBT chat room. I lived a double life. I made some incredible friends, many of whom I still talk to today. I actually miss those days because that was the first time in my life I felt accepted by people who were just like me. Largely because of the support system I had on AOL, I was finally able to come out to my family in 1994 at 27. The downside of this was that I met someone for whom I should have seen 'red flags', but before I knew it, I was moving to Florida (from New Jersey) to be with David, someone I'd met online and had spent only one week with in person. If there is a word for being even more than naïve, then I was that.

Continue reading.