Seattle, WA, March 16, 2015 /PressReleasePing/ - The "Northwest Passage Mysteries" series reflects the changing face of family in the United States today with its core family unit, partners in crime fighting and partners in life, Medical Examiner Dr. Dale William Clark and Police Homicide Detective Lewis "Queenie" McQueen, along with their son by surrogate, baby Everest. In typical family form, Dale and Queenie solve the titular mysteries while chauffeuring, entertaining, and changing their son often at the expense of sex (sex being a standard in gay genre fiction).

When novella serial "Northwest Passage Mysteries" debuted during worldwide Gay Pride month last June 2014, a U.S. District judge struck down Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriages as well as recognize marriages performed in other states only to retract the decision a week later. Meanwhile, Indiana briefly legalized same-sex marriage, resulting in over 800 weddings, before a Circuit Court of Appeals emergency order halted further weddings pending appeal. As of the release of the fourth "Northwest" novella earlier this month, the outlook is significantly sunnier. Same-sex marriage is now recognized by thirty-seven states including the aforementioned Wisconsin and Indiana, accounting for seventy-percent of the nation.

In the fictional "Northwest" universe, Dale and Queenie are only considering marriage prompted by their move to Washington state, one of the more progressive states which has legally recognized same-sex marriage since December 6, 2012. The pair's home state of Oregon has only recognized it since May 2014 long after Oregon voters ratified a state constitutional amendment in November 2004 defining marriage as being "between one man and one woman." This was in response to one county issuing licenses to over 3,000 same-sex couples earlier that year. Oregon's opposition to legalizing same-sex unions is represented by the homophobic atmosphere of Dale and Queenie's hometown of Egypt, Oregon.

"Dale and Queenie are an amalgam of many of my friends who are now settling down as we hit our forties," series creator Gary Alan Hidalgo said, "and we are lucky enough to live in an era where we can marry and raise kids just like everybody else."

While the surrogacy process by which Dale and Queenie's son was born isn't detailed in the book, the backstory choice was based on Gary's real life experience. "My partner at the time and I were trying to have a baby through surrogacy. We had everything ready legally and emotionally, but it didn't quite work out as did not our relationship. However, I drew from that experience one of the series' big mysteries, which the first arc only hints at if you read closely."

"I purposely structured ‘Northwest' as no different from reading Dashiell Hammet's Nick and Nora Charles or watching Jonathan and Jennifer Hart on TV. It's a traditional mystery," Gary added, "only the leading men are together and co-parent to boot."

According to one reader's review on GoodReads, this does not mean there is no romance in "Northwest Passage Mysteries." Reader Jackie said, "The mystery weaves through the books and the romance is present but neither suffers. It's more daytime soap opera than overhyped blockbuster."

"I'm on the third book and I'm at the annoying point," Jackie adds, "where I'm nearly caught up and the author isn't writing fast enough."

"Northwest Passage Mysteries" is available on http://www.amazon.com/author/garyhidalgo and other digital bookstores. Get more details at the author's website http://www.garyalanmedia.com.

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Contact: Gary AlanHidalgo, Twitter: @garya1an, [email protected], http://www.garyalanmedia.com

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