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Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner are set to team on a debut YA novel.
Co-written with Carlyn Greenwald, author of romance, thriller and fantasy writer for teens and adults, Time Out will tell the story of Barclay Elliot, a popular high school basketball player from a small Georgia town. After Barclay decides to come out as gay at his school’s big pep rally, he is faced with unexpected hostility, becomes at odds with his team and doesn’t have his grandfather to turn to as he did before.
After Barclay’s best friend, Amy, brings him to her voting rights group, believing it can help him find a “bigger purpose,” he meets “aggravating, fearless, undeniably handsome” Christopher. “He and Barclay have never been each other’s biggest fans, but as Barclay starts to explore parts of himself he’s been hiding away, they find they might have much more in common than they originally thought,” the book’s description reads. “As sparks turn into something more, though, Barclay has to decide if he’s ready to confront the privilege and popularity that have shielded him his entire life. Can he take a real shot at the love he was fighting for in the first place?”
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Hayes and Milliner, who have been longtime friends since college and business partners working under their production company Hazy Mills Productions, hope readers “will read this book and laugh, cry a little, and maybe see a bit of themselves in the story.”
“We grew up very different people dealing with the same thing,” Hayes and Milliner said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Being gay and not being sure how to tell anyone. Not sure how to live authentically. Time Out is a coming of age story about acceptance, living on your own terms, and maybe just a hint of wish fulfillment from our own lives.”
While both discussing their experiences growing up gay in small towns, the conversation eventually led to Time Out. “We thought about what it would’ve been like had we known each other then. What would that dynamic have been like and why don’t we tell a story that explores this kind of relationship? Two gay people from two very different backgrounds. We then heightened the idea by making the No. 1 athlete in the state come out as gay and what effect that would have on the team, the school, the town, the state and most important, his personal relationships,” they said.
Time Out is already planned for development into a TV series by Hazy Mills Productions.
“We feel optimistic that the country is growing closer to the acceptance of all kinds of people, but we still have a long way to go,” they continued. “We all want to be accepted, especially when we’re growing up. We hope this story helps in moving the needle towards acceptance for all. Time Out deals with these themes and we’re excited to contribute to the storytelling of all young adults.”
Of joining forces with Hayes and Milliner, Greenwald said, “I loved working with Sean and Todd. It was so fun expanding Barclay and the cast of characters’ interior lives. There was a real collaborative effort. The book really shaped up so well — a mix of all our strengths to create a fantastic story.”
“I hope teens have fun with the book and feel seen in Barclay’s struggles with identity, grief and trying to love a place that doesn’t always welcome you with open arms,” Greenwald added. “Plus, it’s hard not to root for Barclay and Christopher’s love story. I’ve always loved romances that center characters who are going through it; their happy endings feel especially hopeful and special. Time Out is a really beautiful, well-rounded book, and I hope readers experience all types of feelings reading it.”
Time Out will release on May 2, 2023.
Below THR exclusively shares the cover.
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