“Crisis Paper” Out Now!
My friends from the standardized testing company I used to work at will understand where the idea for this short story came from. Curious? You can read it now, published in the Window to Worlds zine! The story is called “Crisis Paper” and features a divorced father who amicably left his family in pursuit of living as his authentic gay self. He gets a temporary scoring job to grade essays for state tests. Check out the zine to find out what happens when he comes across a crisis paper!
Easter Egg
Now seems like a good time to tell you about one of my easter eggs. I always put a few details into everything I write. “Crisis Paper” is perhaps the easiest one to spot the major easter egg I always use. You may notice the blue-haired character I’m using on my website icon. He’s one of my characters in a yet-to-be published work (it’s yet-to-be written, let’s be real), but he’s the one who taught me to be my authentic self. He’s my Blue Caterpillar character in a deconstructed Alice in Wonderland retelling I’m working on, but he’s not the easter egg. The Mad Hatter is. There are a few traits that characterize him for the reader. Can you find him in my stories?
Ranmaru Satsujin by Luxu_Arts from Relapse
How is it that this Mad Hatter character can appear in all of my works? Well, the answer is simple. All of my work takes place in the same universe (keep your eyes peeled for other familiar characters across stories). The Mad Hatter is immortal (which is explored in his original story, the Alice in Wonderland retelling) and has the ability to command space, which results in his ability to travel anywhere he likes. As an immortal being, he can’t hang around in the same place for too long without people catching on, and, frankly, he just gets bored and wants to experience as many lives as he can.
Second Book Updates
I promised in my last post that this time I would give you some more details for my second book. Well, here they are! The book is called Countenance of a Hero. Below, is a brief hook for it:
Count is a scrawny bat-mage with light sensitivity and an unusual ability. He takes the opportunity to attend the Academy to break free from his fears and define himself. When the headmaster recruits him to defeat the human rebellion, he must decide between becoming the Academy’s hero and earning himself a place of prestige in a broken society, or becoming the people’s champion, potentially sacrificing his life and that of his newfound love for a future that may never come to fruition.
Unlike Relapse, Countenance of a Hero features a single narrator. His name is Count Murciélago. This book is an anomaly among my projects because I typically write in dual narrative style. As I’ve promised, the story also features a gay romantic subplot. This one has an enemies-to-lovers trope. Thinking about it, I suppose Relapse can be described with that trope as well. What can I say? I love exploring that type of romance.
Site Update
I wanted to draw your attention to the updates I made to the Showcase section of my site. I decided to add the pages in for other gay titles, any stories that have queer main characters and plots, and finally, those books that feature a queer character, even if it is only as a side character. I’ve added these additional pages as a dropdown now at the top of the page. I am still collecting books to add to these pages and will always add new ones to the top so check back often. I know I have many on my shelves that fall into these categories, but I am waiting until I read them before adding them to these pages.
Wrap Up
That’s all the updates for now! Keep an eye out on my blog for more. And, if you haven’t already, sign up for my newsletter! This week, you missed a newsletter exclusive that dove more into the details of my Mad Hatter character! Who knows what you might miss out on next?
