Book Release & the Emotional Turmoil of Being Seen.

In a few days my debut novella The Light Keeper is being released on Amazon Kindle. 

Those are words that I still can’t believe that I’m actually typing.

To be completely honest, it doesn’t feel real. The Amazon listing for this novella exists in a pocket-sized parallel universe in my mind. It’s there, but it’s so separate from my current understanding of reality that it may as well not exist at all. My brain still thinks that this novella is a secret little kernel of madness that I created after disappearing, gremlin-like, into my office for three months this summer, only to emerge for the occasional coffee or Reese’s Pieces (not a sponsor). And of course yes, I did actually Smeagol myself away for weeks on end to the point of familial concern and vitamin D deficiency, but I also wrote a novella. It exists. It is real. And soon, so soon, other people can see that it’s real too. 

I hope that people read it. I hope that readers enjoy it. I hope those who enjoy it share it with others. The strange thing about this experience with indie publishing is that I am able to have complete control over a vast expanse of the authorship and artistic process, but at the end of the day I am as hapless and bereft as any other creator who releases something into the world to be re-interpreted and re-examined and twisted into whatever its readers are going to decide that it will be. That process is frightening, but it’s necessary. Just like art cannot exist in a vacuum, writing can’t either. It needs to be read and pondered and talked about. At the end of the day that’s the most that I can hope for with this novella and with anything else I put out there- that someone reads it, ponders it, and maybe even talks about it. 

Anyway, you can pre-order your copy of The Light Keeper here. If you read it and enjoy it, please share it with someone else who you think will like it or even consider leaving a review. 

If you’re curious about why I write lgbt fantasy fiction, you can check out my post here. If you want to hear about the editing process this novella went through, check out my post over here. I am also hosting a raffle for a signed physical copy of The Light Keeper for anyone who sends me a confirmation screenshot of their pre-order. You can get more information about that here (deadline extended to 10/15).