Writer
About My Writing
I write YA LGBTQ+ fiction that doesn't shy away from sexual honesty, romantic humor, or the genuine anxiety of first love. Think Heartstopper meets Sex Education—but more vulnerable about what queer teens actually want and worry about.
Current Projects:
Boy's First Kiss (YA Gay Historical Romance, complete): When seventeen-year-old David Spruce sees news coverage of a horrific gay hate crime, something shifts. Instead of retreating further into the closet, he finds the courage to pursue what he's always wanted: his first kiss with a boy. Set against the backdrop of a America grappling with gay visibility and violence, Boy's First Kiss follows one teen's decision to choose desire over fear—even when the world tells him it's dangerous to be seen.
Boy's First Time (YA Gay Historical Romance, sequel, complete): A gay teen navigates the anxiety, excitement, and messy reality of his first time having sex—told with the same unflinching honesty of his first kiss.
Our Lost Prince (YA Gay Fantasy Romance, complete): Anastasia meets Sleeping Beauty in this Achillean romance where falling in love triggers a curse. When a young man's feelings for the kingdom's lost prince could be the very thing that kills him, he must choose: suppress his heart or risk everything for the truth.
Cosmo Grrrls (YA Lesbian Space Opera, in progress): In a future where women are elite space pilots, a crew of queer girls lead a grassroots feminist revolution across the solar system—one planet at a time.
Why I Write:
I love what Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera, and T.J. Klune have built for queer YA—but something's missing. Most of these stories still tiptoe around sex and desire. I wanted to write the book I needed as a teen: one where getting your first kiss with a guy wasn't tragic or transcendent—just real, awkward, and worth everything.
Background:
I've been writing for 20 years—unpublished novels, self-published nonfiction on metaphysical spirituality, and now this. I studied writing at Sarah Lawrence College, where I wrote my first novel. My day job is in tech (product leadership at AWS, Indeed, Walmart), but my reading life has always been here: from L. Frank Baum's Oz books my grandfather gave me, to Fear Street and Christopher Pike, to the current queer YA renaissance.
I'm based in California and seeking representation for Boy's First Kiss and future YA LGBTQ+ projects.
About “Boy’s First Kiss”
Boy's First Kiss (YA Historical LGBTQ+ Romance, 98,000 words, complete)
Image from XY Magazine. Concept image for cover of “Boy’s First Kiss”
October 1998. Seventeen-year-old David Spruce is starting his junior year with one goal: get his first kiss with a boy. Preferably with Zach Raleigh, his longtime crush who just joined the cross-country team. As David navigates long runs with Zach, late nights at Leviticus (the local gay coffeehouse), and a growing roster of romantic possibilities, kissing a boy starts to feel possible—maybe even inevitable.
Then Matthew Shepard is murdered.
Suddenly, being visible isn't just scary—it's dangerous. But David refuses to retreat. His quest for a first kiss becomes something bigger: an act of defiance, a test of courage, and a race toward the boy he truly wants—no matter the risk.
BOY'S FIRST KISS captures a specific moment in queer history: before apps, before marriage equality, when finding another gay teen meant real danger but choosing visibility anyway was its own kind of revolution. It's a romantic comedy that doesn't erase the violence that shaped 90s queer life—it centers the joy we claimed in spite of it.
“Boy’s First Kiss” FAQ
Why this premise?
Near contemporary, romantic, gay romance is something that is missing and needed. Queer canon has been dominated by trauma and tragic endings. Today’s stories are defined by queer joy, and often set in speculative or fantastic worlds. The pendulum has swung too far. We need stories that meld the two traditions into a new whole, where queer joy is the center, but without erasing the history that got us here.
Why the Matthew Shepard connection?
XY Magazine shoot, “Raw.” Concept image for “Boy’s First Kiss.”
It made a huge impact on me, and historically marks what is cited as the end of America’s innocence. Oddly enough, today’s queer youth may have heard about Stonewall, but usually never have heard about Matthew Shepard. I think this is sad, and my story remedies this cultural erasure by pinning the narrative to this cultural milestone.
Why 90s?
Have you seen teenagers today? They are all dressed in 90s fashion. It speaks to how in my youth we were fascinated by the 60s. It is a fixation that lasts, and is unique to youth culture, but changes with every generation. It isn’t just fashion, fashion is a leading cultural indicator. If 90s clothes are what today’s youth are wearing, it follows that they will seek 90s history, culture, literature, and music in short order.
Why a first kiss?
What is more relatable then a first kiss? Many gay men I’ve talked to can’t remember their first kiss with a guy. We go from stressing about our identity to having sex, but that romantic milestone of a first kiss matters. I remember mine, it was unbelievably romantic, and I hope to capture that same feeling in this narrative.
Is there more?
I think the romantic and sexual journey of a young gay man has never been quite portrayed in a relatable, realistic, and humorous way. I think of Judy Blume, and how these frank stories of queer sexuality for youth are missing from that core canon that generations of young readers keep picking up. The next story will focus on the first time he has sex, and the unique journey and details inherent to the queer experience.
Influences
Virginia Woolf, “Mrs. Dalloway”
Sylvia Plath, “The Bell Jar”
James Baldwin, “Giovanni’s Room”
T.J. Klune, “The House on the Cerulean Sea”
Aiden Thomas, “Cemetery Boys”
Everina Maxwell, “Winter’s Orbit”
F. T. Lukens, “In Deeper Waters”
Toni Morrison, “Sula”
Phil Stamper, “The Gravity of Us”
Octavia E. Butler, “The Parable of the Talents” & “The Parable of the Sower”
Andri Snaer Magnason, “LoveStar”
Nnedi Orkorafor, “Akata Witch”
Charlotte Bronte, “Villette”
Donna Tartt, “The Little Friend”
A. M. Homes, “This Book Will Save Your Life”
