Let’s Get Books Thriving, Queens! exists because queer stories deserve to be celebrated.
Every queer book has the potential to help someone feel seen, hopeful, or understood. That is why we will talk with queer storytellers and allies to explore the creativity and challenges they face.
Season 1 is currently in production launching this fall. Follow the journey:
This is how the mission became important to me:
The first book I ever read by an out gay man was Christopher Rice’s book A Density of Souls. I was 18 at the time and had never read any books with any queer characters or by queer authors. I had lived through the 90s as a young queer kid, and so a lot of the themes in the book reminded me of the intense bullying I suffered in a small Canadian town. This book really set the foundation of my interest in queer literature specifically.
Twenty-five years later, I heard about a little Canadian show called Heated Rivalry that was taking over the internet. In following the conversations online, I noticed something: Readers familiar with M/M romance generally expected a happy ending while many queer men who weren’t familiar with the genre assumed tragedy instead – because that’s how we were raised.
This made me realize something important: Queer Joy is still not an assumption our community can make.
This realization became the foundation of my project: The Year of Queer Joy.
My Joy Matters
I started posting photos of myself and my husband on social media.
Our Joy Matters
It grew into an idea for a book celebrating queer joy and queer relationships (coming 2027)
Why Queer Joy Matters
I then started writing a column for Queer Hive Magazine about The Year of Queer Joy
Our Stories Matter
That journey led to this podcast
I initially hoped to create a local event celebrating queer authors. When that didn’t come together, I decided to create the space I wanted to exist. And I want to build a community of Queer Joy.
Christopher Rice planted the seed.
Heated Rivalry created the context
Now I want to help queer stories thrive.
No matter where you are on your queer literature journey I hope this podcast helps you discover new stories and why these stories deserve celebration.
I hope you join me on this journey. Because our stories matter.
See you in the fall at launch!
You Deserve Sunshine!