Cozy Fantasy book come to life- positive masculinity

Hello to fans of The Gus Chronicles!

It’s been a wild ride ever since Gus came into my life on that fateful evening in spring 2023. Most of the first book came to me between the hours of 10 p.m. and midnight, an inconvenient time, to say the least. I thought I would be writing a silly little one-off adventure about men supporting each other and adding a vague allegory to transgender rights as the chewy, chocolately center.

Oh, no. I was a sweet, innocent child back then. Now I know better. Everyone has A LOT more to say on the subject of origins of oppression, equal rights, protecting the marginalized, and also enjoying some wonderful sweet treats along the way.

Book 2 goes deeper, further, wider than book 1. We meet TONS of new supporting characters. Vampires. Werewolves. Pixies. Magicians. Carpenters. Actors. Yarn wholesalers. There are love interests for both Brant AND Nico. Nico’s dad shows up! Military! Science delegation! The public thinks Gus could be an alien!

We experience pressures outside the house as everyone wants a piece of the action. We experience pressures insides the house because beyond trying to raise a toddler, that toddler is also displaying magical abilities not seen in 400 years AND is throwing tantrums! 

But worry not, intrepid reader. We have plenty of twists and surprises and coziness along the way. Illusions will get shattered in so many directions. Nothing is what it appears.

I have set up this fundraiser to fund part of the publication of my next novel, What to Suspect When You’re Suspecting. This is the follow-up to my first novel, Guarding Gus. I am already scheming on book 3, as well.

What We Need:

The base fundraiser is for the cover artist and line editor to get started on their work right away.

When:

This fundraiser will run from April 1st to April 30th. It is geared towards friends and family, but sharing of the fundraiser is encouraged to your networks.

Perks delivery & publishing timeline:

The ebook is expected to be out by late July 2024. The print book is expected to be out by late September 2024. Exclusive content will come out 2-3 weeks before the official publication date. 

Any perks or packages you have pledged will not be delivered until September 2024.

I will need time to get the items made and delivered to my house, personalized to you, packaged, and to factor in shipping times to you. If I have 30 sets of personalized packages, please remember I am an assembly team of 1. :D 

Content warnings include: 

• Transgender ftm topics such as misgendering both with pronouns and Spanish honorifics, Latino family dynamics

• Vampires, Werewolves, Pixies

• Political manipulation by authority figure

Themes/Tropes: 

Positive masculinity, chosen family, trans experiences, baby with superpowers, dumb dads, marginalized rights, stewardship, brotherhood, LGBTQIA community, very minor slow-burn romances

A note on cultural appreciation: 

Due to the very nature of being a white, female writer (even though I am in the LGTBQIA family) biases can still emerge. To this end, I hired a sensitivity reader to address the Latino trans representation in my book. There are deep concepts here regarding rights, gender, and ownership. Because of this, some aspects of the book are meant to make you uncomfortable and to question what you know about both marginalized rights and the rights of a being not already established in society. Additionally, there are questions of animal rights.

Final thoughts:

Even if you can’t donate, this is your gentle-yet-incessant reminder that shares, likes, boosts, and comments are all super appreciated, no matter what social media platform we connect on! All updates or notices about the fundraiser are set to to public for your sharing pleasure. You hold more power than you know by helping me crush it with the engagement. You can help conquer the algorithm!