I wrote a fiction book about being gay, coming out, the church, and the best friends in the world.

Writing is bloody hard. The blank page often feels like a chasm, swallowing any word that you try to place on it.

It also doesn’t get easier - I write thousands of words a day for a job and there is nothing scarier than an empty screen at the start of the day.

The great writer George Orwell once said in an interview with the BBC.  “Writing a book is a horrible exhausting struggle…One would never undertake such a thing if one was not driven by some demon one could not resist or fully comprehend.”

Yet somehow, I sit here now writing this blog post having done that. Written a book. And not only have I written it - but edited it. Had it edited by someone. Edited it some more. Had it proofread. Edited some more. Had a cover designed. Did a final edit. And now it sits in front of me as a full…thing. A story that not only makes sense, but is actually quite good.

Forgive if I’m sounding proud of myself, but I am. We have little enough to celebrate in this world.

What is it about?

My debut novel, Forbidden Fruit, is a story about a young man, Trey Samson, who is finishing high school in a conservative town where weekly church attendance is mandatory. Yet inside he is harboring a deep secret - he’s in love with the pastor’s son, Jacob Hilton. 

While it is a work of fiction - all the characters and the particulars of their stories aren’t real - as a gay man, the feelings and emotions these characters go through are all too real. 

In many ways, this story is a rainbow romance aimed to delight and excite. In other ways, it’s a story about friendship even in the most trying of circumstances. But it’s also a story of navigating one of the most challenging environments for any young queer person - the Christian church.

As such, this book was a challenge to finish. Tears were shed. Laughs were had. But now I feel that it’s ready to be released to the world. 

So here it is. Please let me know what you think and leave a review on Amazon.