Happy Pride Month everyone! Twinsie Tenise here. I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to answer the questions for our pride month celebration. I had fun coming up with this years set of questions. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights as well as my reviews for some of the LGBTQIA books I’ve read this year. Check back daily to see what’s going on and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.
🏳🌈 Tell us your name and a little bit about yourself?
My name is Joel Shoemaker. My fourth book is a collection of cocktail-themed short stories and recipes called COCKTAILS & CONCATENATIONS. It joins my tooth-themed short story collection called TEETH & CRUMPETS: A FLORILEGIUM. I also have written one of the only works of fiction for teens & tweens to celebrate and affirm both faith and sexuality, called “bacon grief” and my picture book follows a gender nonconforming child to church, called SILAS ON SUNDAYS. In 2026 the follow-up, SILAS ON STAGE will publish from Wildling Press.
🏳🌈 What is the title of your most recent release?
Cocktails & Concatenations
🏳🌈 Is there a book or a movie that has helped you have a better understanding of a current or past event in LGBTQ history?
Fun question! I grew up in the 80s but I didn’t know people that actually died from AIDS, thankfully. I was just a kid. So I would say learning about that decade and even into the 90s from books and movies still shocks and saddens me. Likewise, the recent series FELLOW TRAVELERS seems to provide some detail on the Lavender Scare, I think is what it was called?
🏳🌈If you could have dinner with a famous person from the LGBTQ community, past or present, who would that be and why?
James Baldwin, probably. Or Harvey Milk. Or RuPaul! This is a hard choice. I will invite them all over for dinner. What a party it would be!
🏳🌈I can hear the complaints now. If you think 1 person is unfair please use this space for additional dinner guests and why you chose them.
Ha! See above. Hilarious.
🏳🌈 Do you have a favorite review(s) of one of your books left by a reader? Care to share the title of the book, the review, and why this one stood out to you.
This review, one of the very first for “bacon grief” from a teen reader still makes me so happy: “I don’t usually write reviews but for this book, I felt compelled to do so. This is by no means a linguistic masterpiece and the nontraditional format took some getting used to, but as a whole, the elements of the book came together to better tell the story. Having grown up in a conservative Catholic household and as a member of the LGBT+ community, the themes of this book hit really close to home. I’ve been struggling with my beliefs and identity again recently, and this book, given to me at a school meet and greet I almost didn’t attend, seems very much like a sign from God that I’ll be okay. Thank you, Joel Shoemaker, for that small comfort.”
🏳🌈 What are your social links?
🏳🌈 What are your purchase links?
