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 thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA books we’ve read this year. Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book 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 about yourself?
My name is Joe Chianakas. I’m a professor, author, and husband living in Peoria, Illinois. I teach communication and creative writing, and I’ve been fortunate enough to win Teacher of the Year at three different colleges I’ve taught at (I’m currently fulltime at Illinois Central College). I write stories about outsiders, resilience, and chosen family. I love to write about queer characters navigating identity, courage, and community.
🏳🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve written several and published over ten. I’ve written several novels, including Singlets and Secrets, Pride and Persistence, Darkness Calls, and others currently in progress. (I have several novels under a pen name, too, that I don’t promote– that’s just fun fun.) My most recent work is usually my favorite! But if I had to pick my personal #1, Singlets and Secrets will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s a story that has connected me with hundreds of groups and readers around the country, and I’m so grateful for the opportunities the book has brought my way.
🏳🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
I wish I were the kind of writer who could focus on one book at a time, but my brain doesn’t really work that way. I often have multiple projects going at once. One might be in drafting mode, another in revisions, and another in the early “idea storm” phase. The way I keep everything straight is by giving each project its own creative lane– and sometimes a creative season. I work on horror when it’s cold and gray out. I work on my inspiring stories when the sun shines. Besides the “season,” it’s my music playlist that keeps me organized. I have dark music for horror. I have love songs and breakup songs when I’m writing in Aiden’s world (Singlets and Secrets).
🏳🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Good old Times New Roman because I have a publisher with a style guide I have to follow
🏳🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
For me, authenticity starts with remembering that LGBTQ characters are people first. Our identities matter, but that’s not the only thing that defines us. We have humor, flaws, fears, ambitions, friendships, and messy emotions like everyone else. I also draw from real experiences. My own life, the stories students share with me, conversations within the community, and the environments many queer people grow up in. I want my characters to feel layered and real, not symbolic or simplified. And if nothing else– I write from a queer perspective because I AM queer. And when I write from perspectives that are not part of my identity, I test my work with beta readers and use real research to help develop my characters.
🏳🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
One moment in LGBTQ history that always resonates with me is the story of Harvey Milk. Milk was one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s. At a time when many people were afraid to live openly, he encouraged LGBTQ people to “come out,” believing visibility was one of the most powerful tools for social change. What inspires me most is how he connected politics with hope. Milk often reminded people that they weren’t alone and that their voices mattered. I also love highlighting contemporary voices shaping LGBTQ literature today. One powerful example is George M. Johnson, the author of All Boys Aren’t Blue. Their memoir blends personal storytelling with reflections on identity, family, and growing up Black and queer in America. What makes the book so impactful is its honesty. Johnson talks openly about vulnerability, masculinity, and belonging in ways that resonate with many readers, especially young people trying to understand themselves. For me as a writer and educator, books like All Boys Aren’t Blue show how storytelling can create empathy and give people language for experiences they might not have felt safe expressing before.
🏳🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation?
Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
That’s a tough one. There are so many great stories now. One book I absolutely love recommending is The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It’s one of those rare stories that manages to feel both whimsical and deeply meaningful at the same time. The novel follows a caseworker who is sent to evaluate a mysterious orphanage for magical children, and what unfolds is this beautiful exploration of acceptance, chosen family, and learning to see people for who they truly are. What I appreciate most is how naturally the LGBTQ representation exists within the story. It’s not forced or reduced to a single message. Instead, it’s woven into a larger theme about compassion and belonging. The characters are quirky, funny, and deeply human, and by the end you feel like you’ve been invited into a warm, strange, magical little world that reminds you kindness still matters. As a writer, I admire how the book balances heart, humor, and imagination. As a reader, it just made me happy. And sometimes that’s exactly the kind of story we need!
🏳🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
Oh, I use receipts, bills, concert memorabilia, once even a student’s paper I hadn’t finished grading!
🏳🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
YES!!! I have so many playlists, and I match my music to the emotion that I’m writing. When I wrote Darkness Calls, I used the score from Stranger Things as well as John Carpenter’s Lost Themes (highly recommend both to my horror writers!). For Aiden’s story in Singlets and Secrets, I remember creating a playlist of the most heartbreaking songs I could find to get my emotions pumping!
🏳🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story?
Aiden, the protagonist in Singlets and Secrets, hates horror movies and makes fun of a horror book called Rabbit in Red. Which is my first horror book 🙂 It’s healthy to poke fun at ourselves!
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 thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA books we’ve read this year. Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book 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 about yourself?
I’m K.M. Neuhold and I write MM and MM(M+) romance books! Most of my books are low angst, high heat, and full of humor, found family, guys being dumbasses, and lots of loveable pets. When I’m not writing I’m playing with my three huskies and watching horror movies.
🏳🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
Including novellas and co-writes I’ve written around 87 books to date. It’s so hard to pick a favorite, but I think currently Deadly Little Sparrow is my favorite that I’ve written because it’s one I really stepped out of my comfort zone to write and really enjoyed challenging myself with.
🏳🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
I can write one solo book and one co-write at a time, but not 2 solo projects at once. It’s much easier to keep things straight when one of them is a co-write, but with 2 solo projects I end up mixing tone too much or switching up characters, so I’ve learned not to do that.
🏳🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Times New Roman is my automatic. Every time I start a new doc I always set it to TNR 12pt before I start. It’s just out of habit, but now it would just feel wrong to have it set to anything else.
🏳🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
Just like in real life, sexuality is only ONE part of who someone is. I am bisexual myself, but that only defines one tiny part of who I am, and I treat my characters exactly the same way. They have interests, hobbies, quirks, and everything else that any straight character would have.
🏳🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
Not something specific, but it always amuses me how many historical figures had “roommates” or “best friends” who they very clearly were in love with. Alexander the Great famously had a “best friend” who he referred to as the love of his life who I believe he was even burried with later. Abe Lincoln also had a “best friend” whom he shared a bed with when the man came to visit him at the White House. And those are just two off the top of my head. History is full of so many LGBTQ+ people than we’re lead to believe.
🏳🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation?Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
Schitt’s Creek will always be a comfort watch show for me with Daniel Levey playing a pansexual main character. I tend to lean more towards representations of queer joy rather than the heartbreaking types of queer movies or shows, so it can be hard to find many to watch! Books are much easier and off the top of my head some of my favorite authors who bring the queer joy in heaps are: Charlie Novak, Mia Monroe, Lucy Lennox, and C Rochelle, just to name a few of my favorites.
🏳🌈What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
I typically use the reciept
🏳🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
I prefer binaural sounds or brown noise to help me focus when I’m writing. But when I’m plotting or getting ready to write I have playlists that go along with specific series. They’re very varied depending on each series so I can capture the vibe of the specific characters for inspiration. But in general, lots of pop music, rap, and rock.
🏳🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story?
to be honest, I have ADHD and I forget even the story relevant details the second I finish writing a story 😂
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 thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA books we’ve read this year. Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book and add to your TBR piles. I hope you enjoy getting to know a little about all of these wonderful authors and their work.
On day 3 of Pride Month we are spotlighting one of my most favorite humans, A.D. Ellis. If you see us giving each other a hard time; online or in person– it is completely out of love– I promise. We met and I feel like we immediately clicked. Soon after she asked me to be an Alpha reader and the rest is history. Now she couldn’t get rid of me if she tried. She is a kindhearted, loving, genuine human with THE BEST hair! I am super lucky to have her as a friend. The MM romances A.D. has released are spicy and addictive. It is hard to pick a single favorite as I have a few and I refuse to narrow them down. Make sure to check out their blacklist when you finish the spotlight. 💜
🏳🌈 Tell us your name and a little about yourself?
Hi! I’m A.D. Ellis. I’m an educator of almost three decades, the mom of two 18+ kids, and a lifelong Indiana girl (please don’t hold that against me!) I’ve been writing and publishing since 2014. I’m a huge fan of tea, a brand-new coffee drinker, a lover of plants, and a master napper. I adore laughing with friends, sipping sweet red wine, and reading along with writing. I’m a bit of a weirdo. I’m an extreme overthinker. And I have an odd sense of humor.
🏳🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve published 58 single titles, along with several box sets, stories in anthologies, audiobooks, and translations. To choose a favorite is impossible. At this point in time, I’ll go with The Men of Haven Grove as my favorite series and Once Upon a Christmas House as my favorite single title (but I feel bad even listing those because I love them all!)
🏳🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
For the most part, yes. Occasionally, I will have a couple stories going, but I almost always keep everything separate.
🏳🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
Almost always Comic Sans. I think it’s MY default these days. There are definitely some fonts I could NEVER write in.
🏳🌈 How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
I think it’s important to surround yourself with authentic and multifaceted people in life, in books, in media, in writing communities, etc. Writing LGBTQ characters should never be just a way to check a box for plot points or being able to fit into a certain category. All of my characters will always be written as authentically as possible based on friends and family around me, my own experiences, the amazing books I’ve read, the conversations I have with my author friends, and what I can learn by educating myself.
🏳🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
I can’t say that I have ONE piece of LGBTQ history to share, but I have spent the last decade educating myself about LGBTQ history because it wasn’t something I was exposed to when growing up. When I realized the massive amount of LGBTQ history I’d missed out on, I was so very angry. (This is true for the histories of all marginalized people. I’m so very angry about the histories that were buried.) I recently listened to the audiobook about The Upstairs Lounge. I’d learned of this tragedy several years ago; the audiobook was a HARD listen, but also very good. One thing I love on social media is The AIDS Memorial. I love the stories that get shared. They are often very hard reads, but it’s so very important to give those stories space and honor the people being remembered.
🏳🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related. Ack! This is so hard! Obviously, Heated Rivalry most recently. I LOVED Red, White, and Royal Blue in book/audio/movie formats. I LOVED the Simon Snow series on audio. I adore pretty much anything by Gregory Ashe, Tal Bauer, NR Walker, Nicky James…the list goes on and on and on.
🏳🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
I’m guilty of dog-earring. I know! So bad. Receipts, nail file, gum wrapper, etc.
🏳🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
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 thought hard about the questions and had fun coming up with them. I love that the authors seemed to have as much fun answering them. We will be celebrating all month with author spotlights as well as reviews for some of the LGBTQIA books we’ve read this year. Check back daily to learn more about that days featured author or book 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 about yourself? I’m Audrey. You can call me Aud. I write epic romantic fantasy and under the pen name Andrea Marie Johnson I write dark why choose romantasy. And of course, all of it is queer. I’m an artist. I dabble in all sorts of things including wire jewelry, photography, and bronze sculpture but my favorites are character illustrations and fantasy maps. When I’m not writing or drawing, I’m probably playing video games (I have a BFA in animation and game design!) or watching anime (current favorites are: Spy x Family, Apothecary Diaries, and My Hero Academia). If you spend any time with me at all you will learn that I have a deep love of frogs.
🏳🌈 How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite?
I have four books out currently. 3 under Audrey and 1 under Andi Marie and hopefully by the time WotR happens, I’ll have a Red Society short story published in an anthology. My favorite is definitely Shadows Dark and Deadly. When I wrote Child of the Moon I was still deep in denial about my sexuality and gender and SDaD is when I really started to embrace and accept it. It’s unapologetically bi and writing Damara’s enby egg starting to crack helped me crack my own.
🏳🌈 Do you write one book and finish it completely before starting the next? If not, how do you keep yourself from confusing the projects?
My process is chaos. Sometimes I’ll start a WIP and finish draft 1 in under 2 months while only working on it (ok that was just SDaD but still), and sometimes I will take years to write draft 1 while also working on other WIPs. I think I’m pretty good at compartmentalizing all my 30+ WIPs. It also helps that when I switch things up, I start from the beginning because it’s been too long and I need a refresher on the story. By the time I catch back up, I’ve got a good idea of the voice/story/etc.
🏳🌈 What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is it a default setting?
I have written in Arial for at least 15 years now. Idk what it is about that font but it just feels good to write in.
🏳🌈How do you ensure your LGBTQ characters feel authentic and mutifaceted, rather than just serve a plot function?
I try not to write MCs outside of my own queer identity. All my MCs are bi (yes, even Neoma, she just doesn’t know it yet), I’ve got nonbinary MCs in the works and even a few that are demi. For LIs and important side characters, I try to avoid stereotypes, write them as people and use sensitivity readers
🏳🌈 Do you have a favorite piece of LGBTQ history or fun fact you would like to share?
Polari is a whole slang language that was used by queer men in the UK in the 1900s because of the strict laws against homosexuality. It fell out of popularity after the UK legalized homosexuality in 1967.
🏳🌈 What is one of your favorite books or movies with LGBTQ representation? Feel free to share more than one, I know it is difficult as a reader to pick one favorite of anything. Especially if its book related.
This feels sort of like cheating since it just recently came out and everyone is talking about it (at the time of writing this in February) but Heated Rivalry. There’s just something really refreshing about a romance TV show about queer love where I don’t have to worry about it being tragic. I was also 18 in 08 which basically makes the characters the same age as me (if it took place in 2026) so I relate as a millennial but also as a deeply closeted high school jock (swimmer).
🏳🌈 What is something you have used for a bookmark that IS NOT a bookmark?
Fruit snacks wrapper
🏳🌈 Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what are some of your favorite genres or songs?
I alternate between listening to music and forgetting music even exists. This past year I’ve listened almost exclusively to Sleep Token with the occasional Evanescence because I didn’t realize they’d made any music since like 2008.
🏳🌈 What is a super specific detail you know about one of your characters that has no relevance to the story?
Hi friends, its me, Twinsie Tenise! I will be here with you every day for the month of June hosting Twinsie Talks annual Pride month celebration. This month between the author spotlights I will be sharing my reviews for some of the books I’ve read so far this year that fit the theme. I’ve read hundreds of MM romances over the years and sometimes I like to reread old favorites. Kicking off pride month, I want to share some MM books that I read in the past then read them again in 2026.
Make sure to check back daily, you aren’t going to want to miss a thing. I hope you find lots of new to you authors with backlists to overflow your tbr piles.
The Mercenary and the Mortician by: Alexandra St. Pierre
This book was wild. It left me searching for months for a similar book. To this day, I find myself yearning for another book like this one. It was deliciously dark with some absolutely delightful side characters. Don’t even get me started on the audiobook because it was also *chefs kiss* perfection.
This is book 1 in the On Cravenwood Block Series. I read all of A.D’s books at least twice. The first time as one of her Alpha readers, then the next after its released. Someone in a reader group was asking for recs with a tattoo artist and I immediately thought of these 2 while also realizing I missed them. That prompted my 3rd time reading Jett & Leighton. They were so fun to get to know and watch their relationship grow. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire series.
This book became my obsession for a minute THEN the audiobook was released and I was freaking done for- Don’t ask me how many times I’ve read and listened to this book since it was released. I said don’t ask!
Oh Vinni. Getting me addicted to shifters when I had zero desire to know anything about them. Well that was until I discovered your work. Friends! If you watched and loved the old series White Collar with my boy Matt Bomer in it then you MUST check out this series. Its so good. Each book follows a different ORCA shifter brother and their group efforts to solve some Neal Cafferty-like crimes. Ugh! I just love them all so much. NO! I Will not pick a favorite.
Daniel wants his ex back and the best person for the job is Spencer. So its a client and his matchmaker. I had friends saying it was one of their favorite books ever. Me? I wasn’t understanding the hype. I thought it wouldn’t be my thing. I knew about the series for YEARS before starting it. Now it has become yet another NR Walker book obsession. The audio is so freaking addicting. When I’m in a funk, the audio version of this book gets me through it.
