Allusions: LGBTQ Writing

It’s 1989, and Joe Agabian and his best friend Ronnie set out to spend their first summer working in the hedonistic gay paradise of Fire Island Pines. Joe is desperate to let loose and finally move beyond the heartbreak of having lost his boyfriend to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The two friends are quickly taken in by a pair of quirky, older house cleaners. But something seems off, and Joe starts to su...

Detective Rory Scott was in college when six-year-old Savannah Armitage vanished and the body of a missing teen was found nearby in a shallow grave. The case went unsolved, but Rory’s mother's partner, Stephen, was convicted in the court of public opinion. When Rory’s mother refused to leave him, Rory broke familial ties. Six years later, Rory has built a life with her girlfriend Cade. When anothe...

Queer people spend around $100 billion annually on travel, and are twice as likely as the general population to hold a passport. In short, they love to travel!  Despite their lavish spending, queer travelers are often underserved. They are either overlooked when it comes to travel guides, or are encouraged to stick to a handful of "safe” destinations. This conventional wisdom doesn't build th...

A young, aspiring writer desperate for a break…and the legendary Andy Warhol superstar who gave him the story of a lifetime. By the mid-1980s, Holly Woodlawn, once lauded by George Cukor for her performance in the 1970 Warhol production and Paul Morrissey directed  Trash , was washed up. Over. Kaput. She was living in a squalid Hollywood apartment with her dog and bottles of Chardonnay. A cha...

Thaddeus, the vampire, is on a quest to save all of time and space as he searches for his lost love. Follow his quest as he collects the weapons needed to conquer the Immortal beast that is bound for full destruction and join him as he looks to convince the disparate players who he believes are called forth in a prophecy as they travel through this future world and its magical kingdoms. The Dragon...

It's New York's hellacious summer of '77. Rampant crime, a city-wide blackout and the Son of Sam murders have knocked Gotham on its ass. When Lucien Lowe, a young poet on the downtown scene, is found dead in his East Village tenement with a heroin needle in his arm, overworked cops rule it an accidental overdose. But Ike's wealthy girlfriend Julie Baroda suspects murder and urges Ike's best friend...

The Future is weird ... bring a drink. An influencer lets the internet puppet his brand-new cyber-limbs. Door-to-door sales-things arrive with a television that watches you. Two YouTubers livestream a dinosaur attack — for the clout, of course. Welcome to a dive bar at the edge of the multiverse, where every cocktail is spiked with existential dread. In these darkly satirical shorts, Leo X. Robert...

Prepare for intrigue, suspense, and unforgettable twists in this groundbreaking anthology of queer crime fiction. In 2023, crime fiction anthologies featured 517 stories across 30 titles—but shockingly, fewer than 1 percent were penned by LGBTQ+ writers.  Crime Ink: Iconic (An Anthology of Crime Fiction Inspired by Famous Queer Icons)  is a resounding response to this glaring disparity,...

Lambda Literary Award-winning author, Ann Aptaker's Cantor Gold faces the questions of who are her real friends, and how far she would go to avenge their deaths. Early November, 1958 New York City Art thief and smuggler Cantor Gold's latest underworld caper begins when she arrives at big-time bookie Nick Fortunato's apartment to celebrate his birthday, a ritual the two friends have enjoyed for yea...

In January 1959, Art Copleston was escorted out of his college accounting class by three police officers. In a motel room, blinds drawn, he sat in front of a state senator and the legal counsel for the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, nicknamed the “Johns Committee.” His crime? Being a suspected homosexual. And the government of Florida would use any tactic at their disposal—legal or n...

Set against the very real refugee crisis on the beautiful, sun-drenched Greek islands,  Fire on the Island  paints a nuanced and loving portrait of a community in crisis while shedding light on the challenges of life in contemporary Greece. After a string of mysterious fires breaks out on a small Greek island, undercover FBI agent Nick Damigos arrives to investigate, showing up just in t...

Step into the glow of lavender twilight with Alfred P. Doblin’s unforgettable collection,  Tales of the Lavender Twilight . In this debut, Doblin opens doors to the rich, poignant, and often hilarious lives of late-middle-aged gay men—and one very sophisticated Cocker Spaniel—as they seek love, redefine family, and gracefully navigate the complexities of life’s next chapters. From a bitterswe...

Sometimes You Have to Get Lost to Find Yourself Mark Anello thought he had it all figured out, but life had other plans. At 34, the suburban math teacher is unceremoniously dumped by his stand-up comedian boyfriend, leaving him feeling stuck and uninspired in Los Angeles. Desperate for a change, Mark flees to San Francisco, where he encounters Alessandro, a charming but disillusioned Italian touri...

In the suburbs of New Jersey, where temple gossip flows like Manischewitz wine, eleven-year-old Andy becomes entangled in a whirlwind of maternal quirks and religious intrigue. His mother’s bizarre obsession with Rabbi Landy transforms their once-quiet life above a candy store into a tale of surprises. Andy’s world features a colorful cast: a fiery sister, an invisible brother, a precociously sexu...

Thirst  dives into the lives of Neil Graham, a country club bartender, and Ranger Melusky, a sexy and charming small-town auto mechanic who’s irresistible but complicated. A chance encounter leaves Neil captivated by Ranger’s rough charm, but there’s a catch—Ranger only lets his true self emerge after a few too many drinks. Neil wants something real, and he hopes Ranger might, too, despite hi...

“It’s people like Mama and me, I guess, who like to make the regular happenings in our town—like what happened to Joshua and David—sound like myth. There are those who doubt the veracity of my words. But I know. I was there.” So begins the voice of Eric Gottlund in Jim Provenzano’s latest novel,  Now I’m Here , as he begins his tale of how two boys discovered, lost, and then found each other...

Brian & Stéphane are Back, Spreading Mischief, Mayhem, and Loads of Laughs! Buckle up for a wild ride in the fifth installment of the Twilight Manors series! Brian and Stéphane embark on an unforgettable journey to New Orleans via Amtrak—Stéphane to dazzle at a Powder Puff Convention, and Brian to soak up the city’s vibrant chaos. But their adventure takes a jaw-dropping turn when the train is...

Last Call South Florida  sweeps aside the glitter and glamour of the Sunshine State's LGBTQ nightlife scene to reveal the vibrant tapestry of real people who thrived on both sides of the bar. From the harrowing days of bar raids and police arrests to the triumphs of hard-won rights, this book dives deep into the lives of those who made history. Meet the investors and entrepreneurs who built t...

You're Never Too Old Philip Gambone’s long-awaited second book of short stories takes off from where his highly acclaimed first collection ended, taking us now into the lives of older gay men. These sixteen, loosely interconnected stories are about men who have experienced a lot: marriages and break-ups; rekindling old loves and starting new romances; the search for sex in an online era; the loss...

In this coming-of-age literary thriller, Ahdaf, a gay Syrian refugee, after watching his cousin executed by ISIS for being homosexual, flees to Istanbul for safety.  Ahdaf’s reputation as a people smuggler has put him in danger once more. A Syrian refugee himself, Ahdaf earns a meager living in Istanbul helping others make the crossing to Greece – a perilous line of work, but no less so than...

Magic has been lost for centuries, and when 16-year-old Destiny stumbles upon it, she accidentally unlocks it for all the descendants of the ancient clans, but some of them want it only for themselves and are willing to kill to keep it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the award-winning author of Fragile Brilliance comes another gripping Ronan McCullough thriller. Recovering from the emotional and physical damage of his last case, Ronan McCullough is trying to put his life back together. But when a federal agent's charred remains surface, linked to a professor's encrypted money laundering scheme, Ronan becomes embroiled in a high-stakes game of life and dea...

Stories collected by the author about those who have been banned and restricted from posting on social media, many times over innocent or harmless posts, because computer algorithms don't understand humor, sarcasm or satire. It takes everything literally. Sudi (Rick) Karatas ended up a "Prisoner of a Social Media site starting with the letter "F" slammer" when he commented "Stick a fork in hi...

Nicky Sullivan is the resident manager of a sober living home in Chicago. There she rides herd on ten newly sober addicts and alcoholics, trying to point them in the right direction while keeping their chaos to a minimum. But when one of her residents is murdered, Nicky turns to the investigative skills honed during her past career as a homicide detective. She calls on her old police partner who h...

New Jersey State Trooper Jon Mazer has been charged with killing Black investigative reporter Stewart Marshall in a racially charged, headline-making murder. The evidence against criminal defense attorney Erin McCabe’s new client is overwhelming. The gun used is Mazer’s off-duty weapon. Fingerprints and carpet fibers link Mazer to the crime. And Mazer was patrolling Marshall’s neighborhood shortly...