Happy Pride Month friends!!

For me, Pride Month is a very mixed bag of emotions. Obviously Pride Month is incredibly important, maybe now more than ever. It's a time to celebrate who we are, but it's also a time to remind people who are struggling with their identity and maybe don't have a support system that they are loved and perfect as they are. The world is better with us in it.

But also, as a gay man who makes his living on the internet, Pride Month is, by far, the time of year where I experience the most hate and homophobia online. That's because a lot of people go out of their way to make Pride Month as miserable as possible for the queer community. This makes the month a tough one for me, because as much as I want to celebrate as loudly as possible, all of that is met with a ton of hatred. And often, despite my best efforts, when I get hit with this kind of evil, I simply shut down.

But this year, more than ever, I am challenging myself to push past the hate and be louder and prouder about my who I am! Queer books are being banned left and right. Trans rights are under attack like never before. This is not the time to stay quiet, but the time to rise up!

To all of you reading this who are under the Queer umbrella, I want to say that you are loved and that the world is better because you exist. I am SO glad you are here!!! And it is for you that I plan to be loud and proud about who I am. I promise to keep uplifting Queer books and stories every chance I get, not to mention publish as many of them as I can!

Thank you all for being an incredible support system for me and others, and Happy Pride Month to you all!!!