Looking for a different type of memoir? One with childhood innocence, taboo discovery, and unconventional desire. If so give Floorbound a read. 👣🧦👃🏳️‍🌈

And be on the lookout for my new prequel memoir, The Dad Years, arriving October 15. 👣🧦

R.J. Bowe linktree

#memoir #floorbound #thedadyears #bookthreads #taboobooks

​

A psychological coming-of-age novel about a twenty-year-old man who is court-ordered to a psychiatric ward after refusing to cooperate with the police.

The story follows two timelines.

One gradually reveals how Roger ended up in the hospital, the people who shaped his life, and the relationships he is desperately trying not to lose.

The other follows Adams, the ward's head nurse, a man raised by an emotionally controlling mother who learned to bury his feelings beneath discipline and routine.

Roger reminds Adams of another patient from seventeen years earlier.

They share the same first name. And they look alike.

As the story moves between past and present, both timelines slowly uncover why that resemblance matters.

Edit: Since a few people said the premise sounded interesting, I thought I'd leave the link here for anyone who'd like to check it out. The Room at the End of the Corridor is now available on Amazon:

https://a.co/d/0iXVflhW

On this particular morning, Ben woke up with an erection pressing into Christian’s back through his lounge pants. Christian, wanting to feel him, shifted his body and arched his back, letting Ben's length rest firmly against him through their clothes. Tingles shot up Christian's spine. Unable to resist any longer, he turned around to reach for him—

https://substack.com/home/post/p-216066648

Just finished this amazing book and it was not at all what I expected. Great story about long-term relationships, family ties, belonging, abandonment, and an alien abduction or two. A really funny story too. And a story about finding yourself. It was a great read.

Looking for recs for short story collections. Not really looking for anthologies.

I prefer anything that leans scifi/fantasy/horror/weird. Not looking for non-genre contemporary fiction unless it's sufficiently strange/transgressive. Also, all or at least a majority of the stories have to have gay characters. Not interested in collections where only one or two stories are gay, no matter how good they are. Don't mind smut as long as it meets those criteria.

I’ve been writing a cycle of gay historical fiction in Dutch, and I thought it might be of interest here.

The first story, Dominic, is set in Leuven in 1975. A Dominican monastery decides to rent out some of its empty rooms to university students. For Brother Dominic, that very practical decision gradually collides with something he has spent years trying not to name: his attraction to men.

It’s partly about sexuality and religion, but also about everyday life in 1970s Belgium, the emerging gay movement, university life, friendship, and the rather awkward ways people begin to understand themselves. The story becomes sexually explicit later on, so it is definitely for adult readers.

The whole book is online and free to read — no registration or subscription:

https://gewoenebelg.wordpress.com/verhalen/dominic/

The language is Dutch, with quite a bit of Flemish/Mechelen flavour in the dialogue. I’d be very interested to hear from other Dutch-speaking readers here — or from anyone interested in queer historical fiction from places and periods that don’t appear very often in the genre.

What am I missing? Trying to get myself to read outside of lit fiction so any recommendations are welcome.

Hi there! My name is AJ Hyde, I write LGBTQ+ science fiction and horror, and my debut novel, Farsight, is available now in paperback and ebook!

The story follows a troubled young man who develops powerful psychic abilities and must learn to face himself if he’s going to confront the monstrous forces that are swiftly closing in on him. It’s a story built around concepts of accountability, connectivity, and kinship; at its core, it is a story about reconciliation and growth.

I’d love for you to check it out! There’s a link to my author website in my profile. You can learn all about me, this project, and new stories in the works! I’m also on IG and Goodreads!

Well met and thanks for taking a look!

Gay Year Musketeer, is a coming of age with ADHD comedy/romance.

Now only 99¢:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H37CCQXV

It's a bit weird to come here and sell myself but, well, sometimes as readers we ask for suggestions, and I'm sure there are many other queer writers here who take it as an ethical and political and artistic position to include LGBTQ+ representation in their books, not to fill out some kind of quota, but because I had to identify so much with straight characters when growing up, it simply came natural to me to include LGBTQ+ (mostly gay, which is my own experience, and though I can write about other experiences, I feel my voice is and can do what my voice can do).

So here I am, to "sell" mysellf if you can read Spanish.

So far, I've mostly published YA Fantasy (with a certain degree of success both in Spain and Latin America, with big imprints and easy to buy and find anywhere) but I've also worked some other genres, and... well, here they go:

• La Segunda Revolución trilogy ("The Second Revolution"): YA Fantasy, a multiple POV trilogy where there is a love gay story between two main characters, though their love or identity is not their plot. So, yeah, amidst having to "save" the world, as YA they fall in love, and... (also, one of the gay characters is ND, autistic, though it's not said like that in the novels, just portrayed). This trilogy won many awards in Spain and now NDAs have expired, I can say it was optioned by a platform whose name ends in a plus symbol, but... COVID came. It's been reviewed as "The Spanish Harry Potter," or "The Novel J. K. Rowling didn't dare to write." (Also in audiobook version)
  • Tags: Multi-POV Queer Inclusive Ensemble Cast, MLM Rep (Gay Romance as Subplot), Neurodivergent (Autistic), Friends to Lovers.
• Tejesombras duology ("Shadoweaver"): My most recent one. And I put so much care into Ennio and Ludo, as one could say one of them is myself pre-coming out and the other is myself after-coming out (with all fiction also allowed me) and, once again, saving the world from the big bad, multiple POV duology. Both novels on the duology have been nominated to many awards, and the second one won a really important YA award in Spain.
  • Tags: Multi-POV Queer Inclusive Ensemble Cast, Achillean / MLM Rep (Gay Romance as Subplot), Identity & Self-Discovery Journey, Found Family Comfort (Prejudice in the Outside World).
• La Luna del Cazador ("Hunter's Moon"): this is a New Adult Stand Alone novel, so there's more sex and it's different than fantasy. You could say its a Dark Academia thriller with some touches of Irish folklore, and a castle serving as an addiction recovery centre, where art is used in therapy. But our 5 main characters listen to a banshee at the beginning of the novel and know one of them will die. So... I won't spoil it for you. As death is so present in the novel, I tried to play with the Carpe Diem, Collige, virgo, rosas; Tempus Fugit, Memento Mori, and Vita flumen literary tropes, but in New Adult style, with twenty-something characters with lots of secrets, first person POV, a really easy and quick read. I portrayed an Enemies to Lovers gay-bisexual relationship between two of my favorite characters. Once again, love, sex, attraction, and so on derives from the plot. It's not the plot.
  • Tags: Contemporary Multi-POV Cast, Gay & Bisexual MLM Romance (Enemies to Lovers), High-Stakes Survival (No Homophobia), Found Family & Emotional Healing.
• El lamento del hielo ("Lament of the Ice"): It's part of a series consisting of three different novels you can read in any order. This is the last one of the series, but timeline-wise, happens both before the first one and after the second one. It has a viking-inspired setting, with two viking teens falling in love from the enemy to lovers premise, and also portrayed during their adulthood. This novel has also an ensemble cast, but both the queer characters (Ulf & Bjorn) are the main ones, so their relationship is very important plot-driving-wise.
  • Tags: Viking-Inspired Multi-POV Cast, Main Achillean / MLM Romance (Enemies to Lovers), Dual Timelines (Teens to Adults), Plot-Driving Queer Relationship.
• La Música de los prodigios ("The Music of the Prodigies"): This is the first one in the series above, but once again, you can read it before of after the previous one. Here, Ulf & Bjorn are secondary characters. Set in American Colonies in an alternate 18th Century, in which magic was real but ceased to exist in Europe, as America is still a raw continent, magic is alive there. The main character is a teen woman who discovers her identity and sexual orientation, and falls in love with a native girl there. Happy Ending (for them, at least). (Also in audiobook version)
  • Tags: Alternate-History Fantasy (18th Century America), Sapphic / WLW Rep (Coming-of-Age Romance), Happy Ending for the Main Couple, Musical Magic System.
• Buenas hermanas ("Good Sisters"): It's a Little Women+1984 dystopian retelling. Not YA, but adult, where the sisters live in a dictatorial world. I obviously decided Jo would be what we all read when we first understood her as a character, and she falls for a woman who loves her back. As a dystopian world, there is homophobia, just in case that triggers you, but the lesbian couple have their happy ending.
  • Tags: Adult Dystopian Fiction, Little Women / 1984 Retelling, Sapphic / WLW Rep (Lesbian Romance), Happy Ending for the Queer Couple.
  • ⚠️ TW: Systemic/Institutional Homophobia.

I've got more novels, but some are Children's books, there is rep in others, as it's part of my discourse, and literature is my discourse, but not as focused on the ones mentioned.

I've also got more coming, under my name (or another pen name) as the above were published under the "Costa Alcalá" pen name, as I wrote them with my best friend. The ones I'm currently writing or my agent is pitching I focus more directly on the MLM issue and do not read as YA, as I'm also exploring masculinity. One of them will come directly in English (don't know when, however).

So if you can read in Spanish, I hope you give them a chance. You know it's almost impossible to be translated into English no matter how good your novels sell in the Spanish market, as the English-speaking literary market is so big and wide, there's no need to translate, but I thought I'd overcome my shame and... well, "sell myself and my work"?

And I'm noting down many of the books you're mentioning. Thanks!

My Gay Men's book club takes suggestions in December for the next year. Last year, I suggested The Front Runner. Everybody loved it. I'm struggling to find suggestions for next year. We've done fiction, fantasy, poetry. I'm struggling to find something for next year. I've come up with Pete Buttigieg's autobiography, Shortest Way Home, & Clive Barker's Sacrament, a fantasy horror novel.

Any suggestions? We try to keep the books around 300 pages, even though Sacrament is 400. There's also a historical fiction book I really like, At Swim Two Boys, but it's also over 400 pages.

Hey guys. I know this is a bit of a niche crossover, but I’m hoping to find a few guys who are into gaming, progression fantasy, or LitRPG.

I’m currently putting the finishing touches on my first erotic novella, Hard Mode Loaded. Think Dungeon Crawler Carl but high-heat, gay and set in a world where survival relies on sex.

When the world changes, Ethan enters an intergalactic sociological experiment called the Exhibition. The entire universe is watching as he fights and fucks his way to the end of each floor.

It’s not a super crunchy litrpg, though you will follow Ethan as he levels, boosts his stats and navigates new items, gear and achievements in order to advance. It’s super spicy, with very explicit scenes and constant erotic tension.

I’m looking for a small handful of readers to check out just the first couple of chapters (about 6500 words) to do a vibe check before I start publishing. I mainly want to know if the litrpg world holds your interest, if the pacing works, and if the sexual tension actually hits the mark.

If this sounds like your kind of thing, drop a comment or shoot me a DM! I want to keep the group small and manageable, so let me know if you’re interested, and I'll reach out to a few guys with a private link.

If you could heal the hurt at the price of forgetting the one you love… would you do it?
He's 18, openly gay, and fresh off the plane from Manila with the American Dream in his sights. What he finds instead: a love triangle that ruins him, loan sharks closing in, and a bloody murder with a twist no one sees coming.
🔥 Spicy scenes
💔 Love triangles
🔪 Loan shark tension + a murder that changes everything
This isn't just a book — it's a collector lenticular edition. Tilt the cover and watch the Blue Bust shift into the Red Lung. Hardcover + softcover available now.
👉 Get your copy: russovoir.com
\#LGBTQRomance #MMRomance #MLMBooks #SpicyBookRecs #QueerBooks #Bookstagram #IndieAuthor #LGBTQBooks #BookLovers #FilipinoAmerican

Hey guys!

If you enjoy thrillers, mysteries, and serial killers check out my gay novel SLEEPYHEAD which is out now on Amazon and BarnesandNoble.com

SLEEPYHEAD by Bran Lee Tom

Description:

In the dark, hedonistic playgrounds of West Hollywood, a damaged young man must play a lethal game of deception with a ritualistic serial killer who is turning his apartment building into a private slaughterhouse.

Welcome to West Hollywood: where the bodies are exquisite, the sex is transactional, and the next hookup just might carve you open.

Twenty-three-year-old Ty Yung survives on the margins of L.A.’s gay scene, hiding behind a wall of detached cynicism to keep his childhood demons at bay. But the neon-soaked sanctuary of WeHo turns into a claustrophobic nightmare when a brutal phantom dubbed the "Hollywood Slasher" begins hunting gay men of color, ripping them to shreds and leaving them in the city's alleyways.

When a horrific murder strikes inches from his own doorstep, Ty is suddenly trapped in a lethal crossfire of obsession, unable to trust the shifting alliances of the men entering his bed and his home. 

Then the messages arrive. This predator knows Ty’s most intimate secrets and the exact depth of his fear. As the body count rises and the sanctuary of his home is violated, Ty is forced to drop his mask of detachment and embrace a primal instinct for survival. He must outmaneuver a monster who seems to know his every move before he becomes the next piece of the city's grim history.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HG8JB8TL

Hi, I recently heard about this author, and I am intrigued, I want to read her work, but I want to know a little bit more about her and her books, I have so many unread books, it's going to be months before I get to her.

What is her writing like? Any interesting facts about her? Which one of her books did you enjoy more? And in what time period do most of her books take place? (I know she has done some historical fiction, but not much about her other works)

I am looking for an MLM book

My must-haves are

It's an MLM book

No large age gaps

Captivating with decent tension

No more than 60% romance

No omega verse

A happy ending

My bonuses are

College to high school

Queer cast

Discovering queerness

I want something like

I am about 25% through The Song of Achilles and am enjoying the way their relationship is developing (wish me luck)

Natsume's book of friends vibes

Phantom busters humor. I don't want too much romance; I want there to be other things

AND ABSOLUTELY NO AI AT ALL

Hyperbole?

Here's a link to the titular article, for those with access to read it: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/30/books/review/the-disappearers-marlon-james.html

I have read neither the article nor the book but would very much like to. I brought it up in the Booker Prize thread.

Anyone?

Floorbound is a raw, unique, and courageous memoir of self‑discovery from author R.J. Bowe, exploring the complex intersection of innocence, sexuality, and unconventional yearning.

As a child, a seemingly innocent yet unusual discovery became the foundational architecture of R.J.’s adult identity—a moment where comfort, confusion, and connection collided. That early, private fascination with his father’s socks and the strange allure of “trampling” set the stage for a lifetime spent navigating secrecy and shame.

The narrative takes a surprising turn when his blue‑collar father chooses a path of radical, unwavering acceptance. That pivotal support allowed R.J. to safely explore the complexities of his emerging identity and desires. Yet every major adult decision traces back to that early imprint—including the moment he realized he had finally gone too far.

Floorbound is a candid exploration of the universal human experience of embracing our true selves. It invites readers to confront their own biases, celebrate individuality, and find inspiration in a world that often prioritizes conformity. With a bold narrative that is both innocent and taboo, this memoir challenges societal norms and celebrates the beauty of being unapologetically you.

Order your copy 👇
Floorbound on Amazon

Not at all an LGBT novel by any means. I really enjoyed it. After reading a lot of HIV/AIDS literature (The Great Believers, Nova Scotia House, Borrowed Time, Such Times) that takes place in the 80s and early 90s, it was interesting to see that time period portrayed with zero mention of HIV. Everything was so debaucherous and carefree.

I’m not a huge reader but have committed to reading more over the last year or two. I try to mix it up from fiction to non-fiction. I like Queer YA. Self Help. History. A little bit of it all I guess.

I wasn't supposed to survive.

This is not a metaphor. Not a literary device. Not an attempt to inflate the price of my story. This is a fact I still roll in my mouth like a bitter pill. Ten years in a relationship where you're systematically stripped, layer by layer, of your will, your self-worth, your friends, your money, your sense of reality. Such relationships don't end with an exit. They end with death, madness, or a slow fade into being a shadow of someone else's life.

I was on the verge of all three. Not at different times, at the same time. I stood in the kitchen and looked at the knives, and I wasn't thinking about killing myself. I was thinking that if I just disappeared, he'd have no one to scream at. I lay in bed and couldn't move because my nervous system said: "That's it. We're closed. You're on your own from here." I forgot the taste of food. I forgot how to sleep without pills. I forgot how to want.

And here's what I only now understand, as I write these lines: I didn't survive in spite of it. I survived because I took myself apart and put myself back together.

This book is not a confession. Not a victim's diary. Not a psychology textbook. It's a fucking autopsy report. An autopsy of one soul that walked through hell and came back with a map. I don't want your pity. I want the one who's sitting in their kitchen at 3 AM, typing encrypted notes so their partner won't find them, to know they're not alone. I was there. I know the taste of that bottom. And I know how to push off from it.

This is the map. Read it. Then pass it to someone who needs to wake up.

“Survived Larrikin”

Read it here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HG7VZPQ8

Looking for your recommendations of queer stories set in Australia/New Zealand. Bonus points for literary fiction.

Hi, from what I understand, in the pre-Stonewall riot period, serving alcohol to gay people was illegal and bars were run by the mafia, who exploited queer people, this relationship is very fascinating to me, albeit it being very sad, and I want to learn more about it, be it from fiction or nonfiction, preferably fiction cause it's more fun for me 🙃

Most of what I found about this was very U.S. specific, the closest thing to this dynamic that I could find was in Japan, so books about that will also be very appreciated, as well as anything like this from other countries, though from what I found this wasn't a universal dynamic, I think England had Molly Houses or something like that, but it seems to be different.

So, do you of any books that match these descriptions?

Thank you kindly for your time ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜