Hi friends! I’m going to get a little sentimental for a bit before I share the fun stuff. I have a feeling I’m not alone in this, but lately it has been so difficult finding it within me to celebrate. Whether it’s the little wins or something major, any excitement I’d usually get from accomplishments or opportunities has been overshadowed by massive guilt. My community is under attack, and so are so many others. With an overwhelming amount of suffering everywhere I look, joy and hope and celebration have felt so out of reach.

If you’ve been feeling a similar reluctance to allow yourself to embrace joy, let me share something that snapped me out of it. This quote had a huge impact on me when I was younger, even if I didn’t fully understand it until much later.

“Bury your friends in the morning, protest in the afternoon, and dance all night.”

The thing is, I forgot how important it is to dance. I’ve been so wrapped up in the grief that I forgot the key to staying alive long enough to continue the fight. Celebration is just as much a part of resistance as protest and grief. Without the dance we’ll burn ourselves out, but joy sustains the fire. If just existing is a resistance, then thriving is a revolution.

All this to say, I’ve been thinking about how to create space for joy and being in community. I don’t want to just celebrate my own wins, but all of ours.

When I first got into publishing, I started #QPOCchat as a way to build community and nerd out with other BIPOC writers under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Recently, I’ve been longing for that kind of space again, and I decided it’s about time to bring it back! This time, I’m renaming it #BIPOCQTchat so it’s more inclusive and also because I like puns and calling myself a cutie! I’ll be hosting this once a month on Bluesky, most likely on the first Sunday of every month, so keep an eye out!

In the spirit of building community, I’m also opening up my discord server to more members! The server originally started as an unofficial “street team” of sorts for The Broposal, but has evolved into a space where I share all my bookish updates, and if I have any perks or giveaways, the members of that server are the first to hear about them. There are no promo requirements to join, it’s just a space for my readers to hang out and be the first to hear about updates! Request to join here if that sounds like your cup of tea.

Did you know Saturday, April 26 is Independent Bookstore Day? There will be bookstore crawls and fun events all over the US! See if your local indie is participating!

I understand not everyone has a local indie or the ability to pay full price. If you’ve been waiting on discounts to buy my books, the hardback for The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School is cheaper than than the paperback until 4/28 if you get it here, and you can get 25% off The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar from Barnes & Noble if you preorder here and enter the code PREORDER25.

If you want a chance to read Golden Boy for FREE, it’s still up for request to read early on NetGalley and Edelweiss!

If you’re new to hearing about this book, it’s a companion novel to The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School. This one takes place after the events of the first book and follows Yami’s brother, Cesar. Both books can be read without the context of the other, but don’t worry! There’s still plenty of time to read the first one if you wanted to experience them in order.

<sup>Seventeen-year-old Cesar Flores is finally ready to win back his ex-boyfriend. Since breaking up with Jamal the year prior in a last-ditch effort to stay in the closet, he’s come out to his mom, his sister, Yami, and their friends, taken his meds faithfully, and gotten his therapist’s blessing to reunite with Jamal.

Everything would be perfect if it weren’t for The Thoughts—the ones that won’t let all his Catholic guilt and internalizations stay buried where he wants them. The louder they become, the more Cesar is once again convinced that he doesn't deserve someone like Jamal—or anyone really.

Cesar can hide a fair amount of shame behind jokes and his “gifted” reputation, but when a manic episode makes his inner turmoil impossible to hide, he’s faced with a stark decision: burn every bridge he has left, or worse—ask for help. But is the mortifying vulnerability of being loved by the people he’s hurt the most a risk he’s willing to take?</sup>

If you or someone you know needs help with DACA, naturalization, or residency applications/renewals, LUCHA has some excellent resources. You can find many of them here. This is an Arizona based organization, but they can offer services through Zoom for those not based here.