I’m finishing up Netflix’s Lord of the Flies, and boy is it terrific. Brilliant cinematography, haunting score, and fully embodied performances from its young actors. It’s a reminder of how easily we can be reduced to bare life and bloodlust.

I'm currently reading Light from Uncommon Stars and, reader, this book is absolutely bananas, and I am absolutely here for it.

I don't know how to explain it, but a PB&J sandwich is infinitely tastier when the jam/jelly is cold.

This is a small thing, but ever since I started wearing rings again, I've felt more like myself than I have in years. Sometimes, you really do gotta let your inner fab fly.

Is anyone else watching Half Man on HBO? I adore this show, and I particularly like that I have literally no idea what's going to happen from episode to episode.

Happy Monday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed Send Help, the deliciously black comedy by Sam Raimi which features terrific performances from Rachel McAdams and Dylan O'Brien.

Now that I’ve finished another queer Appalachian love story, I’m feeling all the feels. God I miss West Virginia. Just thinking about how beautiful it is and how my family is so grounded there gets me all weepy.

I just finished Carter Sickels’ The Prettiest Star, and now I’m ugly crying into the pillow.

Amadeus (the TV show) is brilliant and debauched and absolutely delicious. The cast is superb, the sparring sublime, and the animosity perfectly tuned.

I love spring and summer. It's that time of year when my dad and I can tell each other all about what we're planting and how our flowers are doing. It's a little bit of rural Appalachian father/son bonding, and it always makes me feel so good inside.

Not to toot my own horn, but I think it's pretty neat that I published 3 queer Appalachian love stories this year, 2 rom-coms and 1 romantasy. And they're all three books I can be proud of.

Somebody spent his Sunday relaxing. 😂

As I gear up for Hittin' the Right Note's release, I thought I'd post an excerpt from my Acknowledgments, thanking all the great Appalachian writers I've connected with this year.

New MM romance idea: two rival chicken gays (i.e. gays who exhibit chickens) who go from competing against each other to lovers. Title: Down to Cluck. 😂

If you're looking for a book that has some VERY steamy gay sex up in a holler in West Virginia, then my forthcoming Hittin' the Right Note is DEFINITELY for you.

It's Swoony Sunday over at Omnivorous, where I reviewed C.L. Clark's Fate's Bane, a poignant and thought-provoking novella that's both easy to read and one sitting and well worth savoring.

Finally watching GOAT. I love it already. I really enjoy this type of animation and snappy writing. This type of animated film is definitely my

Since Hittin' the Right Note is now available for preorder, I thought I'd share the cover design again. I'm just so proud of this queer Appalachian love story, and I hope you'll welcome Luke and Mikey into your heart.

Tbh the most exhausting part of writing isn’t the drafting or the revising. It’s the typesetting and the relentless polishing and detailing. It really takes it out of you.

I'm currently reading Carter Sickels' The Prettiest Star, and man...this book is DEVASTATING.

I call this one “Cat By Sunlight.”

Well, the files are now submitted for Hittin' the Right Note, my new queer Appalachian romance. Time to sit back, relax, and pig out on some Dairy Queen.

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm almost caught up to The Testaments, and for today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the seventh episode, which reveals the extent to which resistance can come from both within and without.

Happy Friday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed chapters 1-9 of Robin Hobb's Assassin's Quest, which continues to showcase Robbi's truly extraordinary talents as a maestro of high fantasy.

He’s so beautiful that I can’t stand it sometimes

Happy Thursday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the third episode of Half Man, which continues to be a gritting, grim, and utterly engrossing examination of toxic masculinity. Richard Gadd is a genius!

I continue to marvel at Robin Hobb’s ability to craft an epic story that, despite being deliberately paced, nevertheless grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go.

One of my very favorite country music songs is Daryle Singletary's Spilled Whiskey. It's delightfully melancholy, and I'm actually writing a queer Appalachian romance based on it.

I love Deborah Vance’s wardrobe in Hacks. It’s like an updated version of Blanche’s from The Golden Girls.

Seeing Jean Smart and Cherry Jones on my screen at the same time is the gift I didn’t know I needed.

My shameful music confession of the evening is that I keep listening to Brad Paisley's "Ticks." Ugh. When did I become this person? (Spoiler alert: I was always this person; I just didn't want to admit it).

Calling all ancient history fans! If you haven't yet, check out Owen Rees' new book, The Far Edges of the Known World. It's an insightful look at the margins of antiquity, showing how the ancient world was far more interconnected than most of us might realize.

Alright, y'all. Hittin' the Right Note, my new queer Appalachian romance, is nearly done. And...it's actually pretty good? Like, not terrible? Doing a couple more passes today, tomorrow, and Thursday, and then it goes to Ingram and Kindle. Aaah. It's getting real!

Happy Tuesday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the first season of the show Rooster on HBO, which I found to be an utter delight, thanks in no small part to Steve Carell. It also has a keen understanding of writing and writers.

I was randomly thinking about Ted Lasso today, and I stumbled on this photo of the cast with President Biden, and it just made me miss 2023, when it felt like things were actually getting better, before we all plunged into this neverending hellscape. Sigh.

One of the things I love the most about the show Rooster is that it actually seems to both get and appreciate writers and writing. That’s a rare thing in TV world.

I still find it kind of exciting--and sometimes a little challenging--that my work sits at the awkward confluence of MM romance/romantasy and Appalachian lit. And yet, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sometimes I feel like most film and TV critics write their entire review just to lead up to some excruciating pun at the very end of said review. (I try to avoid this, but I'm sure I'm guilty of it, too).

Happy Monday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the horror film Hallow Road, which features terrific performances from Matthew Rhys and Rosamund Pike. It's a great film that forces us to sit with the terror of ambiguity.

I love going to a brick and mortar bookstore or a library, no matter how large or small. There's just something about being surrounded by books that inspires me to keep working on my own projects, even when I'm not feeling the urge. Books are powerful things, y'all.

Saw this abandoned farm while out driving yesterday and felt very moved. It was beautiful in a melancholy way.

Happy Sunday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous, I reviewed Dan O'Hare's remarkable book Water Dressed in Brown, which is at once a love letter to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and an exploration of the heartbreaking ambiguities of love.

There's a moment in my new queer Appalachian romance where one MMC carries the other to bed and honestly? I just made myself fall in love with (and get very horny for) my own character.

Tonight’s film viewing is Send Help. Definitely can tell this is a Raimi film, at once earthy and bitingly funny. Highly recommend.

That new show Rooster is a delight. Steve Carell is aging like fine wine, the writing is spot on, and it’s both cringe inducing and hilarious.

Look at this cutie signing his little gay books at one of the coolest indie bookshops on the East Coast (Browseabout Books in Rehoboth). This is truly a dream come true. 😃

The sixth episode of The Testaments is one of the best of the season so far, giving Ann Dowd another opportunity to showcase her formidable talents and shedding light on the enigma that has always been Aunt Lydia.

I highly recommend Half Man on HBO. This is peak male melodrama. I’m just sad I have to wait a week between episodes.

Happy Friday, everyone! For today's edition of Omnivorous I reviewed the final third of Robin Hobb's Royal Assassin, which brings the book to a tragic and triumphant close. Truly one of the great works of fantasy fiction.

I just bought the third book in the Farseer Trilogy, and even though I'm under the gun to get this new book ready and submitted, I just want to spend the rest of the day seeing what happens to Fitz.