A square image picturing me (androgynous redhead) in the upper left, a picture of the book Caerule in the upper right, a picture of Viridis in the lower left. In the middle left it says: The Viridis Series Sci-Fi / Fantasy Trilogy For Mature Audiences In the lower right, it says: The Known Galaxy is at war while the Empire buckles under the weight of an oppressive caste system. Eye color seems a person's status, and it is three women from the lowest of these ranks that rise to put an end to it. With some hope, the galaxy will survive the upheaval.
Viridis began as a series about redemption. Anyone who looks back at photos of me from the time the book was published can see I was a queer person struggling to try to fit into the Christian box, and because of that, I tried to show that I was worthy of affection by writing a story that would have the “central” themes of the bible in it. If you’ve read my books, or any of my recent writing, you’ll know this is not the case anymore. Viridis was written when I was still struggling to find myself, and to, additionally, hide that person from the eyes of the church. In the first book, you can feel that conflict on the page, the fight for identity, the conflict to tell a more diverse story. Perhaps that is why the only cis straight person perishes in the first book, as a way to allow me the excuse to write something more queer. Book 2, however, holds none of its former book’s reservations. Book 2 is a story of war, and queerness, and love, and diversity. It is a story of healing, of breaking cycles, and of starting something new. It steps into the direction of who I am, and you can read such a thing on the page. Deconstruction of my faith has started, deconstruction of oppressive systems in my life has begun, and I am coming into myself more. Book 3 is a complete shift from the first book. A novel that started with the agenda to tell a story of redemption shifted into a story of chosen family, of platonic love, of dismantling oppressive governing bodies, and of kicking off the shackles of a religion that sought to do you harm.
In a way, the Viridis Series tells the tale of me, the author, as I grow into my queerness, and leave my blood family behind. With that in mind, I find myself feeling guilty when I promote these books. I worry perhaps I’ve spilled too much of myself onto the page, that these books may not offer you the best representation of what I can do. At the same time, I feel guilty for stepping away from writing books as long as I did to pursue nonfiction stories, stories about my queerness, and comic creation. But writing this now, I think, perhaps, all that time away has helped me even more to become a better storyteller. I hope you’re excited for book 3, Rutasy. I’m excited to get back into long-form novel writing again, and work on the new book, outside the Viridis galaxy and to somewhere far into the Nordic North. That novel, codenamed “ROT,” tells an inherently queer love story between two people who should never have met, all while being hunted by the gods for who they are. Can you tell that after leaving religion, I have a lot to still say about it? Onward, to new adventures. May this year be full of art, and creativity, and queerness, for we will never go away, not even if an orange signs a piece of paper.
Onwards!
#viridisseries
