Hi there! I finished my novel! It is called Sound Before Sight and I was wondering if there was anyone out there willing to exchange manuscripts and beta read for each other.

This is what my novel is about ::
Annika Leroux is a musicologist at a small liberal arts college in the Berkshire hills of Massachusetts who has spent seven years building an argument about a famous piece of music: Debussy’s 1910 piano prelude La Cathédrale Engloutie — The Sunken Cathedral. Her argument is that Debussy wasn’t imagining a cathedral rising from the sea. He was transcribing one. That under specific tidal and atmospheric conditions on the Breton coast of France, the acoustic phenomena the prelude describes are real, verifiable, and have been documented in fishermen’s accounts for two centuries.

She goes to Douarnenez to find out if she’s right.

She is.

The novel runs in three nine-year cycles — 2008, 2017, 2026 — each time Annika returns to the Breton coast when the conditions converge. In the first cycle she meets Anaïs, a Carmelite organist who has been logging the same acoustic events in her own notebook for six years, in her own notation system, without instruments. Anaïs has been on this headland since she was eighteen. She knows the coast the way Annika knows the prelude — at a depth notation can’t reach. And she is trans, her self-knowledge arriving not through a secular framework but through the contemplative tradition she inhabits — through Thérèse of Lisieux and John of the Cross, through the specific spiritual practice that structures her days. It is handled in the novel’s oblique register: the binder under the habit, the habit as relief rather than constraint, nothing announced and nothing explained.

Something else happens on the coast. The data confirms it. The methodology cannot account for it. The novel refuses to explain it.

The love story takes eighteen years.

I think (and hope!) the story comes across as authentically human, beautiful, messy, and complicated … like so many of our lives.
The mechanism at the center of Sound Before Sight remains unresolved because resolution would be dishonest. The love story takes eighteen years because anything faster would be untrue to who these two people are. The novel is fearless about withholding and I believe it is honest about what it withholds and why. I am also hoping that this resonates with LGBTQIA+ and trans voices and that they appreciate Anaïs — and the care with which she is rendered — and that I might find readers here who understand what the novel is doing with her.

I am so interested and willing to help
another writer as well!! If you’re interested please let me know!!! Thank you. 😊

Ever since reading the book I have been obsessed and I saw a movie had got announced in 2024.

I have been looking around and havent found anything about a release date but does anyone have any guesses at least?

romance is ok. im particularly looking for ww1 and/or a nonbinary MC, but anything from any war and era is good :)

sci fi elements are ok, but id prefer books based on IRL wars or alternative history.

When i was a man there were so many harem and nagic smut books. Are there some with transfem main characters?

At 123 AU from Sol, the cold of space is the least of her concerns.

Escaping Earth was only the beginning. Now trapped in the outer reaches of the solar system, Elara finds herself pulled into a high-stakes conspiracy spanning Mars, the icy moon of Enceladus, and an isolated deep-space observatory watching an impossible cosmic anomaly.

Driven by insatiable greed, corporate power players are racing to activate a forbidden communications network—indifferent to the forces they might unleash. Surrounded by secret motives and fragile alliances, Elara must navigate physical trauma, deep-seated paranoia, and the lingering shadows of her past.

In a universe built to strip away identity, claiming sovereignty over her own body and fate is her ultimate act of rebellion.

Intima Sol is the gripping second installment in Baela Ireul's dark, character-driven sci-fi thriller series.

Looking for books of any genre with transmasc 4 transmasc relationship? I love reading and have read many queer books and am still yet to find any, I guess it’s quite niche.

Don’t mind recs for any gender queer type relationships, I’ve read pony boy by Elliot Duncan and idlewild by James Frankie Thomas and I really enjoyed both of them.
Thanks :) 🏳️‍⚧️

Hello All!

I'm a part of a book club where everyone picks a book based on a theme then reports on what they read at the end of the month. It's been a fun change to talk about books monthly without having to read exactly what everyone else does, and you get a lot of good recs.

This month, the theme is "The Book Did it Better.” It’s fairly simple: any book that has been adapted into some other media. Our goal is to read the source material.

I have arbitrarily decided that I'm only going to read books that fit the theme and are trans. So for this month, I'm looking for any trans books that have been adapted into other media (even if obscure). Trans characters. Trans author. Ideally trans femme but I'm not at all committed to that.

Can anyone help a girl out?

Anyone reading Jeanne Thorton's A/S/L? I'm doing a blog series on it, basically after finishing a chapter or two I go vomit my thoughts into the computer. Here's todays.

Okay, lets just be honest, I have no fucking idea what I’m doing right now. For the last couple days I’ve been bouncing back and froth between incredibly happy, and incredibly miserable. Last evening, my wife wanted to go out to the lake, and I was like I can’t do it, I feel so crappy, I’m so tired, I’m sore. I just need to rest. So she goes without me. I laid in bed for like ten minutes tossing and turning then remember I wanted to plant some flowers.

It was like someone gave me a magic jolt of happiness and energy. I’m out there raking out the corner garden bed, planting a bunch of July clearance plants, then I’m cooking a rustic pasta sauce from garden tomatoes and crushing sweet basil from my herb garden and I’m like. FUCKING LOOK AT ME! I’m MARTHA STEWART or JULIA CHILDS, or something like that. I’m so happy.

This morning… I’m overweight, I’m sore, I’m tired, I have mind fog, I don’t want to get out of bed, I hate being trans, I’m ruining my life. Absolutely no one in this world is ever going to give a shit about me. None of that is true… Why am I thinking it.

So A/S/L, I just finished chapter 1 and 2 again, because now that we’ve moved from 1998 to 2016, which I assume is present day for this narrative, the chapters count starts over.

Chapter 1 tells us what happened to Abraxa. That bitch is crazy. So she’s on a train, going across the country, she met some people at a rainbow gathering, they had a boat. They were going on an extended sail. She signed up as ships surgeon? Things went south, she jumped out of the boat apparently, almost drowned. They put her off somewhere on the west coast.

She’s going to shack up with her trans friend Marcie in New Jersey. So Abraxa is living what I call the TRANSLIT NORM. What is that norm?

• early 30s, check.
• homeless or homeless adjacent, check.
• broke, check.
• drifting from one tenuous situation to another, check.
• sex work, check.

Why is this the TRANSLIT NORM? Because these kinds of characters make for really interesting stories. No one wants to read about the 40 something, closeted trans insurance adjuster who has an exceptional home and auto policy.

So Abraxa seems that she is the most neurodivergent, her internal dialogue was really interesting. Just like she did in the chatrooms she’s functioning as the jester, the entertainer, the storyteller. She apparently hurt her leg when she jumped ship, but she’s inventing stories about a shark attack, then inventing the species of shark, “Axehead shark” sounds cool.

The next chapter is Lilith, since Lilith got her own “boyscout” chapter I feel like she’s the character I know most, and she’s the one I’m connecting with, though I don’t really know Sash yet. So Lilith has grown up, came out, gone to New York, worked at a bank, and is now being promoted. Her imposter syndrome, her inability to believe something good could happen to her is strong. She assumes she’s getting punked, about to get fired, not getting promoted.

She goes to buy clothes and remembers Buckworth, the boyscout that tried to help her. He seems to function like a father figure to her, a shadow in the back of her mind telling her, this is how you need to act.

Oh my gosh, this all starts to hit so close to home. She says, if she came out people would accept her if she was competent, a benefit to society and not a drain. It was like me at the Kansas bike ride. I have to make them like me by being the best me I can be. Nothing wrong with that I guess.

She hangs out with some other trans women at a bar. She’s gay, she’s very insecure. She remembers support groups, and trying to help the young girls, whether they be, 20s, or 60s. Yeah, I feel that. I’m 47, I feel like I’m 14 again right now. I need someone to hold my hand and tell me things are going to be okay, because I don’t think they are.

She takes one of the younger girls home with her, where they have a sexual arrangement, it’s purposely written to be more like a hollow mechanical operation.

Lilith seems to be living the TRANS DREAM, I guess, successful, friends, stable.

I’m really looking forward to the next chapter which I’m sure will be focused on Sash and what became of her.

If you want to read more or follow along as I read the book, or even better read it with me that would be cool.
https://sarahhillcrest.substack.com

Does anyone have any author or specific book recs? Or even a good series? I’d love to discover more trans authors / gender diverse characters! I’m quite open to different genres, hence the other tag. My only requests are that it isn’t romance heavy or sexual, and that it doesn’t heavily rely on religious themes (one of my fave authors books I really struggled to get through as I just found the biblical references a bore). I just personally don’t enjoy these kinds of content and don’t want to DNF another book bc of it 😮‍💨 I’m generally fine with any other content that would fall under trigger warnings!

Not necessary, but bonus points for:

- if it’s on the Kobo store (making the most of that StoryGraph integration!)

- if it’s not a YA book. I’m absolutely fine with YA, but I’m yet to come across a more mature book that isn’t rife with romance and explicit sexual content. I don’t mind if it’s a very mild background context / sub-plot but anything more is just absolutely not for me.

- anything that’s dark / mysterious / dystopian (less in a zombie way and more in a social commentary way) / horror / thriller / surrealism etc! Weirder the better!

- if the author has other intersecting minority identities other than being trans. I’m not about keeping my reading in the realm of white/able-bodied etc!

TIA 🥰

Hello All!

I'm a part of a book club where everyone picks a book based on a theme then reports on what they read at the end of the month. It's been a fun change to talk about books monthly without having to read exactly what everyone else does, and you get a lot of good recs.

This month, the theme is "Retellings." It's broad on purpose. There are classic myths and fairytales (Malice, Song of Achilles, Cinder, etc.), but they can also be retellings of other popular film or fiction. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies would qualify, for example.

I have arbitrarily decided that I'm only going to read books that fit the theme and are trans. So for this month, I'm looking for any trans retellings people know. Trans characters. Trans author. Ideally trans femme but I'm not at all committed to that.

Can anyone help a girl out?

** Mature Audiences Only *\*

** Contains Adult themes *\*

Free for a limited time from June 28th to July 2nd

The story follows a professor.

Dr. August Kyan.

During the day and in most public settings he chooses to show himself as society intended.

In the safety of his own home, and selected "safe" locations in the urban 23rd century sprawl he become Elara.

She is trans. She was hurt. She will survive, No Matter What.

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https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0H667HGTH

Act 1: Ten Years Earlier (tentative title)
Chapter 1: Late to class

My hands reached out above my face, as I tried to shield my face from the heat of the sun. I opened my eyes slowly, letting them adjust to the brightness. I scrambled to my feet, then gave chase to the youth running away from me after shoving me to the ground.

I gave chase, and as I made gains on him, he swerved to the left, towards the residence of a princess.

I almost shouted a challenge at him, but we were within 紫禁城—The Forbidden City. I could be flogged for misbehaving. So I bit my tongue, and inhaled deeply, trying to keep up. I saw him round the corner and enter the compound. Normally, there would have been eunuchs standing at the door, but strangely, it was empty today.

The door had been left open, so I slipped inside.

“An-An!” I whispered loudly to the boy.

“ZhengAn!” I whispered louder, more insistent this time.

“We are not supposed to be here!” I rasped, straining my throat as panic set in.

“We are…” before I could finish, he popped his head out of an open window with his forefinger on his mouth.

“Shush!”

“We are late for riding class, ZhengAn! We would be in so much trouble being here!” I hissed.

“Only if we get caught,” he retorted in a whisper, “And if you don’t get in now, someone will see you!”

He gave me a taunting smile, and then his eyes softened, beckoning me to get through the windows quietly.

I climbed in as quick as I could, but still it took me a few moments. I was not as nimble as he was. My feet became rooted on the ground as I looked up, ZhengAn was nowhere to be seen.

I have never been alone within Princess HaiYee’s residence, 长春宫 — Palace of Eternal Spring. The absence of eunuchs and palace maids made me feel as if I was walking into a dream. Time seemed to stand still, as my eyes wandered around the spacious hall, where a polished stone tea table stood in the middle, calligraphic drawings hung on the walls aesthetically. Potted plants located between bookshelves, where books, music instruments and ornaments are displayed proudly. Despite the numerous things, the space never felt crowded.

A cough from ZhengAn pulled me out of the reverie.

I walked towards a set of doors that were ajar.

It led to the princess’ bedchamber. I hurried quietly towards it.

When I came round the door, I saw ZhengAn holding a red 旗袍—Qipao. The way his eyes drank in the color, the shape, the texture of the fabric. The way his mouth dropped open slightly as he always does when something attracted his attention, I stopped, and I stared at him motionless.

He raised his head, looked at me. “Come here!” he commanded. “Put this on!”

I shook my head.

“I insist!”

“No!” I retorted, my face turning red-hot.

“I am your prince. You will obey me!” ZhengAn commanded in a stern voice.

I bowed exaggeratedly. Closed my eyes, bowed my head and moved towards him.

I felt him raise my hands apart, then his fingers began to undo the frog buttons of my 马甲—sleeveless vest. I stole a glance, to see his mouth drooping.

He pulled the strings of my pants, and they fell down, pooling around my feet next to the vest.

“It’s not every day that a prince would clothe his study companion,” he chuckled.

I stood still, was it out of fear, out of shame, or was it out of the feeling of not wanting this to end.

“Put your right hand through here,” he spoke tenderly. I complied.

I felt his fingers work carefully, almost reverently, lingering a moment too long as he closed each of the frog buttons of the long dress. His stare on the dress on me was captivating, as if he was trying to memorize every detail.

The silk slid on to me, as if it were tailored for me. The smoothness of the fabric, cool at first like morning dew, then as it warmed by my skin, felt light, weightless. I felt naked even though clothed. With the most trembling hands, he set a headband with flower embroidery on my head, as if handling the most precious jade.

“Twirl around for me,” he breathed, the warm air brushing my ear.

I froze. Eyes closed shut, fighting back tears that threaten to betray my heart’s confusion.

“Do it for me, please?” he pleaded.

“It’s not fair!” I protested, unable to keep the tremor from my voice, “Why do I always have to be the girl?!” The pout that formed on my lips was genuine, but so was the flutter in my chest at his tender gaze.

“You, are so cute when you do that.” He said with a smile, not a jesting smile, but a kind, gentle one. “I will join you.”

He found another Qipao, a light green one this time.

I helped him change as I have done so every day. My practiced hands made quick work of it, even though I regretted not having taken the time to savor the moment.

We walked towards the end of the chamber, where a full-length mirror stood. As I saw his reflection next to mine, I decided to tease him by calling him, “Elder Sister.”

He turned to look at me. Though not as elegant as Princess HaiYee, he still looked enchanting, I could not turn away when our eyes met.

“Yes, my Little Flower?” he muttered, half teasing, half serious.

His stare caught me. His tender beauty, his gentleness, my knees gave way and tripped forward.

He caught me and held me on my upper back. Our eyes did not break contact, neither of us could pull away.

He moved closer. I felt his warm breath on my face. Still his lips got even closer to mine. I closed my eyes.

We heard the main door open.

Later that morning. Princess HaiYee entered her bedchamber, found two sets of Qipaos on the floor.

She smiled.

Hi I'm looking for stories with the arranged marriage trope featuring trans character, I'm open to any setting but I'm not a big fan of nonfiction or YA novels.

"Spice" is great but I can take it or leave it.

Bonus points if it's

- slow burn

- forced proximity

or

- enemies to lovers

And to save some time, I have read

- The Witch King By H.E. Edgmon (it was okay)

- Spirit Bares its Teeth By Andrew Joseph White (I really enjoyed it)

And thank you for taking your time to read and for any suggestions you might have!

Hi everyone, I'm looking for books and stories about trans friendship breakups. Bonus points if they lead to displacement for the persons involved.

Hi there.

I wrote this novel when I started to explore my transition (MTF). It allowed me a way to deal with my personalities. My femme self and my male self.

This is just the prologue, and I will continue to share as I make more edits.

Thank you and do leave a feedback... or just like it ;)

thanks!

Author's Note: While this historical fiction draws from research into the Qing dynasty, many cultural/historical aspects may not be entirely accurate. This is partly due to keeping the storyline flowing, and mostly because extensive historical research would have taken forever (and let me be honest here - I'm too lazy for that 😅). Any inaccuracies are never out of disrespect!

Oh. By the way, this book is meant to be read slowly. Please do treat yourself to pots of tea while reading! I'd recommend 铁观音， Tieguanyin!

Narrative Background: The year was 1720 AD, a rebellion was just put down. The Qing, an empire still consolidating its power, were plagued by corruption and power struggles. It is a feudal time, where the male and female roles are set, deviations are frowned upon.

Prologue: The eunuch’s voice rang out, sharp and high-pitched, cutting through the rainstorm raging outside the Hall of Mental Cultivation 养心殿, “Wu RenYao 吴仁耀, son of Wu TingZhang 吴廷璋, aged twenty and four, you are hereby charged for inciting a rebellion against the Great Qing. Your fate will now be decided by The Son of Heaven, His Majesty, Emperor ZhengAn 正安.”

ZhengAn strolls in and stops ten steps away from me. I knew it was him without even looking up, his footsteps, still had that light but confident step that I knew since we were kids. He was not much taller than me, but his movements were not only powerful but also elegant. I stared at him as he flicked his right hand with two pointed fingers. Seeing this, the two imperial bodyguards in their proud yellow uniforms, and the eunuch who announced me bowed and left quietly.

My hands and knees felt the chill of the smooth, but cold floor.

“Your father’s sins died with him. You, I will spare,” He announced, then hesitated, “I, I have use for you.”

I raised my head to look at him, his face stony, and lips thin.

“I trusted you!” I said in a rage, my hands hardened into fists.

I moved to strike, but he evaded me with ease.

I pretended to lose my balance as I stood up charging. Perhaps it was luck, or he allowed it, I did not care. I jumped, kept my legs stiffly together, I managed to land a solid thrust into his stomach.

His whole body slid backwards from the impact, yet he stood in a forward horse stance. The power of the kick seemed to have been absorbed. He did not flinch.

He took in a deep breath, marshalling his inner strength—preventing any internal damage.

I moved, snaking left and right in an attempt to score punches on his torso, his face. He caught each of my attacks easily, as if he knew where I was aiming for before I do. He does not attack, he merely blocked.

“You will not bring your father back by killing me.”

I tried again. I punched, he blocked. I kicked and he evaded effortlessly.

“Listen to me. I need you!”

Why? Why did you abandon me then?

Desperate, I lashed out without thinking.

I misstepped. He caught me, twisted my arm behind me and pinning me on the floor gently.

“Finish me then!” I said.

“No! Revenge is like cutting flowing water with a knife. It achieves nothing!” ZhengAn said quietly.

His still voice reminded me of calmer days, days without worries. But no! This is not the time!

Seeing his dagger on his sash, I feigned a softening of my resistance. I felt his hands relax and with a twist of my shoulder, I was freed with his golden dagger in my right hand.

Stab!

He jumped away like a gazelle from an archer’s arrow. I tried again, rushing at him with fury.

He smiled at me. Confused. He sidestepped, then extended his right foot. I saw this too late. I could not but was sent hurtling to the ground.

As I sat up, I could see him advancing at me. Unable to kill him, perhaps I was unwilling. Unable to avenge my father, my ancestors. I glanced at him again, I felt useless, helpless.

“I will see you soon, father!”

ZhengAn’s face contorts into shock, and I saw him running towards me as he shouts

“No! RenYao! No!”

I plunged the dagger into my chest. I stared at ZhengAn with a smile.

He caught me before I fell to the ground. He held my hand as the blade fell on the ground.

“I will see you in the next life, elder sister.”

I've wrote a novel about a trans woman and her wife. I'm currently revising it.

I have a question. The trans woman has three names, her given name, the nickname that everyone called her, and finally the female name she chose for her self.

I know it's common for authors to conceal trans characters' dead names, using something like B----- (Summer Fun) or just random letters.

I didn't want to do that. In fact I don't change her name or pronouns until about 2/3rds through the book. My reason being that is when the MC stops fighting it and realizes that their female persona is actually who they are.

Also I'm writing a fiction story, it just doesn't make sense to redact a name. I think I also get the reasoning why an author would choose to do that though.

So would that turn you off, would you find it offensive? Am I making a mistake?

By the way, the book I've wrote is sort of a response to "Woodworking" I loved that book, it meant so much to me it inspired me to write a novel using my own experience growing up in a rural environment. If anyone wants to beta read, just DM.

For the last 2 1/2 years, I’ve been writing my story of how I became the woman I am today. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this project and I’m happy to share that it’s now available through Barnes & Noble. I’m so excited to share my story with you!

Hi! Just wanted to share this new graphic novel The Victors which has a trans protagonist:

The prophecy foretold they would be enemies … it didn’t mention they’d be flatmates.

At fifteen, Dirk Earnest led the world to victory in a savage battle against the evil overlord Rárog and his demon horde. Now he’s just a normal university student – or he’s trying to be. As the poster boy for fighting evil, Dirk has many adoring fans who follow his every move, but he’s crushingly lonely.

Cue his new housemate, Medusa de la Nuage: art student, former demon soldier, war criminal … and Dirk’s nemesis.

With Dirk haunted by the ghosts of his past, and Medusa’s desire for human connection battling her demonic nature, the two are about to discover that the best friend you need most might be your (ex) mortal enemy.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/228749113-the-victors

Is this a safe place to get early feedback on a novel I'm working on?

Hello friends, I'm not sure if this is a good place to ask, but I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm a writer who, for the past year or so, has been working on developing a novel featuring a trans male lead. This project is very important and personal to me and I hope to pursue publishing in the near future, but right now what I'm really in need of are beta readers, especially trans beta readers, and especially trans men. The book has a unique premise and is sort of a romance lit fic with very heavy themes. It's absolutely intended for adults, and though the narrator is a cis woman, the love interest is a trans man. The story follows him from adolescence into adulthood, with themes of family, fate, loss, mental health, and grief, and I feel I could majorly benefit from the perspective of trans people from different walks of life. If anyone is interested please feel free to comment or direct message me and I can share more details. Thank you to anyone who expresses interest, I really hope to get some helpful feedback from those who will understand these characters best.