I want to talk about Love, Simon. But first I need to talk about another queer coming-of-age movie.

When I was 16 my best friend and I stayed with my dad for the school holidays.  On that trip, we went to Video Ezy and rented some of the trashiest movies we could find, determined to turn the entire two weeks into some sort of extended sleepover. One of those movies was But I’m a Cheerleader.

It was everything 16-year-old me wanted in a movie – awkward humour, flipping the bird to gender roles, and cheezy declarations of love.

It was also HELLA gay.

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Eli Swann is a loner by choice, thank you very much. All that changes on Halloween night when he’s bitten by a rogue werewolf.

Suddenly he’s got a raging case of pack instincts, a shaky accord with two humans from a neighbouring pack, and no idea how he’s going to make it through the next full moon.

Oh, and the captain of the baseball team might be trying to kill him. This would sting less if Eli hadn’t had a crush on the guy since grade school.

Do you like characters who are queer? Do you also like characters who are werewolves? Have I got a serialised story for you!

Coming May 2018 is my first foray into serialised fiction: Hug Your Local Werewolf.

The first season is clocked in at 10 episodes, 11,000 words each, making this THE project I’ll be tackling this year. Each episode will be released for free on this here website.

“But how are you going to afford to eat, Stacey?” I hear you yelling worriedly from the nosebleeds.

That’s where you come in. I’m going to be monetizing this baby through Patreon. For those not aware of the wonder that is Patreon, it’s a platform where you can pledge cash money to creators on a monthly or per-creation basis. You then get fun behind-the-scenes access and other rewards for helping us artists, y’know, pay our rent and stuff.

My Patrons will be getting behind-the-scenes updates, first access to content when it’s published, sit-ins on some live-writing sessions, and other cool rewards. I’d love to have you with me too 🙂

Thanks go out to Rosie, Draconiarose, BookGeekGrrl, and Watsonimholmes who’re already pledging to this crazy train. Y’all are the best.

If you’re not in a position to pledge (#SAME) then consider following me on social media so you don’t miss me launching this bab. I’m on Instagram here, Facebook here, and Twitter here.

I’m both terrified and excited to be bringing this project to life!

Thanks, all x

Spoilers for Thor: Ragnarok ahead! I also allude to scenes and sequences from Star Wars: The Last Jedi and both Guardians of the Galaxy movies just FYI.

I saw Thor: Ragnarok in cinemas when I was having a particularly rough time and for a brief, shining moment the world was good again. My pain was forgotten, my depression cured, flowers bloomed beneath my feet as I left the cinema and bunnies stood poised to break into song.

Taika Waititi is the sort of storyteller I would step over a body to have a beer with. As someone who’s been steadily falling out of love with the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the last few years, Thor: Ragnarok was like a shot of adrenalin. It was funny, it was heartfelt, and it broke so many rules but in the best of ways.

Here’s my rundown of what writers can learn from Thor: Ragnarok.

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Writing is all about empathy. It’s about putting yourself in a character’s shoes and doing your best to understand their perspective on life. Sometimes your characters have a lot in common with you, so it’s relatively easy to step into their head. Sometimes they don’t, and it isn’t. When it comes to the latter, research is your best friend.

If you’re here, you’re probably researching how to write a character with chronic pain. Or you’re my mum (hi mum!). So, welcome! I’m here to tell you a bit about what it’s like to be in pain 99.9% of one’s time. Because I have first-hand experience in this arena and boy HOWDY do some writers get it very, very wrong.

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