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That right there is a story, and I’ve finished it, and now you’ve finished it, and I’d like to say good job to both of us! We did it!
When I first opened a Google Doc and titled it “Oh No Too Buff,” all I intended was to write the fun, horny role-reversal romance romp that I wanted to read. There was gonna be smooching! Huddling for warmth! Fakeout makeouts! All my favorite tropes smushed up into a delicious romantic casserole! I had absolutely no plans other than having fun, and I definitely had fun, so it was a big undertaking and a wonderful success.
It turned out, though, that while I set out just to have a good time, I also had a lot of things to say along the way about healthcare access, religious fundamentalism, mutual caretaking, and the value of kindness. There’s a theme in much of my writing about the long, difficult, and sometimes painful journey of allowing yourself to become the person you want to be, and I hope all of you enjoyed getting to see Lucían go on that journey through this story. If you find yourself contemplating taking your own journey, the best time to do it was five years ago and the second best time is now. I believe in you! And so does everyone in the Warrior’s Guild! (If anyone gives you any shit, the Knife will absolutely stab them for you, just give her the word.)
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank my beta readers, Adrian Harley, Mindy, Hyacinth, and Hannah. It’s because of them that my massive stream-of-consciousness word flailing turned into something with pacing, foreshadowing, and other smart writer things. I need to also thank my full-grown fake-adopted daughter, Maggie McMuffin, my sex scene dramaturg and kink whisperer, who now complains to me incessantly that Glory isn’t actually a real person she can date. Sorry, McMuffin, but at least she’s out here reminding us not to settle!
On the non-storytelling side of things, I want to thank my burlesque wife and actual academic Sailor St. Claire for all her help with my author’s bio and pitches and general willingness to step in whenever I needed someone to tell me my brain words were, at the very least, okay. I want to thank Erik Scott de Bie, for help with my queries and his endless support as I waded into publishing with determination and a dream. I want to thank Melanie Greene, without whom I wouldn’t actually know how to self-publish, because she literally wrote the guide I used to get this out into the world. I want to thank the Slack for buying and reading my book and then telling me it’s good! (Wow! What a rush that is!) I want to thank Lowa de Boom Boom for all the cat pictures and generally being a great person and a good friend. I want to thank Kenna M. Kettrick of Erudite Imp Writing Consultation for copyediting, and also for working out with me regularly over Google Meet for the length of this pandemic, because otherwise I wouldn’t have done a single push-up. I’m also going to thank my mom, Vicki, who read the first book against my explicit instructions that she not do so and has definitely read this one. I started stealing romance novels off her bookshelf when I was a teenager, as is tradition, so thanks for the inspiration!
Finally, I must always, always thank my wife, Crystal. Whooo boooooy what a year, am I right? If I was going to be stuck with anyone during a global pandemic, I’m so, so glad it was you. Thank you for always believing in me! I’m gratified to know that my book can still make you cry even when you’re not less than a week out from surgery and all doped up on painkillers. I love you, sweetie. Sorry not sorry about making you cry.