New short story "Drag Brunch" out today!

Complicated friendships and hurt feelings set off an exploration of the drag show bachelorette party industrial complex™

It’s pub day for my latest short story “Drag Brunch,” and I couldn’t be prouder of this one. It’s full of misguided characters, flamboyant settings, and embittered dialogue, and follows an angsty gay man who gets uninvited from his bff’s bachelorette trip. Obviously, drama ensues.

And it’s the first story where I get to print the word “faggot” (in relevant context, of course!), which feels like a homosexual (w)rite of passage.

The story is featured in After Dinner Conversation, a magazine home to stories concerned with ethics, philosophy, and social issues. “Drag Brunch” explores the appropriation of queer spaces by straight audiences, the “drag show bachelorette party industrial complex,” and deeply flawed characters making highly suspect choices.

In even more exciting news, “Drag Brunch” was selected to use for cover art for this issue of After Dinner Conversation!

To get your copy of “Drag Brunch”:

• Read it through Libby from OverDrive or similar apps through your library! The library is open.

• Buy it on Amazon in paperback ($12.95) or on Kindle ($2.99).

• Find it on other digital platforms, like Apple Books, Kobo, Smashwords, and more (all $2.99).

• I’ll keep you posted if it’s available to read directly online, too.

A note about the cover

If you click on any of the above links to buy a copy, you may notice that the photo of the cover I’m including here is cropped.

The cover from the magazine includes the following promotional question associated with my story: “Are drag shows new minstrel shows for straight party girls?”

I want to be clear that I am not on board with the publisher’s marketing tag line. I do not condone even the rhetorical equivalency of drag with minstrel shows.

My story explores the question of appropriation of queer art for straight audiences, and how highly problematic characters may even make the same offensive comparison.

But as an author, I cannot in good conscience include a link to the magazine without a preface that the full cover includes phrasing that I find reductive and harmful. While I have no control over other promotional channels, I decided to crop the cover in my posts to avoid proliferating the pernicious language.

I am deeply proud of “Drag Brunch”—in particular for how it portrays the problems with narrow views of social justice in a queer context.

I hope you can join me in celebrating the story’s publication, and hope that the story, more than the tag line, can generate some good after dinner conversation.

One more thing …

(🥁 drum roll please 🥁)

Speaking of celebrating … I just found out that “Drag Brunch” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize!

I’m genuinely so excited to see this story in print and online, and now beyond honored it was nominated for a Pushcart.

“Drag Brunch” had a long road to acceptance by a lit mag—it was out on submission for over 11 months, and was rejected almost 50 times before finally landing at After Dinner Conversation.

Now, after all that rejection, the Pushcart nomination feels like the cherry on top of a big sloppy sundae.

Much love and many drag brunches, my queens! 👑

And remember: reading is what?

Fundamental.

Mark 😘