The Creation of an Author

by Eden Winters

Many years ago my friend John said to me, “You’d never understand my world.”

This hurt me deeply, as I loved him dearly and wanted to understand the hardships he faced as a gay man, which launched a mission for me. How do I gain understanding? Being an avid reader, I immersed myself in the printed word in my quest for knowledge.

I stumbled upon my first gay romance novel, A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach, and fell in insta-love with the genre. One day while discussing a novel with a friend and fellow fan-fiction author, she said, “We could do this, you know” and challenged me to write a novel while she did the same.

As I was going through a hard time at the moment, I pretty much cut myself open and bled on the pages of The Telling, my very first novel, released ten years ago.

All of a sudden the stories in my soul took flight: the Diversion series, a narcotics crimes series based on actual cases in the pharmaceutical world; The Angel of Thirteenth Street and Fallen Angel, which tells of the struggles of youth aging out of foster care; flights of fancy such as Naked Tails, A Bear Walks into a Bar and Two Bears and a Baby (co-written with the above-mentioned friend, P.D. Singer), and many more. To date I’ve written twenty-three full-length novels, then returned to the love of my teenaged years, science fiction.

Six years ago I wrote The Sentinel for a campaign on Goodreads, which was well received. Readers wanted more. What sprang to mind was, not a continuation of Stone and Connell’s story, but a tale in which they are secondary characters, and we learn more about the sentient ships Stone mentioned.

Consorts of the Red King takes place in the same universe, with cybernetic soldiers, princes in disguise, and mercenaries who aren’t as bloodthirsty as they’d like others to believe. The name Van Orskey even occurred to me before the first word hit the page.

This book represents the latest chapter in my writing life. My journey to enlightenment has also continued, filled with PFLAG meetings, PRIDE parades, and a personal campaign to educate the masses on the importance of Spirit Day.

I’ve met many new friends along the way, opened myself to new experiences, and have grown exponentially as a person.

All because of love.  Continue reading →