it isn't over

This has been kind of a weird few months for me. It’s been amazing and almost surreal to see Rachel Reid’s success with the Heated Rivalry TV adaptation everywhere in real zeitgeist status. I’m incredibly happy for Rachel and everyone involved in that project as it was truly a labor of love. It’s always lovely to see an adaptation done with such care.

On the other hand, the renewed attention in hockey romances has meant a lot of new eyes on my own work. I’ve gotten a bit used to being a small-time author with a very dedicated fan base (to whom I am very grateful), but not a lot of visibility. It turns out that being Perceived is kind of terrifying, but also, in some ways, very cool. I have made some new friends, including other writers I have admired from afar for a long time, and also…I thought I was done with hockey, but it turns out that hockey wasn’t done with me.

Thus, my personal big news:

I had really, really struggled trying to decide whether to keep working on hockey. I don’t have any time to watch games anymore, what with everything else going on in my life. I felt discouraged and cynical in general about the game itself, and the comments I would see on posts about the WJC trial. I felt a bit sad regarding publishing and my career in general (over the course of the last year I have had a project die on sub, confirmed).

But then…Leo Cohen happened to me. I couldn’t get him out of my head, and the more I thought about him, the more he fleshed himself out. Like the fact that he has a Wayne Simmonds smile and has never once backed down from the opportunity to say something rude. Like the fact that his mother named him after Leonard Cohen and he’s never, ever forgiven her. Like the fact that he gets claimed off of waivers and shows up at the airport, wearing sunglasses at night, completely fucked up. The more I thought about him, the more I thought about his counterpart, and then…the story happened. I had about 18,000 words, and enough to put together a proposal, and I did it. And here we are.

Unsportsmanlike Conduct will be on its way to you soon, and it is a book that answers the age-old question: “What if you said ‘I could fix him,’ but instead he made you worse?”

I’ll post more about the book as it’s finished and closer to editing…I think this is actually the first time I’ve sold a book on proposal and not as an actual, completed manuscript. But I am really going to try to do better about promotion, and I think I’ll have art of the main characters ready to go by the time that ramps up. In the meantime, if you’re curious about the vibes…

In other housekeeping news, I recently wrote a post with curated recommendations for non-fiction about hockey that you may find interesting. Also, I am still working on some of the short stories—the Ryan/Murph AU, and an Eric and Ryan pwp—I’d promised, although given my current schedule for these manuscripts, I have no idea how long it’s going to take me. The AU is finished and the pwp has about 4,000 words but they haven’t actually gotten down to business yet. Regardless, when I finish them, they will be posted on the Extras section in the website (free). After that, future shorts will probably go up on my Patreon (more explanations about this on other social media, I don’t want to spend a ton of time on it right now).

I’ll also be doing an AMA on the MM Romance Books subreddit in January! More information on that the closer we get to it. But just something to keep in mind. I’m looking forward to that too, but I’m also nervous no one will ask any questions.

So that’s all the news that’s fit to print! I’m excited, and nervous, and really pretty happy to be able to share Leo and Devon with you at some point in the future. I’m happy to have some kind of book in the works. And I’m happy to have a deadline so I can force myself to get anything done. Can’t really ask for more than that!

As always, thanks for reading.

— Ari 🧡