I don't often post stuff on here that is not about me but this is a special occasion.

I made my first contact around GWA with /u/Eves-garden - she helped me process a lot of mental (self-inflicted) trauma and see myself in a different way and I like to acknowledge that every now and then because it meant a lot. But an unsung angle of this is that she also helped me go in a different direction than I might have with my writing, and pushed me to continue and hone my capacity.

Now, I can write some kinds of things, I have some sense of writing, such that I can write a script no problem. But I am not a fully fledged writer. You may be familiar with Eve's faculty for erotic audio, but Eve can imagine storylines, arcs, twists and turns, describe landscapes and intrigues and setups, invent characters with realistic motives and conflicts and desires. She is a writer, an author, a great musician of the English language, and just recently a published novelist too.

Her book is a romance novel. Chances are you have some preconceived notions of what that means - I know I did. I had the great fortune to read an earlier version of it about one and a half years ago and I'm going to be reading it again shortly - it was as much of a real, thrilling, emotional book as any I've read, and with more soul and heart than the many mediocre ones that largely put me off book reading. It focuses on and circles around two people and their both common and uncommon love story, and portrays desire, boundaries, needs, worrying and self-image.

The book is called Stay With Me and it is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.

To Eve: Congratulations and thank you. To everyone else: this is the kind of range, breadth and depth that I wish to aspire to in my own writing, and it is an inspiring and emotional read that explores the meaning of love, strength and courage and keeps you hanging on for just another chapter. If you want to support a person whose work I admire and pick up a good read at the same time, I highly recommend this book.