Dear Reader,
Thank you so so much for deciding to read Autumn Leaves and Teenage Dreams. When first publishing this novel on Wattpad, I did not expect it to blow up or become my most popular book on Wattpad for that matter. For those of you unaware, most of my followers and reads come from all the Warriors Cats fanfiction I used to write when I was a tween/young teen (so embarrassing, I know!). But seeing so many of you invested in this story warmed my hearts, so thank you for all the reads, votes, and kind comments.
I really put my heart and soul into this story, and I hope some of you could relate to what I was writing from a queer experience. I assume most of the readers of this story belong to the LGBTQIA+ community. For my queer readers who picked up this book, I hope you enjoyed, and I hope, for those of you may be younger and going through some of these feelings of self-doubt and internalized homophobia, this helped you in some way, shape, or form. I can't tell you how to view yourself, but I can tell you that you are loved and that you matter, and I wish every single person in this world would understand that as well.
Thank you again for all the love and support from my first solely-LGBTQ+ novel! I was honestly a little hesitant posting this at first and sharing this story. I only came out at 20 years old and started writing this book shortly after, and I think in some ways I doubted the validity of my queerness because so many other LGBTQ+ people I knew had come out YEARS before me, and I felt I hadn't had any of those same experiences yet (I still don't, and that's okay. You can thank Coronavirus for that). So, as another note, it is okay to come out at any age! You can wait until you are comfortable. You can (and should) wait until it's safe to do so. You can wait until you feel like you've figured yourself out some more. I felt super old coming out at 20 (which isn't even that old of an age to come out at), because most other gay people I knew had come out in high school or earlier. Hell, I felt old when I started to question at 15, since I had a friend or two already out at that age. Sometimes it just takes a little longer to realize, and that's okay.
I appreciate every single one of you who picked up this book, and I hope you all enjoyed. Please enjoy the bonus two stories attached!
If you're interested in my other LGBTQ+ books, then please check out Ad Astra (currently being published weekly), and my two completed novels When the Violin Sings, and Can You Hear the Ocean?.
You can find the link to Ad Astra here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/333614426-ad-astra
You can find the link to When the Violin Sings here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/250521183-when-the-violin-sings
You can find the link to Can You Hear the Ocean? here: https://www.wattpad.com/story/278116761-can-you-hear-the-ocean
Keep on reading,
~Maeve
YOU ARE READING
Autumn Leaves and Teenage Dreams
Teen Fiction[LGBTQ+ Teen Fiction] (Editor's Choice July 2022) High school junior, Callie Washington, is currently in a dilemma. Attending an all-girls, Catholic high school means most of her peers are focused on college, SATs, and the nearby boys at their broth...
