Backstage [discontinued version]

Preface (IMPORTANT)

Writing songs in his bedroom, 24 year-old Tai Vuong wonders if there's a day he can share his music without pretending to be someone he's not. His power to manipulate people's opinions doesn't help—it's a reminder that he would never meet the expectations of others.

But as Tai meets more people and ordinary things add up to extraordinary circumstances, he realizes he doesn't want to change who he is. He needs to change how he sees himself.

Set in the heart of Toronto, Backstage follows an autistic musician's journey to discovering what it means to be yourself.

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Backstage is the sequel to the first book in the trilogy, Keychains, but it is written to act as a stand-alone novel. Each are written from a different perspective and deal with very different themes, so you may read whichever you like. 

I tried a lot of new things in this book. I hope you enjoy. Do let me know what you think of it in the comments, and if you are a silent reader, just hitting that star button would really, really help me as the author to continue writing this book. Thank you for giving Tai's story a try.

Disclaimers

#1: "Backstage" is a work produced and owned by Jade H. Foliage, available exclusively on W -A-T-T-P-A-D. If you are reading this work on any other website, it has been illegally taken without permission and you are at risk of a malware attack. Please support the author by going to W-A-T-T-P-A-D and reading it there. 

#2: "Backstage"  is a book with LGBTQ+ and neurodivergent themes. This is a safe place for all people of all ethnicities, cultures, religions, sexualities, gender orientations and backgrounds. Negativity or hate based upon any of these attributes, or any combination of these attributes, will not be tolerated. Let me make it clear that we accept and love everyone here.

#3: When referring to the word 'disability' in "Backstage," the definition of the social model of disability will be implied; that is, that the disability is caused by the way society is organized, where the disabled person experiences barriers and lacks adequate accommodations thanks to societal structures. In this respect, since Tai Vuong (the protagonist) identifies himself with the social model, he will view his Autism as a disability and call it as such. This does not mean that all Autistic folks will agree; this is articulating only Tai's individual choice on the matter. Only one person's opinion. There is also the medical model of disability, which defines the disability as a result of inherent impairments or differences in the individual. (Tai does not agree with this model for him.) Folks may identify with the medical model, social model, both, or even neither, and no one is wrong. This will be discussed later on within the actual story, but I find it important to clarify this here.

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Dedication

To my mom.