Writing is easy. You just open a vein and bleed.

Hey. My name is Rae, and… this is my face. 



It’s actually a little scary, attaching my face to the pen name I use to write smutty romance novels, but I’m showing it to all of you - grown-out roots and no make-up and yoga pants - because I trust you. I’m showing it to all of you because, ideally, I’d love to spend all of my time providing you with the stories you love so much. And I know you love them. They mean something to you, just like the stories I read growing up meant something to me. I grew up in a religious, sex-negative household. There weren’t any positive examples of queer women for me to look up to. So when I realized that I liked women, I turned to the internet. What I found changed my life. I found stories about women - joyful stories, stories where people like me got a chance at happily ever after. I can’t even begin to describe how much that meant to me.

Now, I want to pay it forward. I want to make my living sharing that acceptance and support I got from fiction with other people. The great news is that I’m already doing it. I’m only a small-time author, and I’m still learning as I go, but I get messages from people every day about what my work means to them. My books and fanfiction have helped shy, terrified teenagers realize that they’re queer - and that being queer can be an amazing thing. They’ve helped older people come out and start living their lives with integrity. They’ve helped people accept their kinks with love instead of shame. They’ve helped people with speech therapy after brain damage. They’ve helped people get the courage to seek new relationships. They’ve helped people revive their long-dead sex lives with their spouses so they can give their marriages another go. They’ve brought joy to people with terminal illnesses like cancer who are near the end of their lives.

And I have so much more I want to do. So I’m asking for your help. I’ve seen the hit counts on my stories. If every person who read them chipped in one buck a month, I’d be making a huge six figure income. But as it is, I want to make sure everyone who needs my stories has the opportunity to read them. I want to publish more books with Desert Palm Press. I want to release more free original fiction. I want to write fan fiction that’s available to everyone, especially the people who need it. But I have to be able to support myself while I’m doing this. The dream is to quit my other job and devote twice as much time to writing.

Thank you so much for being part of this. You are all truly amazing, and I’m grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to make connections with so many of you.