Guest Post and Giveaway: The Queer and the Restless by Kris Ripper

Please help us welcome author Kris Ripper to TNA today, on the tour for zir latest release, The Queer and the Restless. Kris gives us a truth or two to think about, and there’s also a giveaway, so be sure to check out those details below.

Welcome, Kris!

Read More Books!

There are a lot of accepted publishing truths in queer publishing land. One of them is M/F with a trans main character won’t sell.

Let’s find out, shall we?

I can’t always keep track of all the “truths” in publishing. Probably because I don’t care all that much. One of the interesting things about earning all of my income from a thing I’ve been doing for many years (without getting paid) is that my business understanding and my writing understanding are very separate in my head.

I have a lot of ideas. So many ideas. ALL THE IDEAS. Some are more marketable than others, but the ones that arguably intrigue me the most are the ones other people aren’t writing. And one of those things is M/F with a trans main character.

There are a few of these, but not enough for anyone to say whether or not they’ll sell. This falls under “no one knows how to market books like this, or who the audience is, and it’s easier to assume they won’t sell enough to make publishing them worthwhile instead of trying to explore an unusual type of pairing”. 

The Queer and the Restless is a book about two folks who fall in love. One of them is trans, sure, and I certainly hope that other trans folks see bits and pieces of their experience mirrored in how Ed enters the world. I know there are bits and pieces of my experience in how he enters the world.

There will undoubtedly be bits and pieces of everyone’s experience in Ed, because that’s kind of how fiction works. I’d be hard pressed to find a nuanced character with whom I share zero qualities. That’s the magic of the form, and why I’ve been escaping and transcending with stories all these years.

Who’s going to read this book? I have no idea. Hopefully, you will, even if you’ve never read a book like it before. Hopefully you will if you’re trans, if you’re cis, if you’re queer or straight. If you’re a journalist, or a travel planner. If you hang out at the local bar and know half the folks on the dance floor at any given time, or if you’re a homebody. (I’m a homebody. I still have a lot of fun in Club Fred’s!)

And it goes without saying: if you read a book—any book—that you enjoy, especially if it’s a little bit different, please tell folks you liked it. Please review, if that’s your thing. Please read more books like it!

About the Book

Ed Masiello has been on testosterone for a year, is working his dream job as a reporter, and is finally passing as a man (so long as you don’t ask his abuela). But the investigation of a murder case is starting to take over his life. Afraid he’s becoming obsessed, he goes to the local club to relax, and meets the flighty, whimsical Alisha.

Alisha is a free spirit who’s tossed aside ambition for travel and adventure. Her approach to life is a far cry from Ed’s, and while Ed has always assumed that meeting his goals would make him happy, Alisha is much more content than him—despite all the plans she can’t yet fulfill.

As their relationship heats up, so does the murder case. Alisha thinks Ed needs a break, but someone’s got to find this killer, and he wants to be there when it all goes down. Besides, taking off into the great unknown with Alisha is crazy. But opting for what’s safe is just another way of living in fear, and Ed vowed to stop living like that a long time ago.

The Queer and the Restless is available from Riptide Publishing.

About the Author

Kris Ripper lives in the great state of California and hails from the San Francisco Bay Area. Kris shares a converted garage with a toddler, can do two pull-ups in a row, and can write backwards. (No, really.) Kris is genderqueer and prefers the z-based pronouns because they’re freaking sweet. Ze has been writing fiction since ze learned how to write, and boring zir stuffed animals with stories long before that.

Connect with Kris: Website || Facebook || Twitter

The Giveaway

To celebrate the release of The Queer and the Restless, one lucky winner will receive an ebook from Kris’s backlist! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on November 5, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!