#being aro

Hey! We're doing an open call for submissions for Being Aro, which released from Page Street Publishing next summer. Submission guidelines here!

I just want someone who will love me, who will actually be there and care. I don’t care about all the normal things that people associate with romance. I’d want cuddles and a kiss on the forehead, maybe, but that is basically it.

Books of 2026: June Wrap-Up.

'Twas the month of homes and hearts and murder islands, apparently?? Happy Pride?!?

I did try to read exclusively queer authors (plus Poetry Quest material), and I was successful on that front! I'm also still chugging along on my revision project (and feeling the deadline squeeze)(we won't talk about that)(much).

Reviews linked!:

BEING ARO ★★★ Enjoyed some of these a lot! Unimpressed with some, too, though. BEING ACE is the stronger collection, but I'm glad they both exist!

COME HOME TO MY HEART ★★★★★ This fucked me up so bad I had to set it down for a week. Achingly and heartbreakingly well done

MODEL HOME ★★★★ I will follow Rivers Solomon anywhere, up to and including a horrible HOA in Dallas suburbs. More literary bent than haunted house, still extraordinarily well done.

THE ODYSSEY ★★★★ Phenomenal and fascinating translation, hugely approachable and thoroughly modernized language (with good pedagogical reasons for why!), I will be checking out Wilson's ILIAD also because of this.

MAKE ME BETTER ★★★ I will also follow Gailey anywhere, up to and including coral cult island :)

SEASONS OF GLASS AND IRON ★★★★ Amal El-Mohtar once again knocking it out of the park!! Loved this prickly collection.

THE ENDING WRITES ITSELF ★★★½ Indulgent fun! Check it out if you're a writer and want someone coming for your jugular, maybe skip it if you're a mystery/thriller aficionado.

ANNA AKHMATOVA - 169/942 pages read. Made it through "Rosary"! I'm still scribbling a LOT of fragments in my notebook, I dig her stuff a lot, I think.

Next month, I will be swinging back around to read more Driscoll-adjacent fiction (writing project reasons). I've got seven (7) scenes I'm trying to finalize by the end of July to stay on my Oft-Revised Target--I need to have this manuscript wrapped up by early September, so we're approaching the Final Sprint. Send more caffeine, I'm gonna need it!!

Under the Cut: How I Conceptualize ~*★Stars★*~

2026 reads / storygraph

Being Aro

YA aromantic anthology

12 stories exploring aromantic people’s experiences with their identities and varying forms of relationships & connection

contemporary, fantasy, historical fantasy, sci-fi, space opera, zombie apocalypse & paranormal

ARC Review: Being Aro edited by Rosiee Thor and Madeline Dyer

Publishing: 26th May, 2026

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Thank you to Netgalley and Page Street YA for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

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This is an anthology of stories featuring characters from various aro-spec identities living their lives as authentically as possible, whatever that looks like for them.

I’m not going to lie. I cried multiple times reading this. As someone on the aromantic spectrum, it is… rare to see aromantic representation in the books I read. Solely on that fact alone, I think this is a book that people should read, regardless of whether they are aromantic or not.

However, like with all anthologies, there were definitely some stories I preferred over others. I’d say my favourites from this collection would have to be ‘Thomas Marley’s Fake Bride’, ‘Indulge the Other’ and ‘Do You See Me’, but all of them had something important to say about arospec identities.

My only nitpick would be that I wished there was more than one story with explicitly aroallo rep because as someone who is aroallo, it gets tiring explaining to people that asexuality and aromanticism are NOT the same thing and that aro people can exist without also being asexual (it’s me! Hi!).