Featured Guest: A.L. Williams

Diverse Reader is happy to welcome author A.L. Williams. They're fairly new to writing in the LGBT genre and is here to talk about their books and gets personal about their mental illness. Take a read.

Mental health has always played a big part in my life. I have been through a lot and I am surrounded by people with similar backgrounds. It can be lonely living in your own head, reliving trauma and mistakes you have made. That is why I have found my escape in, not only art but reading. I love reading about characters finding true love and a future they fought for. However, one of the many issues I have found in romance is that there is a lack of representation for gay men of color, but also mental illness. I have found a few authors who write about it, but the overall majority do not.

            I struggle with bipolar disorder with depression, anxiety, and sometimes even panic attacks. These conditions make it hard to sustain a healthy relationship, romantic or otherwise. I struggle with communication and trust, both of which are, how do I say, shunned in romance novels. I want to see the unhealthy behavior, the constant fuck ups, and the irrational emotional outbursts. I want to see representation of people who don’t have their shit together on the outside and inside.  

            I can understand wanting to escape the harshness of reality with fluff and a heartwarming story. It’s valid, but I want to relate. I don’t know what it’s like to have financial security, a white picket fence family, or an almost perfect partner that easily fixes their mistakes. I want realness Bo, and that’s what I write.

The human mind is a messed up place. We think and feel things that make no rational sense. Through all of that, we love with all we can when given the chance. That’s what makes the human experience beautiful, although painful.  Even broken people can find love and happiness. That’s what I strive to create in my novels. That’s the story I want to tell.

James Miller is just trying to stay under the radar while he goes through life without killing someone, but when he agrees to go out with Hayley, everything is flipped upside down.
He didn't expect to fall in the middle of a sibling rivalry. He definitely didn’t think he’d have his past thrown in his face, something he had tried hard to forget. To make matters worse the sexiest man he has ever seen is sniffing around and won’t leave him alone.

Andrew wants to protect the city. It’s the least he can do. He and his partner made it their mission to keep the supernatural world away from the human, but he definitely never expected to meet anyone like James.
The problem is that the man will not take his help, but he is in danger and Andrew is determined to protect him, whether James likes it or not. Because heaven and earth are about to collide and he’ll be damned if he stands on the sidelines.

Can they work together to save the world and find the love they both need or are the scars too deep?

~Trigger warning~
Explicit male x male sexual content
Self Harm
Brief mention of sexual child abuse
Mention of drug use
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Lucifer has finally formed a relationship with his long lost son, but there is one problem. He is going to have to leave. Even if all he wants to do is stay. His fate was sealed millennia ago. Happiness isn’t in the cards for him and he has accepted that, but then why is he staying?

Dr. Adam Colton does everything in his power to save lives and he usually succeeds. All he wants is to be a good doctor and a good Christian man, but when Mr. Miller is rolled in on a gurney, he’s forced to face his sinful desires. He isn’t so sure he can fight what he craves so deeply.

When a child is brought in with a mysterious illness, it sets off a series of events that brings The Center for Disease Control and Prevention to town. It’s a race to save the child’s life.

The attraction between Adam and Lucifer is only intensifying as both are being dragged through the mud. All seems Hopeless. Can they find the strength to fight for what they want or are the Scars too deep?


~Trigger Warnings~
Emotional Abuse
Explicit male x male sexual content

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About A.L. Williams

I'm an avid reader who loves art, cats, and everything queer. I a non-binary trans masculine individual and my pronouns are They/Them or he/him

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