This is not a book about “being trans.”
Lemme explain. I’m a cisgender woman. When I decided Tina
would be transgender three years ago, I didn’t know I was going to be writing
her story two years later. I just knew that I have transgender friends who are
an important part of my life, and if Ben’s story was going to reflect the world
I live in, so should he.
Readers responded to Tina—enjoying her personality and
asking for more. The first time someone asked if I would be writing her book I
said “I’d love to.” Yeah, that was a total cop-out. I was terrified that if I
wrote the book, I would do something wrong. I wanted to tell Tina’s
post-divorce story, because I love Tina, and I didn’t want to inadvertently hurt
anyone through ignorance.
When I started turning over the idea of a roller derby story
with Tina at the center of it, I started to really question what being a woman
means to me, and what it means to Tina, and how I could tell a story about
communities of women and what we mean to each other. That was when I realized
how very few romance novels I’ve read that celebrate female friendship for its
own sake.
I’ve been asked why the fact that Tina is trans is not in
the blurb. (It is tagged as trans in Riptide’s tagging system, and I’ve openly
promoted it as a book with a trans MC). The answer is really simple: this is
not a book about being trans nor is the fact that Tina’s transgender part of
the conflict. As a cis author, I don’t believe stories “about being trans” are
stories that are mine to tell. Instead, this is a story about love, friendship,
and roller derby—with a transwoman kicking ass right in the middle of it all.
Recently divorced Tina Durham is trying to be
self-sufficient, but her personal-training career is floundering, her closest
friends are swept up in new relationships, and her washing machine has just
flooded her kitchen. It’s enough to make a girl cry.
Instead, she calls a plumbing service, and Joanne “Joe Mama”
Delario comes to the rescue. Joe is sweet, funny, and good at fixing things.
She also sees something special in Tina and invites her to try out for the
roller derby team she coaches.
Derby offers Tina an outlet for her frustrations, a chance
to excel, and the female friendships she’s never had before. And as Tina starts
to thrive at derby, the tension between her and Joe cranks up. Despite their
player/coach relationship, they give in to their mutual attraction. Sex in
secret is hot, but Tina can’t help but want more.
With work still on the rocks and her relationship in the
closet, Tina is forced to reevaluate her life. Can she be content with a secret
lover? Or with being dependent on someone else again? It’s time for Tina to
tackle her fears, both on and off the track.
