ray stoeve (they/them)
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raystoeve.bsky.social
ray stoeve (they/them)
@raystoeve.bsky.social
280 followers 150 following 180 posts
writer of YA and more. they/them. 🌈WORST-CASE SCENARIO out 1.20.26! 🌈BETWEEN PERFECT AND REAL, ARDEN GREY, and THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY out now! linktr.ee/rayrowanjames
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🏳️‍⚧️ COVER REVEAL!! 🏳️‍🌈 WORST-CASE SCENARIO drops on January 20, 2026! Featuring a T4T type A vs class clown romance; a nonbinary MC w/ self-diagnosed anxiety (but it’s actually OCD); should social justice be serious or fun?; & what do you do when your recovering alcoholic dad reappears in your life? 🧵
Reposted by ray stoeve (they/them)
Gonna go even further: don't refer to it as "consuming media" when doing this. You aren't a consumer - it's not a product. You read books. You look at art. You watch movies and/or videos. Be careful about word choice.

Reject "consume" and REJECT "CONTENT."
IT IS ART.
YOU ARE ENGAGING WITH ART.
I'm being so real right now, learn how to engage in media as art and not a reflection of your own real life morals. consume things that make you uncomfortable and understand why it makes you uncomfortable. Don't just base yours and others morals standings on the media you consume.
🩷💜💙 I’m doing a #BiWeek giveaway in honor of Talia, a bi autistic trans girl and bestie to Hayley in my YA romcom THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY! One winner gets a signed personalized HC copy of TSLS.

TO ENTER:
Subscribe to my newsletter!

US only, open til 11:59pm 9/23. More deets on my IG 👀
Ray Stoeve’s Newsletter
YA author Ray Stoeve shares monthly spotlights of trans YA & MG books, updates on their own books and writer life, culture recommendations and advocacy opportunities.
mailchi.mp
You started with saying you’re “genuinely curious” but the rest of your reply indicates you actually aren’t, so I won’t be engaging further. Have a nice day!
The “first trans YA” I talked abt last time actually WASN’T the first! How do we decide who is “first” in trans YA, anyway? Today I’m talking abt those elusive milestones, how we decide what qualifies, and what we learn when we ask that question.
Oooh haven’t heard of this one! Sounds perfect, thank you! The environmental Easter eggs is something I love abt BG3.
Also…now what lmfao?! I followed BG3 with E33 and the bar is SO high for what my third ever video game will be 😂 taking recommendations! Story & world-building is most important to me, followed by exploration & accessible combat. And there’s gotta be an easy mode (I played E33 on story mode).
I finished Expedition 33 two days ago and I’m still thinking about that final choice. Absolutely brilliant writing and follow through on a theme until the very end. I’ve been learning a lot about what makes a meaningful choice in a video game and that one was a perfect example.
AGENTS YOU BETTER BE LINING UP TO REP THIS!!!!!!!
An AFAB teenager born in 12th-century Germany is abandoned in the Holy Land while “disguised” as a boy named Joseph. He embraces his male identity in order to survive, and finally feels confident in his own skin.

#QueerPit #MG #COA #HF #AC #Transgender
THE CIVIL WAR OF AMOS ABERNATHY X THE BOOK OF BOY

🏳️‍⚧️ ⚧️ Transmasc protagonist
🐎 Journey of self-discovery
⚔️ Historical adventure
🏰 Medieval quest
👪 Found family
📚 Based on true events

#QueerPit #MG #COA #HF #AC #Transgender
If you like interactive fiction I just published this short piece based on the fetch (no relation to Mean Girls), a figure in Irish folklore, with a trans spin on it. I’ve been getting into video game writing & narrative design and this is the first attempt I’m sharing. I’m quite proud of it!
The Fetch Speaks by western hemlock
Your friend has something to tell you.
westernhemlock.itch.io
For the entire time of knowing who he is, I have thought Gavin Newsom was gay, and I just learned he isn’t.

Was it just me?? Is this some kind of Mandela effect?? I stg I remember reading that he was gay years and years ago and that was why he started marrying people before it was legal.
I’m a new gamer, BG3 was my first game and E33 is my second - so the bar has been set VERY high 😂 I think my only critique so far is the combat feels tedious at times but could be that I’m underleveled.
So uhhhhh who else went from a BG3 obsession to a Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 obsession bc this game is GORGEOUS
Chappell Roan was definitely listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins while she was writing and recording “The Subway” and I’m LOVING it
I started this in 2024, spotlighting one book a month from my database of YA & MG books with trans characters written by trans authors. If you want to start getting the current editions in your inbox (which also include author life updates, culture recs, and advocacy recs), subscribe here:
Ray Stoeve’s Newsletter
YA author Ray Stoeve shares monthly spotlights of trans YA & MG books, updates on their own books and writer life, culture recommendations and advocacy opportunities.
mailchi.mp
If you want a crash course on the history of trans YA and middle grade books, I’m posting my newsletter archive one essay at a time on my blog starting TODAY with the first (or is it…?) trans YA book and what it says about where trans representation started!
Who Wrote The First Trans YA Novel?
According to my research, the first YA novel ever traditionally published about a trans character by a trans author came out only 12 years ago, in 2012. That book is BEING EMILY, by Rachel Gold, pu…
raystoeve.com
And it’s never surprising to me when it’s the white cis gay men who do this. They consistently throw others under the bus to preserve their rights (to assimilate).
buttigieg is (and at least on the national stage *consistently* has been) a Corporate Gay

and queers know that Corporate Gays will sell out the community to get ahead
LET’S GO LESBIANS you have until tomorrow 7/31 to bid on my latest super-gay YA novel AND help Queer Liberation Network fund their programs for queer and trans financial empowerment in Texas and beyond!
Calling all sapphic YA romcom lovers! You can now bid on a signed & personalized copy of THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY! Hayley and Talia are BFFs who team up on a very neurodivergent Plan™️ to find their first girlfriends…but is love actually right in front of them??

www.32auctions.com/organization...
Tomorrow 7/31 is your LAST DAY to shoot your shot for an author visit from me AND help Queer Liberation Network fund their programs for queer and trans financial empowerment in Texas and beyond!
Hey high school teachers and librarians!! I am auctioning off an author visit from me ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! In-person for Seattle-Tacoma; virtually elsewhere.

Proceeds benefit Queer Liberation Network’s programs! 💜

www.32auctions.com/organization...
Calling all sapphic YA romcom lovers! You can now bid on a signed & personalized copy of THE SUMMER LOVE STRATEGY! Hayley and Talia are BFFs who team up on a very neurodivergent Plan™️ to find their first girlfriends…but is love actually right in front of them??

www.32auctions.com/organization...
And I do mean anywhere - for a different auction I once got up very early to visit a student group in South Korea! It was really fun. So don’t hesitate. And if you’re not a teacher or librarian you can still bid on this if you know someone you wanna gift it to!
Hey high school teachers and librarians!! I am auctioning off an author visit from me ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! In-person for Seattle-Tacoma; virtually elsewhere.

Proceeds benefit Queer Liberation Network’s programs! 💜

www.32auctions.com/organization...
Reposted by ray stoeve (they/them)
My friend Garrett & I organized a bookish auction that benefits the LGBTQ charity Queer Liberation Network where we both serve on the board. There are so many great items so please check it out & buy yourself sumn nice for a good cause:

www.32auctions.com/LitforQueerL...

(& please boost!)
Thank you so much! So do I!