A St. Louis Magazine Must-Read for 2021! WELCOME TO THE “ornate but rickety” Villadiva, whose stained glass windows and uneven floors house more than a century of St. Louis’s queer culture and drama. In a city where “ambition and history and activism and machinations mix with scandal and sex and ghosts and murder,” it’s beneath Villadiva’s crystal chandeliers that secrets are revealed and stories come to life. You’ll feel you’re in the room with provocateur Andoe and his riotous, multigenerational tribe of eccentrics, socialites, drag queens, card-reading witches, psychic mediums, addicts, and promiscuous extroverts--as well as the stalkers, liars, and felonious, headline-grabbing sociopaths who are determined to destroy them. House of Villadiva reveals the heart and heartlessness of urban queer life in the 21st century—and the secret to living through it. Book Review 1: "Chris Andoe writes like he talks, which is a very good thing, because he's one of our city’s best talkers. And the object of his fascination—whether he’s three martinis into a happy hour or three thousand words into a written chapter—is the ensemble cast that is LGBTQ St. Louis, in all its pettiness and pageantry, glory, and weirdness. Sometimes he only records the drama; other times he spritzes gasoline on the flames. But all of it captivates him. Readers of this book can count on feeling the same way." -- Nicholas Phillips, St. Louis Magazine

The New York Times bestselling author of A Work in Progress and Note to Self moves fully into adulthood with his illuminating, soulful, bleeding collection of narrative, poetry, and original film photography. Humanitarian, entrepreneur, and content creator Connor Franta first captivated readers with A Work In Progress, ruminating on his Midwestern roots to his early start as a visionary and online thought-leader. He continued his soul-searching-through-a-broken-heart with Note to Self, challenging readers—and himself—to ponder the spectrum of humanity and their place within it. Now as Franta approaches thirty, life is no less confusing, but he finds this journey endlessly fascinating. Writing about confusion and clarity, loneliness and whirlwind romances, despair and elation—and everything in between—Franta invites readers back into the intimacy of his mind. House Fires magnifies a young man’s emotional warfare with his past, the daze of wandering through modern times in search of purpose, and the electricity flying from tomorrow’s potential.

"Not since Charles Bukowski have I found myself so submerged into the life and times of so many colorful characters. Acclaimed writer Chris Andoe brings a modern flair to such a missing style of literature today. I felt intrigued, enlightened, dirty, amused, outraged, betrayed and in awe of all that is Delusions Of Grandeur." - Karla Templeton, Vital Voice Oklahoma native Chris Andoe has lived from San Francisco to New York, but for nearly twenty years has remained captivated by the drama, culture, and tragedy of the haunted old river city of St. Louis, a place he's likened to Sunset Boulevard's Norma Desmond, simultaneously celebrating yet mourning a glorious past. Delusions of Grandeur is a compilation of tales and snippets of many lives and characters whose stories entertain standing alone and enrapture woven together. From a deranged conman penetrating the highest reaches of state politics to shocking headlines of a 'human slaughter chamber' on the East St. Louis riverfront, Andoe has collected and craftily chronicled the whole spectrum of the St. Louis LGBT community and beyond, and the outcome is nothing short of page turning. Often mired in controversy for his unflinching style, "Emperor of St. Louis" Chris Andoe is a columnist for Vital Voice.

Literary Nonfiction. How does the devout son of evangelical Christians, growing up dedicated to mission work in Africa, become one of America's leading sex columnists and a self-avowed slut committed to kink as his new religion? Across his debut book, MY LOVE IS A BEAST: CONFESSIONS, Alexander Cheves details his path from piousness to faithlessness, and his awakening to the saving power of hedonism. He tells intimate stories of what he sees as the sacred grace of pleasure as he embraces his life as a sex writer, worker, and activist. In stories richly lyrical, boldly erotic, and fearlessly honest, Cheves takes readers on a tour through Savannah, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York City. Along the way, he explores the darker corners of Queer culture and his own life, highlighting experiences most will have never considered. His rise to national popularity among LGBTQ+ writers gets balanced by his own struggles with and recovery from substance use--and his public embrace of kink and fetish as a belief system, way of life, and identity. In the end, Cheves writes with complete, even shocking, transparency and authenticity in the service of shattering sexual shame. Graphic and at times controversial, this book is sure to become a watershed moment among erotic memoirs.

Imagine if, after fifteen years as a lesbian couple, your partner turned to you and said, "I think I'm really a man." What would you do? How would you respond? For Diane and Jacob (nŽe Suzy) Anderson-Minshall this isn't a hypothetical question. It's what really happened. Eight years later, the couple not only remains together, they still identify as queer, still work in LGBT media, and remain part of the LGBT community. How did their relationship survive a gender transition? The authors explore this question and delve into their relationship to reveal the trials and tribulations they have faced along the way. In doing so, they paint a portrait of love, not only to each other, but to the San Francisco Bay Area, LGBT publishing, and the queer community. Queerly Beloved is a love story that flies in the face of expectations and raises questions about the true nature of identity, sexuality, and love.

In the late 19th century, St. Louis--America's fourth-largest city--was a hub of robust commerce and risqué entertainment. It provided an oasis for those who lived "in the shadows." Since 1764, the Gateway to the West's LGBT community has experienced countless struggles and successes, including protests, arrests, murders, celebrations, and parades. St. Louis had its own version of Stonewall in October 1969 and is the hometown of icons such as Tennessee Williams and Josephine Baker. A colorful array of activists, drag queens, leather men, artists, academics, business leaders, and everyday folks have contributed to the rich fabric of the lesbian and gay community in St. Louis.

This modern classic of science fiction—first published in 1996—has been reprinted more than 15 more times since its original appearance, including in a Year's Best volume. * * * * It was her first, his seventh. She was 32, he was 363: the good old April/September number. They honeymooned in Venice, Nairobi, the Malaysia Pleasure Dome, and one of the posh L-5 resorts, a shimmering glassy sphere with round-the-clock sunlight and waterfalls that tumbled like cascades of diamonds, and then they came home to his lovely sky-house suspended on tremulous guy-wires a thousand meters above the Pacific to begin the everyday part of their life together. Her friends couldn’t get over it. “He’s ten times your age!” they would exclaim. “How could you possibly want anybody that old?”