Dear Reader,

Thank you for clicking on this story. This is my first solely LGBTQ+-themed piece of fiction. Though I have previously written novels with LGBTQ+ characters and relationships, this is the first novel I have written that is solely LGBTQ+-focused. I figure every queer author needs to write the standard coming-of-age LGBTQ+ book, and Autumn Leaves and Teenage Dreams is my take on that.

Though this novel is not entirely based on my experiences, I am a lesbian author who attended an all-girls Catholic high school, and I know the feeling of being an extremely closeted individual in that setting, where heterosexuality is presented as the norm, the few out LGBTQ+ individuals are often ostracized for being "strange" or "weird," and the school makes no acknowledgment of its LBGTQ+ community, even going so far as to not allow its students to bring female dates to dances.

Though I did not come out until midway through college, I still wanted to write a novel that encapsulates the feelings of discovering your sexuality, acknowledging the internalized homophobia that we often develop, and learning that you are allowed to love who you want. I hope young LGBTQ+ readers can get something out of this story, and I hope my older LGBTQ+ readers can relate to the experience of being a lone, closeted gay in high school.

To all my fellow struggling queers out there, both in high school and not, this story is for you.

~Maeve