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Slow Thaw

by J. Scott Coatsworth

Slow Thaw - J. Scott Coatsworth
Editions:Kindle - First Edition: $ 2.99
Pages: 104
Paperback (Abkhazian) - First Edition
Pages: 104

Javier Fernandez is a climate scientist living in a research station near the South Pole. Since his husband was killed in a car crash, he’s preferred to be alone, and is less than thrilled to have a junior scientist thrust upon him by his rich patron.

Col Steele is a trans man fleeing a bad break-up. He is ready for the next step in his career, and eager to spend Christmas anywhere but at home.

When a crack in the ice separates the two men from safety, they are forced to come to terms with their own losses and each other.

About the Escape From the Holidays series:

For the second year in a row, Mischief Corner Books is putting out a winter holiday collection – ten stories revolving around various December holidays:

The end of year holidays can get overwhelming for anyone. Things to do. People to see. Last minute work obligations to take care of. Sometimes it’s just easier to escape from it all, running away from the responsibilities and expectations, or ignore the underlying disappointment from relatives who don’t see eye-to-eye with you.

Because escaping the holiday grind can lead to new, unexpected paths, and breathe new life into one that’s been stuck in a rut. Giving something to run to instead.

Sometimes, getting away from it all lets you know what you really have. Sometimes, taking a chance on the unknown leads to what you really want.

This book is on:
  • 1 To Be Read list
  • 1 Read list
Published:
Publisher: Mischief Corner Books
Editors:
Jude Dunn

Cover Artists:
Catherine Dair

Genres:
Contemporary, Holiday

Tags:
author - american, format - book, format - novella 15k-40K, format - paperback, what - concept - denial, what - concept - isolated, what - condition - injury, what - emotion - anxiety, what - emotion - grief, what - emotion - hope, what - emotion - love, what - emotion - survivor guilt, what - holiday - christmas, what - topic - climate change, when - period - near future, when - season - winter, where - continent - antarctica, who - description - bearded man, who - description - coworkers, who - description - over forty, who - nationality - latin american, who - nationality - latino, who - occupation - scientist

Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 1
Romantic Content: 4
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay, Transgender
Protagonist 1 Age: 36-45
Protagonist 2 Age: 26-35
Tropes: Bad Breakup, Cheating, Enemies to Lovers, Interracial Relationship, Slow Burning Love
Word Count: 22000
Setting: Antarctica
Languages Available: English
Excerpt:

About the Author

Scott lives with his husband of more than 30 years in a leafy Sacramento, California suburb, in a little yellow house with a brick fireplace and a couple pink flamingoes out front. He has always inhabited the space between the here and now and the what could be. Indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine, he devoured her library. But as he grew up and read the golden age classics and more modern works as well, he began to wonder where all the people like him were.

After he came out at twenty three, he decided that it was time to create the kinds of stories he couldn’t find at Waldenbooks. If there weren’t many gay characters in his favorite genres, he would reimagine them himself, populating them with a diverse universe of characters. He would subvert them and remake them to his own ends. And if he was lucky enough, someone else would want to read the things he wrote.

His friends say Scott’s brain works a little differently – he sees relationships between things that others miss, and gets more done in a day than most folks manage in a week. Although he was born an introvert, he learned to reach outside himself and connect with others like him.

Scott writes stories that subvert expectations, that seek to transform traditional sci fi, fantasy, and contemporary worlds into something new and unexpected. He also runs both Queer Sci Fi and QueeRomance Ink with his husband Mark, sites that bring people like them together to promote and celebrate fiction that reflects their own reality.

His writing, whether romance or genre fiction (or a little bit of both) brings a queer energy to his stories, infusing them with love, beauty and power and making them soar. He imagines a world that could be, and in the process, maybe changes the world that is, just a little.

He was recognized as one of the top new gay authors in the 2017 Rainbow Awards, and his debut novel “Skythane” received two awards and an honorable mention.

He runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, and is a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), where he ran the Indie Author Committee for almost three years.

You can find him at Goodreads here, on Amazon here, on QueeRomance Ink here, and on Facebook here.