by TJ Klune
Some would believe it.
Most wouldn’t.
That changed. Eventually.
But that came later.
This was now:
Three people came into view. Two men. A young woman. She sat between them, and anyone watching would see how much they adored her. How much they loved each other. They moved in tandem. They sat close. The men appeared nervous. The woman was calm. Almost serene.
One of the men, the older and gruffer of them, cleared his throat and said, “Are you ready?”
The woman looked at him, cocking her head. “Are we going on an adventure?”
And how he smiled. “Yeah, baby girl. I guess we are.”
The other man reached over and took their hands in his. He said, “We good?”
The woman nodded. “We’re good.” She looked directly into the camera. “You won’t understand. At least not right away. And that’s okay. You may even think I’m a liar, and that’s okay too. All I ask is that you listen until the very end before passing judgment. I have a story to tell you. Of a place under a Mountain. Of the minds of men. Of what it means to be human, to make a home out of a place where one should not exist. And of what the future holds. For you. For me. For all of us.” The woman smiled, eyes sparkling. “I am loved. I love in return. My name is Artemis Darth Vader. And I come in peace.”
author’s note
So, hey, thanks for reading. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey, and that it filled you with hope for the future.
And while I’ve given you a few hours of distraction, you should know that this book took quite a different path than what’s normal for me.
I have built my career thus far with one specific publisher. They’ve treated me well. We’ve had our differences, but nothing that couldn’t be worked through.
But this book isn’t published with them.
I did this myself.
(And a bunch of other people—more on that in a minute.)
Why?
Because I could. Since 2011, I have been fortunate enough to build a career that has allowed me to do what I love as my full-time job: write. When I first started, I always wondered what life would be like if I could get to this point. It’s the dream of many authors, and I know most don’t get that far. I am humbled by your trust and support.
The Bones Beneath My Skin was written in late 2016/early 2017. It’s being released in late 2018. That’s a long time (in the indie world) between completion and publishing. And that’s on me. If I’d gone through the publisher, you probably would have had this book months ago.
But I didn’t, and it’s because I wanted to try something new. I wanted to do something more with it. Chances are, if you follow me on any social media, you’ll know big changes are on the horizon. I’m stepping out of the indie world with some future books and going more mainstream (yes, I know how lame that sounds—in the words of an old friend of mine, oh my god, what the hell).
Before that happens, though, I wanted to tackle something I’d never done before: self-publishing. And I wanted to make sure it was with a story that could stand on its own. Bones is that story. I have poured my blood, sweat, and tears to get this book to you, and I learned a lot in the process. It may take a little while, but I’ll be doing this again.
However, even though this is self-published, I had a great team behind me helping me every step of the way.
Erika, Brian, Jenn, and Corrine made sure that the story made sense and that my love of commas, italics, and em dashes didn’t actually stay that way. Kudos to them.
And speaking of Erika, she’s the big reason you’re reading the story as you are. She did all the background work, formatting, and basically kept me sane even when I wanted to say fuck it and move on to something different. She’s pretty rad. Thanks, Erika.
And to the Klunatics, those awesome group of people who seem to think I’m pretty okay: thanks for having my back and spreading the word about my books. You rock.
The Bones Beneath My Skin is a labor of love. It’s about looking up at the stars and dreaming of the impossible. It’s about fighting back against oppression, and finding a home where one should not exist. It’s about the little things: skipping rocks across the surface of a lake and marveling over how many different ways we can eat pigs.
Thank you, dear reader, for listening to me ramble.
And if you happen to meet one of those types of aliens into probing, just punch that motherfucker right in the throat. I mean, seriously. What the fuck is up with that?
Tj
May 24, 2018
about the author
When TJ Klune was eight, he picked up a pen and paper and began to write his first story (which turned out to be his own sweeping epic version of the video game Super Metroid—he didn’t think the game ended very well and wanted to offer his own take on it. He never heard back from the video-game company, much to his chagrin). Now, over two decades later, the cast of characters in his head have only gotten louder. But that’s okay, because he’s recently become a full-time writer and can give them the time they deserve.
Since being published, TJ has won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance, fought off three lions that threatened to attack him and his village, and was chosen by Amazon as having written one of the best GLBT books of 2011.
And one of those things isn’t true.
(It’s the lion thing. The lion thing isn’t true.)
Facebook: TJ Klune
Facebook Fan Group: Klunatics
Blog: tjklunebooks.com
Email: [email protected]
Also by TJ Klune: Stories from Green Creek
Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.
Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road, the boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.
Ox was seventeen when he found out the boy’s secret, and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.
Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.
It’s been three years since that fateful day—and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.
Available at Dreamspinner Press and other eBook retailers
Gordo Livingstone never forgot the lessons carved into his skin. Hardened by the betrayal of a pack who left him behind, he sought solace in the garage in his tiny mountain town, vowing never again to involve himself in the affairs of wolves.
It should have been enough.
And it was, until the wolves came back, and with them, Mark Bennett. In the end, they faced the beast together as a pack… and won.
Now, a year later, Gordo has found himself once again the witch of the Bennett pack. Green Creek has settled after the death of Richard Collins, and Gordo constantly struggles to ignore Mark and the song that howls between them.
But time is running out. Something is coming. And this time, it’s crawling from within.
Some bonds, no matter how strong, were made to be broken.
Available at Dreamspinner Press and other eBook retailers
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of either the author or the publisher.
The Bones Beneath My Skin
Copyright 2018 by TJ Klune
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any mann
er whatsoever without written permission except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information address TJ Klune c/o BOATK Books, LLC, PO Box 548,
Fredericksburg VA 22404.
Cover Art by Reese Dante. www.reesedante.com
Edited by Erika Orrick
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN: 978-1-7323999-1-4
1st Electronic Edition / October 2018