Holden Sheppard Announces New Gay Coming Of Age Novel
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Australian author Holden Sheppard has announced the official release of his highly anticipated third novel.
The award winning gay author has been working on a number of new projects recently and made the announcement on social media this week.
His newest book is a gay coming of age story set against the backdrop of the world of FIFO workers and tradies in Western Australia and is billed as his first novel for adults.
Holden Sheppard set to release Two Kings in 2025
When Holden Sheppard released his debut novel, Invisible Boys, in 2019 readers fell in love with his raw and real story of growing up gay in rural Australia.
Published by Freemantle Press, Invisible Boys picked up several awards and recieved international attention.
So much so that the book was commissioned for television and is currently in production to appear on Stan in Australia.
Sheppard followed with his second release, The Brink, which recieved similar praise and collected the 2023 Indie Book Awards Young adult prize.
Now he is excited to announce his third novel, Two Kings, will be released in 2025.
“Two Kings is a gritty and heartfelt gay coming-of-age story, set in the world of FIFO workers and tradies in Western Australia.”
“This is the most vulnerable book I’ve ever written” Holden shared.
Where his previous stories have detailed the shared experiences of multiple characters who served as narrators, Two Kings will focus on one voice.
“Instead of splitting myself into three narrators, as with my previous novels, in Two Kings I’ve channeled everything into one narrator” he described.
However like previous novels Sheppard’s protagonist will reflect aspects of his own life and experiences.
“Like me, Jack Brolo is a misfit of a bloke trying to find his place in the world and his labourer’s voice gives the novel this sense of rowdy radical honesty about what being a working-class gay man looks like” he reflected.
“I’m so pumped to share this story with the world and I can’t wait for readers to meet Jack.”
Pantera Press has accquired Australian and New Zealand rights for Two Kings which will be released in mid 2025.
“Two Kings is gritty and brash, unapologetically so, and I’m thrilled Pantera is publishing it” announced Tom Langshaw from Pantera Press.
Invisible Boys is set for a sequel
While he prepares to release Two Kings, Holden has been busy working on his fourth book.
After the resounding success of Invisible Boys he has penned a sequel to the popular novel.
His fourth book will officially be a sequel to to the story and will hopefully provide readers with answers about what happened to their favourite characters following the touching and tragic ending to their stories.
The sequel is yet to recieve an official title or release date.
