| Male |
| Midwest |
| R.J. Bowe writes about the strange, tender, and often funny work of becoming yourself. His debut memoir Floorbound grew from a simple journaling exercise into a raw exploration of identity and self‑acceptance. He lives with his husband and champions the idea that our “weirdness” is worth celebrating, not hiding. |
| I write true stories about identity, weirdness, and the messy work of becoming yourself. |
| I write with humor and honesty about shame, identity, and the messy, human work of learning to belong. |
| Memoirs Biographies Queer nonfiction Coming‑of‑age stories Identity‑driven narratives Mysteries Thrillers Horror |
| 'Running with Scissors' — Augusten Burroughs, 'Jaws' — Peter Benchley, 'Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing' — Matthew Perry, 'Angels in America' — Tony Kushner, and 'The Velvet Rage' — Alan Downs |
| Augusten Burroughs, Tony Kushner, Larry Kramer, David Sedaris, Brad Meltzer, Anne Rice, and Blake Crouch |
| Amanda Gorman and Maya Angelou |
| “Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.” — Maya Angelou |
| Madonna, Cher, Britney Spears, Spice Girls, The Doors, Green Day, ’80s music in all its forms, and ’90s house and dance tracks |
| The Goonies, Star Wars, Back to the Future, Jaws, Brokeback Mountain, and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane |
| The Golden Girls, Will & Grace, Friends, The Big Bang Theory, The Munsters, and Star Trek |