The real world feels like another world now

Meander along with a 22-year-old American who just finished a bookbinding apprenticeship and works in a Dublin bookshop with a circle of loyal—but concerned—friends. Life in 1990s Ireland has given Simon the freedom he’s yearned for, except on the romantic front. There’s no shortage of attractive suitors even in a mostly closeted city, but there is a shortage of gumption on Simon’s part. 

• Diary form
• LGBTQ+
• Contemporary fiction

Meet Simon through the eyes of the Irish woman who finds him in a dreary Boston house and wishes she could raise him herself. Year One opens with Anita’s prologue before diving into Simon’s own diary entries. He relies more on his journal when he meets a strange, mournful woman in central Dublin and watches his best friend lose his heart. Maybe being on the outside of a grand love affair, looking in, is just what Simon needs to put his own difficult past behind him and find someone of his own. 

Year One (1992) and Year Two (1993) are now available

Read a sample here

This series is entirely human-created, including cover designs by Ehsan.