Not As Short, But Oh So Sweet
Ah, novellas! I love me novellas. And this one? A Little Queermas Carol is adorable.
It’s not the kind of thing I expected to say about a Queer Leather Little retelling of A Christmas Carol, but then again, having been lucky enough to meet Sassafras Lowrey a few times at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival, it’s a combination in retrospect that makes perfect sense. Much like Leather Ever After: An Anthology of Kinky Fairy Tales envisioned familiar fairy tales with a kinky and erotic lens to amazing effect, A Little Queermas Carol takes on a genderqueer Little/Daddy dynamic and brings forth the same result: a great narrative that invites in the very people that the original version of the tale would never have dreamed to even mention, let alone include.
Even better, that spirit of light-hearted joy that so infuses a Little narrative doesn’t shy away from the hurts and pains that many queer Littles have experienced. This isn’t a story of sunshine and rainbows, much like the original Dickens, and is instead a story of someone taking their pain and finding the joys and rainbows where they can—which, as in the real world, is often in the company of others like themselves who can truly empathize.
Novellas like A Little Queermas Carol are exactly the kind of narratives we need: stories that remind us we exist, have always existed, and will continue to exist. The spirits of past, present, and future queerness are very much alive in this novella.
More novella love? No problem! How about a quartet of audio-available novellas from Alyssa Cole, Four Novellas. Also, the final novella “Lava Falls” from the titular Lava Falls from Lucy Jane Bledsoe is phenomenal. If you’re in the mood for a YA “Home Alone” meets “Lost in Space,” then also check out Zero G from Dan Wells.
'Nathan Burgoine 