All my life, I’ve never felt comfortable in my body. There was always a disconnect when I was referred to as a girl and later, a woman. When I realized what it was I needed to do, I was too scared to voice it. Too scared to tell my family. Too scared of what that would mean for me and my place in the world. So I resigned myself to this life, in this body, pushing away how it was slowly eating me up inside with each year.
Then one day, while joking with my son that I was often called ‘Sir’ when I was at a home improvement store and ‘Bro’ when out on a mountain bike trail, he did a genderswap photo of me and when I saw it, I wept. I mean, had to go to my room and ugly cry. I had finally seen myself. I stared at that photo and all I could think was, there I am.
Being in this wlw romance readers/writers community has changed my life in so many ways. I’ve met amazing people, felt so supported and loved. I’ve gained so much confidence. I have found some of the best friends I could ever hope to have. You all have given me the strength and courage to come out, to talk to my family and tell them what I’ve been struggling with for decades (they were all incredibly accepting and supportive!).
I hope as a trans man, the wlw writers/readers community will still have me. I plan on writing many more wlw books, and down the road, some transmasc romances. My pen name will largely stay the same. My books will be under L. Dreamer. You can refer to me as Luc (pronounced ‘Luke’).
I cannot thank you all enough for helping me not only see who I truly am but to have the courage to finally become the person I was meant to be.