TH Forest is the Maestro of MM Romance

In this episode of Ink vs Algorithm: The Writers' Pod, Mookie sits down with TH Forest, the author of Twinkies and Beefcake, Descendants of the Gods, and the Matt & Ollie queer romance saga to explore the strange alchemy of fan fiction, grief, and desire that birthed her career as one of the most fearless indie voices in male/male romance.Forest didn’t plan to write MM love stories. What started as Supernatural-inspired fiction during the lockdown spiraled into a universe of its own, blending gods, demons, and closeted Navy SEALs with tenderness, danger, and unapologetic sexuality. Her work walks the tightrope between lust and love, myth and reality, the sacred and the profane. All done without a single line written by AI.Mookie and TH dig into the cultural underbelly of writing queer intimacy, from the politics of sex positivity to the psychology of why so many straight women devour gay romance. They talk about growing up conservative, discovering queer spaces as sanctuaries, and channeling loss into liberation through storytelling. Along the way, they hit every corner of the creative process, from editing 300,000-word drafts down to something publishable, surviving #BookTok’s noise, and the daily, grinding hustle of being your own publisher, marketer, and community builder.At the core of her passion lurks the ghost of Tom Holdorf, THs late cousin and a 1990s New York fashion photographer lost to AIDS. His legacy of art, defiance, and beauty runs through every page she writes, and every author she hopes to lift through Holdorf Press, her indie imprint dedicated to real, human storytelling in an age of artifice.Their conversation is messy, candid, and moving — a love letter to writers who dare to tell the stories they’re not “supposed” to tell.HighlightsHow fan fiction led to a queer literary universeSex positivity, censorship, and the ethics of erotic storytellingThe legacy of loss: honoring an artist taken by AIDSBookTok for grownups — why relationship > reachIndie publishing secrets: ISBN protection, IngramSpark, and live eventsHow AI-free creativity is an act of rebellionThe GuestTH Forest lives in Massachusetts with her husband, sons, cats, Major Tom & Bowie, her German Shepherd, Freya, and one very loud macaw, Loki. She loves to cook, read, and listen to all genres of music (except country) and is passionate about the things that matter to her, like representation, inclusivity, and being an LGBTQ+ ally. She is also a shameless promoter of her novels and is happy to talk your ear off about them.Holdorf PressWebsite & Social ChannelsTap here to share your opinion! Be a guest on the pod! Mookie wants to hear from you...