In 2013, Klune proposed to author Eric Arvin at the GayRomLit Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The two had met for the first time in person one year earlier at the 2012 GayRomLit Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[7] Arvin endured many years of health struggles and died on December 12, 2016.[8][9]
Career
Klune's writing began when, as a child in the 1980s, he wrote fan fiction about his favorite action-adventure video game, Metroid. Later in his childhood, he started writing original stories. His teachers encouraged his work, saying they looked forward to seeing his writing in bookstores one day[editorializing].[2]
Klune's first book, Bear, Otter and the Kid, was published in 2011. Due to the prevalence of pen names among authors of men's romantic fiction, he wrote under the name TJ Klune.[10] His motivation for his first book came from a realization of the poor, often offensive stereotypes of queer characters in stories. He aimed to write a novel that portrayed queer relationships in a way that was relatable, positive, and free from stereotypes.[2]Amazon noted Bear, Otter and the Kid as one of the top LGBTQ+ books of 2011.[11]
In 2013, Klune wrote a magical realism novel, Into This River I Drown, while processing the death of his father.[1] A supernatural tale about grief and love in a small town, it won the 2014 Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance.[12] Other novels written by Klune include the queer werewolf series Green Creek, the queer superhero series The Extraordinaries, the contemporary romance How to Be a Normal Person, and the comedic fantasy series Tales from Verania.
The House in the Cerulean Sea, published with the Macmillan Tor imprint, was partially inspired by the Sixties Scoop, during which the Canadian government removed Indigenous children from their homes and placed them with unrelated, White, middle-class families. Seeing the similarities to events taking place in the current day Southern United States, Klune sought a story celebrating children's differences and showing the positive effects of giving children a safe and supportive environment to develop.[2] The book is about a man named Linus Baker who travels to Marsyas Island as a representative of the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. The island is home to six magical kids, including Lucifer (a.k.a. Lucy), the son of the Devil.
Klune was signed with the Macmillan Tor imprint Tor Teen for two more standalone young adult (YA) novels as of June 2018.[13]
Klune's YA debut, The Extraordinaries, was praised by Kirkus Reviews for its use of superhero and fan fiction tropes, while Publishers Weekly compliments Klune on writing a teenaged character with ADHD in a positive and supportive light.[21][22]
Klune was nominated as an all-time favourite men who have sex with men author on the book review website Goodreads in 2017. He is also an advocate for better LGBTQ+ representation in novels, wishing to see more asexual characters like himself reflected in fiction.[5]
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