Denise Ruttan: Author, Editor, Photographer

Well this is what I've been working on for the past year. I decided to post it as I go on Wattpad for free to motivate me to finish it. I was in a very dark mental place when I started writing this so please heed the content warnings. It is very dark. But also cute, fluffy and angsty. I think it works? It's kind of rough but I just want to finish something.

Basic plot: In a dystopian alternate Earth in which omegas are an oppressed class, private investigator Jonah Merrick is hiding in plain sight, until the fateful day that he meets detective Isme Gallagher, an alpha unlike any he's ever known before. An instant bond forms between them that neither can resist.

The first five chapters so far:

Obsidian Heat In a dystopian alternate Earth in which omegas face discrimination and oppression, omega Jonah Merrick is hiding in pla...

New blog post published! I plan to be more active on my blog in 2024. Wordpress also has a new feature where you can email all your new posts to subscribers.

Reflections on the Year and Goals for Next Year Image from Pixabay Hello there, dusty old blog, I am back. I’ve quit Substack and Twitter for the same reasons, and a lot of other newsletter platforms cost money to maintain and monetize or …

My new Substack is out! Thoughts on q***rness as a spectrum and Anne Heche:

https://open.substack.com/pub/deniseruttan/p/anne-heches-tragic-life?r=5w043&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

Anne Heche's Tragic Life And thoughts about q***rness as a spectrum

New review on the blog! A chance encounter during a total eclipse vacation turns into a deep connection that shatters Emily’s carefully controlled world.

Book Review: Blame it on the Moon by Diane Michaels This book was beautiful. I’d describe it almost more as women’s fiction and a coming of age story than a traditional romance, but the romance was lovely too. This was a very hard fought HEA between…

Trying to brush off my newsletter and post more consistently! This week: Ghost hunter TV, WIP update, grief and gratitude, Duolingo, the last 100 days of the year.

Five Things Ghost hunter TV, current state of WIPs, goals for the rest of the year, grief and gratitude

New review posted! A Matcha Made In Hell is a spicy m/m college romance with a former high school bully trying to atone for his past, a charming tea purveyor who turns the tables on his former tormenter, and the unexpected chemistry between them.

Book Review: A Matcha Made in Hell by F.A. Ray I loved this book, which surprised me honestly because this had way more steamy s*x scenes than I usually care for in books like this. I like my s**t but I usually don’t like the way it’s handled b…

New review on the blog! An art heist, international intrigue and a scorching f/enby romance.

Book Review: Double Exposure by Rien Gray I absolutely loved this book. Think Ocean’s 11 with a dash of Mr. and Mrs. Smith but make it q***r and you have a little of the vibe of “Double Exposure.” Set against the glitz and glam of a high-f…

My latest book review is now posted! An m/m, nerdy Indiana Jones enemies to lovers stepbrother adventure romance that thoroughly charmed me.

Book Review: The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer by S.E. Harmon I’m so glad I stumbled across this utterly charming book. “The First and Last Adventure of Kit Sawyer” is like a nerdy Indiana Jones meets Romancing the Stone with a hint of The Kissing Booth but m…

My latest review is now published. An enchanting retelling of the folktale “The Selkie Wife.”

Book Review: A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland I really loved this book. The premise had me at a sapphic, feminist flip of the fisherman’s selkie wife folk tale, and this charming, cozy historical fantasy slow burn romance did not disappoint. J…

My latest book review is on the blog! A fascinating story told over four generations of women focusing on Shiva, a newly out q***r Modern Orthodox Jewish woman studying Jewish folklore who travels to Poland to unravel her family’s secrets.

Book Review: City of Laughter by Temim Fruchter Wow. This book publishes in January and it’s already one of my favorite books of 2024. The prose is stunningly gorgeous, the kind of fresh, immersive literary voice that inspires me to write. “City…

My latest book review.

Book Review: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White This definitely has made it to my list of my favorite books of the year. Q***r horror that delivers as advertised, at last. I’ve read a few horror books lately that don’t get the dread …

Latest book review posted to my blog. A deep sea sci fi thriller about grief and family with flavors of The Martian.

Book Review: Whalefall by Daniel Kraus Wow, this book is a tour de force. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this but certainly not a riveting thriller in the belly of a whale. Like how The Martian brought impeccable research and s…

My latest book review is now posted.

Book Review: The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen I admit to being tired of fairy tale retellings. There is a whole wave of them, varying from feminist to q***r to dark retellings to whole shades in between. When publishers see a trend they beat i…

My latest book review is on the blog.

Book Review: House of Marionne by J. Elle I loved this ARC so much that I pre-ordered the hardback; the first time I’ve done that with an ARC. House of Marionne hit all my boxes and executed them to perfection. I haven’t read m…

My latest essay is on Substack.

The times I've changed my mind I’ve been thinking lately about the times in which I’ve changed my mind. It may seem like no one changes their mind in today’s divisive political atmosphere, where people adhere to political bubbles on their favorite media platform with like-minded individuals. Their crew, people they’ve nev...

My latest essay is posted to my Substack. I actually love writing these, it’s scary getting vulnerable but it’s also rewarding.

Jason Remembering friends lost too soon

New review posted to the blog!

Book Review: A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee “A Shot in the Dark” is my first exposure to Victoria Lee and all I can say is wow, does she have range, when I learned she writes contemporary romance with deeper themes as well as SFF…

Overall, I enjoyed "All This Could Be Yours" by J.V. Speyer. It had a lot going for it. This is an enemies-to-lovers in*******al mafia romance, lower on the spicy scale, which was refreshing. Straightlaced undercover FBI agent Maddox Price goes undercover, posing as the boyfriend of a mob kingpin's son, Tanner, who's openly gay, at Tanner's brother's wedding. I liked how the fake dating premise and the paranoia of Tanner's family with the constant surveillance added tension and depth to their relationship....

Book Review: All This Could Be Yours by J.V. Speyer Overall, I enjoyed “All This Could Be Yours” by J.V. Speyer. It had a lot going for it. This is an enemies-to-lovers in*******al mafia romance, lower on the spicy scale, which was refre…

I'm not usually a fan of Omegaverse stuff. Although I find it intriguing, I also find the physiology bizarre and the mind of whoever invented this subset of werewolf lore is seriously twisted. If you don't know, Omegaverse is a type of shifter-focused fantasy fiction that came from Supernatual fandom, because of course all twisted things come from Supernatural fandom. It involves a complicated hierarchical culture with Alphas, Omegas and Betas, psychic mating bonds and bizarre rituals, including male pregnancy - not trans men, but men with uteri....

Book Review: Love and War (Beast of Burden #1) by E.M. Lindsey I’m not usually a fan of Omegaverse stuff. Although I find it intriguing, I also find the physiology bizarre and the mind of whoever invented this subset of werewolf lore is seriously twisted…

I never expected to be so charmed by a hockey romance as I was by "The New Guy" by Sarina Bowen. In my search for any self-published books that are good, different and not about vampires, I've landed on some genres and topics I'd never normally read. Hockey, for example. I wanted to read contemporary, I'm trying to broaden my reading of gay romance and I stumbled across this new release on Amazon....

Book Review: The New Guy (Hockey Guys, #1) by Sarina Bowen I never expected to be so charmed by a hockey romance as I was by “The New Guy” by Sarina Bowen. In my search for any self-published books that are good, different and not about vampire…

"The Devil Wears Prada" meets a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers q***r workplace contemporary romance in this lovely novel from Christina Lee, "Undone." I've been trying to read more indies and I've found myself going through a lot of frogs, and not for the reasons people say. Many of them are copy-edited or proofread, but I give up on them because the stories or characters aren't interesting or realistic....

Book Review: Undone by Christina Lee “The Devil Wears Prada” meets a slow burn, enemies-to-lovers q***r workplace contemporary romance in this lovely novel from Christina Lee, “Undone.” I’ve been trying t…

"The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida" by Shehan Karunatilaka was a difficult book to read and I expected nothing less. Even grimdark fantasy doesn't hold a candle to the horrors of real life infused with the supernatural realm. The story is set in 1990 Sri Lanka in a Colombo wracked by ethnic conflict, corruption and bloody civil war. Maali Almeida is a war photographer and itinerant gambler, a closeted gay man at a time and a country when q***r identities were infused with trauma and pain....

Book Review: The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” by Shehan Karunatilaka was a difficult book to read and I expected nothing less. Even grimdark fantasy doesn’t hold a candle to the horrors of r…

"Age of Vice" by Deepti Kapoor is a sweeping epic of an India reaching toward the future while saddled with the shadows of its past. I've read a few chonkers lately that could have been 600 pages instead of 400 but not so with this book. Kapoor's prose and characters had me hooked from the start. This is the story of Sunny Wadia, a tragic anti-hero who's a sort of Indian Gatsby, living under the thumb of his ultra-rich gangster father who runs a seedy chain of liquor stores....

Book Review: Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor “Age of Vice” by Deepti Kapoor is a sweeping epic of an India reaching toward the future while saddled with the shadows of its past. I’ve read a few chonkers lately that could hav…

Here's everything I've been watching and enjoying on my various streaming services lately. NETFLIX Warrior Nun - I only just discovered this fun sapphic show with elements of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Unfortunately it got canceled after two seasons even after fan outcry so now's the time to watch it. It's a thoroughly weird urban fantasy spin on a chosen one and a nunnery with a unique mission....

What To Stream This Week Here’s everything I’ve been watching and enjoying on my various streaming services lately. NETFLIX Warrior Nun – I only just discovered this fun sapphic show with elements of Buff…

I loved this book. "Tell Me How to Be" by Neel Patel is the kind of book that you need to read cover to cover to fully appreciate. It doesn't have chapters, but it switches between the points of view of Akash Amin, an Indian-American struggling songwriter and closeted gay man, and his mother, Renu, a sharp-tongued strong mama with secrets of her own who's upending her life to move to London after her husband's death....

Book Review: Tell Me How to Be by Neel Patel I loved this book. “Tell Me How to Be” by Neel Patel is the kind of book that you need to read cover to cover to fully appreciate. It doesn’t have chapters, but it switches betwee…

I thought I'd return to these ramblings about my writing and publishing efforts but not do them weekly; rather, just an occasional series. So I've decided to return to my original plan of self-publishing even though I didn't query very long, and I'm excited about it. Feels like I'm one of the few authors who's not interested in querying, though. Maybe one day, if I have the right book, but the way the market is now, I would need to write sapphic books, since these days it's all about writing characters that share your identity....

Author Musings #11 I thought I’d return to these ramblings about my writing and publishing efforts but not do them weekly; rather, just an occasional series. So I’ve decided to return to my original plan …

One of the things I always hear from writers who want to dump Twitter when Instagram is suggested, "I'm a word person. I don't do visual content." When really, that's their first mistake, in thinking of it as "visual content." When you say "visual content" you think you have to have a fancy DSLR, frame a shot with good composition and lighting, and engage in high-class production values....

Instagram tips for writers looking for a Twitter alternative One of the things I always hear from writers who want to dump Twitter when Instagram is suggested, “I’m a word person. I don’t do visual content.” When really, that’s …

As I fully expected, I failed to win National Novel Writing Month; but it's all good, I still feel satisfied with the progress I made on my new manuscript, SAKURA SEASON, a psychological thriller set in Japan. The biggest reason why I did not make it is that I didn't write every day and took too many breaks. I think I need to learn to not overthink things as well; I put too much pressure on myself to make perfect sentences and make sure the plot is flowing....

How I Did In NaNoWriMo: Wrap Up Report As I fully expected, I failed to win National Novel Writing Month; but it’s all good, I still feel satisfied with the progress I made on my new manuscript, SAKURA SEASON, a psychological thri…

I enjoyed The Year of The Witching on audio book, which I listened to after finding out about Alexis Henderson's newest release, but I liked House of Hunger even better, although it had its issues. I liked the main character, Marion Shaw, and found her plight of abusive brother and abusive workplace to seek a better life compelling, if derivative. Scrappy Marion doing whatever it takes to survive intrigued me....

Book Review: House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson I enjoyed The Year of The Witching on audio book, which I listened to after finding out about Alexis Henderson’s newest release, but I liked House of Hunger even better, although it had its i…

Image from Pixabay Truth is, I don't feel like I really did make much progress over the last week, but I don't want you to think I have given up like past years, so here I am, faithfully checking in. I skipped four days because I was so exhausted. Haven't been sleeping well and felt like I'd be forcing creativity if I made myself sit down and write....

NaNoWriMo Week Three Progress Report Image from Pixabay Truth is, I don’t feel like I really did make much progress over the last week, but I don’t want you to think I have given up like past years, so here I am, faithfull…