Tales From the Bottom of My Sole (2020) is a sequel to A Boy at the Edge of the World (2018), an episodic novel about a young Canadian man’s exploration of sex, intimacy and love. I introduce the protagonist Daniel Garneau when he’s eighteen, and we follow his misadventures in dating and relationships over the next seven years. 

My writing is inspired in part by my own life experiences moving to Toronto, and my work as an LGBTQ+ counsellor. For years, I’ve had the privilege of hearing hundreds of stories by young queer and trans men, from all walks of life – inexhaustible tales of awkwardness and joy, confusion and beauty. Daniel’s story is a distillation of these truths and their legacy. 
 
Toronto itself plays a central role in this narrative, offering spaces and opportunities unique to this city. Nowhere else can you find such a diversity of people, cultures and communities. Toronto’s ramshackle neighbourhoods, dive bars and hipster cafes, theatres and clubs form a backdrop that is both quintessentially Canadian and universal.

When it came to the writing itself, it was important for me not to be circumspect or coy in depicting gay sexuality. But I wanted to offer it the same literary realism afforded heteronormative sexuality. At the same time, by keeping to a minimalist, documentary language, I hoped to actively engage readers in creating the story, one enlivened by their own personal, subjective meaning.