Mark Allan Gunnells
@markallangunnells.bsky.social
Storyteller
Pinned
Many many years ago I read some Brian Keene books and liked them well enough that I joined his message board. It was a wild and raunchy place with a lot of sexual humor, including an entire thread dedicated to speculation on the size of his dick. Wanting to fit in I tried to join in the debauchery.
As a reader and thus a writer I hate when everything that happens in a book only feeds the plot. It feels too artificial and thus unbelievable. I need to feel like the characters have lives going on beyond the plot, that is what gives the story vibrancy. That's just my approach to it.
February 1, 2026 at 9:10 PM
As a reader and thus a writer I hate when everything that happens in a book only feeds the plot. It feels too artificial and thus unbelievable. I need to feel like the characters have lives going on beyond the plot, that is what gives the story vibrancy. That's just my approach to it.
I've worked with Slashic and definitely recommend them. Queer owned and operated, which means they understand the need for loud queer voices being raised in the genre.
🚨Submissions are now open🚨
Between Feb 1–July 31, Slashic Horror Press will be accepting submissions for novels and novellas in any horror sub-genre. The only pre-requisite? It has to be QUEER.
Slashic has always, and will always, only publish queer horror.
Between Feb 1–July 31, Slashic Horror Press will be accepting submissions for novels and novellas in any horror sub-genre. The only pre-requisite? It has to be QUEER.
Slashic has always, and will always, only publish queer horror.
February 1, 2026 at 11:11 AM
I've worked with Slashic and definitely recommend them. Queer owned and operated, which means they understand the need for loud queer voices being raised in the genre.
Don't be fooled, the complaint "I don't want politics in my books" is code for "I don't want to read books by queer people, poc, or women." A book about a secret agent fighting foreign powers isn't political to them but a queer book with a scene where someone encounters homophobia is too political.
February 1, 2026 at 11:06 AM
Don't be fooled, the complaint "I don't want politics in my books" is code for "I don't want to read books by queer people, poc, or women." A book about a secret agent fighting foreign powers isn't political to them but a queer book with a scene where someone encounters homophobia is too political.
Write what you love, write what brings you joy, write what thrills you. That way no matter what outside success you attain or don't attain, you are still successful because you have love, joy, and thrills.
January 31, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Write what you love, write what brings you joy, write what thrills you. That way no matter what outside success you attain or don't attain, you are still successful because you have love, joy, and thrills.
I love a good title for my stories, and probably my favorite title I ever came up with is "I Will Not Be Your Sacrificial Faggot!" Sums up the queer rage we all need to tap into these days!
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
I Will Not Be Your Sacrificial F*ggot - MGAllan - The Stand - Stephen King [Archive of Our Own]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
archiveofourown.org
January 30, 2026 at 11:12 AM
I love a good title for my stories, and probably my favorite title I ever came up with is "I Will Not Be Your Sacrificial Faggot!" Sums up the queer rage we all need to tap into these days!
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
My novel Imposter Syndrome is a haunted house novel, but it is also a novel of the COVID lockdown, artistic insecurity, familial trauma, the queer experience. A book never has to be just one thing.
www.amazon.com/Imposter-Syn...
www.amazon.com/Imposter-Syn...
Imposter Syndrome
Amazon.com: Imposter Syndrome eBook : Gunnells, Mark Allan: Kindle Store
www.amazon.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:36 AM
My novel Imposter Syndrome is a haunted house novel, but it is also a novel of the COVID lockdown, artistic insecurity, familial trauma, the queer experience. A book never has to be just one thing.
www.amazon.com/Imposter-Syn...
www.amazon.com/Imposter-Syn...
I wrote a bit of fanfiction set in the world of Stephen King's The Stand in order to express some of the queer outrage I feel at this moment in time. It has one of my favorite titles ever: "I Will Not Be Your Sacrificial Faggot!"
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
I Will Not Be Your Sacrificial F*ggot - MGAllan - The Stand - Stephen King [Archive of Our Own]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
archiveofourown.org
January 29, 2026 at 10:34 AM
I wrote a bit of fanfiction set in the world of Stephen King's The Stand in order to express some of the queer outrage I feel at this moment in time. It has one of my favorite titles ever: "I Will Not Be Your Sacrificial Faggot!"
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
archiveofourown.org/works/70760816
Queer literature is so rich, reaches across every genre and orientation and gender identity, offering diversity and depth. No matter what you like to read, there is queer lit to fit that bill. That's why I'm a bit leery of readers who post about all the books they read and nothing queer shows up.
January 28, 2026 at 10:04 AM
Queer literature is so rich, reaches across every genre and orientation and gender identity, offering diversity and depth. No matter what you like to read, there is queer lit to fit that bill. That's why I'm a bit leery of readers who post about all the books they read and nothing queer shows up.
These times we live in just prove what I've always believed... Christianity is built upon bigotry and bigotry alone.
January 27, 2026 at 10:36 PM
These times we live in just prove what I've always believed... Christianity is built upon bigotry and bigotry alone.
Just a reminder that all the liberals who didn't vote because they didn't think we had the "perfect candidate" are responsible for this too. Blood is on your hands too, and I'm not letting you off the hook for this shit.
January 26, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Just a reminder that all the liberals who didn't vote because they didn't think we had the "perfect candidate" are responsible for this too. Blood is on your hands too, and I'm not letting you off the hook for this shit.
I left the horror community because it felt too much like Trumpism. People elevating toxic bullies that use lies and misinformation to try to destroy anyone that questions their "authority". The community claims to be mostly liberal but they loooove cruel straight white men.
January 26, 2026 at 10:53 AM
I left the horror community because it felt too much like Trumpism. People elevating toxic bullies that use lies and misinformation to try to destroy anyone that questions their "authority". The community claims to be mostly liberal but they loooove cruel straight white men.
Let me just say as a U.S. citizen, the current government of my country is indeed a terrorist organization.
January 24, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Let me just say as a U.S. citizen, the current government of my country is indeed a terrorist organization.
Reposted by Mark Allan Gunnells
It’s #FridayReads time! Let’s boost all signals. Repost this and let us know what to repost for you. Sharing this monster full of violence, friendship, magic, monsters, ghosts, and revenge again because it’s on sale and…storms!
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316...
bookshop.org/p/books/hous...
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316...
bookshop.org/p/books/hous...
January 23, 2026 at 3:20 PM
It’s #FridayReads time! Let’s boost all signals. Repost this and let us know what to repost for you. Sharing this monster full of violence, friendship, magic, monsters, ghosts, and revenge again because it’s on sale and…storms!
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316...
bookshop.org/p/books/hous...
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0316...
bookshop.org/p/books/hous...
I've always said queers of a certain age will never forget when we are dying in droves and no one cared.
If you know me irl, feel free to ask me, too. The refusal of the political class to give a damn about people with AIDS was appalling & infuriating. Same for the American public, tbh. Homophobia, xenophobia, & racism are a hell of a brew. AIDS activists were almost entirely on their own.
if you are surprised that politicians aren't joining or at least supporting the people protesting ICE, let me tell you about the AIDS crisis years.
January 22, 2026 at 2:37 PM
I've always said queers of a certain age will never forget when we are dying in droves and no one cared.
For my WIP I just spent some time researching what aired on the networks on October 12, 1991. I love putting those kinds of details in stuff set in the past.
January 22, 2026 at 10:14 AM
For my WIP I just spent some time researching what aired on the networks on October 12, 1991. I love putting those kinds of details in stuff set in the past.
Just a reminder that Rowling is bigoted trash.
It cannot be made clearer.
If you continue to support the Harry Potter franchise in any way, you are directly funding the removal of trans people's human rights in the UK.
If you continue to support the Harry Potter franchise in any way, you are directly funding the removal of trans people's human rights in the UK.
January 21, 2026 at 12:07 PM
Just a reminder that Rowling is bigoted trash.
As a queer man, I write for the joy, the release, but also out of spite. The more they want to suppress queer stories, the queerer my stories get.
January 21, 2026 at 12:00 PM
As a queer man, I write for the joy, the release, but also out of spite. The more they want to suppress queer stories, the queerer my stories get.
A young guy (who identified as bi) once told me I needed to put more positive straight male characters in my books so straight male readers would have someone they could relate to. That's some Uncle Tom bullshit and no thank you.
January 17, 2026 at 11:23 AM
A young guy (who identified as bi) once told me I needed to put more positive straight male characters in my books so straight male readers would have someone they could relate to. That's some Uncle Tom bullshit and no thank you.
Also from my WIP: "The world is an ocean of shit we're all drowning in, but that doesn't mean we can't come up for air from time to time."
January 17, 2026 at 11:16 AM
Also from my WIP: "The world is an ocean of shit we're all drowning in, but that doesn't mean we can't come up for air from time to time."
From my WIP: Daniel looked stunned, as if he'd just witnessed a miracle of Biblical proportions. Walking on water, water into wine, raising the dead, an AM radio station that didn't suck.
January 17, 2026 at 11:16 AM
From my WIP: Daniel looked stunned, as if he'd just witnessed a miracle of Biblical proportions. Walking on water, water into wine, raising the dead, an AM radio station that didn't suck.
I put my out of print queer time travel romance The Exchange Student up on A03. Now I'm putting up the sequel, The Time Guaridan, a chapter at a time.
archiveofourown.org/works/766475...
archiveofourown.org/works/766475...
The Time Guardian: An Exchange Student Sequel - Chapter 1 - MGAllan - Original Work [Archive of Our Own]
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
archiveofourown.org
January 13, 2026 at 1:37 PM
I put my out of print queer time travel romance The Exchange Student up on A03. Now I'm putting up the sequel, The Time Guaridan, a chapter at a time.
archiveofourown.org/works/766475...
archiveofourown.org/works/766475...
Hot take: a storyteller can never ruin their own story. You might not like the direction they take the story in, but it's not your story. It's theirs. So as long as it is the direction that satisfies them, the story is not ruined.
January 12, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Hot take: a storyteller can never ruin their own story. You might not like the direction they take the story in, but it's not your story. It's theirs. So as long as it is the direction that satisfies them, the story is not ruined.
There is no such thing as a Trump supporter that isn't a bigot. Sorry, no such animal.
January 12, 2026 at 3:34 PM
There is no such thing as a Trump supporter that isn't a bigot. Sorry, no such animal.
Just over 41,000 words into my WIP, a novel called Do Over. I'm having a blast.
January 11, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Just over 41,000 words into my WIP, a novel called Do Over. I'm having a blast.
There are definitely domestic terrorists in this country, and they are all in the current administration.
January 9, 2026 at 7:07 PM
There are definitely domestic terrorists in this country, and they are all in the current administration.