Okay introduction post hi! I'm Tobias/Toby and the author of the currently in progress horror novel, Believe Me (working title), which is the story of a schizophrenic trans man being stalked by a malevolent entity and nobody believes him because of his schizophrenia.
A few facts about me I am actually psychotic/schizospec so while I'm not schizophrenic specifically I am writing from a place understanding.
I also have dysgraphia which if you've never heard the term before is basically dyslexia but for writing instead of reading. I have a billion mental health things but probably the last pertinent stuff is audhd and I also have DID. Tobias is not a specific alter but instead our collective and pen name. Feel free to ask about specific alters but we're not gonna sign off posts individually as that's not what this account is about.
Along with writing I am also a painter and plan to paint the cover of the book myself on canvas using acrylic as that's my medium of choice. We are also a university student and will be continuing our bachelors next year majoring in philosophy and human rights.
This book is focused on themes of testimonial epistemic injustice and the feeling and realities of not being heard or listened to as a mentally ill/psychotic person. The main character (Elliot) is transgender, although trans identity is not currently something I plan on exploring in depth in this specific book. The nuances of an inter-sane relationship are explored in this book with the second biggest character being Elliots partner/boyfriend, Benji. There are a lot of explorations of good people trying their best and falling short, as well as unexamined internal bias having consequences for others even if the person is well intentioned. This is a character and themes focused book with the plot boiling down to exactly what is said at the start of the post. No shade to plot heavy books of course that's just not what this book is like. It's also very important to me that the horror in this book never comes from Elliots schizophrenia. Never in this book will there be a cheap scary hallucination or voice that makes Elliot murder people or whatever. I'm aiming to make a realistic and sympathetic if fictionalised depiction of the psychotic experience with the horror coming from how Elliot is treated and the entity stalking him, not his diagnosis.
This page is going to be for updates on development and the writing of the book, q&as if I ever get so popular as to get an ask, writing excerpts from the book, and general waffling about the book which I love and am very passionate and have a lot of thoughts about.
Thank you for reading this far please follow me and like my stuff I'm working really hard on it please and thank you I love you drink water and take your meds