jonny garza villa

they/them. writer of very Mexican and very queer books. usually found playing dnd.

[lgbtqreads]

Inside an Anthology: This is How We Roll ed. by Rosiee Thor

Today on the site I’m delighted to give a peek inside This is How We Roll ed. by Rosiee Thor, a YA anthology out today that features queer stories about tabletop games! Here’s the gist: The magic of tabletop RPGs lives in the creativity of the players. Given the chance to explore gender, relationships, and queer existence across vast worlds with completely different sets of rules, queer players…

Inside an Anthology: This is How We Roll ed. by Rosiee Thor

[seleneelune-deactivated20251014]

Ahh this is so truee

[disinheritoad]

The full set!!!

then everything changed when the fire nation attacked.

[transgothzoey]

From a state hearing in Texas

[russelldels]

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer YA About Immigration

Indivisible by Daniel Aleman  Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa  We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia Kween by Vichet Chum The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante Bonus: These are all YA, but for a New Adult Romance, check out The Broposal by Sonora Reyes 

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[cuuno-moved]

i think we as a society need to use cell phones/laptops/cars/backpacks to flesh out characters

[cuuno-moved]

like. a character has a cracked phone screen and a dozen stickers and a glittery case and a photo of their dog as a background. that says so much

[cuuno-moved]

or a character has a completely plain phone with no decorations and a default home screen and all the contacts are people's first names with no profile photos. except for one contact which is a stupid nickname and a shot of someone taken at a very unflattering angle. you know?

[cuuno-moved]

or cars!!! someone who has a disgusting car, with trash everywhere and mud caking the seats, but the passenger seat is always clean, because someone else always cleans it for them.

[cuuno-moved]

this has potential to become a blorbo post so now i want everyone to describe what they think their blorbo's phone/laptop/car/backpack looks like in the tags because i like reading these things

[caitmayart]

From my experience - this is a BIG part of character design. A character isn't just a face or a body, it's a series of choices.

Every piercing is a decision they made, every tattoo involved sitting for hours and then carefully caring for it afterward. Do they wear bracelets? What kind? Do they have meaningful trinkets they carry around, or are they minimalist and spartan?

Characters impact the world around them and customize their spaces. Pay attention to those details and you'll have a much more fleshed out being to play with :)

[jonnyescribe]

support a sagittarius author this sagittarius season!

until December 4th, you can get my upcoming fourth book, FUTBOLISTA, for HALF OFF when you preorder through my publisher’s—Levine Querido—website and using the code LOVELQ. so if you’re looking for—

💙 a college age romance

💙 a sporty main character (in this case soccer/football)

💙 and lots of student athlete friends/teammates/roommates/antagonist

💙 who’s also realizing he’s very bi

💙 a philosophy major classmate turned study buddy turned boyfriend

💙 bi/gay pairing and they’re both Mexican

💙 and it’s got some spice like this book is gratuitously horny from the pov of our characters and just for us readers like our mc is naked on page one

then I think you’ll really like FUTBOLISTA!

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa — Levine Querido

Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa — Levine Querido

[brainrockets]

I feel like in an Aabria campaign The BBEG is interlocking systems of oppression and the ways they make us all part of the BBEG if we don't actively resist them.

Or as Aabria says, "what is the lie this world believes."

[quiddie]

💯

The lie most fantasy worlds believe is that there's a specific and knowable number of people you can punch that will fix a broken system. The truth is, these systems are not aberrations within a fundamentally just world, requiring only a moment of sublime destabilization for things to be good again; they are working as intended and will reemerge like weeds without diligent effort to destroy their roots and replace them with better structures. Likewise, the hero's hubris sits in the belief that destroying a BBEG is the end of their journey.

Look, I love a Big Bad.

I LOVE getting to spit a nasty lil villain monologue.

I love imagination-boxing my friends! But I HATE the idea that these lovely stories, so tied to aspirations of heroism, hope, and fighting the good fight, mostly do not speak to what is actually required to dismantle and replace systems of oppression.

And when well-intended people are moved to act but lack the understanding of both the scope of the problem and the tools they wield to enact change, you get K "fixing" Evan's arm on Fire Island 2. Oop! The theme was there the whooooole time!

[wizard-loving-wizard]

brennan answering the question "what would make a dragon unfuckable to a monsterfucker?"

[probablyevilrpgideas]

Dragon who's into crypto.

[miss-holloways]

Dimension 20: Fantasy High Season 3, Episode 10: Cursed Out

[haridraws]

[gabibookworm]

Hope everyone had a great Latinx Heritage Month! It may be over but Latin American authors exist year-round. Here’s some upcoming books to add to your TBR! 📚

[jonnyescribe]

thank you so much for the shoutout! 💙

[jonnyescribe]

I always forget about this place so please excuse the late update that maybe all of you already know about but—

I have a book coming out (titled Futbolista) next March and it has a cover! and, if you’ve read Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun, you’ve already met the main character! here’s the description—

A classmates-to-friends-to-lovers New Adult romance that's equal parts raunchy, heartfelt, queer, and Mexican-American, centered on college football (the REAL football)!

Gabriel Piña knows who he is: a college goalkeeper, a future Liga MX or MLS star, and definitely straight. He’s starting his freshman year with a lot of eyes on him and even more potential, but he’s got this. Nothing will have him straying off the path to greatness.

That is, until his philosophy classmate Vale volunteers to tutor him. Vale, the same guy who Gabi, in a moment of history repeating itself, might’ve kissed very briefly—and only once—just to help him out at a party. Vale, the smart, supportive, compassionate new friend with beautiful brown eyes and a smile that keeps Gabi, for completely inexplicable reasons, constantly in a daydream.

As a friendship blooms and the two spend more and more time together, Gabi finally begins to recognize something about himself: maybe he’s not as straight as he thought he was. But a larger and darker realization lingers. Someone like Gabi—a brown, Mexican futbolista with dreams of playing for El Tri—can’t also be bisexual. He’s seen the way his teammates and community react to queerness in their sport. It would be the exact type of straying off path that destroys his future.

Or, maybe Gabi could be brave enough to embrace all those parts of himself and forge his own path, one that includes a boyfriend and the beautiful game.

A sports romance for those who keep rewatching Bend It Like Beckham and rereading Red, White & Royal Blue and the incredible collection of queer soc—football romances out there, Futbolista follows the first semester of one guy's freshman year of college, navigating who he is, who he’s allowed to be, and who he wants to be.

so, yeah! this is my first New Adult romance (which, maybe unsurprisingly isn’t too different from the upper YA I’ve already published, except that I would say there is indeed spice in this one) and I’m very excited for y’all to read about my hard-headed, ambitious bisexual Gabi and kiss turned classmate turned boyfriend Vale and their story 💙🍍⚽️ out March 11, 2025!

[digimentals]

AUGUST 1ST 1999 / “Koromon, the Great Clash in Tokyo!”

TODAY IS STILL AUGUST 1ST, 1999

[transbookoftheday]

Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa

When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face.

In a twenty-four-hour span, Rafael Alvarez led North Amistad High School’s Mariachi Alma de la Frontera to their eleventh consecutive first-place win in the Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional; and met, made out with, and almost hooked up with one of the cutest guys he’s ever met.

Now eight months later, Rafie’s ready for one final win. What he didn’t plan for is his family moving to San Antonio before his senior year, forcing him to leave behind his group while dealing with the loss of the most important person in his life—his beloved abuelo. Another hitch in his plan: The Selena Quintanilla-Perez Academy’s Mariachi Todos Colores already has a lead vocalist, Rey Chavez—the boy Rafie made out with—who now stands between him winning and being the great Mariachi Rafie's abuelo always believed him to be. Despite their newfound rivalry for center stage, Rafie can’t squash his feelings for Rey. Now he must decide between the people he’s known his entire life or the one just starting to get to know the real him.

Canto Contigo is a love letter to Mexican culture, family and legacy, the people who shape us, and allowing ourselves to forge our own path. At its heart, this is one of the most glorious rivals-to-lovers romance about finding the one who challenges you in the most extraordinary ways.

[richincolor]

We have five books on our radar this week, and there's something for just about everyone here. Which ones are you adding to your TBR list?

Against the Darkness (In Every Generation #3) by Kandare Blake Disney Hyperion

This epic finale to the The Next Generation trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake ( Three Dark Crowns ) features the next generation of Scoobies and Slayers who must defeat a powerful new evil. For generations, the Slayer was supposed to be the chosen, the one girl in all the world with the power to stand against the vampires, demons, and forces of darkness. When Willow used the scythe to call up all the potential slayers at once, it changed everything. For years, the slayers have been working and fighting together as a team. Then the Darkness came, killing many slayers and trapping the rest in an alternate dimension. And Frankie Rosenberg, the world’s first Slayer-Witch, found herself fighting evil alone. Sort of. Sure, she has her new Scooby Gang, plus the help of her mom, Willow; Watcher, Spike; and even the brooding-but-hot Hunter of Thrace. But even though they have a master plan (obviously), the gang is more fragmented than ever. So maybe it really is up to Frankie—and Frankie alone—to stand against the darkness. With Jake’s wild werewolf brother back in town, Dark Willow threatening to return, and the Darkness preparing for the final stage of their attack, now is not a great time to wallow in teen angst. After all, she’s the Slayer. It’s time to slay.

And Then There Was Us by Kern Carter Tundra Books

A mother's death forces a teen girl to reevaluate their tumultuous relationship in this powerful coming-of-age novel for teens. For fans of I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Coi is just eighteen years old, but has already survived years of physical and verbal abuse from her mother. After being kicked out of her mother's house at age fourteen, Coi has lived with her father, and together they've created a peaceful life. That peace ends suddenly when her mother dies. While Coi struggles to find kindness in her heart for the woman who only hurt her, she starts having lucid dreams, forcing her to relive moments of abuse and emotional trauma that eventually led to Coi's abandonment. Her mother's passing also reopens the door to her mother's side of the family, including her beloved younger half-sister, Kayla, her stepfather and her grandmother. Each of them challenge Coi's long-held views about her mother, especially Kayla, who, Coi realizes, is taking their mother's loss hard. As she reconnects with her family, Coi learns to see parts of her mother she never experienced, and for the first time since she was abandoned, opens her heart to forgiveness.

Canto Contigo by Jonny Garza Villa Wednesday Books

When a Mariachi star transfers schools, he expects to be handed his new group's lead vocalist spot—what he gets instead is a tenacious current lead with a very familiar, very kissable face. In a twenty-four-hour span, Rafael Alvarez led North Amistad High School’s Mariachi Alma de la Frontera to their eleventh consecutive first-place win in the Mariachi Extravaganza de Nacional; and met, made out with, and almost hooked up with one of the cutest guys he’s ever met. Now eight months later, Rafie’s ready for one final win. What he didn’t plan for is his family moving to San Antonio before his senior year, forcing him to leave behind his group while dealing with the loss of the most important person in his life—his beloved abuelo. Another hitch in his plan: The Selena Quintanilla-Perez Academy’s Mariachi Todos Colores already has a lead vocalist, Rey Chavez—the boy Rafie made out with—who now stands between him winning and being the great Mariachi Rafie's abuelo always believed him to be. Despite their newfound rivalry for center stage, Rafie can’t squash his feelings for Rey. Now he must decide between the people he’s known his entire life or the one just starting to get to know the real him. Canto Contigo is a love letter to Mexican culture, family and legacy, the people who shape us, and allowing ourselves to forge our own path. At its heart, this is one of the most glorious rivals-to-lovers romance about finding the one who challenges you in the most extraordinary ways.

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier Clarion Books

From acclaimed author Makiia Lucier, a dazzling, romantic fantasy inspired by Pacific Island mythology. In the old tales, it is written that the egg of a seadragon, dragonfruit, holds within it the power to undo a person’s greatest sorrow. An unwanted marriage, a painful illness, and unpaid debt ... gone. But as with all things that promise the moon and the stars and offer hope when hope has gone, the tale comes with a warning. Every wish demands a price. Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most. A chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong. Samahtitamahenele, Sam, is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time - hope. But Hanalei and Sam are not the only ones searching for the dragonfruit. And as they battle enemies both near and far, there is another danger they cannot escape…that of the dragonfruit itself.

The Smoke That Thunders by Erhu Kome Norton Young Readers

From a debut Nigerian author: a spectacular young adult fantasy rooted in West African mythology and brimming with adventure. In this mesmerizing fantasy rooted in Urhobo and West African folklore, sixteen-year-old Naborhi longs for a life away from her small, traditional clan in Kokori. But as her rite of passage approaches and she is betrothed to an arrogant young man, Naborhi feels her dreams slipping away from her. Then Naborhi becomes bonded to a mysterious animal and begins having harrowing visions of a kidnapped boy. She soon meets Atai, the son of an Oracle from a rival queendom, and learns that she is being guided by the gods. She and Atai, along with Naborhi’s eager-for-adventure cousin, Tamunor, set off across the continent to rescue the mysterious boy. But when they find him―and find out his true identity―Naborhi realizes there is more than just her freedom at stake: she must stop a war that has already been set in motion. With lush, unique worldbuilding and a dynamic cast of characters, The Smoke That Thunders is a gripping story of political intrigue, fierce love, and what it means to be free.