Chris Holcombe Author

Who likes ginger bears?

“Joe placed his hands on hips tightly clad in brown trousers. Broad, wide shoulders strained against the matching suspenders, and the wrinkled white shirt worn with no tie featured rolled-up shirtsleeves exposing thick forearms covered in fiery hair.”
#queerwriters #writesky

My huzzband & our good friend celebrating #hotbooksummer w/ THE DOUBLE VICE! You can read it by the pool or in bed (or both!). It’s vers and we all love vers, don’t we?

Post a pic of you reading Hidden Gotham, tag me, and use #hotbooksummer! Cuz reading 🌈 books is 🔥. #queerwriters 🌈✒️ #lgbtqwriters

Karl talks to Dash about his oppressive brother

“He often talks of the countryside villages, the lush green covered with blue cornflowers and bright yellow chamomile...The most superior people in the world making the very best of things…Sometimes I wonder if it’s more fantasy.” #WIPSnips 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🌈✒️

Sidebar: what’s the most insufferable social media platform and why is it LinkedIn?

From THE DOUBLE VICE, an internal thought from Dash assessing an outsider in his gay club. The 20s was both a progressive and regressive time (like now).

“And yet, so much had not changed. Hate, for one. Fear, for another. This outsider represented both.”

#loreoutloud 🌈✒️ 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 #queerwriters

Another friend of ours is celebrating #hotbooksummer! Feel free to post and tag me with your Hot Book Summer pic! Cuz reading Queer books is 🔥 #queerwriters #lgbtqwriters #gaywriters #queerbooks #lgbtqbooks #gaybooks #booksky #writesky

Order your HBS tank: www.chrisholcombe.com/collections/...

Dash brushed his misbehaving brown hair behind his ears while his hazel eyes measured this threat. They mirrored each other in some ways, but whereas Dash’s features were warm and inviting, this outsider was all hard angles and warning signs.
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #booksky #queerwriters 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🌈✒️

In Ft Lauderdale, which has decidedly less goldens than NYC, I did manage to see one tonight!!!! It was big and floofy and adorable. 🐕 🐕 🐕

Did you know @joellesliefro.bsky.social loves noir mysteries? He does and it shows! THE DOUBLE VICE audiobook is a blast to listen to bc he had a blast recording it.

Start your Hidden Gotham journey: www.chrisholcombe.com/products/the...

💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🎧📚 #queerwriters #audiobooks #lgbtqwriters

THE BLIND TIGER originally had a seance scene that’s now in THE DEVIL CARD. More intense w/ gangster Fife using the seance to snuff out a traitor. Dash saves a guy from having his hand cutoff bc he thinks the man’s lying to protect someone. CARD’s scene is more mysterious and comedic #loreoutloud 🌈✒️

“Perhaps this woman can lead you to the…other person. You will give me another report Thursday.”
That was two days from now.
Dash said, “I’m afraid that isn’t much time, Mr. Müller, for a . . . full report.”
Walter’s smile was cruel. “An update then.”
#WIPSnips #queerwriters 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 #lgbtqwriters

THE BIG TIMER’s Queer Noir playlist (from 20s & 30s):

Ma Rainey, “Prove It On Me”
Lucille Bogan, “B.D. Women”
Bessie Smith, “The Boy in the Boat”
Hokum Boys, “Somebody’s Been Using That Thing!”
Alberta Hunter, “Somebody Else Will Take Your Place”

#loreoutloud #queerwriters #lgbtqwriters 🌈✒️ 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚

My huzzband’s having a Hot Book Summer with the Hidden Gotham novels! How about you? Pose with your favorite HG book, tag me (or DM the pic), and use the hashtag #hotbooksummer to show the world that reading Queer fiction is hot AF! #queerwriters #lgbtqwriters #booksky 🌈✒️ #writesky #gaywriters

Delilah smiled. “Care to learn about your future?”
“Possibly. You know, I recently found a tarot card in someone’s pocket. A devil card. You wouldn’t be missing it, would you? This man is a frequent patron here. Donte Delucci?”
A flash of her eyes belied her calm demeanor.
#WIPSnips 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🌈✒️

All of the above! The Hidden Gotham Series stars Queer characters in the Queer clubs of 1920s NYC. I also incorporate real Queer figures and places (or their fictionalized counterparts) into the stories. The 20s was the Decade That Slayed, y’all. #loreoutloud #queerwriters 🌈✒️ 💙⏳📚 💙⚡️📚 #lgbtqwriters

A “big timer” is 1920s slang for a rich, powerful, charismatic man. However I’m flipping the phrase to be about powerful, dynamic, independent Black women in Harlem. We’ve met them before in the Dash books; now they’re center stage where they belong. THE BIG TIMER, Fall 2025. #loreoutloud 🌈✒️ 💙⏳📚

On our way to Ft Lauderdale for the Rainbow Readers Cruise! So many bags, so many books, so many book postcards. Let’s do this!

#queerwriters #lgbtqwriters #writesky #booksky

Dressing up bathtub gin:

Glasses were now loaded with lemon juice, honey, sugar, and mint leaves. Like drinking candy. But if the childish disguises weren’t working anymore, then how could they compete with the thousands of other speaks in town? #WIPSnips #queerwriters 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🌈✒️ #booksky

It was a fun piece! So happy to see it performed!

El Train is based on Gladys Bentley, a famous Queer Harlem performer. We’ve met her in the 3 previous Dash books. Born in Philly, ran away to NYC, worked the rent party circuit before the clubs. She’s a big personality, irreverent, hilarious, full of heart. THE BIG TIMER, Fall 2025. #loreoutloud 🌈✒️

Pic 1: it is so HUMID. So. Much. Moistness.

Pic 2: saw 7 goldens yesterday and 2 this morning!!! 🐕 🐕

#queerwriters #lgbtqwriters #writesky #writersky #booksky #mmbooks #gaywriters

There is no better human than Dolly. And Dolly Correspondent would be a DREAM job!

Atty said, “We done with him, boss?”
Dash reluctantly nodded.
Atty opened the front door and pushed Walter across the threshold, saying, “Go chase yourself!”
Walter, bloody grin still in place:“Good night, Mr. Parker. You should hope we never meet again.” #WIPSnips #queerwriters 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🌈✒️ #booksky

😂 love it

Sharing is caring so I guess this makes you a CareBear???

I’ll see myself out….

We’ve got four different levels at my Patreon! When you sign up, not only do you get the content, but you get a 1920s cocktail recipe to try at home (for those of legal age).

Sign up today! patreon.com/ChrisHolcomb...

#queerwriters #lgbtqwriters #gaywriters #mmbooks #booksky #writesky 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🌈✒️

Tyler’s eyes glinted with a shrewd look. “I see little Karl wasn’t completely forthcoming then.”
Dash furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
“It wasn’t just any cabaret. It was a cabaret in Berlin. And, my dear boys, Berlin makes the Village look positively tame.” #WIPSnips 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 🌈✒️ #queerwriters

El Train is such a big presence that she demanded her own book. Other inspos: citywide paper box factory strike in Nov ‘26, tension btwn the speakeasy/club jazz artists and those who wanted “respectability” for Harlem, and Numbers, the precursor to the lottery. 🌈 ✒️ 💙⚡️📚 💙⏳📚 #loreoutloud #queerwriters

Yes indeed!

The dumplings we didn’t know we needed…