I’ve got a few fall releases planned, but this week kicks off the start of my venture into the omegaverse. I’m excited to be writing a series where male pregnancy is part of the norm.
When I was pregnant with my kids, reading MPreg was one of the main ways that I dealt with dysphoria around pregnancy and societal expectations. Reading and writing about societies where things like pregnancy aren’t tied to a strict binary is something that I find affirming. As is the wide variety of less than binary sexes found in nature, so I’m glad to have the chance to explore those themes with this series.
My short story, Squirrel Trouble, is available now. Along with eleven other steamy heat sex themed short stories. Squirrel Trouble marks the start of my new series, Shift Work, all about shifters who work in a zoo, showing off their animal forms.
Squirrel Trouble is about Felix, a squirrel shifter and zoo administrator, working to help shifters with an emerging illness that threatens omega shifter fertility. Nothing about the conference he’s attending to present his team’s research goes right, until Thurston, a handsome alpha owl shifter, offers to share his room.
There’s just one problem; Thurston’s suite only has one bed and the airline lost the bag with Felix’s heat blockers.
Take me to the giveaway!
This story, like all the others in the giveaway, contains heat sex. It does not contain a pregnancy and there is clear and explicit consent before Felix’s heat begins. There are some great steamy short reads, so be sure to grab them all while they’re available (from August 1st to 14th)
If you haven’t read about Felix and Thurston yet, the next bit may be spoilery. So if that’s not your thing come back later, but here’s a fun fact about bird biology: (Highlight below to read the spoilers)
Much like the avian shifters in Shift Work, in real life bird sex development is determined by the dose of the Z chromosome (at least that the current best understanding of the genetics). While many birds are not sexually dimorphic upon visual inspection, most female birds develop a single dominant ovary. If that ovary is later lost or damaged, the bird’s secondary sex characteristics may revert into that of a male. So, the sex reversion from omega to alpha experienced by avian shifters with Creep in the books is based on that real life transformation in birds.
(Here’s some links so you can read more about the phenomenon of sex reversal in birds, there is even anecdotal evidence of these former hens’ dormant gonad developing into an ovotestis that is capable of creating viable sperm: Backyard Poultry article and Sexual Development journal article)
Pretty cool, right? Goes to show biology isn’t as simple as the colonial ideas about binary genders we learn in grade school. There’s plenty of other fascinating variations on sex found in nature, so stay tuned for more shifter fun.
The next shifter book I’m writing is Papa Bear and it’s available now for pre-order. It’s a single dad/parent romance and it’s about a genderqueer alpha bear shifter, Ty, and his mate, an omega raven shifter named Bramble. There are some fun bear and raven facts to discover, more steamy heat scenes, and an adorable kid. This one does include male pregnancy and kids and it is a full length novel, not a short story.
Pre-order Papa Bear here!
The Heat short story giveaway is only available for a limited time so be sure to check it out while it lasts, it’s got everything from dragon shifters, to humans, to narwhals, fantasy worlds to contemporary settings, and from tentacles to hot library sex, you won’t want to miss it!
And if you’re still on the fence, here are the contributing authors: Alex Silver, Amy Bellows, Anna Wineheart, Brea Alepou, Corey Kerr, K.M. Neuhold, Mia Monroe, Reese Morrison, Roe Horvat, Vinni George, Wendy Rathbone, and Willow Dawson.
And if omegaverse isn’t your thing, I’ll have a fun new surprise for a Halloween themed release coming up soon too, so there should be plenty for everyone in the months ahead.
Alex Silver Writes 