Dean is the author of sexy, kinky, and queer AF novels and stories.

Treading Water

COMING MAY 2026!

In his debut novel, Treading Water, Dean Robert Holmes weaves a story of woe and resilience. Treading Water is a high-heat/heavy angst contemporary romance about real-world problems, featuring a genderfluid bi guy wrestling with his identity and a fat babe battling chronic pain.

Being a 38-year-old pool boy is pathetic. As is your boyfriend dumping you for a younger man, or divorcees discarding you after fulfilling their fantasies. And not being certain you’re a “boy” in the first place is even worse. It's why Westy McLeigh doesn't believe he's worthy of love. 

That is, until life puts a jiggly redhead in his path.

Like the rocks she adores, Suzy Klein is precious and strong as hell. But between snark costing her a job, ailing joints, and her mother's constant criticism, Suzy's hard surface starts chipping away.

Until a slip of fate lands her in the arms of a lackadaisical pool manager.

From smoking weed in the storage shed to rock hunting at the North Shore, Suzy and Westy's days are full of sunshine. But as time brings poverty, trauma, and tragedy, the pair struggles to keep the shadows at bay.

With circumstances weighing down their relationship, will crystals form? Or will Suzy and Westy's love be crushed into dust?

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Paperback Pre-Order

Content Warnings

ARTWORK BY DEAN ROBERT HOLMES

Unlocked:

Seven Titillating Tales of Gay Trans Love and Lust

Through seven enticing short stories, the romantic and erotic triumphs (and challenges) of being a gay trans person are explored. From the new-to-testosterone Julian to the kinky and confident Levi, inside are a variety of transmasculine characters living their best sex lives. Written by a trans author for a trans audience, these tempting tales strive to showcase our unique experiences with dating and sex.

Whether it's the thrill of hooking up or the comfort of a long-term relationship, Unlocked depicts a world where trans bodies are respected, desirable, and celebrated.
As they should be.

List of Content Warnings

E-BOOK
E-BOOK
PAPERBACK
PAPERBACK
Wholesale Order Form
Wholesale Order Form

ARTWORK BY DEAN ROBERT HOLMES

Paperback ISBN: 979-8-3494-1550-0 // Ebook ISBN: 979-8-3494-1551-7

Get “Unlocked” by Dean Robert Holmes at the following independent bookstores. You may even snag a signed copy!

The 'Tropes & Trifles' logo. Navy stylized text on a lavender background reads: 'Tropes & Trifles' above plain text that reads 'A ROMANCE BOOKSHOP.' In the upper righthand corner is a line drawing of a book with hearts and ferns/flowers.

Tropes and Trifles

Minneapolis, MN

Eden’s Ember Bookshop

Eden, NC

Logo for Witchwood Bookshoppe. A black background with a stylized, cream-colored 'W' and 'B'. There are leaves and flowers scattered over the letters, and in small white text, the base of the image reads 'est. 2025.'

Witchwood Bookshoppe

Grand Forks, ND

The 'Booked Eau Claire' logo. 'Booked Eau Claire' is written in beige against an orange background. Below this, the phrase 'BOLD HEARTS BRAVE STORIES' is also in beige. There are three black stars decorating the image and an 'Admit One' ticket

Booked Eau Claire

Mobile Bookstore

Eau Claire, WI

Little Gay Bookstore Logo on a white background. 'LITTLE GAY' is written in black text above a book with rainbow pages, with the word 'BOOKSTORE' below. Yellow stars are on either side of the rainbow book.

Little Gay Bookstore

Columbus, OH

Book of Choices:

Volume Two

Step into a world where every choice comes with a price. The Book of Choices is an anthology of spine-chilling tales that explore the consequences of decisions made under duress. From haunted relics and cursed books to mysterious forces that twist reality, this collection of short stories by masterful authors will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This anthology contains Dean Robert Holmes’ short story “Blood is Thicker.” Following the death of his father, Jim stumbles across a cryptic diary containing a terrible secret. With a curse nipping at his heels and carving into his flesh, will Jim be able to make a choice that could destroy his life and his family?

The Book of Choices: Volume Two
Herring, Redd

ISBN: 978-1-958329-25-2

The Book of Choices: Collection
Herring, Redd
Queer Home of Craft Zine cover. Background is pink flower-patterned fabric with a greenish house in the center and tufts of cotton above/green and yellow curled pipe cleaners below. Says "Queer" in the upper left & "Home of Craft" in the bottom right

Queer Home of Craft Zine

A BRAND NEW Zine featuring works of 20+ Minnesota Queer artists from across the state.

Minnesota in the year 2025 is a place of 10,000 queers: like lakes we boast a gender fluid and fabulously colorful base of lumberjaxx, snowbirds, drag queens and DIY babes. Now, we get elemental and welcome refugees in a queer great migration.

May our state be a homeplace of acceptance, comfort, and opposition to attempts at marginalization and oppression. May the queer voices in these pages provide a kindling of craft and our scorching hot story.

folaṣade adesanya / editor

BAKIBAKIBAKI / designer

contributors: Aaron Spindler, Angie Mason, Bryce Mason, Dean Robert Holmes, Ease M, Gregory T. Wilkins, Hadar Isra, j.c. bennett, Josie María Manrique, Julie Gard, Keng Xiong, Lachlan (Lake) Montie, Lindsey Reyes, Low, Mikha "mikhamik" Dominguez, Paige Oyaleke, Sarah Royer-Stoll, Shawna Davis, Taiwana Shambley, Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz, Zhi Kai H. Vanderford.

BAKIBAKIBAKI / front cover
Sofia-Rose Nagberi / back cover

Workshop for Independent Publishing / printer & logistical support

Featuring “Alphabet Porn” by Dean Robert Holmes, a personal reflection on life as an aegosexual transmasc who resides in a daydream world of his own creation.

BUY NOW
BUY NOW

Still They Rise / Gods Among Us

Upcoming Short Story in Wolf Grove Media’s Modern Mythology Anthology “Still They Rise/Gods Among Us”: “Pearls Before Thine”

“Pearls Before Thine” tells the story of the siren Aglaope. As her waistline expands with the passage of ships and she ages with the passage of centuries, her ability to lure sailors to their demise fades. And it doesn’t help that her tech-savvy sisters have mastered the net and the art of destroying her confidence. Settling for scraps, Aglaope offers her song to the sea.
But can anyone hear her voice? 

“Still They Rise/Gods Among Us” will be available soon. If you have an idea that reimagines a figure from the Greek or Norse pantheon in a modern or near-future setting, showing how ancient myths adapt to new worlds, submit here!

ARTWORK BY DEAN ROBERT HOLMES

Additional Publications

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Additional Publications 〰️

Zine cover featuring a wheelchair partially visible in the background and a partially visible nude person in the foreground facing away. The title reads "Deductible Hitters II" in white font against a black background.

Celebrate disability pride month with hot disabled transexuals in magazine form!

Featuring Holmes’ contribution, “Leather and Lace,” an erotic T4T tale with psychosis representation.

Degenerates Collective: Deductible Hitters II

BUY
BUY
A picture of the Headstone Zine, which reads "Headstone 1" and includes a red image of a headstone in dirt.

Sserp Press: Headstone Zine

A headstone is a marker for those who have passed: it can be a representation of one's identity or legacy, a last word, a sense of closure, a transformation, or a reminder from the past carried into the future. Who or what do you want to memorialize?

Featuring Holmes’ contribution, “Time Reveals All Wounds,” a bitter and raw reflection on the loss of his mother to suicide.

BUY
BUY
A graphic with white text on a dark red background that reads, "nature. International weekly journal of science."
A graphic that reads "trans" in green text and "survivors" in black.

Nature: Neuropsychopharmacology Journal

Featuring Holmes’ contribution, “From psychosis to creativity: a lived experience perspective on serious mental illness symptoms,” in which he explores a lifetime of managing schizoaffective disorder.

Read Here
Read Here

Forge Forward: Trans Survivors Blog

Healing from sexual assault and other traumas can take a long time. Memories, beliefs, distortions all seem to have their own timetable, coming forward into consciousness at often unexpected times, sometimes months and years apart.

FORGE understands this process, and how it can be complicated by transgender or non-binary gender identity or history. We’ve designed this blog to support both direct survivors and secondary survivors (loved ones and supporters of those who were assaulted) throughout the healing process, no matter where it leads or how long it takes.

You will find that the blog covers various realms of survivors’ experience. Some posts are practical tools for coping with post-trauma feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Some posts are about developing life-enhancing practices that may help readers create more fulfilling lives. Some posts are reviews of resources for survivors who are looking to delve more deeply and explore the impact of trauma/sexual assault on their lives.  Some posts are for inspiration for the times when it’s hard to keep going. And some entries are totally for fun, to bring a needed smile to everyone’s face!

Featuring Holmes’ contribution “Love Letters,” a heartfelt and hurting piece about his experience with family and romantic relationships.

Read Here
Read Here

Read the blog

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