What if you could take it with you?
Growing up, I believed that when you die, you can’t take anything with you.
It doesn’t matter how much you have, whether it is money, land, possessions, or even people. When you die, it all stays behind. You don’t even keep the clothes on your back.
Death takes everything.
But over time, that belief started to shift. I realized that nearly every major religion teaches some version of continuation, that something of us goes on. That death isn’t the end.
That idea stayed with me.
And eventually, it led me to a question I couldn’t shake.
What if you could take something with you?
That question is what first drew me to the idea of reincarnation. If we come back, if life continues in another form, then what does that mean for the life we’re living now? Is it possible to leave something behind for yourself?
That’s where Gary’s story begins.
Gary’s first priority was love. He wanted to come back and find Jon Paul, the man he believed was waiting for him on the other side. But he also carried another idea with him. What if he could prepare a future for them? What if he could pass forward everything he had built, his resources, his home, his legacy?
And beyond that, he wanted to give something back to the LGBTQ+ community that shaped his life.
How he attempts to do that unfolds in A Boy From Before.
In my newest book, Gary’s Gift, we step into what happens next, after the happily ever after.
Because that’s the part of the story we don’t talk about enough.
Life doesn’t stop. Love doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It has to survive the real world.
This book is also personal for me in a different way. Before I began writing, I spent years in the corporate world. I saw how power works. How decisions are made. How good intentions can slowly shift under pressure.
Those experiences shaped Gary’s world and ultimately created the one Flint and Zack now have to navigate.
Because sometimes the hardest part isn’t finding love.
It’s protecting it.
As May 15 approaches, I’m excited to finally share this story, not just for what happens, but for the question it asks:
If you had the chance to have it all, would you take it?
And what would you be willing to risk to keep it?
Pre-order the Kindle version of Gary’s Gift:
The paperback and eBook both release May 15.
Mj