Straight Expectations

If you were granted one wish, what would it be?

Seventeen-year-old Max has always been out and proud. But every time he looks around his small school, he sees straight couples everywhere. It’s everything he’s ever wanted for himself, but there are few queer boys to choose from. When his frustrations get the better of him, he lashes out at his best friend, Dean, and wishes he had what everyone else has. And he wishes they’d never been friends.

Max gets more than he bargained for when he wakes up to find his wish has come true--his feelings for boys have vanished, and so has Dean. And he got exactly what he wanted . . . a girlfriend. With his school life turned upside down and his relationship with his family in tatters, Max sets out on a journey of rediscovery to find a way back to the life he took for granted, and the love story he thought he’d never have.

Calum McSwiggan is an LGBTQ+ writer, advocate, and award-winning creator who is passionate about gender and sexuality, queer politics, and LGBTQ+ history. Whether sharing his own personal experiences or using his platform to tell the stories of others, meaningful storytelling is at the heart of everything he does. His travel memoir, Eat, Gay, Love was published in 2020. Straight Expectations is his first novel. He lives in London, UK, and you can find him on Twitter and Instagram at @CalumMcSwiggan.