THIS #INDIEPRIDE SPOTLIGHT POST FOCUSES ON DANIEL AEGAN’S REIGN OF THE UNFORTUNATE

Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon
Author Interview | Website

Reign of the Unfortunate is my first villainpunk book, but it’s not my first to include queer characters. I don’t write queer books in particular. I don’t think ‘queer’ should be a genre in itself. When I first started writing, a straight reader got upset with Blood Drive since one of my main ensemble characters was queer and they hadn’t been warned ahead of time. That character is a vampire hunting priest who loves hair metal and big guns, so I feel his sexuality should take a second tier to all that other interesting stuff about him. This reader insisted I should’ve marketed as an ‘queer book’. Instead of using queerness as a genre, I want to write stories where the characters happen to be queer. We exist in real life, so that should be reflected in our stories. So, when I write a story like Reign of the Unfortunate, it’s a villainpunk book with characters who fall into their own sexuality regardless of who picks it up. I’m not trying to ‘pull one over’ on my straight readers that come my books, but we shouldn’t be defined as authors by our sexual orientations. Books like Twilight aren’t in the ‘straight’ section at the bookstore, so why should any of our books be relegated to a ‘queer’ section? 

– Daniel Aegan, 2022

Blurb:
When the world wants you to have nothing, take everything.

Dr. Everything is a supervillain who wants nothing short of that. He has the brains and the power to take it, but there is one annoying superhero standing in his way: The Courageous Cricket-Man. The irritating insect has been a thorn in Dr. Everything’s side for years, but the villain is not alone in his annoyance. He knows he can’t take the world on his own, so he’ll have to rely on a few fellow supervillains to aid him in his endeavor to rid Pristine City of its cricket infestation problem.

Osprey’s a brilliant inventor who can soar through the sky thanks to his own set of metallic wings and flight pack. He’s had a contentious past with Dr. Everything, but are they willing to put all that happened between them aside to destroy their common enemy?

Bad Juju and the Glamourous Gargoyle are former tag team partners turned supervillains, and Dr. Everything needs them as well. Bad Juju is a master illusionist who can turn reality on its head with a few muttered magic words, and Glam Gargoyle can wield enough Hellfire to turn her victims to ashes. Rounding out the team is Kilowatt, a surly miscreant and bank robber with electricity in his veins.

Despite their differences, these five villains are destined to become THE UNFORTUNATE FIVE!

Cricket-Man isn’t going to know what hit him, but defeating the black-suited bug may be the least of the Unfortunate Five’s problems. They’ll still have to deal with breaking out of prison, infighting among Pristine City’s other baddies, learning to work as a cohesive group, and all the other unknown variables that pop up in Dr. Everything’s exhaustive calculations.

But nothing worth having is ever given freely.

Reign of the Unfortunate is Daniel Aegan’s first endeavor into the world of villainpunk, a genre full of perilous plots, dastardly deeds, and sinister schemes. Aegan delves deep, bringing five supervillains to life in a world that hinges on costumed characters fighting the battle of good versus evil with more than mere life on the line. Expected everything, and you still won’t know what hit you!

You can’t say you haven’t been warned. There is no room for heroics here. This story is for the villains.

Check out the rest of the books and authors being spotlighted for #IndiePride, go here. For the book reviews of the ones I’ve already read and reviewed, go here. For the Goodreads list of the books, go here.