June 16, 2018
Dear readers,
Thank you so much for reading "Mask of Celibacy", a multimedia novella in which Jessica (Jess) Smith embarks on a journey of self-discovery in her blog called The Celibate Life.
The story begins in 1999, before asexuality was widely accepted as a sexual orientation. Jess struggles to understand herself and her identity as she finishes her final year of high school at a Catholic school, including graduation and prom.
Asexuality, like all sexual orientations, is an umbrella term that covers an entire spectrum of sexual preferences. This story portrays an example of only one version, asexual heteroromantic, which indicates a lack of sexual attraction but an interest in romance with the opposite gender. Other versions of asexuality include the following:
- asexual homoromantic
- asexual biromantic
- asexual panromantic
- asexual aromantic
It also includes a whole host of preferences that may be classified as ace-spectrum sexualities. For more information, please check the AVEN website. But some examples include: hyposexuality, demisexuality, and gray-sexuality.
This character does not speak for all asexual heteroromantic individuals. Rather, Jess is a fictional character on her own journey of self-discovery.
This story does not purport to speak for all asexual people. The ace spectrum covers a wide range of personal preferences, so readers may or may not relate to her voice.
If you'd rather read a story in which the MC is an asexual/gray-asexual, but the focus isn't on a journey of self-discovery, you may like to try another novel of mine, Fireborn. Liselle is an asexual heteroromantic, but the emphasis is on a fantasy story arc with only a few references to her sexuality as it relates to the plot. For a more recent fantasy novella, check out "Light and Shadow".
On the other hand, if you'd rather read a traditional novel adaptation of this story (same title) without the multimedia elements, you can find it on my profile. It won the Wattpad Books Prize and Wattys in 2021. The link is here in the comments. -->
Please note that this is a completed raw draft. To find a more polished version of this story, check out the traditional novel adaptation, which is the first story listed on my profile. It is also complete and won the Wattpad Books Prize, Best Cover Award, and Watty Awards in 2021.
I hope you enjoy this story. If you have any feedback or comments, I'd love to hear what you think. Your votes mean the world to me. If you like the story, please share it with your friends. :)
Thanks in advance. You're the best.
Happy reading and writing,
Renée
(AKA Carolyn Hill)
YOU ARE READING
Mask of Celibacy: A Multimedia Novella
General FictionHigh school senior Jess Smith meets Ace of Spades, an online friend who helps her question her mask of celibacy and recognize her true asexuality. Except that their friendship begins to develop into something more. [Featured April and May 2020 under...
