Book cover for 'Leo AF', a novel by Liam Corell, featuring a theater marquee with bright lights below and a starry night sky with a constellation outline.

SEEKING PUBLICATION

An aspiring singer/dancer goes up against stars—both of stage and in the sky—in this comic upmarket LGBTQ+ novel, a satiric examination of ambition, identity, and internet outrage.

Ever since Oli Tutts discovered a love of theater in the New Jersey suburb where he grew up, the talented, driven, queer twenty-four-year-old has been fixated on one dream: to sing and dance on Broadway. After years of rejection, he’s on the cusp of success when he makes it to final callbacks for Astra Celestia, a new musical starring Serenade (say her name, say her name—like serenity!). When the R&B diva herself arrives to cut the Virgos, Oli loses the job because his birthday falls within the unfairly maligned Zodiac sign. But … Oli identifies as Leo. His moon sign and rising sign are Leo. His houses are filled with Leo. He’s Leo as fuck

With an unwell mother, a judgmental, successful twin sister, shady roommates, expensive loans, and dwindling finances, Oli really needs to change Serenade’s mind. Teaming up with Kara Kelly, a performer/social justice warrior, he shares his story on social media. As his increasingly unhinged videos go viral, he unwittingly launches a movement demanding astrological inclusivity—and unintentionally ignites a backlash against Serenade. What choice does P.P. Jean-Pascal, Astra Celestia’s mercurial director, have but to give in to Oli? But does Oli really want to land his first Broadway gig through extortion? And does he really think Serenade will forgive and the internet will forget?