Ethan Day passed away this weekend.
Here is the announcement by his sister on his FB page on Sunday:
The Brightest star that we his family have ever know went out last night. It is with the greatest sadness that our beloved son and brother Ethan/Kenny passed away last night. We love you so much you will always be in our hearts. We his family are going to keep this page open for his friends and colleagues so that if you would like to share a story or a time that you share with Ethan/Kenny we would love to hear them. Thank you all for being a part of this extraordinary man’s life.
Most of the LGBTQIA community…fellows authors, publishers, bloggers, readers…who also considered themselves friends as well as fans of this incredible man are still reeling from the news. So many had just seen him at GRL (GayRomLit) in Virginia last month. A group had visited with him at lunch two days ago near his home. So this is so shocking. He was so young and so full of life.
We don’t know the details except that our world is a bit dimmer without his presence in it. The laughter, the kindness, the vitality, and, yes, the hilarity that leapt from all his stories and characters.
I met him through his stories long before I actually met him in person. That would be when I first read Sno Ho back in 2010, the first of the Summit City books. I laughed until I cried, snot coming out of my nose. How that man could write! I was well and thoroughly hooked from then on out. Read everything he wrote, it was never enough. He was always so busy with life itself it seemed!
Not just writing but helping to organize GRL and at one point he was the force behind Wilde City Press, a publishing house still to be missed.
For some reason, Ethan/Kenny took his time getting back to the beloved Summit City characters of Boone Daniels and Wade Walker. He wrote two books and then went on to other stories and projects. But then he picked this couple up again and in what has turned out to be his final novel, gave Boone and Wade their HEA in their wedding novel, Life In Union.
It’s full of hilarity, crackling, sharp dialog, hot sexy scenes, and bursting with love in every form whether its gay, het, familial, brotherly, friends…it’s all there. Even a town’s love for it’s adopted son. There’s forgiveness, jokes, compassion, and fire. The book shouts Ethan Day at his finest. It’s a treasure as was he. How timely. How fitting. So Ethan.
His friends and fans will remember him through our memories of our times together.
His readers and fans, old and new, and ones that have yet to find him, can continue to visit through all the many wonderful stories and characters that he gave us.
Ethan Day, how we will miss you.
What Ethan Day had to say about himself:
I am a gay man living in Missouri…I can hear the gasps already!! How very un-chic of me, yes I know. It was here I was born and here I have stayed.
I’m currently single but always looking for that special someone that makes my heart skip a beat…in addition to being able to put up with my neurotic ass. The worst thing about being a romance writer is finding a real life hottie that can live up to the fantasy I create in my head and subsequently thrust upon him before actually getting to know the real him. I can hear you getting all judgie…it’s an occupational hazard!! To all my past and future boyfriends, my sincerest apologies…I can’t help myself!
I was the youngest of four children and the only boy, so needless to say, I was spoiled rotten. I’ve always had an extravagant fantasy life. When I played with my Star Wars action figures as a child, I liked to make up my own stories. Naturally, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were totally meant for each other, and Princess Leia made a bitchin’ wise cracking Fag Hag.
I somehow managed to survive high school living in a small racist town in Southeast Missouri and emerged unscathed, realizing life was too short to pretend to be anything other than who I was. I was the little homo that could…so damn it, I did! It was all very Lifetime Movie Network meets After School Special I assure you.
After a few stints in college, I eventually signed up for a Creative Writing course. I took the class because there were no tests. For once my scholastic laziness paid off, and I found an outlet for all the fantasies running amuck in my head. It was love at first write, and I’ve been doing it off and on ever since.
Now I’ve decided it’s time to un-barricade the doors and unleash my imagination onto the world. So very sorry world!! My fantasy life is now available for public consumption and I’m desperately hoping you’re really, really hungry.
Here is a list of all of Ethan Day’s books:
Four five-star Yelp reviews do you little good when you’re nailed inside a giant barrel of whiskey, which is where our intrepid private detective Barry finds himself while on the case to help his campy drag friends, all of whom have numerous secrets to hide.
David Rowan finally gets a break at the end of tax season when his assistant arranges a vacation for him that was on his bucket list from his college days. The accountant is going to go to Scotland to hunt for the Loch Ness Monster, aka Nessie. But really, he just wants a rest and time to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the beautiful, very green countryside. He ends up at a Bed and Breakfast run by a lovely busybody, with the help of her large family that includes her son, Loch, a talented artist.
It’s Thanksgiving, 1992 and Noah Valentine is late picking his mother up from the airport. When he arrives he discovers that she’s made a friend on the flight whose also waiting for her son. When women’s son doesn’t show up, they eventually take the woman home for breakfast with neighbor’s Marc and Louis. Soon after, they learn that the woman’s son has overdosed—or has he?
Life is good for Eric Brown. He’s a senior theater major, an RA for a freshman dorm, and has a great circle of friends. Single since sophomore year, Eric isn’t looking for love. But then Will Butler—fellow senior, co-RA, and the cutest guy Eric’s ever seen—walks into his dorm. Will has a girlfriend he sees off campus—a minor disappointment that becomes a major problem when a housing shortage causes Will and Eric to become roommates, and Eric is forced to witness Will’s hotness day in and day out. For protection, Eric asks Jerry, his ex-boyfriend, to pretend they’re still together. Jerry warns him it’s a stupid idea, but he reluctantly agrees.
A Love You So story.
In a non-shifting alpha/omega society, omegas have become so scarce, they’re sequestered at birth in isolated facilities.
