Penname: Mercedes Woods

Favorite authors: Jhumpa Lahiri, Mary Renault, Anne Rice (before she became Christian)

Favorite movies: Children of Men, The Departed

The way I operate: I try to start and finish a story here on FP, and then I (hopefully) eventually return to the story and revise it. When I revise, I usually end up changing the story completely. It's just a habit of mine. I think it's fun to take a story apart and put the same characters in different situations.

I love writing queer fiction. In fact, I only write queer fiction. I want to get a collection of short stories or a novel published, and I'm using the Internet to get into a routine of writing regularly. I welcome honest reviews - that's the only way I'll grow as a writer.

Feel free to message me, I love talking to people!

Missionaries: Originally, this story was about a guy named Jeffery pretending to be a missionary in the 1920s. Now, it's about two modern-day missionaries named Joseph and Brian. Joseph and Jeffery are the same character - it's just that one day I realized my childhood pastor was named Pastor Jeff, and I felt a little creeped out keeping the same name. I basically took Brian and Joseph/Jeffery out of the first story and put them into a new situation, forcing them to travel to Florida together.