The Non-Binary Poet of Flowers: Expanding the Aztecverse with Xochipilli

The Non-Binary Poet of Flowers: Expanding the Aztecverse with Xochipilli

My Aztecverse has always been a living entity—it's a shifting architecture of myth, writing, visuals and lived identity. It's my own 21t century definition of what a book is supposed to be. In that way, by declaring that every book I publish is a part of me, I am also offering up my own resistance to colonialism and the oppression of systems of white supremacy and capitalism. The foundational experience that drives this is my status as an indie author. I deliver books that need to be shared with the world through me and the power of my ancestors. Traditional book publishing cannot fully help me with that task. And thus, I created my own Aztecverse, a place where my books grow with me, and where the Pantheon of Aztec gods shows up uniquely inside each novel or visual.

My path through the Aztecverse is just like the path that plants and flowers take on this Earth; it is a path defined by growth, and  a refusal to stay static.

Today, I am revealing the next evolution of this journey: the cover and conceptual heart of Our Lord of the Flowers.

The Multi-Genre Architect

To understand where we are going with Our Lord of the Flowers, you have to look at the map of where we’ve been. I view my bibliography not as a series of standalone books, but as different "rooms" in a sprawling, mythic estate. My work spans the spectrum of human (and superhuman) experience:

By stepping into Literary Fiction with Our Lord of the Flowers, I am exploring the "body as canvas" and the "domestic as ritual space." This is the most intimate entry in the Aztecverse to date—a story of grief, hoarding, and the psychedelic arrival of Xochipilli, the Prince of Flowers, into a modern Chicago home.

The Reveal: Xochipilli Embodied

The cover art and the accompanying photography represent a "Flowery Dream" (Temicxoch). In this era of the Aztecverse, the gods are no longer just shadows in the periphery; they are visceral, tactile, and deeply queer. Using my own body as a medium for this reveal was essential—it bridges the gap between the ancient botanical carvings of the deity and the modern leather-informed aesthetic of the novel.

The Deep Dive

If you want to feel the texture of this new literary direction, I invite you to step through the portal. I have posted a significant excerpt that captures the tension between the clutter of the physical world and the clarity of the mythic.

Read the Excerpt: Our Lord of the Flowers

Looking Toward the Horizon: Hall of Mirrors

While Our Lord of the Flowers prepares to bloom, the architecture of the multiverse continues to expand.

Later this Spring, we will open pre-orders for Hall of Mirrors, the third volume of The Coil book series. This new novel makes a descent into Dark Fantasy and Dystopian Sci-Fi,but it also steps away from the thriller genre defined in book 2. It's in this book that we take a deeper tour of Mictlan and its denizens. It is a stark contrast to the botanical lushness of Xochipilli, proving once again that the Aztecverse contains worlds within worlds. Look for a Q3 2026 release for Hall of Mirrors.

And for those looking even further into the future, I am happy to reveal that the fourth book in the Coil has a title. That novel will be named Coatlicue (Book 5 of The Coil), and it's set to publish in 2027.

I could use your help in suggesting book podcasts and other media that might be a good fit for me to be a guest on. If you have questions or feedback, be sure to reach out.

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