Invisible Boys author Holden Sheppard unveils next book

Invisible Boys author Holden Sheppard has shared the cover and new details of his third novel, King of Dirt, which is out in June.

The gay Western Australian author released Invisible Boys, his debut, in 2019.

The 2019 coming-of-age novel, set in a regional WA town, scored numerous accolades. The book was adapted into a brilliant gay drama series that arrived on Stan earlier this month.

Holden Sheppard has now shared details about his upcoming third novel King of Dirt, which is his “first book purely for adults”.

The “gritty, heartfelt gay coming-of-age story” is set in the world of FIFO workers and tradies in Western Australia. Holden says the book has been described as “an Aussie Brokeback Mountain for the Grindr era”.

The story is told from the viewpoint of a closeted tradie named Giacomo Brolo, or “Jack”.

“Giacomo Brolo, aka Jack, is a mess. He works piecemeal construction gigs in remote WA, drinks himself to oblivion and is estranged from his family and friends,” the synopsis reads.

“He’s consumed by a self-loathing all too common for closeted men who have grown up in a world of hate and shame.

“But then Jack returns to his regional hometown of Geraldton for a family wedding. He hasn’t been back since he fled at age eighteen, and his past soon catches up with him.

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“Turns out Jack’s deeply conservative Italian family would prefer he remained in the closet. Then he finds out he may have conceived a son with his teenage girlfriend, and now Jack needs to convince her and her new husband that he’s fit to be a father figure.

“And whatever happened to Xavier, the former schoolmate who Jack was in love with and whose rejection spurred him to leave Geraldton in the first place?

“Is Jack doomed to live a dead-end life – or can he open himself up to the possibility of love, found family and connection?”

‘I can’t wait for you guys to meet Jack’

Holden Sheppard said he can’t wait for readers to meet his new protagonist.

“You might recall it previously had the working title Two Kings, which I liked but it didn’t quite sell what this book is about and its gritty tone,” he said.

“So, I brainstormed some new ideas and King Of Dirt is the title everyone fell in love with. And I did, too.

“It’s evocative and it says so much about our main character, excavator operator and general rowdy bastard Jack.

“I reckon it’s a bit of a mission statement about who I am as an author and what I write about too. I can’t wait for you guys to meet Jack.”

This month, the author has toured Australia to relaunch the Invisible Boys novel coinciding with the release of the TV adaptation.

“The response from Aussie viewers has been unreal,” he wrote on Instagram.

“It’s been really special to hear people saying nice things about the episodes I wrote. This was my first job as a screenwriter, and I wrote the screenplays for Episode 4 ‘Sauce’ and Episode 8 ‘Cake’.

“Zeke’s Sicilian heritage mirrors my own, so I took the more heavily Zeke episodes that involved the saucemaking and the Italian wedding.

“It’s really cool to hear people loving some of the moments in these eps I wrote, from the kiss in ep 4 to those multiple big moments of ep 8.

“I love this series so much. It is phenomenal. The casting is superb and the actors give epic performances that do justice to the novel I wrote and the characters I created.”

Invisible Boys is streaming in Australia on Stan. Holden Sheppard’s Invisible Boys and The Brink are out now, and King of Dirt is out in June.