The Santa Pageant

For fans of Rachel Bowdler and Ashley Herring Blake, a second-chance holiday romance between a sunshiney lesbian and a chilly non-binary bisexual.

Ten years ago, best friends Effie and Tove kissed in the bushes at Winter Ball…and then stood there like lemons, as if they weren’t crushing on each other so hard it hurt. In the confusion, their friendship fizzled, and Tove walked into the sunset with some guy who had nice hair.

Now a cocksure twenty-five-year-old with secretly appalling self-esteem, Effie enters the Santa of the Year Pageant to prove to her unsupportive family that Santa could, in fact, be a lesbian. Enter Tove, the grumpiest Santa in the grotto, back on the island after a harrowing break-up with Nice Hair Guy and using the Pageant to reconnect with the world.

As the Pageant eliminates Santa after Santa, Effie and Tove clash over their past: the kiss that drove them apart, and the fears the last ten years have etched into their worldviews. Effie must let go of others’ opinions and learn to love herself, and Tove must move forward despite there being no guarantee they won’t be hurt again… Or they risk losing each other a second time.

Lillian Barry (they/she/he) writes in short spells when the world stops spinning, which, when you have vertigo, isn't all that often. Every word that makes it onto the page feels like a small miracle. But that's the way they like it-progress in small miracles like the smell of the sea through an open window or putting a name to a feeling you've always felt or a small kiss that says more, later. They write until the world spins again, only this time it's a different type of spinning, the kind you get from creating love stories, a love you don't want to ever end. Other things Lillian loves include playing brass instruments, watching anime, and getting sucked into the microcosm of a niche video game. A Channel Islander by childhood, they currently live in Ireland with their beloved partner.