Indie Author Spotlight, Episode 26

Hello! Jennifer Martin here! I'm a budding short story writer and a new volunteer at The Writer's Workout as well as a recent graduate. I have been given the great honor of spreading the news of these wonderful authors by S.E. Reed, and I am grateful to be given the opportunity to meet new and interesting people in the literary community, like today's guest, Rayne Alarcio.

A poet with several publications and a chapbook under their belt, Rayne's work focuses on queer and transmasculine culture. Taking their own personal experiences and reimagining them with a twist of mythology and internet motifs. Make sure to check out their website and socials, which are linked below, so you don't miss out on any of their work. I was very pleased with the opportunity to meet Rayne. I know you will be too.

Hi Rayne! Thanks so much for meeting with me today. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I grew up as a shy kid in LAUSD schools. I was crying in the computer lab office

in middle school after being bullied when Ms. Espejo, who ran the lab, asked me,

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” I told her, “I don’t know, maybe a

writer or some kind of journalist.” She suggested I look into WriteGirl, a

mentorship program for (at the time) teen girls in Los Angeles. I’d written

fanfiction, the occasional short story, and had won an essay writing competition

for Women’s History Month in sixth grade—but joining WriteGirl was a game

changer. I learned about the world of literary magazines through their partnership

with Exposition Review, performed poetry at the LA Times Festival of Books, and

applied to college with the help of their College Access Program.

In college, I studied film in New York City, where I shot a short documentary on

the aftereffects of the competitive teen writing scene. My poetry professor

nominated me to read my poetry at the Kalamazoo Poetry Festival, where I first

realized that my writing could take me places further than Southern California. I

graduated with a senior thesis called Fairytale Protagonist Syndrome, which

queerly reimagined Western fairy tales through a feminist lens.

The work I did during Fairytale Protagonist Syndrome directly informed the voice

and thematic concerns of my debut chapbook Starving the Wolf (Bottlecap Press,

2025). Starving the Wolf is a loose transmasc retelling of Little Red Riding Hood,

updated for the era of chatlogs, virtual worlds, and the trauma of long-distance

relationships that should have never happened.

Currently, I’m working on a T4T college campus romance about two trans guys

who fall for each other somewhere between copies of the campus literary magazine, badly lit library reading rooms, thrifted cardigans, and protein bars for dinner. It’s messier and funnier than my earlier work—part love story, part coming-of-age, part love letter to my past and future self.

Tell us about your writing style.

As a poet, I’m drawn to the overlap between identity and pop culture—how

diaspora, gender, and the internet shape the way we move through the world. I

write about growing up Filipino American, packing balikbayan boxes with my

titas; about being transmasc at home and abroad in places like Spain and Japan;

and about video games, chat logs, and the strange intimacy of confessing to

someone you don’t know. My poems often mix persona with a contemporary,

conversational voice, blending literary craft, fandom energy, and everyday

language.

In fiction, my voice lives somewhere between Young Adult and New Adult. I write

literary coming-of-age stories for twenty-somethings—people who survived

college a little bruised and turn to books to make sense of it. My narrators tend to

be messy, morally complicated, and painfully self-aware. Think voicey, character-

driven stories with Gen Z humor and a transmasc heart.

Tell us about a project you’re proud of and link it. 

My debut chapbook, Starving the Wolf (Bottlecap Press, 2025), was born in a

whirlwind—packing up my life in Barcelona, submitting the manuscript as I prepared to move to Japan, and seeing it published just days before Christmas. It’s a loose transmasc retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, and I’m proudest of turning one of my greatest traumas into something that now lives on bookshelves, including the Poets House Permanent Collection.

You can let your shame and nightmares haunt you for the rest of your life, or you can make art of it. I chose art. Always choose art.

Spill the tea, what are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on a T4T campus romance about two emotionally

constipated men in a creative writing workshop who slowly learn how to

communicate their affection and admiration for each other. It’s set on a

Midwestern college campus—judging by the Meijer that slipped in, probably

somewhere in Michigan. There’s a diner food fight, jealousy born from

misunderstandings and assumptions, and a whole lot of flirting disguised as craft

disagreements.

What is your biggest/best piece of advice for other Indie Authors?

My biggest piece of advice for other indie authors is to be a person with hobbies.

Travel if you can. Go hiking. Run a 10K. Learn an instrument. Take a film class.

Fall in love. Fall out of love. Take the train somewhere random. Get lost in a new

city. Eavesdrop while you’re doing all of it. Notice everything.

You can’t write a human if you don’t human.

Who is your favorite Indie Author? 

I’m lucky to be part of a small circle of indie writers I respect, including Sofia Aguilar and tommy wyatt blake.

Sofia is doing incredible community organizing work disguised as zines. In the wake of the 2024 LA fires and in response to increasing tensions around immigration in the U.S., they’ve collaborated with other poets to fundraise for Freedom for Migrants and the Anti-Recidivism Coalition. That kind of leadership and care for the community is something I admire.

tommy is ridiculously prolific, always working on one manuscript or another. His

work covers many of the same themes I explore—transmasculinity, relationship

trauma, and messy intimacy—and his voice is contemporary and lyrical with a

pop culture sensibility. If you like my work, you might like his too.

Where can someone find your work, social presence, etc. drop some links. 

You can find my work at raynealarcio.com and follow me on Instagram @raynealarcio for updates, publications, and life abroad. My debut chapbook,

Starving the Wolf, is published at Bottlecap Press:

https://bottlecap.press/products/starra

If you want to know more about Rayne, check out their 2nd interview over on The Writer's Workout Substack - https://writersworkout.substack.com/p/rayne-alarcio-second-interview

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