I started working on Bathe in Color over three years ago. The idea for this story flooded my mind one day and I ended up spending hours fleshing out Paris and Grayson's entire story arcs, fueled by a ravenous excitement that refused to loosen its grasp on me. Although I'd incorporated romance in my past works, this was my first romance novel and I didn't expect it to gain the reads and recognition that it has. At one point in time, Bathe in Color was nothing more than a concept floating around in my mind. Now, it has almost 150,000 reads!

Writing Bathe in Color was a healing experience that helped me come to terms with my sexuality. When I first drafted Bathe in Color, I still considered myself pansexual. Holding onto a sexuality where I was attracted to women was my crutch. While I wholeheartedly support all bisexual and pansexual individuals, as well as every member of the LGBT+ community, I knew that identifying myself as pansexual was a way of hiding rather than being true to myself. The story arc of Grayson coming to terms with identifying as gay in a home where his parents always assumed he was straight was partially inspired by my life. Detailing such a personal aspect of my journey felt liberating and opened up my heart to the possibility of finding my true identity. Without Bathe in Color, I have no idea what kind of person I would be today.

By writing Bathe in Color, I was also able to explore the beauty of a gay male relationship. There are many pieces of LGBT+ literature where gay relationships are overly sexualized or fetishized and I was tired of reading these stories. Bathe in Color acts as my love letter to the LGBT+ community - a gay male romance written by a gay man who hopes to inspire and lift up others with this tale of Paris and Grayson's blooming love.

I want to thank those of you who read this entire story. Writing Bathe in Color was a long journey, but no matter how many times I had to step back from this book, I always knew I was going to come back and finish it.

To my readers - I hope Bathe in Color helped you as much as it helped me. Perhaps some of you identified with Grayson's journey of self-acceptance and coming to terms with being gay, which can still be scary and difficult even in the twenty-first century. Others may have identified with Paris' journey of self-discovery through the roller coaster of love, sex, art, and fashion. Or maybe you identified with a little bit of both. I know I certainly did.

For those of you who understood Paris' struggle with depression and seeking help, my heart goes out to you. This story of a melancholy teen, grieving the loss of his mom and desperately attempting to find himself, will hopefully inspire many to seek help so that they may cope with the difficulties and hardships of life. Perhaps it may even help other readers understand the struggles their loved ones go through. Mental health is still a widely misrepresented and misunderstood topic. Yet everyone deserves to receive help for struggles outside of their control.

If you or someone you love suffers from mental health issues, please seek help.

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386 (an organization dedicated to helping LGBT youth confidentially; they also provide confidential online chat and text services)

Once again, thank you all for reading this labor of love. Hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

- Eli Cartwright