About
Steven Gellman is an award-winning songwriter and author of young adult fiction. He is represented by Elisa Saphier of the MacGregor & Luedeke Collaborative. His first novel is tentatively titled SOMEWHERE IN NOWHERE and will be published by NineStar Press.
Steven Gellman has crafted stories through song across ten albums. Billboard Magazine describes his musical styling as "intensely sensitive and impressively intelligent at the same time.” He is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators and a lifelong learner at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD. He uses his creative platforms to center issues of identity, shed light on mental health, and tell authentic stories.
Learn more about Steven at www.hiddenpoet.com
Featured Work
Somewhere in Nowhere (tentative)
SOMEWHERE IN NOWHERE – a contemporary young adult novel featuring a young, Jewish protagonist, a cast of LGBTQ+ characters, and a focus on mental health. At its heart, SOMEWHERE IN NOWHERE is a classic meet cute set at the intersection of the real life challenges of anxiety and trauma – it’s light meets dark. The novel has undertones of Stephen Chbosky’s PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER and vibes with the close-knit friendships of Jeff Zentner’s SERPENT KING and young queer love à la Alice Oseman’s HEARTSTOPPER.
Coming out is hard, especially when you have two gay moms. At least it is for Simon Bugg. He doesn’t want the world to think that having gay parents has turned him gay. And he certainly doesn’t want anyone to know about the anxiety that feels like an alien is clawing its way out of his stomach to kill him.
It’s Simon’s senior year and his world just turned upside down. When his mom lands a dream job, Simon finds himself at a new school in a strange town away from the only friends he has ever known. Now, his mom is overworked and chronically stressed, and his deadbeat dad is back on the scene. Navigating a new school and new friends is a challenge for a neurotic overthinker, and Simon finds himself turning to his rescue cat, and a handsome young barista, for support. But when Simon meets the dashing PJ in drama class, he immediately agrees to a bubble tea date that he derails in spectacular fashion.
With help from his band of misfit friends, Simon finds his way back to PJ. But how can he have a relationship with the boy of his dreams when he’s convinced he’s going to die? No one knows about the nightly panic attacks at 11:22. Why then, and why do they keep getting worse? Simon must face a traumatic incident from his past or lose his chance with the boy he loves.
