I wanted to share something a bit personal behind the book I’ve written. A lot of Pride comes from my real-life experience working closely with lions. Being around them changes how you see strength, power, and identity. There’s no ego in a pride—just instinct, loyalty, and survival. And it really made me question the version of masculinity we’re taught to perform in our own culture.
That’s where this story came from. It’s an LGBTQ-themed novel that explores toxic masculinity, identity, and what’s left of a man when all the expectations are stripped away.
Right now, it’s free on Amazon through KDP Select, so if it sounds like your kind of read, I’d genuinely love for you to check it out:
What do men have to be proud of? James has always known pride to be the biggest of sins, but going on a hunting safari might just be what he needed to experience real humility. A pride of lions is a force to be reckoned with. They are free, ferocious, feral. Forever committed to protecting one another. Perhaps humans should take notes. When James ends up exposed and hunted in the wilderness, he decides he better start. In nature, there is no time to draw comparisons, worry about being masculine enough, or show off whatever power you may think you hold over others. When you hear a roar, you better start running. When you stumble, you better get back up. When the lion catches up to you, you better show you are not a threat. That pride you thought was well-deserved? That superiority you sharpened like a knife? They’re not weapons you can use. They’re ropes that tie you down. As James forms a strong bond with the others in the lion camp, he realises society has always spun tales about men that no man can live up to. Now that those rules don’t apply to him anymore, what is left of his identity? Can he roam free by putting that sin behind? And what does being a man truly even mean? James is only sure of one thing... When you enter a lion pride, you leave your own pride behind.
******
Also — I’m always looking to discover more LGBTQ+ books and voices 📚 If you’ve got recommendations (especially anything exploring masculinity, identity, or transformation), please send them my way!
I'm Mark Howells the author of Pride.
I wanted to share something a bit personal behind the book I’ve written.
A lot of Pride comes from my real-life experience working closely with lions. Being around them changes how you see strength, power, and identity. There’s no ego in a pride—just instinct, loyalty, and survival. And it really made me question the version of masculinity we’re taught to perform in our own culture.
That’s where this story came from.
It’s an LGBTQ-themed novel that explores toxic masculinity, identity, and what’s left of a man when all the expectations are stripped away.
Right now, it’s free on Amazon through KDP Select, so if it sounds like your kind of read, I’d genuinely love for you to check it out:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B09X...
Here’s the blurb:
What do men have to be proud of?
James has always known pride to be the biggest of sins, but going on a hunting safari might just be what he needed to experience real humility.
A pride of lions is a force to be reckoned with. They are free, ferocious, feral. Forever committed to protecting one another.
Perhaps humans should take notes.
When James ends up exposed and hunted in the wilderness, he decides he better start. In nature, there is no time to draw comparisons, worry about being masculine enough, or show off whatever power you may think you hold over others.
When you hear a roar, you better start running.
When you stumble, you better get back up.
When the lion catches up to you, you better show you are not a threat.
That pride you thought was well-deserved? That superiority you sharpened like a knife?
They’re not weapons you can use. They’re ropes that tie you down.
As James forms a strong bond with the others in the lion camp, he realises society has always spun tales about men that no man can live up to.
Now that those rules don’t apply to him anymore, what is left of his identity?
Can he roam free by putting that sin behind? And what does being a man truly even mean?
James is only sure of one thing...
When you enter a lion pride, you leave your own pride behind.
******
Also — I’m always looking to discover more LGBTQ+ books and voices 📚
If you’ve got recommendations (especially anything exploring masculinity, identity, or transformation), please send them my way!
Thanks for reading ❤️