queer transmasc enby (they/them)
indie adult, queer fantasy writer
About
Hi! I'm Jake Vanguard (they/them), and I am a queer author of fantasy, science fantasy, and a slice of horror and erotica. In my stories, I love exploring queerness and contradictions, love and connections, family and friendship.The first two books of the Deity Chronicles trilogy (FIRST SNOW and FIRST ROSE) – a science fantasy story about deities and finding yourself – are available now.My paranormal novel HIGANBANA (Angelverse 1) – slice of life story with angels and lots of trauma – is available as well.There'll be more for both series to come, as well as other standalone titles.I also enjoy writing short stories for anthology, exploring different genres and settings through various prompts.Remnants of Relics is my first curated anthology, a product of love and community, about the struggles and joys one works with when losing or gaining a new part of themselves.
Upcoming
Angelverse Book 2
More of Nate and Raziel
More angels, more demons, more trauma
Coming 2026Faepunk Novel
Cyberpunk Fantasy
Murderbot x Night City x Remy/Malekh (Silver Under Nightfall) banter
Coming 2026Deity Chronicles Book 3
More of Zan, Helio, Ferox and more deities
3 POV
Coming 2027
Ko-Fi
Deity Chronicles
First Snow
Deity Chronicles 1
Adult Science Fantasy
May 25th, 2024
What if you only exist because you're the splinter of someone else's soul?After spending his whole life in his brother's shadow, Zanoah gets banished from his home, paying the price for his brother's crime.Thrown into a world unknown to him, he'll have to find himself and a purpose to live for. Crossing a half-sentient jungle, he's bound to find his destiny—a forgotten deity of all things.
first rose
Deity Chronicles 2
Adult Science Fantasy
May 25th, 2025
Five years after the cataclysmic events in Tadena, Helio is living her best life—until her sister, Zalika, gets attacked and her niece, Nyssa, is kidnapped. And to make matters worse, Zalika has transferred her responsibility as the deity of technology to Helio.Desperate to find the culprit and her niece, Helio sets out on a journey with her best friend, Julyen, to enlist the help of two other deities, Zanoah and Caean. Not only is she worried about Nyssa, she's also having to deal with the new forces coursing through her, which she’s unable to fully grasp and control.Their journey brings them to Evergarden, the home of Ambroz, the deity of lust and Helio’s new mentor. But learning to control her powers from him isn’t the only connection they form. As the two fall for each other, Helio finds herself torn between her attraction to Ambroz, missing her peaceful life in Tadena, worries about Nyssa and Zalika, and her fear of facing her sister's attacker—who wants to vanquish every single deity and cleanse the world of them.Can she face the man she once loved? And what will happen when she does?
Angelverse
Higanbana
Slice of Life
Urban Fantasy
August 29th, 2024
Nate didn’t need a savior, a guardian angel.Nathaniel has never known happiness or a life free from struggle. Stuck in an abusive relationship and damned to work minimum-wage jobs, he has no energy or motivation to make himself better.That is until he meets a mysterious stranger.Raziel, Archangel of Heaven, was wrongfully stripped of his grace and banished to life on Earth. Lost on his own and haunted by loneliness and the injustices inflicted on him, he meets Nathaniel.
Struggling to navigate free will, he starts exploring the human world and falls in love—not just with the world but with the human guiding him through it as well.Will they save each other from their demons? Or will they drag each other deeper into Hell?
anthologies
stormwind
Short Story
From Me to You
Anthology of Human Connections18 November 2025
Every day we make new connections, whether it is intentional or not. It is human nature to seek out those connections and nurture them.
‘From Me to You’ features 14 wonderful authors who have all contributed a short story to the theme of connections.
Sink into intricate worlds and the lives of characters who are reaching out, just trying to find their people.
From Me To You features my short story Stormwind:
Tyrka, a sylph turned lich, and Meren, sylph as well, were childhood friends. Tyrka's only goal after leaving the community was to possess Meren, no matter the cost (or so they say). When they threaten Meren's sister, Meren accepts their proposal - and both their abilities are bound as they are exiled on a lonely island.
The short story is set on the island during an especially bad storm, when Tyrka and Meren actually talk openly for the first time, and get closer to each other again.
under the oak tree
Short Story
Habibi, Always and Forever
A Charity Anthology of Romance Authors United for Palestine
What happens when over 50 romance authors come together for one cause?
You get 🕊️Habibi, Always and Forever 🕊️ A charity anthology full of love stories, bonus scenes, and epilogues from every corner of the romance genre: contemporary, fantasy, MF, MM, sapphic and more.🍉All proceeds go to Islamic Relief & UNRWA, providing vital aid for Palestinians.Habibi: Always and Forever includes the short story Under The Oak Tree - a bonus short story of Zanoah and Caean set between First Snow and First Rose. It's a spicy bonus scene highlighting their quiet cottage life.
remnants of relics
Curated by me
Different genres
15 contributors
Remnants of Relics brings you the work of fifteen authors with a curated selection of short stories and poems around the themes of queerness and the importance of parts; be it body parts or more abstractly, concepts like the part identity plays in our lives.At the heart of this collection are the struggles and joys one works with when losing or gaining a new part of themselves. Pain and joy are close to each other - a constant cycle humanity moves through.
Heliophilia
Short Story
Indie Bites Issue 17
Pirates & Prophecies
Living in endless day, Icarus is drawn toward a cathedral. They've heard of prophecies, of Heralds of Light and Darkness changing endless day into night and vice versa.
What they didn't expect was to find a preacher so bright, they're blinded by his light, reciting the prophecy - and revealing Icarus is part of the prophecy.
Born From Earth
Short Story
We Can Always Tell
Trans Erotic Horror
Mars goes through a ritual to make them more like their lover Callista. Non-human, one with the forest, reshaping their body to their wishes. The ritual includes roots having their own mind, taking Mars apart from the inside out.
Callista didn’t tell me everything about the ritual, only what it’ll do. How it’ll change me, promising I’ll become a part of the forest, as my true self. A part of her.
“I’m ready,” I whisper, my voice almost carried away by the wind.
short stories
OUROBOROS
Shorty Story
Dark Fantasy Erotica
Equinox, the princeling of the Underworld, finds out their father has kept the existence of their brother, their twin, a secret all their life.Desperate to find out the truth, they embark on a journey through the Underworld, to find their brother on the Overworld. They're aided by their partner - Letum, Death incarnate.Pulled into the realm of Chaos, Equinox agrees to a trade granting them strength - in exchange for satisfying Chaos' curiosity.Will they find their brother? Or will their journey be an infinite undertaking?
Pain For A Price
Short Story
Body Horror
Gigeresque/Beksinski-esque
Ezra is a young human, forced to live through his most painful nightmares, time after time. When he wakes up in a macabre spaceship, he finds himself kidnapped by an alien race and on a desperate search for his partner.Pain For A Price is a body horror short story with gigeresque elements. It's about accepting peace—whatever this peace may be.