Quinn Coleman

We are, however, livin’ on a prayer. Constantly. On the regular.

The Brother Project
Book 3 of the Masc Narrative, a 6 book series,
FINALLY has a release date.

March 20, 2026. 3.20.26.

Doesn’t that just look so good? Mathematically pleasing, I’d say.

My plan initially with this book was to pick it back up in January, editing, marketing, and finalizing until March.
But.
Clearly.
That didn’t happen.

Honestly? Thank goodness it didn’t.

Because I missed these characters so much; walking the streets of Harrington, Delaware with Taron and Aleese, with old friends and new family, felt like coming home to a hometown I’ve never even visited before (yet, anyway!)

It also means we’re one book closer to Book 4, where we see Ben again. Cue the excited and nervous jitters.

I sincerely love The Letterman and Alternate Ending; they got us here. They introduced Taron and Aleese, their families and friends. They introduced Russell and Jay, Teddy, Thomas…they were the stories to set us up for success; the launch points. They’re heartbreaking and healing, they’re intense and dark and hilarious at times. We saw the trauma and discussed it, working our way toward growth, to rebuilding after the storm.

And using them as the foundation, we get to see Taron again; a year older, a year into his relationship with Aleese, with a steady job/internship.

He’s certainly not perfect, and he struggles immensely with the idea of what ‘normal’ healing looks like. Do normal people think this way, do normal people have set backs?

“Take ‘normal’ out of your vocab for a minute,” Russell says. “Remember what Dr. Tulsa told you. Your response is normal according to your body. It doesn’t matter how other people would respond to this.”

The answer is: who cares?
Because normal is overrated.

Besides Taron discovering that healing truly isn’t linear, we have…

Hunter.

Hunter Steel, 13 going on 40, hockey-fanatic, punk kid from Chicago with a glare as sharp as his last name.

“Hello, everyone!” Mrs. Zenri sings, walking in with a pep in her step. Colt turns to us with tired eyes, and June looks like she just finished crying. Mrs. Zenri’s email flashes through my memory.

Between them, Hunter looks up from the table he’s at, and I grind my jaw at a fresh bruise on his cheek, another addition to the scars on his mouth and chin.

His sunken hazel eyes land on Mrs. Zenri before they slink to me. Then he glares.

Yep, hey, bud.

I can’t remember a time where Hunter didn’t exist.
What I mean is, I can recall pretty well how the other characters in this series came to be.

Taron and Aleese were from a DND high school Alternate Universe (I’m proud of how dorky that sounds) and Russell and Aleese, same thing. Ben and Simeon arrived (who then inspired What About After) and then there were characters we haven’t yet met in books 5 & 6.

But Hunter?

I have no clue where he came from.
And I’ve loved writing him.

Everything from how he is when we first meet him…

Charlie sees Hunter still on the curb, watching us. “He’s like a sentient ball of cranky dryer lint. Just as you described.”

“I didn’t use those words, but okay.”

To how he struggles…

“Why’s everyone steppin’ on everyone in dis stupid house? Why’d they gotta put me in a f—” He clamps his mouth shut, and what started as a glare is slowly molding into what looks like him trying not to cry.

To how he grows.

Hunter and Raya, to my surprise, don’t treat any of this like a competition. As if they’re on the same team, they help each other lace up their skates, get their pads in place under their sweatshirts, and then they each go after Teddy and Bonnie in tandem, working on balance and confirming comfort.

As I’m writing this, smiling to myself and imagining his hard scowl and rigid shoulders, frame too small for his age and yet it doesn’t stop him from going up against bigger enemies, I’m realizing…

Wow.
Hey there, inner child.

Maybe that’s where he came from.

Hunter is the wee teenage version of any of us who ever felt too little, too weak, too scared, so we got too aggressive, claws too sharp, glare too hard, all to protect ourselves.

When in reality, and I know it’s not just me, we only wanted one thing:
To put the weapons down and rest, knowing someone bigger than us but not scarier, someone stronger than us but not a bully, was there to protect us.

I want to get stronger like that. Maybe I can come back and visit and show my friends that I can pick them up if they ever need me to.
I hope one day they’ll need me the way I need them.

I don’t think I’ve used those words before.

Hope.

Friend.

All that to say, I can’t wait for y’all to meet Hunter.

I ordered the first paperback proof of this book earlier this week and am so excited to crack it open and see him on the page.