The Author

The Diary of a Sugarbaby is a #1 bestseller in LGBTQ+ Fiction on Amazon’s Bestsellers List, a #2 bestseller in Dystopian Fiction on Ingram’s Bestsellers List, a #45 bestseller in Epistolary Fiction on Amazon’s Bestsellers List, and a Top 250 in Political Fiction on Kindle’s Bestsellers List. NYC’s Queer Book Club selected The Diary of a Sugarbaby as their October 2024 book pick. An instructor at the University of Florida shortlisted The Diary of a Sugarbaby as required text for their queer studies program. The Diary of a Sugarbaby was a finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards in Adult Fiction for books published in 2023. In August 2024, Gagliastro appeared on Chicago's WGN TV with journalist Sean Lewis. The Diary of a Sugarbaby was featured in The New York Review of Books, both April and May 2024 issues. Gagliastro completed an eight-stop Sugarbaby Book Tour that included NYC, D.C., Chicago, West Hartford, Glastonbury, Annapolis, Keene, and Philadelphia. Over 1,000 copies of The Diary of a Sugarbaby have been sold within the first year of its publication. The Manhattan Book Review called The Diary of a Sugarbaby "The Handmaid's Tale on steroids!" Kirkus Reviews called it "a frightening novel about an unthinkable future!" And according to The BookLife Prize, The Diary of a Sugarbaby is a “dark satirical work of sci-fi!” Mercury to the Moon is an illustrated fantasy space odyssey for all reading ages and will be released in 2025! Please subscribe to jqgagliastro.com and follow @jq.gagliastro on Instagram for upcoming projects, books, tour dates, merch, and more!

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J.Q. Gagliastro is the multi-bestselling author and illustrator of The Diary of a Sugarbaby and Mercury to the Moon. They are from Philadelphia and accept he and they pronouns but prefer they. They are nonbinary and American (40% Sicilian/Eastern Mediterranean and 9% Swedish with Spanish, Greek, Balkan, and Levantine ancestry). Gagliastro prides themself on their creativity, drive, and authenticity. They grew up as the new kid, moving from state to state—VA, NY, FL, MA, PA, and CT. At age sixteen, they were thrown out for dressing too fem. Despite the lack of parental financial support, they earned themself a BA in French Language & Literature from Allegheny College. They studied language arts in Northern Italy and Angers, France. In France, they worked at the city hall of Fismes as a French to English translator. They then moved to the great city of Philadelphia and returned to their one true passion: literature. Coming from a working-class family of eight, Gagliastro had to be self-dependent. When they couldn't pay back their school debt, they became a sugarbaby in addition to their day jobs and sold their body. While The Diary of a Sugarbaby is fiction, Gagliastro ties in their experiences as a homeless sugarbaby and twists them into a dramatic political satire.

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International Fashion Show, Allegheny College '18