Ryan O’Connell is set to release a new book.
The Emmy-nominated and Writers Guild Award-winning writer, actor, and producer’s debut collection of essays was acquired by St. Martin’s Press, The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively announce. The book will be published in early 2026.
The book’s collection will include “soul-bearing, funny, and provocative essays about overcoming one’s limitations, and the ones others place on you, and leading a fully gay life.” Publisher St. Martin’s Press describes of the book, “In essays that range from his relationship with his mother, to alcohol, to straight people’s weddings, and to online hook-up culture, O’Donnell illuminates his life and the lessons he’s learned as he embraces his full self.”
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O’Connell said in a statement to THR, “I love writing for TV and film but when I started considering putting dead bodies in my pilots and earnestly thinking about my creative vision for Bob’s Big Boy: The Movie, I knew it was time to return to my problematic first love: The Personal Essay. My latest book is a collection of stories examining how I, a gay disabled man, learned to value myself even when the world around me didn’t. Thank you to my agent Kent Wolf and my editor Anna deVries at St. Martin’s for believing in me and letting me write a 6,000-word essay called ‘Are Straight People Okay?’ I hope after reading this, people will be struck with the delusional confidence of Rob Schneider in the late 90s and pursue big, gorgeous lives.”
O’Connell released his debut novel called Just By Looking at Him in 2022. Apart from his work on television, O’Connell also penned a memoir I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves, released in 2015, which became the inspiration for Special.
His breakout sitcom Special, based on his own journey as a gay disabled man coming to terms with his cerebral palsy, ran for two seasons on Netflix and was nominated for four Emmy Awards. He received a Special Recognition Award from GLAAD and a Visibility Award from the HRC for the special. O’Connell also starred in, wrote, and executive produced Queer As Folk for Peacock.
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