Anthropomorphic Dreams Publishing

Bait and Switch novel excerpts by Austen Crowder
Music cues by Infinity Squared

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In Fenton’s world, some kids are toons. Some think the change is biological. Others think the change is social. But some kids turn into toons, and Fenton’s father just wants it to stop. He’s even built a Realist movement to ban toons from the real world, hoping that it will keep his own children from following in their estranged mother’s cartoon footsteps.

Tensions rise as the Realists lobby to get their ban set into law, and toons fight for their right to be themselves. Fenton’s father knows he can count on his two boys to stand behind him and his dream of building a safe, a toon-free reality. It’s just too bad that Fenton’s becoming a toon….

Bait and Switch is a coming-out story which uses the metaphor of Toon Town encroaching on the Real World. As Austen describes it, it’s Boys Don’t Cry meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It’s a moving story, with powerful drama. While the situation revolves around issues both personal and political, the story is never a manifesto. Instead characters on both sides of the fence come off as human and nuanced, as they try to do what they think is right.