About the Author

J.Q. Gagliastro is a multitalented entrepreneur and the author of The Diary of a Sugarbaby and Mercury to the Moon. The Diary of a Sugarbaby is a #1 bestseller in LGBTQ+ Fiction, Dystopian Fiction, Epistolary Fiction, and Political Fiction. NYC’s Queer Book Club selected The Diary of a Sugarbaby for October 2024, while the Queer Book Club of the Purple Couch Bookshop chose it for August 2025.

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 2023 finalist in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards in Adult Fiction. 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 8-stop Sugarbaby Book Tour. Over 1,000 copies of The Diary of a Sugarbaby were sold within the first year of its publication. The University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point Faculty and Staff Gay Straight Alliance selected The Diary of a Sugarbaby as their 2026 book club book. 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!"

Mercury to the Moon is a fantasy adventure novel for all reading ages, illustrated entirely by Gagliastro. The Los Angeles Book Review hailed Mercury to the Moon as "an imaginative triumph!" Gagliastro is currently touring for his Mercurial Book Tour (16 stops as of now). Mercury to the Moon is a #1 bestseller in Young Adult Fiction, Magical Realism, and Alien Sci-Fi.

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Gagliastro resides in Philly and is culturally queer American with a mixed ancestral background. He grew up the new kid, moving from state to state — VA, NY, FL, MA, PA, and CT. At age sixteen, he was thrown out for dressing too fem. He earned himself a BA in French Literature and Economics from Allegheny College and studied language arts in Northern Italy and Angers, France.

In France, he worked at the city hall of Fismes as a French to English translator. When he moved to Philly, he returned to his one true passion: literature. Coming from a working-class family of 8, Gagliastro had to be self-dependent. Buried in school debt, he became a sugar baby in addition to day jobs. While The Diary of a Sugarbaby is very much fiction, Gagliastro ties in his experiences as a temporary homeless youth and twists them into a dramatic political satire.

Mercury to the Moon came to Gagliastro while hiking the Dragon’s Back trail in Hong Kong. Gagliastro is also the author of the short stories Nothing, The Kitten Named Goliath, and Jack and Crow. His next novel is entitled The World of Ambiguity and Other Stories (with a 2027 release date). Jacob Quentin will write ‘til the day earth takes him, he says.

In Feb. 2026, Gagliastro walked in NYFW for Elias Gurrola’s “Perceptions” Fashion Show (part 3). Follow @jq.gagliastro.official on Instagram for upcoming books, tour dates, merch, and more!

Photo Gallery

International Fashion Show, Allegheny College '18