Amazon noted Bear, Otter and the Kid as one of the top LGBTQ+ books of 2011. He wanted to be able to write a novel that had an accurate representation of queer relationships, that were not stereotypical, instead were seen as relatable and positive.

His motivation for this first book came from a realization of the poor, often offensive stereotypes of queer characters within stories. Due to the prevalence of pen names in M/M romantic fiction, he wrote under the pseudonym TJ Klune. Klune's first book, Bear, Otter and the Kid, was published in 2011. His teachers would always encourage his work, saying they look forward to seeing his writing in bookstores one day. Later in his childhood, he began writing original stories. Klune's love of writing began as a child in the 1980s, where he would write fan fiction about his favorite action-adventure video game Metroid. Arvin endured many years of health struggles and passed away on December 12, 2016. The two had met for the first time in person one year earlier at the 2012 GayRomLit Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2013, Klune proposed to author Eric Arvin at the GayRomLit Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The historical absence of these communities in fiction has motivated choices in Klune's character development. Klune has been open about his lived experiences with asexuality, queerness and neurodiversity, and how they influence his writing. Klune's writing influences include Stephen King, Wilson Rawls, Patricia Nell Warren, Robert McCammon, and Terry Pratchett. His young work in poetry and short stories were the first to be published. He was eight years old when he first began to write fiction. His novel Into This River I Drown won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Gay Romance in 2014. Klune has spoken about how his asexuality influences his writing. His fantasy novel The House in the Cerulean Sea is a New York Times best seller and winner of the 2021 Alex and Mythopoeic Awards. Travis John Klune (born May 20, 1982) is an American author of fantasy and romantic fiction featuring gay and LGBTQ+ characters.

Tj klune house in the cerulean sea