Stan’s Invisible Boys author Holden Sheppard shocks fans with April Fool’s Day post

By MIKAELA WILKES FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA

Published: 06:46 BST, 1 April 2025 | Updated: 06:49 BST, 1 April 2025

Invisible Boys author Holden Sheppard shocked fans of the series on Tuesday, as the Australian writer announced a ‘major’ career pivot. 

Holden recently announced his 2019 novel Invisible Boys— which has now been adapted into a 10-part Stan original series starring Joe Klocek and Pia Miranda— will have a sequel called Yeah The Boys.  

‘Major life news: I am quitting writing and going back to being an excavator operator,’ Holden captioned a photo of himself wearing a hi-vis T-shirt on Tuesday. 

‘Book royalties just aren’t what they used to be.’ 

The best-selling author popped the collar on his high visibility ensemble, adding an Australian flag baseball cap for good measure. 

‘My heart stopped for like a minute then I realised what day it is,’ an Invisible Boys fan account commented on the April Fool’s Day post.  ‘Don’t do that again, not very nice.’ 

Invisible Boys author Holden Sheppard shocked fans of the series on Tuesday, as the Australian writer announced a ‘major’ career pivot

‘Nice try. You don’t fool me that easily!’ another fans commented. 

Meanwhile, someone else appeared to be quite taken with the image.  

‘You and hi vis, my two favourite things,’ they wrote. 

It comes after Holden revealed why he thinks a new Stan Original Series based on his best-selling novel is more relevant than ever.

‘The show is dropping in a more hostile environment than the book did. The book came out in 2019 and there was this sense that same-sex marriage had just been legalised in Australia,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.    

 ‘People were like, maybe we don’t need stories like this anymore. But 2025 turns out to be needing this story more than we did six years ago, so I am glad,’ he said.

‘It’s like a little beacon of hope right now. Let’s show four young gay men being defiant, being bold, proud and just giving the middle finger to the world.’ 

Holden’s book draws on his own experiences as a young gay teenager growing up in the regional WA town of Geraldton – and he worked hard to ensure the Stan series  authentically portrayed genuine gay relationships.

It comes after Holden revealed why he thinks a new Stan Original Series based on his best-selling novel is more relevant than ever 

‘The Stan adaptation of the series has reflected and uplifted the spirit of the book. All killer, no filler, about gay men and our voices,’ he said.

‘The show has delivered totally on that! It is written by an all-LGBT+ writers group and it is just about us.

‘We are not trying to sanitise anything, it is gritty. It doesn’t shy away from sex, masculinity or mental health. We really wanted to go there and push boundaries, to tell it like it is,’ he continued. 

Sheppard believes the series will appeal to all kinds of viewers because the themes explored are universal.

‘Gay men will see their own lives reflected in an honest way. More broadly, I hope straight audiences will get something from it to. There is a lot of empathy-building in a show like this,’ he said.

‘There is a message about male mental health and how it feels to be a man and not be able to reach out easily.’

All ten episodes of Invisible Boys are available to stream now, only on Stan. 

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Stan’s Invisible Boys author Holden Sheppard shocks fans with April Fool’s Day post

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