Born in sweltering Singapore, Celine Ong (she/they) was raised in mosh pits, and writes queer romance novels about chaos gremlins with bad manners, weird feelings, and big hearts. With a B.A. in Psychology, by day, she works with her local queer community. By night, she’s just a little court jester. Hold Me Like a Grudge is their debut novel. You can find Celine trying to be cool and mysterious (but failing miserably for they were born to yap about their many fixations) on Instagram @readwithcel.

I had the opportunity to interview Celine, which you can read below

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Hello! Thanks so much for having me, I’m thrilled to be here! I’m Celine, a queer romance author born and raised in sweltering Singapore where I graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and, by day, work with my local queer community. By night, I write about chaos gremlins with bad manners, weird feelings, and big hearts getting into all sorts of trouble.

When not writing, I pen reflections on Bookstagram about my journey with queerness, chronic physical disability, and mental health advocacy. My proudest accomplishment is being able to—completely unprovoked—quote the entirety of Venom: Let There Be Carnage by heart.

What can you tell us about your new book, Hold Me Like a Grudge? What was the inspiration for this story? (Also, why professional wrestling?)

Hold Me Like a Grudge is my debut adult sports romance where a rivalry between two professional wrestlers—the spunky up-and-comer Asher “The Dragon” Ross and brooding, desperately touch-starved World Champion Caleb “The Ice Prince” Knight—grows increasingly heated. As both men trade barbs and blows across arenas, they’re each surprised to find their chemistry is so sizzling, it can’t just be for the cameras. Through training sessions, rehearsals, and injuries, an unlikely truce evolves into feelings neither want to deny, but the company won’t let them be seen as anything other than bitter rivals, both in and out of the ring. As Asher and Caleb grapple with what they truly want in an industry with a history of denying queerness, their forbidden romance comes crashing down on them, and both men are forced to decide if their relationship is real enough to last, and just how much they’re willing to fight for it.

My grandmother, who honestly was kind of a badass, introduced me to pro wrestling at a young age. We used to wake up at 4am to watch wrestlers among the likes of Edge and Jeff Hardy dive through tables and flings themselves off 12 feet tall ladders. For a sport that is so seemingly garish, the hill I will die on is that pro wrestling is actually incredibly intimate and homoerotic. Wrestlers put their bodies in their opponent’s hands, implicitly trusting that they will keep them safe, and communicate through the most subtle of touches, just a language shared between two.

That said, did you know the WWE, with its rich and storied history featuring larger than life gimmicks, has never had a queer storyline? And as of writing this, every openly queer wrestler has been let go? That is how Hold Me Like a Grudge was born—a story about queer defiance and refusing to be erased from history.

Can you give us any trivia (that hasn’t already been given) about the characters from Hold Me Like a Grudge?

Caleb Knight—absolute simp, cringefail loser, and owner of a 429-day Duolingo streak—has been secretly trying to learn Mandarin so he can better converse with Asher’s parents.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, particularly romance? 

With roots in fanfiction, I’ve always been interested in telling stories. One of my mother’s favorite tidbits to share with people is how the first book I ever wrote was scrawled out in crayon.  Despite that love, I was forced to put it aside for over a decade to focus on academia, but even as I worked towards my Bachelors in Psychology, all I ever wanted was to do with it was something meaningful for my queer community.

While this was happening, I picked up reading again. Reading has been synonymous with my queerness and growth. My bisexuality. My pride. I constantly run my fingers over the books on my shelves, rainbow spines from The Raven Cycle to A Marvellous Light. I wondered where, if ever, I’d fit into that tapestry.

Writing romance allowed me to combine all these facets together. And frankly? It will never stop feeling like a dream. Through weird and unconventional characters, I can be obsessive about my many interests and loudly proud of it. I get to weave queer hope and joy into every word and hopefully it shows someone out there that they aren’t alone. That there’s someone out there who sees them and is rooting for them. Along a similar vein, I learn to love myself more. I get to look at these characters infused with my mess, disability, chaos, and queerness, and treat them with kindness. It’s extremely healing for my inner child, and hopefully other readers too.

How would you describe your creative process? 

A mix of chaos followed by thorough plotting! Once an idea strikes me, I’m immediately in my best friend’s DMs (she’s my human notes app and vice versa) yelling at the top of my lungs and flinging out various scenes and banter in a flurry of bullet points. In the case of Hold Me Like a Grudge, it was: dog collar matches exist in pro wrestling btw how are they going to no homo their way out of this one i’m going insane.

Once an overarching plot and theme has been nailed down, chaos gets reined in and I begin drafting a thorough overview of each chapter with detailed beats I want to hit.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging?  

Edits, my beloved! Developmental, line level, copyedits—all of it. I adore editing. It’s like watching a million puzzle pieces finally slot into place and getting to see the whole beautiful thing come together and is so gratifying to feel a real book that I’m proud of begin to form in the palms of my hands. My other favorite element is watching early readers threaten me over all the capital-S situations I put my characters in.

As for most challenging, the ability to focus for extended periods of time is something I’ve always struggled with. Especially when faced with a blank document, my brain simply does not vibe with that. In my experience it’s about finding what works best for you. I now spend mornings at a park where I walk in circles while drafting on my phone. It’s unusual, but it works!

As an author, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general? 

This may sound corny—and I know they’re going to roast me about this later—but my friends are my greatest inspirations. Every novel I have ever written is, at its heart, a love story to friends I’ve made along the way, be it for a season or a lifetime. Many character quirks are nods to them too. I learnt a lot about defiance and queer hope through online fandoms and communities—Hold Me Like a Grudge goes out to them. 

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)? 

Oh I love this question. It gives me an opportunity to be obsessive and talk about my hyperfixations. Which Fall Out Boy song inspired my novel? Surprisingly, it isn’t Hold Me Like a Grudge (even though you can imagine my surprise when Patrick Stump dressed up as a wrestler after I titled my book accordingly). It’s actually G.I.N.A.S.F.S.!

What advice might you have to give for any aspiring writers out there? 

Do it, even if it’s out of spite. Publishing is brutal. It’ll test your mettle and break your heart. Do it anyway. You have stories worth telling, ones that someone out there needs. Work on your craft. Harness all that failure and doubt and channel it into a healthy kind of spite to strive to be a better and kinder author. Then keep going. Oh and, if you have the means, find a trusted therapist.

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about? 

Yes! My sophomore novel is coming out with Berkley/Penguin Random House in 2027! It is a queer contemporary romance pitched along the vein of Crazy Rich Asians where the heir to one of Singapore’s wealthiest families convinces his coworker to pretend to be his boyfriend when he returns to Singapore to celebrate Lunar New Year to prove to his family that he is boyfriend material despite his neurological disability. This one is incredibly near and dear to my heart, and I cannot wait for readers to meet Jem and Shawn.

Finally, what queer books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley and In Memoriam by Alice Winn ruined my entire life so everyone should absolutely read both books. Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min reads like I song I want to play on loop forever. And I will also read literally anything by Mason Deaver, Freya Marske, Cat Sebastian, KT Hoffman, and Rachel Reid!