Sydney Langford (they/them) is a queer, Deaf-Hard of Hearing, and physically disabled author who resides in Portland, Oregon. They are the author of The Loudest Silence and Someone to Daydream About.

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

First of all, welcome back to Geeks OUT! For those not familiar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Thanks for having me back! Hey, everyone, I’m Sydney Langford—a queer, Disabled author who writes love stories for, and about, queer + Disabled folks so that marginalized readers can feel themselves represented on-page and non-marginalized readers can get a glimpse into a different perspective. 

What can you tell us about your latest book, Someone to Daydream About? What was the inspiration for this story? 

Someone to Daydream About is a swoony, fast-paced YA romcom that stars a Deaf, demiromantic teen—Natalie—who falls in love with the neurodivergent, pansexual lead singer of America’s most popular boy band—Felix—during a whirlwind summer tour. . . all while desperately trying to save her family’s struggling Deaf Center.

StDA was definitely book that was born out my love for boy bands, Disney Channel Original Movies, sarcastic main characters, and fanfiction haha, but above all else, it was created out of my passion for books that take well-loved tropes and put a fresh, Disabled twist on them, and my desire to share some of my own experiences being Deaf.

Another huge piece of inspiration for this particular story is rooted in a fanfic I wrote at the ripe old age of 12 about the Australian band 5 Seconds of Summer. I stumbled upon my old Ao3 account and aforementioned 5sos fanfic… it was spectacularly bad. But! I reinvented it and that kernel of an idea eventually morphed into Someone to Daydream About! 

Can you give us any trivia (that hasn’t already been given) about the characters from Someone to Daydream About?

A piece of trivia is that the five-person boy band almost had one less member! Over the course of several years of editing (with two different agents and editors), it was suggested that I cut the band down to four members. I fought for the five-person dynamic and he got to stay. But what’s especially funny is that the specific member they all suggested cutting, ended up being a fun source of banter and hijinks, and readers love him!

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, especially young adult romance?

My real “aha!” moment came when I was navigating my sudden hearing loss as a teen and read This Is Kind of an Epic Love Story by Kacen Callender. Seeing a Deaf character portrayed as loveable, smart, and worthy of accommodations from those around him resonated so deeply with me. So often disability “representation” in media falls into really frustrating stereotypes, so reading a story that treated a Disabled character with so much care genuinely changed how I saw what YA books could do.

The experience made me want to contribute my own voice to the marginalized YA space. It’s super important for underrepresented teens to be able to see themselves in media and romcoms a perfect vehicle for that! Within the humor, banter, and big romantic moments that pull a reader in, you can explore really meaningful themes about identity, belonging, and how people navigate the world.

How would you describe your creative process?

For me, creativity in its purest form is the absolute best kind of free-spirited chaos. Doing something because it just hits you, often unexpectedly. That magical moment a book idea comes to you. Crafting the perfect writing/editing playlist. Or sitting down and just writing for the fun of it because you have these characters that you can already see in your head, like a video—how they look, sound, interact. I’m all about finding good vibes whenever I can! The plot, beat sheet, outline, through threads, and all the technical stuff all comes later in my process and takes a LOT of discipline.

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

My very favorite element of writing is banter (especially if it’s flirty banter)! There’s something so fun about a snappy back-and-forth between characters. I also use a lot of sarcasm. I think both of those are probably based on how my family and friends communicate with one another. Thankfully, romcoms lend themselves well to these elements.

Without a doubt, the most frustrating and challenging elements for me are plotting, closely followed by developmental edits. It takes a lot of work to get all elements of the story to tie together and make sense and often if you change something in one part of the story, it has this wicked butterfly effect and cause ramifications—both small and large—in other parts of the story. So that can be pretty a laborious process if you’re going to get it right.

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

Music, for sure! It’s always been a big part of my life, and both of my novels feature musical elements, in very different ways. I always have a playlist for whatever book I’m working on, and will listen to those songs endlessly while I draft and edit. It really gets me in the right headspace for emotional beats and what’s happening in the scene I’m working on.

I also love digging a bit into why I really liked a specific piece of storytelling—whether it’s music, literature, or TV/movies. I’m really drawn to things that are unique or make you think or feel something unexpected.

Which character from Someone to Daydream About was the most fun to write, and which one gave you the most trouble?

It was so fun to lean into the chaotic youngest child energy for the pesky younger sister characters! I’m a youngest child myself, so I feel extremely qualified to capture how unhinged we can be.

I also loved writing Natalie. On the surface, she’s very tough, independent, and capable, but underneath she’s really a girl who had to grow up too fast because of life and family circumstances. It was important to balance her goofy side with the reality that she’s also a Type-A, responsible eldest sibling and a devoted pillar in her D/deaf community.

The trickiest? Probably the love interest, Felix. He initially seems the exact opposite of Natalie. Very chaotic, very flirty, very personable, and very unserious. But deep down, he also carries a lot of emotional weight and struggles with the sheer level of fame he’s navigating. It was really hard to make sure his vulnerability shone through his confident pop-star persona!

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

Find the heart of your story and use that as your guiding light: when writing it, when pitching it, when editing it. I write down a few key things I want to convey when workshopping a new idea, before I even start drafting. For StDA, those were that the main character—a girl who takes great pride in her identities, as well as sign language and Deaf culture—gets to have her main character moment and fall in love; where disabilities aren’t treated like a bad thing, something that needs to be “cured” or “overcome.”

It can sometimes be difficult to stand up for what you want and write the book you want to write, but it’s worth it. Of course, be willing to make compromises and be collaborative, but at the end of the day, it’s your name on the cover.

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

I’m in the line-edit stage for my second romcom (third book total), which is slated for publication by FSG/Macmillan in 2027! The title hasn’t been announced yet but should be soon! In some respects, it’ll be vastly different from the first two novels, but you can count on there being disability and queer rep, enemies-to-lovers, hurt/comfort, loads of nature, and tons of sarcasm and banter.

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

I really love fellow Deaf authors Anna Sortino and Kelly Andrew, and am very supportive of their work and the representation they bring to the table. Aiden Thomas is brilliant in the speculative YA space, of course. Kamilah Cole writes big-hearted, sweeping fantasies. Cass Biehn is the up-and-coming author in my opinion—so talented. And Crystal Maldonaldo is one of the best YA romcom writers out there!