Author: Michele Kirichanskaya

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Interview with Carlyn Greenwald and Todd Milliner

Carlyn Greenwald writes romantic and thrilling page-turners for teens and adults. A film school graduate and former Hollywood lackey, she now works in publishing. She resides in Los Angeles, mourning the loss of ArcLight Cinemas and soaking in the sun with her dogs. Find her online on Twitter @CarlynGreenwald and Instagram @Carlyn_Gee.

Todd Milliner is an Emmy Award–winning producer and writer who cofounded Hazy Mills Productions with Sean Hayes in 2004. He has produced over 400 episodes of television, including hit NBC drama Grimm and the TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland. He lives with his husband, Michael Matthews, in Los Angeles.

I had the opportunity to interview Carlyn and Todd, which you can read below.

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

Carlyn Greenwald: Hi! So happy to be here! My name is Carlyn Greenwald and I’m a YA and Adult romance and thriller writer from Los Angeles. I’ve been writing YA since I was a teenager myself, and after going through film school and attempting to break into Hollywood as a screenwriter, I returned to novel writing where I currently reside. My queer adult romcom debut, Sizzle Reel, hit shelves April 18th and with Time Out and other books on the horizon, hopefully this’ll be the start of an awesome career.

Otherwise, I’m Jewish and bi and spend my time outside of work gaming, scouring random pockets of pop culture YouTube, and hanging out with my incredible chihuahua mix, Phoebe.

Todd Milliner: Thanks for the invite. My name is Todd Milliner and I’m a television producer and writer in Hollywood (which sounds a lot more glamorous than it is). I’ve produced shows like Grimm (NBC), Hot in Cleveland (TVLAND), and QForce (Netflix) along with a bunch more. I’ve been doing this for about 20 years and before that I worked at a bunch of corporate jobs while trying to be an actor in Chicago. Sean and I went to college together at Illinois State University and we started our company years later in 2003. This is my first novel and this is Sean’s second book. We are so excited to be sharing this story.

What can you tell us about your latest novel, Time Out? Where did the inspiration for this story come from?

CG: Time Out is a YA Contemporary novel that’s kind of Heartstopper meets Friday Night Lights about the #1 ranked high school basketball player in Georgia who decides to come out to his whole town via a pep rally. When the town doesn’t react well, he ends up quitting the team, joining his friend’s underground voting rights group, and starts to fall for a school newspaper reporter.

I’m sure Todd will talk about this more, but it was inspired by him and Sean growing up in vastly different social circles (Todd was into athletics and Sean the arts) thinking about what it would’ve been like in high school if they’d had each other. From there, we wanted to involve high school sports as the backdrop since it remains one of the strongest pressure points for young men to conform to rigid ideas of masculinity, which only makes it more stressful for our main character Barclay to come out.

TM: Carlyn is right! The story is very loosely based on my friendship with Sean. I was an athlete growing up and played many sports. I settled on running after I broke my collarbone playing football. And, full disclosure, I was never as good as Barclay, so it was probably best to write this book! Sean wasn’t involved in the school paper, but he is a classically trained pianist and that took up most of his extracurricular time. So, we came from different worlds, but became great friends. We wanted to tell a little of that story. And after that jumping off point and a whole lot of help from Carlyn, we had Time Out.

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, particularly the young adult medium?

CG: I think from when I was a teenager (like, we’re talking 13), YA was just where my story ideas came from. I’d been an avid reader all my life and like most middle schoolers, I was eager to read up at the time. YA was going through a particularly interesting era of what I like to call “weird YA” — where storylines were just wild and outlandish and kind of trippy but still so heartfelt and commercial. I wanted to write stories like that. There’s something so special about the high intensity of emotion and emotional stakes writing for teenagers. It creates this vivid energy that is infused into every genre that I loved when I was younger and never grew out of now.

TM: To us, storytelling is our entire life. We like to tell those stories from many different ages, experiences and points of view. The most important thing to us is to tell the right story at the right time. The YA medium felt especially important for this story. Coming out can be hard for people of any age, but we felt like that layered on top of all the other things young adults are dealing with made the story even more compelling.

Carlyn Greenwald – Photo Credit Molly Pan Photography

As Time Out was written between multiple authors, what could you tell us about your collaboration process together?

CG: The best way to describe it would be to compare it to somewhat of a writer’s room in television. Sean and Todd had originally written a TV pilot and worked with S&S to develop a full outline of a book version that I saw. So, I brought in my experience with contemporary YA to hammer out the first draft. Within even the first draft, I’d offer up suggestions as I saw opportunities, including changing some character backstories and motivations, suggesting tiny scene changes, that sort of thing. Sean, Todd, our editor and I then all collaborated on notes and revisions, eventually beefing up the voting rights storyline and really delving into where to start the novel and how to translate the humor and heart from the pilot into the book.

TM: What Carlyn said 🙂 I will add that it was about the easiest process I’ve ever been part of. It helps when your partners are talented, nice people.

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

CG: Hmm, with YA, from the really early days, I absolutely loved Libba Bray, Jennifer Brown, Barry Lyga, and Neal Shusterman. All totally different genres (with Libba, different genres among her career) but every one of these authors just created these super entertaining books with complex characters I rooted so hard for. But I still remember learning about absurdity and humor from Libba Bray’s books, how to write emotion and difficult topics from Jennifer Brown’s books, how to write commercial suspense from Barry Lyga, and finally mixing moral complexity and depth into speculative fiction from Neal Shusterman.

TM: For me, I find creative influences from many different disciplines. I’d say great television (in my opinion) like Beef or Succession or Hacks to great movies like Everything Everywhere All At Once, great plays like Good Night Oscar or Kimberly Akimbo, to great music like from The Lumineers or Coltrane, and great books like the OG YA To Kill a Mockingbird or my friend’s book Scream All Night. I find inspiration in many places. Sometimes even Chipotle.

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

CG: Avatar: The Last Airbender will always be that seminal story that changed my life. I watched it when it was airing and I was around ten years old, glued to the TV when my older cousins were making fun of me for watching a cartoon. (Guess who then watched it and loved the show too?) It really captures what a masterpiece story can be, especially when you balance plot, tension, world-building, and just a stellar, stellar group of characters who are all given the love and attention they need. There’s something for every writer to take away from the show.

TM: I was always drawn to stories about growing up that were funny, but tinged with melancholy.  Things like The Body or The Outsiders touched me the most. Big Fish is another one that got me. Read the entire book on a flight, just amazed at the imagery.

Besides your work as a creative, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

CG: Hmm…that I never feel like I’m done learning about my writing — what I like to write, what new challenges I could bring into future works, what my favorite book is. I try to take each new project and say “what new skill am I developing by writing this?” My answers have ranged from “new age category” to “new genre” to “new main character personality type” to “new multimedia aspect” etc. With that said, I still have so many dream projects and elements I want to work with — something historical, a main character who wants to go into STEM, stuff like that.

TM: I think I’m pretty fun to hang out with. I mean, not all the time. Who is fun all the time? But, I genuinely like people. I like learning about their stories, finding fun things to discuss and new adventures to embark upon. And I love mint chip ice cream.

Todd Milliner

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

CG: What’s the significance of Christopher (the love interest in Time Out) being Jewish?

When it came to the collaboration process of Time Out, I really wanted to make my mark on the book in some very obvious Carlyn sort of way. And I got thinking — there really is so little LGBTQ+ Jewish representation, and often it’s Jewish LGBTQ+ girls. So, I wanted to really advocate for our love interest to be Jewish, to show that there’s space for Judaism in love interests across sexuality. It became this really fun, silly challenge where right as I was about to send the email asking about the change, I realized that I was asking to make a character name Christopher Jewish. But I was determined to make it happen without changing his name. So, I thought — what if it was a family name? He could be half Jewish, like I am. And then the lore grew – it ended up being a bargain between Christopher’s mother and father and I think makes for a great little joke for any mixed faith readers.

TM: I guess I wish people would ask what I think is truly important. Like, “Todd, cut through the clutter and tell us one thing that’s really important”. And, the answer to that question from me is to always lead with kindness. It’s just so much easier than being mean. And a big bonus is that people will tend to lead with kindness back. Pretty easy stuff.

Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?

CG: Not too much yet! I have a second adult romcom coming out summer 2024 that I’m revising right now! I can’t say too much, but it’s another sapphic book and takes place in film school. Beyond that, I have some irons in the fire that I am perpetually fingers crossed will turn into tomorrow’s news.

TM: We are working on a bunch of television and film and theatre projects and they are all pretty secret, but I am working on a comedy with Kevin Smith that I’m pretty excited about. Oh, and guess what? He leads with kindness.

What advice would you give to any aspiring creatives out there?

CG: Love your writing, but also expand the way you love your writing. There’s this idea that one book will be the book of your heart and I think that sets so many writers up for more mental strife than is necessary in an already difficult industry. Every book of mine is a book of my heart. Sure, some are more personal to me or have more of my favorite tropes or comp to my favorite TV shows. But find a reason to love every book you write, even if you have to hamfist it in just for you. It’ll make every step of the process easier and make you happier in the long run.

TM: If this is truly your dream, stick with it. There’s plenty of time, god willing, to do something you hate.

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

CG: BIANCA TORRE IS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING by Justine Pucella Winans

ALWAYS THE ALMOST by Edward Underhill

OUT OF CHARACTER by Jenna Miller

BORROW A BOYFRIEND CLUB by Page Powars

TM: Gosh there’s so much good stuff out there. I think you should start with Carlyn’s Sizzle Reel and mix in a great new book by Robbie Couch called If I See You Again Tomorrow. Then, before you fill your cart, grab Byron Lane’s Big Gay Wedding.

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Interview with Ari North, Creator of Always Human

Ari North is a queer cartoonist who believes an entertaining story should also be full of diversity and inclusion. As a writer, artist and musician, she wrote, drew and composed the story and music for Always Human, a complete romance/sci-fi webcomic about two queer girls navigating maturity and finding happiness. She’s currently working on the webcomic Seven Days in Silverglen, a modern fantasy romcom about the masks we wear to fit in when we feel monstrous. She lives in Australia with her husband.

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

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

Hi, thanks for having me! I’m Ari, I live in Australia, I make webcomics, and I’m really bad at answering this type of question! Some people are really good at talking about themselves and I’m not one of those people.

I’m bi and use she/her pronouns.

What can you tell us about your upcoming book, Love and Gravity, a sequel to Always Human?

Love and Gravity is the print edition of the second half of the Always Human webcomic.

It’s a YA sapphic romance set in a future where sci-fi body-modification is all but ubiquitous. The first book followed the two main characters as they met, formed a relationship, and worked through their first fight. Book two continues their story, as – with each other’s support – they figure out this adulting business, and what they really want out of life.

What was your inspiration for your comic, Always Human? What inspired this queer sci-fi world?

I’d been wanting to draw a practice comic – something maybe 20-30 pages – as a way to develop my skills, and was thinking about a short romance between a girl who was an ordinary human, and a girl who had a secret about her identity (maybe she was a vampire, or a witch, or a spy, I didn’t know exactly, this was a very vague idea.)

At this time I saw that webtoons.com was running a sci-fi comic competition, and decided to enter (I wanted the comfort of an external deadline).

Obviously this meant the girl with the secret couldn’t be a witch – maybe she could be a robot, or a cyborg? But that didn’t seem like any fun to draw, so I stopped thinking about mechanical parts and started thinking about bioaugmentation – genetically engineered super strength? cat eyes to see in the dark? a prehensile tail, for convenience? neon hair, because it’s cool? – and then I started thinking about sci-fi fashion, and how much fun it would be to draw this sort of stuff.

And that was where Always Human started to take form: I no longer wanted to tell a story about a girl with a secret, who was hiding her bioaugmentation from her normal human crush. I wanted a story set in a world where bioaugmentation is everywhere, and a romance where a girl who uses this technology falls for a girl who doesn’t.

The sci-fi setting is equal parts inspired by what I wanted to draw, and what I’d want to do to myself, if this sort of technology existed now.

Spoiler: One of the elements that struck me about Always Human was the inclusion of disability into its worldbuilding, i.e. Austin’s autoimmune condition, Egan’s syndrome, that prevented her from using mods (modifications that other individuals in this world can use.) What inspired this element within the story?

So following on directly from the above question – at this point in the story development process I had a vague story idea about a girl who uses bioaugmentation technology (mods) falling for a girl who doesn’t use mods.

I needed to figure out who this girl was. Did she not want to use mods? Or was it that she couldn’t use mods?

Since I’m the type of person who’d use mods in a heartbeat, I didn’t think I’d be able to do a good job of writing a character who chose not to use them. I needed this character to be a person who wasn’t able to use mods. An autoimmune condition seemed the most sensible explanation for why mods might not be accessible for her.

I continued to think about the character who became Austen. What jobs might be available to someone who can’t use mods? How would she do in school if she can’t use the focus and memory mods everyone else uses? It occurred to me that I’d created a setting where Austen – a person who wouldn’t be seen as disabled in the world we live in – was in practice disabled by a futuristic society built around technology that wasn’t accessible to everyone.

At the time I was developing these ideas I was a newly graduated primary school teacher, doing casual work in (mostly) underfunded schools. During my degree there had been a lot of focus on making sure that lessons are accessible to everyone. I was thinking in these terms when developing Austen. Schools often fail when it comes to accessibility – often not for lack of trying on the part of teachers, the support and budget simply isn’t there – and kids who would thrive in a different environment can struggle to succeed in the socially constructed environment that is a school.

I mirrored this in the setting of Always Human, by having an apparently utopian future built around technology that isn’t accessible to everyone – because no one’s willing to put the time, money and effort into supporting the very few people who can’t access mods. Austen knows she would thrive in a different environment, and her frustration throughout the story was very much inspired by the frustration of some of the children I met while teaching.

What inspired you to get into comics, particularly webcomics (which Always Human was originally)? Were there any writers or stories that sparked your own love and interest in storytelling?

A friend got me into anime and manga when I was 12. I fell in love, and immediately trawled the internet for anime art tutorials. At some point I followed a link to a webcomic, then followed more links to more webcomics, and I was hooked. I was amazed by the idea that anyone could do this, could create any story they wanted and just post it online. How wonderful!

I’ve been wanting to make my own since back then, and went through multiple never-to-be-seen attempts at webcomics before starting Always Human.

The manga that most inspires my storytelling is Honey & Clover (the way Umino Chika weaves together contrasting narration, dialogue and images is incredible.) 

*I probably didn’t use google, it was a long time ago!

Seven Days in Silverglen

As a queer comic creator, what does queer representation mean to you?

Someone told me once that representation in fiction can either be a mirror (reflecting parts of the reader’s own experiences back at them) or a window (giving the reader a glimpse of experiences unfamiliar to them.) I love it when queer representation does both – I love seeing myself in stories, and I love seeing other people too.

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

I mentioned above falling in love with manga. I love the cinematic paneling, and the way the eye flows so easily from text to art to text to art, it’s so immersive. I’m especially inspired by shoujo manga – the big expressive eyes, the delicate hair, the backgrounds that are more about atmosphere than setting.

I’ve also always loved Alphonse Mucha and Art Nouveau. Delicate, flowing lines!

For those curious about the process behind a comic/graphic novel, how would you describe the process? What goes into creating a script and translating that into panels?

Since I create webcomics in the mobile-scrolling webtoon format, I thought about scripting in terms of episodes (for Always Human this meant around 20-30 panels per episode, which is very short for a graphic novel chapter.)

I’ll start scripting with a short sentence describing what happens in the episode, and what parts of the story I want the episode to progress eg. “Character A has been waiting for a letter, it finally arrives. We see A’s normal routine, and how impatient they are. Hints that a storm is coming. End with the tension of the letter containing unexpected news.”

I’ll then write a panel by panel script which looks something like:

  1. Long panel showing menacing clouds over a city skyline. A snippet of a phone conversation flows down the panel: Yes, I just want to know when –
  2. Smaller panel, zoom in to A’s apartment. Phone conversation continues: No don’t put me on hold again I- CLICK
  3. A is standing in the kitchen, medium shot, surrounded by meal prep debris. They’re holding a mobile between shoulder and face, and look very annoyed.
  4. etc.

I’ll then roughly sketch all the panels for the episode on a very long canvas, with the layout they’ll have when read as a webcomic. I place dialogue and speech bubbles at the sketch stage, and if I’m using 3D models to assist with backgrounds I’ll add them as well. Then I ink all the panels, then colour all the backgrounds, then colour all the foregrounds, and then add any final details.

I think the process of moving from script to panel layout is a lot more complicated when you’re drawing a comic for printing – since the panels have to slot together on a page while guiding the reader’s eye through the story – but I’ve always drawn comics for webtoon format, where there’s a lot less choice in how the panels are placed, they just have to flow down. I imagine people who write for page/book comics might script in a different way (probably with page divisions?)

What are some of your favorite parts of the creative process? What do you find to be some of the most frustrating/difficult?

I love colours! Figuring out the colour scheme for a scene is one of my favourite things to do, it’s so satisfying seeing it come together.

I don’t particularly enjoy inking. It’s fiddly and doesn’t really involve making creative choices (since these choices mostly get made while sketching.)

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

I don’t like pineapple, unless it’s on pizza.

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

A lot of artists (comics and otherwise) listen to audiobooks/podcasts/youtubers/streamers while drawing, and I’m always curious to know what they’re listening to. Since this is a question I’d like to ask of other people, I guess it’s a good question to ask of myself.

Some of my favourite listens are: The Locked Tomb series, The Parasol Protectorate, Discworld, Skulduggery Pleasant, The Murderbot Diaries, A Master of Djinn, Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit, The Magnus Archives, Welcome to Nightvale, Jessie Gender’s youtube channel, WithCindy’s youtube channel, Princess Weekes’ youtube channel.

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

I’m currently working on another webcomic, Seven Days in Silverglen, a modern fantasy romcom starring a gorgon who really shouldn’t have agreed to fake-date her crush, what a terrible idea.

The webcomic is currently on hiatus, courtesy of long covid, but I hope to be back to regular updates soon.

What advice might you have to give to aspiring graphic novelists (both to those who write, those who draw, or those who both draw and write )?

Read lots of comics! Storytelling with words and (still) images is very different to storytelling with prose, or animation, or any other medium. Start with a webcomic, webcomics are great 🙂

Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/ comics would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

An incomplete list of queer webcomics that I love (and which you can read for free!)

Ava’s Demon, Miracle Simulator, Sleepless Domain, Muted, Covenant, Blades of Furry, Vampire Magicka, Straylight Tiger, Namesake, Mage & Demon Queen, Apollonia, Susuhara is a Demon!, Diamond Dive, Love Not Found, High Class Homos, My Dragon Girlfriend, Heir’s Game, The Witch, Heartstopper, REEDS, Kiss it Goodbye, Facing the Sun, The Right Knight, Castle Swimmer, Console Her, Novae, Electric Bones, How to be a Werewolf,

An incomplete list of queer, non-webcomics that I love.

Manga:
Donuts Under a Crescent Moon, Bloom into You, Given

Graphic novels:
On a Sunbeam, Mooncakes, Bloom, The Tea Dragon Society, Basil and Oregano (I got to read this early, it’s so good!!)

Prose novels:

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Legends & Lattes, The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics, Gideon the Ninth.

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Interview with Colleen AF Venable and Stephanie Yue, Creators of Katie the Catsitter

Colleen AF Venable is the author of indie bestseller Katie the Catsitter graphic novel series with Stephanie Yue, as well as the National Book Award Longlisted Kiss Number 8, a graphic novel co-created with Ellen T. Crenshaw. Her other books include Mervin the Sloth is About to Do the Best Thing in The World with Ruth Chan, The Oboe Goes Boom Boom Boom with Lian Cho, and the Guinea Pig, Pet Shop Private Eye series, also with Stephanie Yue.  

Stephanie Yue is the illustrator of several picture books and chapter books in addition to Katie the Catsitter, and was the colorist for Smile by Raina Telgemeier. Steph travels the world by motorbike and spent the past year and a half converting a Sprinter van into a full-time mobile studio. She’s currently drawing the next Katie the Catsitter from all over North America, and eating and climbing all the things.

I had the chance to interview Colleen and Stephanie, which you can read below.

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

Steph: Hi, I’m Steph, the illustrator for Katie the Catsitter. They/She. I like to ride motorbikes all over the world, rollerskate, build things, and I live full-time in a self-converted Sprinter van.

Colleen: Hello there! I’m Colleen Ann Felicity! She/Her/They (People always want to know what the weird AF is doing in there). I’m the writer for Katie the Catsitter. I like to read, hug every the animal, rollerskate, and make ALL THE CRAFTS—currently learning stained glass, figuring out how to build a room from scratch then turn it into an audio studio so I can quietly figure out how to play a trombone I got for $30, and can make a friendship bracelet in under five minutes. Watch out, potential new besties! 

What can you tell us about your upcoming book, Katie the Catsitter #3: Secrets and Sidekicks?

Colleen: * announcer voice * When last we left our heroes…Katie was officially starting to do sidekick training, Beth and Katie were still figuring out how to get back to being friends, and The Eastern Screech—the city’s highest yelp rated hero—was outed for being a fraud. In this volume Katie deals with not being the greatest athlete, feeling like her friends Beth and Marie are leaving her behind, the Eastern Screech disappearing, 217 highly trained cats running amuck, and a bunch of Killer Robots keep attacking the city. So yeah, nothing too exciting. 

Steph: It’s going to be fun, with lots of action!

What was the inspiration for the original series?

Colleen: I always thought traditional superhero comics simplified things. Good vs. bad. No in betweens. (And don’t get me started about the underwear on the outside thing which I might need to write a doctoral thesis on one day.) I wanted a series where the “good guys” were kinda bad, the “bad guys” were actually good. I also loved exploring how heroes come to be through Katie, an average 12 year old who realizes being a hero is a lot more about heart than falling into vats of toxic things. Also as a kid I was always disappointed that Catwoman didn’t have cat minions, so that gave me the idea for The Mousetress who controls 217 extraordinary cats (as much as anyone CAN control a cat.) 

Steph: Colleen and I worked together previously on a six book series called Guinea Pig: Pet Shop Private Eye. When she approached me with the pitch for Katie the Catsitter, it seemed like a natural fit for our humor and stories around animals.

Colleen AF Venable

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, particularly comics? What drew you to the mediums?

Steph: I loved the comics section in the newspapers as a kid, and poured over the collected volumes of Calvin & Hobbes, Peanuts, and the Far Side my dad kept in his study. As I grew older, the Sunday funnies expanded to series like the Adventures of Tintin, and manga. I realized the visual nature of comics could quickly introduce a reader to fantastical worlds, and immerse them in a very real sense of action, danger, and emotion. In longer form comics like manga that span many volumes, characters had room to grow and evolve—by the end of a series like Rurouni Kenshin the characters were not the same as they were 28 books ago. That’s what I fell in love with, the ability for comics to share a funny visual gag, convey a sense of excitement and adventure, and handle character arcs, all in one easily accessible medium.

Colleen: Same with me! Those newspaper comics were such a wonderful part of my childhood. I recently did a school visit where I told the students “Imagine every morning someone left a whole pile of comic strips on your doorstep!” I blew the kids’ minds. They couldn’t believe that was true! I also convinced them I was 400 years old. For me, comics are such an incredible medium. I studied playwriting in college, and so many of the things I learned about dialogue, pacing, visual gags, beats, came from my scripting skills. But with comics you can control even more with page turn reveals, dramatic angles, zooming in to important details, scattering visual clues throughout…I truly feel like the true art of making comics is underappreciated. 

As a writer/illustrator, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically young adult fiction?

Colleen: I always wanted to write for kids and teens from the time I learned to read. I hoped to make that book that could help a kid through a hard time and not feel alone. And being able to make kids around the world laugh?! That’s better than any power a toxic vat or outward underwear could give me! I love mixing absolute absurdity with heartfelt emotional story lines of real things kids and teens go through…though in this case, without as many cats in real life, I hope. 

Steph: Landing in young adult fiction was a bit of an accident, to be honest. I started out illustrating for younger readers, but there are so many meaningful stories to tell for this age range as well. I remember how formative some works of fiction were for me at that age. In young adult fiction you can begin to explore more nuanced ideas, concepts, and character interactions while still leaving room to be goofy.

How would you describe your creative process?

Colleen: People watching, reading every comic/play/novel I can get my hands on, animal watching, swimming…if I sat down at a computer 8 hours a day I’d barely get anything done. Instead I write 1-3 days a week and only a few hours on those days. It’s the time between staring at a screen that I get the ideas. I start with handwritten notes. I’d like to say I kept them in a single beautiful notebook, but no, I write them everywhere. On the back of junk mail. On a mile long CVS receipt. In text messages to myself. I don’t even reference them after, but it’s the act of writing physically that gets my brain churning. When I finally sit down they just fall out of my fingers. 

Steph: It depends on the stage of comics making. For pencils, I like to take my iPad to different places and set up with a printed manuscript. When it comes to inking, my favorite thing to do is put on a gripping podcast or some upbeat music, pour myself a beverage, and get lost in drawing.

(For Colleen AF Venable) In addition to the Katie the Catsitter series, you are also known for your graphic novel Kiss Number 8. Could you tell us about the inspiration for this project and what it meant to you writing it?

Colleen: Someone recently asked me why I haven’t done another novel for older teens since Kiss Number 8 and it’s because you have to get in the mindset of your protagonist to write a book…and going back to being a teen…lordie, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! I know I will again, someday, and miiiight even have some secret first drafts, but it’s an emotional journey, and I think all the emotion I put into that book came through. I started it in 2004, which is why the book is set then. It was inspired by my very Catholic family and their reaction to my perfect older sister coming out of the closet. Suddenly I was the “good kid”—and trust me I was NOT, and I was also secretly bi…something I didn’t even admit to myself until my 30’s due to repression. I wanted to make a book that was truthful to what it was like to come out in the early aughts but also didn’t show the church as some giant big bad guy like all the other LGBTQ books did at the time. Even back then I was exploring themes of all the gray areas in life, no good guys, no bad guys. Mads the protagonist is both so likable but also makes the worst decisions of anyone in the book. I’m so proud of the book, which finally came out in 2019 and was even one of the first comic books to ever receive a National Book Award nod. I thought of it as a period piece, but the emails I’ve gotten from teens struggling to come out make me realize it’s less of a historical novel than I’d like. 

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

Steph: As I mentioned before, Calvin & Hobbes is an easy one, and one that inspired many creators. Tintin introduced me to action and adventure in comics, and Rurouni Kenshin was the big series that landed at just the right age for me. When I toured on motorbikes, I liked to imagine I was Kino in Kino’s journey, self-sufficient and exploring the different cultures of the world. Nowadays, I live in a self-converted Sprinter van named The Bebop, after the converted interplanetary fishing trawler in Cowboy Bebop. On some days the name feels extremely prescient—with all the blackout curtains up, it feels like a little spaceship that could be anywhere in the galaxy. Putting away the curtains could reveal a different planet each day. I see myself in Ed, “self-styled”, taking my craft through time in space, and hunting bounties (making comics and taking on freelance gigs). I even keep a little plushie corgi copilot.

Colleen: Ah! I hadn’t realized Bebop was named after that! As a huge Saturday Morning Cartoon dork I assumed it was from Ninja Turtles! I’m going to second Calvin & Hobbes. I feel like every cartoonist of our generation has Bill W to thank for letting us be absurd, bend genres, and create REAL protagonists, flaws and all. Like Katie, my parents didn’t have much money growing up, so I spent my afternoons after school in the library, being annoying and VERY hyper. (Catholic Church, if you are reading this, please consider canonizing those librarians.) Books that blew me away: Amelia Bedelia, anything Ellen Raskin, Agatha Christie. At the time there was no YA section, and definitely no graphic novel section, but if those existed I would have eaten them up. I got into comics through webcomics after college. It was the thing I had been searching for. Now I am forever in love with anything Victoria Jameson, M.T. Anderson, or Urasawa writes. I swear it’s impossible for those three to create anything that’s less than genius. 

Steph: Ha, that reminds me of how influential The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was for me! I read it at just the right age. If I ever build out another van, it might have to be the Heart Of Gold. It seems infinitely improbable.

Stephanie Yue

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

Colleen: Honestly, for me it’s more comedy icons: Monty Python, Gilda Radner, Mr. Show, Carol Burnett, The Muppet Show, The Marx Brothers. If I had to name comics, I’d have to give a nod to The Tick and The Far Side. I’m a huge comedy history nerd and read anything I can find on the subject. Even in my more serious books like Kiss Number 8, humor is the thing that drives the reader through the angst. Without comedy these stories would never be as powerful. 

Steph: I know I keep coming back to it, but Bill Watterson was formative for me. I also really enjoy the mixed media work of Shaun Tan, and the life and work of Edward Gorey. His former home is now the Edward Gorey House, and it offers a wonderful peek into his life as a creative. It’s one of my favorite stops if I ever find myself going to Cape Cod.

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

Steph: Cartooning is a surprisingly physically draining profession, with long, lonely hours at the drawing tablet. Whenever available, I do my best to get some social time, outdoor time, and maintain an exercise routine. At the desk, I try to be careful about ergonomics and my posture, to avoid painful aches or repetitive stress injuries. Like many creative occupations that blur the line between work and play, it’s commonly misunderstood. Even after this long I still find myself justifying to people that yes, this is indeed a job, and no, I cannot do this for free.

Also, robots and horses are hard to draw.

Colleen: Whenever I write Katie I have a smile on my face and am often giggling out loud. I also adore the editing process, especially when I get to work with an editor as brilliant as Shana Corey, who’s notes always blow me away. I’m a big fan of jigsaw puzzles and mysteries and figuring out how to reshape pieces so they fit together perfectly. For me the frustrating part is not having more time. I have a full-time day job and can only fit in writing early morning. I’m good at meeting my book deadlines and my job, but my personal inbox and ability to have time for friends suffers more than I’d like. Other frustrating thing: I think I’m the only writer in the world who doesn’t drink coffee, so my love of writing in cafes means a whole lotta brownies and muffins, which I’m fine with but my dentist and non-stretchy pants might not love. 

And sorry about all the robots and horses, Steph!

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

Steph: I live to ride and travel and I love to build things!

Colleen: Steph is being modest, when they say travel they’re doing it on a motorcycle, Vespa (to 49 of the 50 states!!!), and in their amazing van. I’m in awe of them. They’re basically more badass than any comic book hero you could imagine. I can’t even do a somersault and cried the one time I did a tourist-y zipline. (The 10-year-olds and 70-year-olds also ziplining were very confused.) While I might be afraid of heights and worms, I’ve got a handful of things I’m weirdly good at. For instance I once broke a national co-ed jump rope record that hadn’t been broken in 30 years. I’m ranked in the top 50 of Dance Central international high scores…a game series that if I ever have enough money I will pay Harmonics to make another version. I also have an internet famous connect-the-dots tattoo that George Takei said was “the perfect tattoo” and Mark Walberg said was “a bad influence on children.” 

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)?

Steph: What is your favorite flavor of potato chip? It’s salt and vinegar, the saltier and more tart the better.

Colleen: Noooo don’t out me as a weirdo who doesn’t really like chips, Steph!!! I have a sweet tooth. Actually I might have two, one in place of the salty tooth everyone else seems to have. 

What advice might you have to give for aspiring creatives?

Steph: The most daring thing you can do is just make the thing you want to make and put it out there in the world. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it’s more important that you start.

Colleen: Don’t be afraid to get better! I started a webcomic in 2004 using MS Paint. Four years later I was the sole designer for First Second Books and had my first graphic novel contract. I wrote 31 books that were rejected by publishers before that contract…and even after that I wrote 6 others that never made it to publication. The most important thing to do is to set aside time for you to be creative every week. There will also be a million excuses, but be kind to yourself and make space for YOU. Also read. The more you read the better a writer you’ll become. And did I mention the muffins? They definitely help. 

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

Colleen: This fall I have two books coming out. My first for adults! It’s a humor/inspiration book called The Swayze Year: You’re Not Old You’re Just Getting Started co-written with the brilliant Meghan Daly, with art by the incredible Tara O’Connor! It chronicles one person from age 35 to 100 who got their start at that age. It’s super inspiring but also SUPER absurd, more of the tone of your best friend saying “SHUT UP YOU AREN’T OLD!” than a cheesy self-help book. 

The other book is a short story collection called Creepy Cafetorium, which is part Sideways Stories and part Gravity Falls. I get to be the Rod Sterling of the series and write all the intros for every tale as a very weird 600 year old lady. It’s incredibly goofy, heart-felt, and has stories from amazing writers like Jadzia Axlerod, Carol Burrell, and Marcie Colleen. 

Steph: I’m always working on my van, my bikes, and future travel.

Finally, what LGBTQ+ books (comics included)/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

Steph: Gender Queer spoke to me, by Maia Kobabe.

Colleen: I’m putting my vote in for Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado. It’s a love letter to the Bronx and a horror novel that bases those horrors on real events. But the queer romance was sweet and like little breaths of solace during the gripping thriller. (Note: if you read this book you will never look at the subway the same way again.) 

As for comics, the one that got me recently was Galaxy: The Prettiest Star by Jadzia Axlerod and Jess Taylor. DC’s first trans hero! Written by an amazing woman I’ve known since our days making hand-stapled mini-comics to sell for a buck or two at small press cons! Not only is the story so compelling, but the character designs and the candy-colored art are delicious. 

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Interview with Charlie Jane Anders

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of Victories Greater Than Death, the first book in the young-adult Unstoppable trilogy, along with the short story collection Even Greater Mistakes. Her other books include The City in the Middle of the Night and All the Birds in the Sky. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney’s, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, Conjunctions, Wired Magazine, and other places. Her TED Talk, “Go Ahead, Dream About the Future” got 700,000 views in its first week. With Annalee Newitz, she co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct.

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

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

Sure! I’m a trans woman in San Francisco who writes science fiction and fantasy. I also organize local events, including a ton of spoken word events, but also the monthly Trans Nerd Meet Up here in SF. I love karaoke and queer performance art, and I have been known to do some pretty outrageous performances myself. I won a Lambda Literary Award for transgender/genderqueer writing, and helped to organize a national tour of trans authors called the Cross Gender Caravan. Lately, I’ve helped to create a trans superhero for Marvel Comics named Escapade, who’s appearing in a miniseries called New Mutants: Lethal Legion that I’m writing — it debuted in March 2023.

What can you tell us about your latest books, the Unstoppable series?

The Unstoppable trilogy is an epic story about figuring out who you are and how far you’re willing to go to save the people you love. Tina Mains looks like a normal human girl, but she’s secretly a clone of an alien hero who died — they hid the clone on Earth, disguised as a human baby. And now it’s time to return to the stars and reclaim her heroic legacy. Tina is expecting to leave home and step back into her former self’s life, but it turns out things aren’t that simple, and being a hero is kind of a messy business. Luckily, Tina’s not figuring it out alone: a group of other Earth kids join her in space, and they help her realize that instead of trying to be the second coming of the heroic Captain Argentian, she should try being herself. And then in the sequel, things get a lot messier, and there’s a fascist takeover and we learn the truth about an ancient threat to all life in the galaxy, and Tina pays a heavy price to save her friends.

What was the inspiration for this series?

When I was a kid, all I wanted was for aliens to drop out of the sky and tell me that I didn’t belong here on Earth — that I was secretly an alien, and I belonged with them. As a visibly queer kid with a really severe learning disability, I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere here, and I just wanted someone to take me away from this honestly disappointing planet. So when I started thinking about writing a young adult novel, I wanted to write a book for my younger self — about what would happen if aliens showed up and took you away on a huge, awesome adventure in space.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically speculative and young adult fiction?

I’ve always loved making up weird stories, and that was a huge part of how I dealt with the aforementioned learning disability. I’ve written fiction in lots of different genres, but I keep coming back to speculative fiction because it’s the best way to deal with how strange and confusing the real world is. People are constantly pretending that stuff makes sense, when it really doesn’t. At all. Especially nowadays, the world is changing too fast to keep up with, and tons of people loudly pretend that their imaginary rules are super important and real. And I’ve found that goes double for young adult fiction: when you’re a teenager, you’re surrounded by adults who are pretending that nonsense makes sense, and sometimes it seems like everyone else is playing along. I love stories that gently (or not-so-gently) point out how fake and bizarre all the stuff we pretend to believe in is.

How would you describe your writing process?

It really varies, but I try to do some writing every day, when I can. I know some writers who only write on weekends, or on some other schedule, but I find that if I can keep the story fresh in my head, it flows easier every time. I like to try and get some writing done in the mornings with my coffee, and then take a super long walk to the ocean or to Chinatown, to clear my head and just kind of work things out in my head. Long walks are a big part of my writing process, and so is hanging out with my cat.

As a writer who has written on the importance of fiction as a form of healing and accessing agency, particularly your book, Never Say You Can’t Survive, I’m wondering if there’s anything you could say now on what creative expression and art means to you personally?

Making up stories helped me survive some rough times in my childhood, and it’s still doing that now. Writing stories helped me figure out my gender when I was transitioning. I love getting lost in my own imaginary world, where I can identify with my characters as they struggle to survive and do the right thing, and I especially enjoy when my characters are having a deep emotional conversation that speaks to something in my own life. Writing is my happy place.

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

As a kid, I loved big escapist stories with larger than life adventures, and I definitely wanted to be Wonder Woman when I grew up — I also loved Doctor Who for the way that the Doctor used creativity and silliness and kindness to solve problems instead of just shooting everything in sight. I also loved Monty Python and Victor/Victoria, which fed my love of anarchy and seemed to hint that gender was something you could reshape to tell your own story. The books that spoke to me were weird, surreal things like Phantom Tollbooth, A Wrinkle in Time and the works of Daniel Pinkwater. In my early teens I discovered Prince, and his music and his image changed my life.

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

Oh, so many. There are so many incredible authors writing right now — N.K. Jemisin’s work has changed the way I think about stories, over and over again. A whole bunch of amazing trans/non-binary authors have come along recently in speculative fiction, and their giving me life and encouraging me to take bigger swings creatively. Among others, Isaac Fellman, Ryka Aoki, Naseem Jamnia, Nino Cipri, R.B. Lemberg, Elly Bangs, April Daniels, H.E. Edgmon, Aiden Thomas and Rivers Solomon… I’m just scratching the surface. It’s a wonderful time to be a trans SFF fan.

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

Man, I have good days and bad days, like most people. I love it when the characters are speaking through me and doing stuff that surprise me — that’s the best thing ever. And then there are the times when I know I need a scene where something happens, but I can’t come  up with it to save my life. Revision is also often a nightmare, because you have to make the best of all the choices that seemed like a good idea at the time.

Aside from writing, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

I used to belong to a skipping team. My cat’s name is Marcus Aurelius Sassafras Vespasian IV, but sometimes he goes by Dr. Sassafras or just Dr. Sassy. I used to have a giant collection of Doctor Who memorabilia, but I sold it all and gave the money to charity.

What advice might you have to give for aspiring writers?

You have to be simultaneously humble and arrogant — you have to believe that your work is amazing and important and will change people’s lives, so you’ll keep going and doing the boldest and most audacious work you possibly can. But you also have to remember that there are a million other writers out there who are also doing awesome work, and that you’re part of a whole community of creative people who need to support each other. You have to be okay with tons of rejection — I racked up hundreds and hundreds of rejections when I was starting out! — and not take it personally. Also, you should totally make writing a communal activity as much as you can: join a writing group, organize writing dates with friends, share your work online, take part in open mics and other readings. Just find ways to make it a social thing.

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

I already mentioned this at the start, but I’m writing a miniseries for Marvel called New Mutants: Lethal Legion. It includes Escapade, the trans mutant superhero I created with artists Ted Brandt and Ro Stein, who has the power to trade places with anyone. The plot has to do with Escapade organizing a heist with some of her mutant friends, which (not surprisingly) goes pear-shaped. And the New Mutants are forced to face off with some of the worst villains in the Marvel Universe. It’s a super silly, heartfelt, goofy comedy miniseries about trauma and what we do to take care of the people we love.

Charlie Jane Anders is a guest this year at Flame Con on August 12th and 13th at the Times Square Sheraton.

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Interview with Victoria Ying

Victoria Ying is a critically acclaimed author and artist living in Los Angeles. She started her career in the arts by falling in love with comic books, this eventually turned into a career working in animation and graphic novels. She loves Japanese Curry, putting things in her shopping cart online and taking them out again and hanging out with her husband and cat, Bandito. Her film credits include Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, Frozen, Paperman, Big Hero 6, and Moana. She is the author and illustrator of her own series “City of Secrets and City of Illusion” through Penguin/Viking and the illustrator of the DC series “Diana Princess of the Amazons.” Her upcoming graphic novel projects her YA debut, “Hungry Ghost” and the Marvel/Scholastic “Shang-Chi and the Secret of Immortality.”

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

CW: Discussion of eating disorders

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

Hey there! I’m an author and illustrator of the new graphic novel, Hungry Ghost! I started my career in animation working at Disney on films such as Tangled, Wreck it Ralph, Frozen, Big Hero Six and Moana. I wanted to tell my own stories so I left to pursue my dream of writing. Hungry Ghost is my YA debut based on my own experiences but fictionalized.

What can you tell us about your upcoming graphic novel, Hungry Ghost? What inspired you to write this story?

I struggled with an eating disorder for nearly a decade and the thing that surprised me about media surrounding ED was just how much of it didn’t reflect my experience. As a child of immigrants surrounded by western culture, I saw the stories of worried families and emaciated young white girls and didn’t see myself in those stories. I wanted to share what the experience is like beyond the gory details of protruding bones and write a story about what it FEELS like to actually live with an ED.

Doing some research, I noticed that the term “hungry ghost” is a common concept in Buddhism and Chinese traditional religion. Was that intentionally chosen in mind when choosing the title and/or developing the story itself?

It is definitely a concept in folklore, but in my family, it was used with derision if you ever ate quickly. “You’re like a hungry ghost!”

I wanted to use the phrase because it felt appropriate for Val’s struggles. She’s hungry, not just for food, but for love as well.

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, specifically comics? What drew you to the medium?

I had always loved comics. Comics drew me to an artistic career in the first place when I was in middle school, but once I got to college, someone told me about the tough working conditions in comics and I pivoted. I came back to the medium after working for a few years and was able to advocate for myself in the labor market. I got to work with amazing editors at First Second for this project and I couldn’t be happier with my comics experience.

Growing up, were there any books/media that inspired you as a creative and/or that you felt yourself personally reflected in? Is there anything like that now?

As a second generation child of immigrants, It’s difficult to see yourself in any media. As a kid, I saw token representation for Asians sometimes and when I would express my alienation, people would tell me to watch Chinese media. But I wasn’t Chinese either. I couldn’t speak fluently and it just made me feel even more alien. I’m glad that we live in a media environment where we’re talking about immigrants and kids of immigrants. We’re in the golden age of diaspora stories! Films such as the Oscar winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once” prove that our stories can be relatable and unique.

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

My inspirations are changing all the time, but I love people who follow their creative spirit. I love watching directors like Taika Waititi tell wildly different stories and yet still hold onto their special voice. Whenever I can tell that an artist is being true to their creative vision, I am most drawn to them.

For those curious about the process behind a graphic novel, how would you describe the process?

It’s like the process for making a drawing, but expanded out into a longer process. You start out with the script, get that working, and then move onto thumbnail drawings, where you draw the whole book in tiny scribbly little doodles. Once that’s working, you take those scribbles and tighten them up to something that people can actually look at. Once it’s presentable, you can add color. I worked with a fantastic colorist Lynette Wang for this book and others. Last but not least, you add in the final text.

What are some of your favorite parts of the creative process? What do you find to be some of the most frustrating/difficult?

I love the first draft of something and the inking phase. I love telling myself a story and seeing the whole thing come together. It’s fun and feels organic and natural. I also really enjoy the inking phase because I can actually let go of my storytelling brain and just get lost in making the artwork look the way I want it to. I find artistic flow most easily here.

Spoiler, regarding the main character’s mother, I really appreciated how you depicted a familial relationship that was filled with both love, but also misunderstanding and some toxicity. Would you mind speaking about that here?

I felt like a lot of parental relationships in media never rang true for me. Our parents are human. They have their own flaws, their own traumas, and to treat them as cardboard cutouts of “good parents” never really works. I was really inspired by “The OC” in high school because the parents were complicated, they had their own lives and that effected how they related to their kids. I wanted to write a mother like that. I wanted to show how ED is often passed down and how sometimes, we don’t get a fairy tale ending with the mythical apology, but we still have to move on and build a life for ourselves.

What are some things you would want readers to take away from Hungry Ghost?

It’s okay if the people you hoped to rely on can’t be there for you. You can be there for yourself and even though that’s not ideal, you can build your own support system and heal yourself.

What advice might you have to give to other aspiring creators?

Write short stories and write a lot of them. I had to learn how to tell stories with structure and catharsis and if I had only done full length stories, it would have taken me a long time to fix the mistakes. If you write short you can see the whole thing laid out in front of you and learn to be a better storyteller faster.

Besides your work as an artist, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

I’m an elder millennial and it took me this long to have something worth saying. My path to publishing is long and winding, but I don’t regret a single moment of it because it all led me to the place that I am now.

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

“How do you manage your time to avoid burnout?”

One of my biggest things I advocate for with young comics artists is never to schedule yourself to the max. Yes, you CAN work 7 days a week, but that can’t last and you’ll be an absolute husk of a person in a matter of months. Whenever you are figuring out how long a project will take, protect your weekends and evenings. 8 hours a day MAXIMUM. Also, remember to build in two weeks of sick time! You’re your own HR department, so be that for yourself!

Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?

I have a book coming out with Scholastic for Marvel’s Shang-Chi on October the 6th! I was allowed to write a fun, twisty little story for this character and I can’t wait to share it.

I’m also working on a second YA contemporary about growing up on the internet and navigating inappropriate relationships.

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

Ooh! I just finished Ryan LaSala’s “The Honeys!” It was a fun, queer, horror romp that I can’t stop thinking about!

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Interview with Lin Thompson

Lin Thompson (they/them) is a queer author of books for middle-grade readers. Lin grew up playing pretend games in the backyard and basement of their home in Kentucky. Now they get to write pretend stories in the backyard and basement of their home in Des Moines, IA, where they live with their wife and cat.

I had the opportunity to interview Lin once again, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome back to Geeks OUT! How have you been and could you tell us a little about yourself to readers who haven’t met you yet?

Thanks for having me, I’m very excited to be back! I’m a trans author of two books for middle-grade readers: The Best Liars in Riverview (out last year) and The House That Whispers (which just came out in February!). I grew up in Kentucky and love to write stories about queer kids growing up and figuring themselves out.

What can you tell us about your latest book, The House That Whispers? What was the inspiration for this story?

The House That Whispers is about an eleven-year-old trans kid named Simon and his two sisters as spend a week in their grandmother’s house—but when Simon starts sensing a ghostly presence there, his hunt for the ghost turns up more feelings and family secrets than he’d anticipated. I knew fairly early on that I wanted to write about a trans kid who starts the story knowing who he is, even if no one else in his life does yet. And I had a pretty good sense of Simon’s character and of the emotional arc I wanted for him. But if I’m honest, what inspired me to make this book a ghost story was watching The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. I love how the show uses horror elements to explore the characters’ emotional journeys, and I started thinking about how I could use some of the classic ingredients of a haunted house story to draw out this internal journey I was imagining for Simon and bring it out into his world.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically middle grade fiction?

I’ve wanted to be a writer for longer than I can remember—storytelling is just something I’ve always loved. Even when I wasn’t reading or writing as a kid, I was always playing pretend games or making up stories with dolls or stuffed animals. I love writing for middle-grade specifically because it’s such a formative time in developing your worldview and starting to understand more of the world outside yourself. I probably read more at that age than I have at any other point in my life, and so many of the books I read back then have stuck with me, in big ways and small.

How would you describe your writing process?

Somehow both very organized and very chaotic at the same time. I almost never write or revise in order—I’m always jumping around depending on which scene is caught in my head that day or which scene has gotten me stuck. I love being able to just follow where my interest takes me. But it also means I have to have a very solid sense of the plot and structure before I can get very far into working on a story. I love making outlines and beat sheets and lists of scenes—even when those lists inevitably change about a hundred times through the process.

Many authors would say one of the most challenging parts of writing a book is finishing one. What strategies would you say helped you accomplish this??

I definitely understand that challenge—even though I’ve been writing for my whole life, my debut was only the second book I’d ever actually finished, and it took me years and years to even get a first draft done. But I think the biggest help for me is having external accountability—someone besides just me to push me and ask when the book will be ready, haha. The House That Whispers is the first book I’ve written under contract with a publisher, and it made a huge difference to have that official deadline and to be able to work with my editor throughout the process. (To compare with that years-long timeline from my first book, this one went from an idea to a draft to a fully revised manuscript in less than a year total.)

But that external accountability doesn’t have to be an agent or editor or anything official—it can be a friend, or a beta reader, or a made-up deadline you’ve set for yourself and told your friends to hold you to. I might never have finally finished that first book if I didn’t have my amazing writing group to help push me. Writing is such a solitary activity, but it can be hugely helpful to have a community of other writers where you can all cheer each other on.

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

There were definitely books that I connected with as a kid, but I don’t remember reading a book with a specifically queer character until I was well into college. Instead, queer fanfiction sort of filled that role for me, and had a big hand in helping me realize that I was queer. There were so many amazing queer creators writing these beautiful, nuanced explorations of identity in ways I’d never seen before, and that helped me see myself reflected in ways I hadn’t even known to look for yet.

And now, even just within middle-grade, there are so many books coming out that would have totally changed my life if I’d had them as a kid. I cried more than once reading Kyle Lukoff’s Too Bright To See because of how closely the narrator’s experience of gender mirrored my own in younger years, before I had the words for what I was experiencing. And Nicole Melleby’s In the Role of Brie Hutchens explores what it’s like to be a queer kid raised in a very Catholic environment in a beautiful, funny way that hit me really hard.

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

I love to branch out into other creative projects when I hit a writing block—baking, painting, doing embroidery. All of it feels so much better than just staring at a blank page feeling bad about myself, and having other hobbies can really help refill my creative well. My latest project is historical fiction, so sometimes when I’m stuck on something in it I’ll give myself permission to just poke around through the research and go down all kinds of rabbit-holes into weird and interesting parts of history, and see what sticks.

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

My absolute favorite feeling when I’m writing is when I know something in the plot isn’t working but I’m totally stuck on how to fix it—and it’s incredibly frustrating, and I’m sure there’s no solution. And then finally, I find some piece of the story that I’ve been assuming has to be a certain way, and I realize that it doesn’t, actually, and I can just change it to fix the problem. Because it’s all made up. Which sounds so obvious, and yet somehow I forget that every time! But I made the whole story up in the first place, and I can adjust whatever I need to, and it’s empowering and terrifying at the same time. I always feel like I’m breaking the book when I make changes like that, but I love the feeling of getting to put it back together better.

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

I have a cat who’s very cuddly and too smart for her own good and is absolutely perfect. I really enjoy studying old maps and am slightly obsessed with historic sailing ships. And this last one is a little bit of a brag but—like Simon in The House That Whispers, I am also very good at Tetris.

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)?

Have you ever lived in a haunted house? Which, I don’t think so, but my old high school was definitely haunted, and the teachers had all kinds of stories, and sometimes for drama club we had to store props in the haunted section of the third floor and it was terrifying.

What advice might you have to give for other aspiring writers?

Figure out the writing process that works for you! Everyone’s brain is different and no one’s creative process is going to look exactly the same, so don’t be afraid to experiment with different strategies and approaches and see what feels right for you.

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

I’m still in the very early brainstorming stages for my next middle-grade book. In the meantime, though, I’ve been working on a YA historical fantasy that’s very, very queer, which has been a really fun challenge and something I’m really excited about!

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

In middle-grade, I loved Camp QUILTBAG by Nicole Melleby and A.J. Sass. In YA, I’m super excited for Jen St. Jude’s If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come (I got to read an older draft of it and was fully bawling in the most beautiful, cathartic way). Others I’ve loved lately include We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds, When The Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb, and The Sunbearer Trials by Aiden Thomas.

Header Photo Credit Katherine Ouellette

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Interview with Terry J. Benton-Walker

TERRY J. BENTON-WALKER grew up in rural GA and now lives in Atlanta with his husband and son, where he writes fiction for adults, young adults, and children. He has an Industrial Engineering degree from Georgia Tech and an MBA from Georgia State. When he’s not writing, he can be found gaming, eating ice cream, or both. Blood Debts is his first novel.

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

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

Thank you so much! As a geek myself, I’m honored for the opportunity. I’m Terry J. Benton-Walker (it’s also okay if you call me TJ), the author of Blood Debts, my young adult contemporary fantasy debut coming from Tor Teen on April 4th in the US and from Hodder & Stoughton on April 6th in the UK. I’m also the author of Alex Wise vs the End of the World, my middle-grade contemporary fantasy publishing with Labyrinth Road and Random House Children’s on September 26th. I am a toddler daddy, which means I’ve been fighting on the front lines of the Preschool Plague Wars™ for my second year now and am battle-weary but love being a parent to my son, who’s actually a really cool little guy. I’m also a video game geek, who is presently struggling as I’ve banned myself from gaming until I meet my current deadlines.

What can you tell us about your debut book, Blood Debts? What was the inspiration for this story?

Here’s a short synopsis of Blood Debts:

Terry J. Benton-Walker’s contemporary fantasy debut, Blood Debts, is “a conjuring of magnificence” (Nic Stone) with powerful magical families, intergenerational curses, and deadly drama in New Orleans.

Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen. Now, Clement and Cristina Trudeau—the sixteen-year-old twin heirs to the powerful, magical, dethroned family—discover their mother has been cursed. Cursed by someone on the very magic council their family used to rule. Someone who will come for them next.

Clement and Cristina’s only hope of discovering who is coming after their family, is to trust each other, to trust their magic, and solve the decades-old murder. If they don’t succeed, New Orleans may see another massacre. Or worse.

The inspiration for Blood Debts was three-fold. First, I was inspired by my personal experience with Game of Thrones and wanted to create a world where Black and Black Queer people could be centered and represented authentically in an epic fantasy story.

Then, while drafting the manuscript, I went through a rough time where I struggled with injustice both in the world at large and my personal life. Writing Blood Debts (in addition to therapy) became catharsis for me, as I got to process my complex and nuanced feelings about justice while exploring concepts of intergenerational trauma and the cycle of violence.

Lastly, anyone who follows me on social media most likely knows that I adore the video game, The Last of Us Part II, in which the story developers crafted an exceptional tale about the danger of perpetuating the cycle of violence through a unique dual perspective that was pitch-perfect and incredibly effective (albeit highly divisive among hardcore fans). The story of Blood Debts is also told through multiple perspectives of characters who are all seeking the justice they believe they’ve been wrongfully denied, whether right or wrong in their pursuits. This experience is meant to probe the layers of morality and justice through a story crafted with a 360-degree view of the central issues between these deeply complicated and compassionate characters.

As a story rooted in New Orleans, much of the story seems to rely on its historical significance, as well as its connection to Black magic/belief systems. Could you expand on your choice to center your story there?

I created Blood Debts for Black and Black Queer teens (and adults, y’all can enjoy it too), which means for them to have a truly immersive and heartfelt experience, the foundation of this story had to be authentic and Black. A major part of Black culture is our connection to our history, the good and the bad and the veiled, and our family, those who are still with us and those who are not. I wove those elements into the foundation of this series, because I want readers to feel at home from the first page, and on the last, I want them to close the book and hug it to their chests with pride in knowing that that is their story and Clem and Cris and Valentina belong to them.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically speculative and young adult fiction?

I’ve been a fan of stories from as young as I can remember. My mom always fed my curiosity as a kid, and when it came to stories in any form, I was ravenous. Life wasn’t always great for me growing up for several reasons, so I often escaped into the speculative worlds of books, video games, and movies. And I still have the same habits as an adult.

I enjoy writing both young adult and middle grade fiction, because I adore kids and have so much respect for the innocence and honesty with which they view the world and the people in it. As a parent, I’m very careful to respect and nurture that in my son, though I also worry about the day he goes out into the world and external influences start chipping away at that innocence and honesty to replace it with respectability politics and other nonsense. The stories I write are entertainment first and foremost, but they also represent the lessons I’ve learned through tough experiences in my life that I hope, in sharing with kids, helps them hold onto their authentic selves and not make the same (or as many) mistakes as I have.

How would you describe your writing process?

My writing process is incredibly organized, because otherwise my high-functioning anxiety would not allow me to be great. I’m a heavy planner/ plotter, so before I draft a single word, I need to know everything about the world, the characters, and the plot. I front-load the majority of the heavy lifting at the beginning of my writing process, which means drafting takes me a bit longer, but revisions tend to go super fast for me.

I also created a Novel Planning Kit that I use for plotting and writing stories, which is available for download on my website as a free resource to help authors with their own projects. 

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

Growing up, I had no stories at all that made me feel truly seen. If I wanted to escape, I had to learn how to connect with stories and characters who were nothing like me. The media landscape has significantly improved since then, despite still having a long way to go. There are so many stories featuring Black and Queer characters in so many genres that at times I’m jealous of the treasure trove of content available for today’s kids to escape into. However, it’s my hope that publishing and other media industries continue to champion intersectional stories in speculative fiction, particularly ones centering authentic Black gay characters like Blood Debts and Alex Wise and Jamar Perry’s Cameron Battle series.

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

I’m endlessly inspired by Black creatives who are never complacent but continue to push their talent and skill with each new project. Whenever they level-up, they also motivate me to keep pushing the limits of my creativity and developing my own craft. Some of my recent favorites and inspirations: Beyoncé. Issa Rae. Jordan Peele. Quinta Brunson. Regina Hall. SZA. Kalynn Bayron. Jordan Ifueko. Alexis Henderson.  

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

My favorite element of writing is how extraordinary it is that we start with a literal blank page—nothing—and create entire worlds with rich characters and intricate stories that ripple through the very real lives in our world. Art in every form is the closest form of magic that’s accessible to almost anyone, and we artists are all magicians in that way.

The most frustrating element about writing is how slow it can be sometimes. My creative brain is very temperamental and doesn’t always want to clock-in when I want or need it to, but I’ve found that if I allow myself and my brain the time I need and take breaks to recharge, we always find our way through eventually.

Aside from writing, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

Since this is Geeks OUT, I’ll share a geeky not-so-secret secret with you. I was a total band geek in high school. I played the Alto Saxophone and was pretty good at it (second chair in symphonic and first chair in concert band). I have not played in years, though I miss it dearly. My horror short story in Karen Strong’s Cool. Awkward. Black. anthology (which is out now, by the way) was inspired by my love for playing music. It’s titled “Requiem of Souls” and is about a Black gay band geek who finds supernatural sheet music that summons the dead—and something else far more dangerous than ghosts.

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)?

I love talking about craft, so I’m always game to discuss some of the cool craft tricks I did with Blood Debts. Everything I write is curated to be enjoyed more than once. I try to be extremely deliberate with every sentence so that on multiple reads, readers should find new and intriguing pieces of information they hadn’t picked up on during prior reads.

What advice might you have to give for aspiring writers?

It’s hard, especially now, but you owe it to yourself not to give up. Blood Debts recently got a starred review from Kirkus, and on the day it was announced, I received a status memory on Facebook of a post from exactly ten years ago where I’d sent out over a hundred queries for a fantasy series I was hopeful would interest an agent. Spoiler Alert: It did not. But I didn’t quit. And ten years later, I have a starred review on my debut young adult contemporary fantasy story. I hope it doesn’t take you as long, but the only way it won’t happen for you is if you quit.

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

Yes! Later this year, September 26th to be exact, my debut middle grade contemporary fantasy, Alex Wise vs the End of the World is publishing from Labyrinth Road / Random House Children’s. It’s about a twelve-year-old boy whose summer vacation takes a dramatic turn when Death, one of the spirits of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, possesses his ten-year-old sister and threatens the end of the world.

I’m also working on a YA horror anthology, The White Guy Dies First, which is coming from Tor Teen, Summer 2024. It features 13 scary stories from 13 BIPOC authors that subvert classic horror sub-genres and, most importantly, where the cishet white guy always dies first. The lineup is epic. In addition to a story from me, readers can expect frights from bestselling and award-winning authors: Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Kalynn Bayron, Kendare Blake, H.E. Edgmon, Lamar Giles, Chloe Gong, Alexis Henderson, Tiffany D. Jackson, Adiba Jaigirdar, Naseem Jamnia, Mark Oshiro, and Karen Strong.

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

There are soo many LGBTQ+ books coming out this year that I’m super geeked about—and I’m also super jealous of Queer kids who’re getting all these amazing stories because I had to live vicariously through Rainbow Brite and My Little Pony haha.  

The first LGBTQ+ book I’m hyped about is The Black Queen by Jumata Emil, which is a YA thriller coming from Delacorte on January 31st. It’s sapphic, utterly addictive, and thought-provoking—easily one of my most anticipated thrillers of the year!

The second is Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass, coming from Viking / Penguin Teen on September 12th. It’s a witty, fun Slasher that’s a Queer Scream meets Clueless, and I cannot wait for more people to read it this fall.

Last, but certainly not least, is Godly Heathens by H.E. Edgmon, which is coming in November from Wednesday Books. H.E. is also one of the contributors in The White Guy Dies First, so I know first-hand how adept they are at crafting gripping, visceral experiences that still hold tight to you long after you finished the last word. Can you tell I’m excited?

Header Photo Credit Derek Blanks with crowdMGMT

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Interview with Amanda Leduc

Amanda Leduc is a writer and disability rights advocate. She is the author of THE CENTAUR’S WIFE (Random House Canada, 2021), DISFIGURED: ON FAIRY TALES, DISABILITY, AND MAKING SPACE (Coach House Books, 2020), and THE MIRACLES OF ORDINARY MEN (ECW Press, 2013). Her essays and stories have appeared across Canada, the US, and the UK, and she has spoken across North America on accessibility, inclusion, and disability in storytelling. She has cerebral palsy and lives in Hamilton, Ontario, where she serves as the Communications Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and stories.

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

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

Of course! I’m a Canadian author and disability rights advocate. I’ve written several books: a nonfiction book called Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space, which was published in 2020, and two novels, The Centaur’s Wife, published in 2021, and The Miracles of Ordinary Men, published in 2013. I currently live in Hamilton, Ontario, where I write and serve as the Communications and Development Coordinator for the Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD), Canada’s first festival for diverse authors and stories.

As an academic, what can you tell us about your book, Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space? What was the inspiration for this book?

Disfigured is a hybrid book—a blend of memoir and cultural criticism that looks at several well-known fairy tales from a disability rights lens. I look at my own lifelong fascination with fairy tales and explore how that, along with my disability, shaped how I grew up and viewed disability in the world.

What are some of your favorite stories/fairytales concerning disability, or containing disabled coding?

I think that Beauty and the Beast is a really great example of a fairytale that is deeply coded in disability. The Beast, as a character, is made to look different, is othered, as a result of his bad behaviour. This carries the message that those who look (or walk, or act) differently from the “norm” are this way because they somehow deserve it. It’s the kind of message that we can (sometimes!) deconstruct as adults, but it’s often difficult for young children—who are most often exposed to fairytales in their formative years—to understand this. And as a result, we grow up internalizing these kinds of messages—the good things that happen to so-called “normal” people versus what happens to those who are perceived as different in some way.

How did you find yourself getting into writing, both fiction and non-fiction? What drew you to those mediums?

I have always wanted to be a writer, since the time that I was very small. It’s just always something I’ve wanted to do in the world. I was initially drawn to fiction first, and spent a lot of time in my teens and twenties focused on learning how to write stories and novels. So it came as something of a surprise to discover in my thirties that I was also very interested in non-fiction, and in exploring the ways that this genre in particular could shift and grow and change.

How would you describe your writing process?

It’s very organic. Usually I start a book thinking of one specific scene or idea. With Disfigured, I was interested in the fact that so many of the fairytales I’d been introduced to as a child featured disability but were never discussed in explicitly those terms, so I set out to write a book that explored this idea, and along the way the book incorporated memoir and hybrid forms as a part of this discovery. With my latest novel, The Centaur’s Wife, I had a scene in mind of a woman who was struggling with her marriage (and with the world ending) but also secretly in love with someone else. I was interested in exploring what “taboo” love can mean, and looking at how grief and desire can intertwine. Then, as I was exploring these things, the novel began to incorporate elements of disability into the story as well.

When I write, I don’t generally have an outline—I start with something small and then build on that, and the outline gradually reveals itself to me as the story goes on. The initial part of writing—that first scene or idea—can often be quite slow, and I’ll spend months or years just jotting down little notes to myself and thinking through the world of the novel and what it’s trying to say. But then gradually the momentum builds and once I’m in the thick of a writing project it usually comes out in a steady fashion. At the height of things I like to shoot for a minimum of 1000 words a day, but I don’t always get there.

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

I love Karen Russell’s work, and Kevin Brockmeier, and Carmen Maria Machado—I think they’re all doing really interesting things with form and voice, and the “reality” of the worlds that we as writers try to build.

I was, and still am, a huge fantasy and sci-fi nerd. When I was young I read a lot of the fantasy and sci-fi classics, like Octavia Butler and C.S. Lewis and JRR Tolkien, and it’s a genre that I still love escaping into, particularly when my own writing is proving difficult, (which it often does!). I love Sarah J. Maas, and am waiting impatiently for her next book.

Over the last few years I’ve noticed that I’ve reached a place where inspiration seems to come from everywhere—I find creative influences everywhere I look, from the shows I watch through to my daily walks with my dog. It’s really wonderful and I wish this for all writers—to be able to look at the world around you and see creativity everywhere feels like such a gift!

What advice would you give for authors for portraying disability (whether that of their own or of others) within their own work? 

I think it’s important for all writers to be honest with themselves around the question of portraying a character with a disability, particularly if that disability isn’t your own. You need to ask yourself: am I the best person to tell this story? Or should I be amplifying the voice of someone else who is already telling this story in some way?

If you really think that a character must have a disability of some kind, and you don’t have that experience yourself, you must pay to have your work read by someone with lived experience—in publishing they’re often known as sensitivity readers—so that they can give you advice on the portrayal of your character and suggestions for how it might improve.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What are some of the most challenging?

I love creating new worlds and imagined futures (and presents, and pasts!) and then getting to play in them. It’s the greatest thing. The challenging part of that is making sure that everything then makes sense in the context of the story!

Besides your work as an author, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

I write a regular newsletter (amandaleduc.substack.com) and also work across North America as a disability rights advocate, giving presentations on accessibility in events and the presence of disability in storytelling.

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

I wish that interviews talked about book advances and the financial realities of writing more! The reality is that most writers who are working in the world today do not write full-time—most of us have day jobs and do all of our writing on top of that. I think that a lack of discussion around this can perpetuate this idea that anyone who is a public writer has someone found a way to make a lot of money doing it, and that is so often not the case.

Are there any projects you are working on or thinking about that you are able to discuss?

I have a new novel called Wild Life coming out in Canada next year—and hopefully in other countries too—though I’m not yet sure exactly when that will be. It follows two hyenas who walk upright and talk like humans, and the writing of it is probably the single most enjoyable time I’ve had as a writer to-date. It was so much fun to do.

What advice might you have to give to aspiring writers?

I think a lot of advice to writers boils down to don’t give up. It’s a cliché, but it’s also true. Don’t give up! There is a time and a place for your stories. What I’ll add to this is: your work will find its audience. And that audience is not going to look the same for everybody. But that’s okay! Understanding your connection to your readers—what people are drawn to in your writing, and how your writing shapes the world that your readers inhabit—is part of the magic of being a writer. May you know that moment when it arrives, and treasure it forever.

Finally, what books/authors, including possibly those related to queerness and/or disability, would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

So many! Carmen Maria Machado for sure (Her Body And Other Parties, The Dream House), Keah Brown (The Pretty One), Emily Ladau (Demystifying Disability), and Alice Wong (The Year Of The Tiger, Disability Visibility), just to name a few. Happy reading!

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Interview with Jen St. Jude

​Lambda Literary Fellow Jen St. Jude grew up in New Hampshire apple orchards and now lives in Chicago with her wife, daughter, and dog.  Their debut YA novel, IF TOMORROW DOESN’T COME, will be published by Bloomsbury Children’s (US) and Penguin Random House (UK) in 2023. 

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

CW: Discussion about mental illness and death.

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

Thank you so much! I’m a big fan of your organization, so this is fun for me. I’m a queer YA writer who truly loves to geek out about anything I love. That includes books, of course, but also women’s sports, pop music, and queer-coded action films.

What can you tell us about your debut book, If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come? What was the inspiration for this story?

I’ve been working on this novel for over a decade now, and for so many years it was just a constellation of thoughts. Hard to say which one was the true start of it all, but I wrote my way into this story because I had so many questions. If we’re all going to die, why don’t we live that way? Why don’t we treat each other better, chase the things we want, experience every big and beautiful thing that we can? I also live with depression and when I started this book I was in some of my worst stretches. For many moments and years it was too debilitating to write. But when I could, I put these scenes and characters on the page in an attempt to ask why Avery felt the way she did, and could she ever feel better? Could people in the very worst circumstances still find some light?

Mental health is a big part of the conversation within and around this book. If you feel comfortable, could you talk a little about what writing about that means to you?

To this day, I feel shame around my mental illness, even though I know I shouldn’t. Even though I have been working on it so hard and for so long. Sometimes it’s romanticized in media and I was very aware of that in my writing; I didn’t want to do that. But in real life, it often looks like self-destruction, and worse, it impacts other people in a negative, devastating way if left unchecked. There is absolutely no shame in struggling, and if more people talked about this, more people would get help. Maybe everyone would hurt just a little less. This novel is my way of talking about it.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically speculative fiction, and young adult fiction?

When I was a little kid I would play with dolls for hours, or with my brother and the other neighborhood kids, imagine we were the characters from Power Rangers or Captain Planet and run around the yard making up stories about ourselves. I really think that was the beginning of it; writing fiction is play (even when it’s not feeling very fun). Speculative fiction in particular feels very liberating to me because we can explore our reality through a lens that makes us question our day-to-day, just a little. It also lets us feel ever so distant from the events happening in the story. It gives us perspective.

On our website, we’ve featured a few other writers who have Lambda Literary Fellow, such as Sacha Lamb and Lin Thompson. Could you maybe touch upon your experiences within the program?

Oh! The best question. I attended the Lambda Literary retreat for emerging writers during the summer of 2018 and was in the YA cohort. Like any writing workshop, it takes quite a bit of luck for it to work. It’s always about the chemistry and personalities of the group. But it was also the first time I was in an all-queer space for writers (actually maybe the only time I’ve been in that space), so it was transformative for my work. I used to be adamant that Avery wasn’t depressed because of her queerness, because I knew people were looking for queer joy and I didn’t want to imply being queer makes you mentally ill. In that workshop it became clear we all shared similar experiences and it shaped my perspective on the novel. No, Avery isn’t depressed because she’s a lesbian, but it’s also true that living in a family and culture that tells her she’s wrong, that she may go to hell, that she might lose everything she holds dear if she comes out…yeah, that’s not going to help.

The people in my cohort were the real magic of Lambda, though. emily danforth was our workshop leader, which was an entire dream come true. She was generous with her time and advice, and offered to read every single one of our novels if we completed them that year. The other writers in my cohort included Sacha Lamb and Lin Thompson, as well as Jas Hammonds (We Deserve Monuments), J.D. Scott (Moonflower, Nightshade, All the Hours of the Day), Avery Mead, Tia Clark, Amos Mac, Amal Haddad, Kirt Ethridge, and Caitlin Hernandez. I’m still in touch with everyone, but a group of us still talk every day (pretty much all day). It’s become one of my most treasured families.

How would you describe your writing process?

I’ll admit I’m still figuring it out. I’m working on a new project for the first time in a long time, and just trying to let myself have some fun and lean into the character dynamics and play around with setting and voice. Jas has said If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come is my winter book, and this next one is summer.

Many authors would say one of the most challenging parts of writing a book is finishing one. What strategies would you say helped you accomplish this?

 I actually pursued my master’s almost completely because I just needed structure and help finishing a draft. I was having such a hard time on my own. Tip one: Did you know if you work at Harvard you can take classes at the Extension School for $40?! But tip two: You don’t need a master’s to finish your novel, but you may need some structure. You could create that through taking classes, joining a writing group, or finding a friend to hold you accountable. You’re not lazy and you’re probably not even uninspired, you might just need something to keep you on track. I’d also say that sometimes novels *should* sit dormant for a while. You collect live experiences and change as a person, and so your writing changes too.

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in? Are there any like that now?

You know, not really? The first time I really saw myself on the page was when I read The Miseducation of Cameron Post as an adult. This is so completely embarrassing but I cried while telling emily that Cameron was the very first character I felt truly represented by. I could relate so much to the voice, so much to Cam’s desire, gender expression, and sense of humor. It took me a long time to realize I’m not alone in the way I thought I was.

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

I really love sharing my work with my trusted peer readers. It’s such a joy to read their raw drafts and see how their brains work, and what their first instincts are. I also really appreciate their feedback on my work. I never know if scenes or lines or even specific words aren’t working until I get to see them through the eyes of someone else. I’m always deeply grateful for the time people spend in my messy drafts. I think one thing that’s really frustrating is how patient you have to be. I’m sort of a fixer by nature, so I want to just sit down and bang out a draft and know every answer. I’m always so embarrassed to not have the answer! But the truth is, it may not exist yet. I might need to go for a walk, read a beautiful book, or talk to a friend. Not everything I need to write exists in my head, and I always feel so frustrated until I remember I have to go out and find the tools and words I need.

What advice might you have to give for other aspiring writers?

 Forgive yourself. For taking too long, for not writing, for not being perfectly polished. Forgive yourself if you don’t have time to read or write during a season in your life. Forgive yourself for your typos and your weaknesses. And find strength in that forgiveness. It all means you’re trying. It all means you’re wanting. I’m saying this because I need to hear it too.

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

 I’m currently working on a second novel that is tentatively coming out from Bloomsbury in 2025. It may change completely, we’ll see. But right now it’s about a high school soccer team, climate change, and the way we keep people in our life when things are destroyed and shifted. And, yes, everyone’s gay.

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

Oh, I could be here all day! I read all genres and all age levels. Jas Hammonds, Lin Thompson, and Sacha Lamb are must-reads. But just a few more: In the adult romance space, my editor Camille Kellogg’s book Just as You Are. It’s a hilarious and deeply queer Pride and Prejudice retelling. I found it incredibly healing. I’m currently reading Alex Crespo’s San Juniper’s Folly and loving every minute of it—I keep pitching it as Practical Magic meets Cemetery Boys. Adrienne Tooley’s The Third Daughter is out this summer and it completely blew me away. Jenna Miller’s Out of Character is out now and it’s the role-playing romance you absolutely need.I so love Justine Pucella Winan’s Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything, and they have a middle grade book out this fall too with Bloomsbury called The Otherwoods. Each book is so different but so playful and wonderful. Other MG favorites include Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Leah Johnson, Skating on Mars by Caroline Huntoon, Jude Saves the World by Ronnie Riley, and The Song of Us by Kate Fussner. And I am DYING to read Vicki Johnson’s picture book, Molly’s Tuxedo. A few more adult recs: Marissa Crane’s I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself, Ruth Madiesky’s All Night Pharmacy, Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly. I’m incredible excited for The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson. And finally (I am forcing myself to stop) I am writing this from Des Moines, Iowa where I met an author named Anya Anya Johanna DeNiro whose novel, OKPsyche is forthcoming from Small Beer Press. Their pitch: An unnamed trans woman is looking for a sense of belonging, a better relationship with her son, and friends that aren’t imaginary in this playful and aching short novel. I mean, yes! Sign me up. I cannot wait to read it.

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Interview with Sabrina Imbler, author of How Far the Light Reaches A Life in Ten Sea Creatures

Sabrina Imbler is a writer and science journalist living in Brooklyn. Their first chapbook, Dyke (geology) was published by Black Lawrence Press. They have received fellowships and scholarships from the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Tin House, the Jack Jones Literary Arts Retreat, Millay Arts, and Paragraph NY, and their work has been supported by the Café Royal Cultural Foundation. Their essays and reporting have appeared in various publications, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, Catapult, and Sierra, among others.

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

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

I’m a cancer living in Brooklyn with my partner and our two cats, Melon and Sesame. I love gummy candy and having multiple beverages of different temperatures on hand at any moment.

What can you tell us about your latest project, How Far the Light Reaches A Life in Ten Sea Creatures? What inspired the book?

The summer after I graduated college, I moved to New York to intern at a magazine that paid me $10 an hour, so I also freelanced for an ocean nonprofit. I would scour Google News every week to find weird or surprising news about the ocean, which helped introduce me to many of the creatures in this book. But there was one headline in Reuters that I never forgot: “Octopus mom protects her eggs for an astonishing 4-1/2 years.” I read through the story, which described a deep-sea octopus at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that guarded her eggs for four-and-a-half years without moving or eating anything. I was stunned, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I knew octopuses have an incredible, bodily intelligence that extends beyond the reaches of what our human brains can imagine. I knew octopuses could escape their tanks and unlock jars and hide themselves in coconuts. What was it like for such an animal to sit, unmoving and wasting away, for so many years? 

The octopus had implanted herself into my mind, and I knew I wanted to write about her but wasn’t sure how. A few years later, I saw the online magazine called Catapult had opened submissions for columns. I pitched a column inspired by the octopus, where I would mix memoir and science writing to see what lessons I could draw from the ways sea creatures survive in the ocean. The first essay was about the mother octopus and my own mother, which I expanded for the book. All the creatures in the book have carved out space in my heart, the mother octopus is at its beating center, the creature whose life felt refracted from my own.

Many writers, including Hugh Ryan, have noted the historical and fictional connections between queer people and the water. What are your thoughts on this relationship and why queer people are drawn to the water?

I love Hugh’s exploration of queer Brooklyn navy yards and Coney Island performers in his book When Brooklyn Was Queer, and I am glad to be in a lineage of queer people finding ourselves in the ocean. I believe everyone has their own route in, but to me the ocean represents a place of possibility, where bodies move differently, where we sink and float, where we can be outside the prying eyes of society and with other queer community. And no one has a more wide-ranging, wonderful notion of sex than the animal kingdom.

Where did you each find your love for writing (and by association marine biology)? What specifically drew you to non-fiction?

As soon as I started reading, I knew I wanted to write. I always felt at home near the sea, and initially wanted to write about the ocean and sea creatures from a totally impartial perspective. But my experience of the world inflects all that I write, and so the most honest way to approach the subject became weaving my own story into that of the sea.

Growing up, were there any books or authors that touched you or inspired you as a creative/ or made you feel seen? Are there any like that now?

Like many other gay people, I grew up worshipping at the altar of Tamora Pierce. I dreamed of living in the young-adult kingdom of Tortall. All of Pierce’s young protagonists were role models for me, gender-bending people who shed off societal expectations to become the person of their dreams. There’s Alanna, the young girl who disguises herself as a boy to become a knight. There’s Kel, the girl who becomes a knight as a girl (thanks to Alanna’s trailblazing.) But my favorite of Pierce’s series in Tortall is “The Immortals,” starring a girl named Daine, who can speak to animals, briefly lived with wolves after bandits murdered her family, regularly communes with The Badger God, and also raises a dragon before it was cool. Daine is my number one, and Pierce’s books were probably the reason I wanted to become a writer. I remember sometime when I was in elementary, Tamora came to my local bookstore to sign some books and I brought my heavily dog-eared copies in a sizeable stack, and she was kind enough to sign every single one.

What inspires you today?

The sea, invertebrate animals of all kinds, my cats, my friends, my partner, trans people, local bookstores, the orcas sinking yachts in Spain.

How would you describe your writing process? 

I write slowly and need to put everything on the page before I can understand the shape of an essay.

What are some of your favorite things about writing? What do you find to be some of the most difficult/frustrating?

I love when I have no idea where a piece will go until I’ve finished a draft, and my conclusion is actually the beginning of the piece. I find it very difficult to motivate myself to write outside of my day job, which is also writing.

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

If I could go back in time to any period, I would go to the Cambrian Period and snorkel.

Besides your work, what are some things you would want readers to know about you?

I believe in unions, in community organizing, in gender-affirming healthcare for all. 

What advice might you have to give to other aspiring writers? 

Write to your own community and let everyone else catch up; never compromise the nuances of the story you want to tell for some imagined general audience. The work will always be strongest when you write something you’d want your friends to read.

Are there other projects you are working on and at liberty to discuss?

I’m focusing on rest and personal growth right now, but I’m thinking about another book about bugs!

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

Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky and Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals by Alexis Pauline Gumbs.