Tag: LGBT Novel

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Interview with F.T. Lukens, Author of Otherworldly

F.T. Lukens (they/them) is a New York Times bestselling author of YA speculative fiction including the novels Spell Bound, So This Is Ever After and In Deeper Waters (2022 ALA Rainbow Booklist; Junior Library Guild Selection) as well as other science fiction and fantasy works. Their contemporary fantasy novel The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic was a 2017 Cybils Award finalist in YA Speculative Fiction and the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Gold Winner for YA fiction and won the Bisexual Book Award for Speculative Fiction. F.T. resides in North Carolina with their spouse, three kids, three dogs, and three cats.

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

First of all, welcome back to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself to readers who might not know you yet?

Hello, I’m F.T. Lukens. I’m an author of queer YA speculative fiction. My previous works include So This Is Ever After and Spell Bound.

What can you tell us about your latest book, Otherworldly? What was the inspiration for the project?

Otherworldly is a paranormal romance that blends elements of Faustian folklore and classical mythology in a contemporary fantasy setting. There are crossroads bargains, supernatural beings, liminal spaces, and a magical romance.

The inspiration was that I wanted to write a retelling and explore themes with different myths and folklore. I have always wanted to write a Faust-esque book because of a class I took in college. And magical bargains with dire consequences had started to appear in YA spaces again recently so it felt like a perfect time. I also relied on some classical myths and mythical figures as well as western European folklore to round out the worldbuilding.

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

The themes of young adult fiction—coming-of-age, finding yourself, making steps toward adulthood, making difficult choices—are themes to which most readers can relate. And I enjoy writing characters who are in that process of discovering themselves. As for romance, I am a fan of a good meet-cute and love writing them even if they are at times a meet-disaster. Also, I feel that books with a ‘happy ever after’ or a ‘happy for now’ are important for queer teens to be able to read and access as a part of YA shelves. It’s empowering to see queer characters thriving and overcoming odds in an adventure or romance.

How would you describe your creative process?

Honestly, it changes for each book. For Otherworldly, the process started with an idea for a specific scene between the two main characters. And from there I started brainstorming a narrative for how that scene would take place. However, I had started the novel as a high fantasy, more in the vein of So This Is Ever After but changed it to a contemporary fantasy. And when doing so, many of the details had to be altered, including that initial scene I had thought of. But the core of the story and relationships remained the same.

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

I’m a big believer that inspiration can come from anywhere at any time. I’m inspired by the authors that I read when I was a teen/young adult – Douglas Adams, Mercedes Lackey, Neil Gaiman—but I’m also inspired by authors who are my contemporaries. Like Ryan LaSala, Julian Winters, CB Lee, Beth Revis, Becky Albertali, etc.

For inspiration in general – I watch tons of movies and tv shows – especially anything speculative. I also read widely, not only fiction novels and comics, but non-fiction, newspaper/magazine articles, and the occasional social media app (though I’ve taken a huge step back over the past few years). I love browsing tvtropes.com and similar websites and watching YT videos on various subjects. And I like to explore new music as well.

What are some of your favorite elements of bring a book to life? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or challenging? 

One of my favorite things to write are character interactions, relationships, and dialogue. I think it’s one of the aspects of writing where I excel.

One of the most challenging is conveying the picture or thought I have in my head to the page. Sometimes, I forget to add a detail or explain a concept because it makes sense to me and to the world I built in my mind. And there are times I don’t quite translate the idea to the page. Luckily, I have an amazing editor who assists with that process.

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

Outlines! I’m a big fan of outlining. Recently, I’ve found that writing a detailed synopsis and then an outline of events through to the end has really helped with staying on task and following through. I also will utilize word sprints/timers and writing communities to help when I need encouragement. I use wordcount trackers because it’s helpful for my brain to see the numbers increase and to see the future finish line. And I like to envision the ‘happy ever after’ or ‘happy for now’ for the characters as well and it motivates me to give the characters that resolution.

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

I’m an avid crocheter and fiber artist and currently have too much yarn. I have a deep affinity for the characters of Nightwing and Spider-man from DC and Marvel respectively. I collect Funko Pops and action figures of both. I try to attend DragonCon in Atlanta every year as both an author and a fan.

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 haven’t been asked about the research I did for Otherworldly. And I know it might seem weird that a paranormal romance book would require many hours of research, but it did. I re-read Chrisotpher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and did research on crossroads bargains in media and in other cultures. I re-read the myths of Eurydice and Orpheus. I refreshed my memory by reading about classical gods and goddesses to develop the characteristics of those in the world of Otherworldly. And I read tons of articles on folklore for specific references.

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

I would say to not give up. I know it can be difficult. Publishing is a challenging business and can be disheartening. But just keep writing, practicing, and developing your craft.

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

Yes. I just turned in a manuscript for my next YA novel. Currently, it’s titled The Future Tense and it’s pitched as Wednesday meets Heartstopper.

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

I mentioned a few above but I think readers should check out Jason June, Ryan LaSala, Julian Winters, CB Lee, Terry J. Benton-Walker, & Sophie Gonzales.

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Geeks OUT Highlights Ace Authors For International Asexuality Day

Today, April 6th is International Asexuality Day. To quote directly from their website, “IAD is a coordinated worldwide campaign promoting the ace umbrella, including demisexual, grey-asexual, and other ace identities.” We put together a round up of ace authors we interviewed for IAD in 2022 which you can find here. This year we would like to acknowledge this day by highlighting and promoting interviews we’ve conducted here at Geeks OUT with ace authors since our last round up, which are linked below.

Interview with Author Michele Kirichanskaya
Interview with YouTuber The Asexual Goddess
Interview with Michael Paramo, Author of Ending the Pursuit: Asexuality, Aromanticism and Agender Identity
Interview with Author Sarah Whalen
Interview with Author Alexandra Rowland
Interview with Author Rebecca Burgess
Interview with author Jen Ferguson
Interview with Author Skye Quinlan
Interview with Author Amanda Lovelace
Interview with Author Alice Oseman
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Interview with Maurice Vellekoop, I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together: A Memoir

Maurice Vellekoop was born in Toronto in 1964. After graduating from Ontario College of Art (now OCADU) in 1986, Maurice Vellekoop joined Reactor Art and Design, an agency for illustrators. In a more than thirty-five year career, Maurice Vellekoop has worked for top international editorial and advertising clients, published numerous zines, comics and books, created art for animation, and participated in art shows around the world.

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

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT!

Thanks, what a pleasure to talk to you!

What can you tell us about your new graphic novel, I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together: A Memoir? What inspired you to create this project?

My graphic memoir operates on two levels: on one it’s a fairly straightforward story of a queer person growing up in an intensely Protestant community, and the resulting rift between a son and a loving mother who can’t accept her son’s sexuality because of her beliefs. On another it’s about a lifelong love affair with making art and delighting in cinema, books, music and theatre. It’s about the intense joy that can be found in art, but also the pitfalls of sublimation. That is, trying to find sexual and emotional fulfilment in fantasy and culture, rather than actual human relationships.

I was inspired to create this book, to paraphrase Quentin Crisp, for three reasons: I needed the money, I felt I had something unique to say, and it was something to do to pass the time!

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, especially comics/graphic novels and memoir?

I was never a huge comics nerd as a child. I liked Mad magazine, and Illustrated Classics, but I was not into superheroes at all. In the 1980s I discovered RAW magazine and it blew my mind. I started drawing comics because of artists like Joost Swarte, Charles Burns, Sue Coe, Mark Beyer and Jerry Moriarty. 

How would you describe your artistic background?

I grew up in a house where art was revered. My parents had an art library that I grew up studying. I learned art history from a very young age by looking at picture books. Later I went to art school for illustration, inspired by older my sister, Ingrid. I idolized her. She wanted to be an illustrator, so I did too. Since graduating from Ontario College of Art (as it was known then) in 1986 I have worked mostly as an illustrator. I published short comics and zines in my spare time. The graphic memoir is my first full-length work.

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

I get inspiration from nearly everything! I love just walking down the street and observing how people present themselves visually. Beyond that I love and am inspired by the classic New Yorker cartoonists like Charles Addams, Mary Petty and Peter Arno. Classic Hollywood has always influenced me; everything from really cynical black and white film noir, to the saturated colours and high camp drama of 1950s Douglas Sirk ‘women’s pictures’. As a young man I gorged on world cinema from the 20th century in Toronto’s rep theatres. Fellini, Visconti, Renoir, Bunuel, Ray and Antonioni are my gods. I listen to a lot of opera while I’m working too, I love getting lost in long, dramatic music-narratives. I’m sure opera has informed my work. Figuring out how the composer tells the story in music is more exciting to me than the singing!

Maurice Vellekoop Photo Credit Lito Howse

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

If you mean was there a lot of queer examples around, hmm, not really, you really had to dig to find them, and they weren’t usually very positive. What I did have were all the 1960s and 70s supernatural TV sitcoms, with their casts of freakish outsiders. Shows like The Addams Family, The Munsters, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were inspirational because of all the outrageous situations, and the idea that the weirdos were the normal ones, and normal people were dull and boring. Oh, those fabulous character actors too! 

The first positive representation of a healthy, self-accepting gay man I encountered was Michael York’s character in Cabaret. My sister took me to see it when I was around sixteen and I still treasure everything about that film. Today we are so lucky to have so much great LGBTQ2S material, thriving despite all the book-banning.  

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

Ha! Audiences will find out plenty when they read the book!! Seriously though, I am a very dull, old, happily partnered person who is very fortunate to be able to go to my table every day and make art.

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

What’s with the colour in your book? Why are some of the chapters in a limited palette, and some in full colour?

“I’m So Glad” you asked me that! The limited palette refers to my childhood consumption of children’s books. I bitterly resented books that were printed in duotone because I thought the publishers were just being cheap, and I only wanted to experience the richness of full-colour printing. As a grownup I now love the look of those books, and so most of the chapters are in two-colour. Also, a large part of the book deals with depression, and the world can seem flatter and less colourful when you are depressed. The full-colour pages occur whenever something really great occurs, just like when Dorothy lands in Munchkinland in The Wizard of Oz.

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

Hmm, taste is so personal, and as someone intensely fascinated by history, I tend to skew to writers from the past. I reread Noel Coward’s and Tennessee Williams’s stories regularly. I love Christopher Isherwood, who wrote Goodbye to Berlin, which Cabaret is based on. Cecil Beaton is a personal hero, his diaries are wicked fun. More contemporarily, I love Edmund White, Alan Bennett and and Jeanette Winterson. Lauren Hough’s recent essay/memoir book made me laugh and cry. Oliver Sacks’s On The Move was fantastic. The writer Colm Toibin is a great favourite. In comics I love the incomparable Alison Bechdel, as well as Jillian and Mariko Tamaki.

I would strongly suggest to every queer person that they read a biography of Oscar Wilde. (I love the Richard Ellmann one.) Not only will you be entertained by Wilde’s wit and seduced by his charm, but you will discover the roots of modern queer activism. His sensational trial for sodomy, and his passionate, public defence of homosexuality shone a light on what was, in the late 19th century, an illegal and secretive world. His imprisonment and early death were the tragic consequences of the cost of his sacrifice. It would be decades before the sodomy laws would be abolished, in the UK and elsewhere, and many more gay men would suffer, but we all owe a great debt to Oscar. He was one of our first heroes.

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Interview with Kacen Callender, Author of Infinity Alchemist

Kacen Callender is a bestselling and award-winning author of multiple novels for children, teens, and adults, including the National Book Award-winning King and the Dragonflies and the bestselling novel Felix Ever After.

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

First of all, welcome back to Geeks OUT! For readers who might be new to you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m Kacen, a trans masc demiguy who spends about 70% of my time living inside the stories in my head.

What can you tell us about your latest book, Infinity Alchemist? What was the inspiration for this project?

One of the biggest inspirations was the desire to write a fantasy where there wasn’t a chosen one, or a special, magical group of people. In this world, everyone has the capability to be magical.

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

I’ve always lived in the magical worlds in my head, so the stories and characters need a place to go. Luckily for me, I get to put those stories into books.

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

I really loved Animorphs; that was the first time I saw a Black main character who wasn’t just a part of the supporting cast.

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

Right now, meditation is my greatest source. More ideas are able to drop into my head, and there’s more clarity about what I want to write, versus what others might expect me to write. Meditation also fuels that creative energy, so that I feel like I can write for days.

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

I think the challenges are specific to every writer. For me, the biggest challenge is getting distracted by what I think others will want to see in the novels I write, instead of staying true to the story that wants to be told. Usually, that distraction takes me off course and makes it difficult to write the book. If I feel that familiar hesitation and uncertainty, I look back at what I’ve written and the plot I’ve planned, and ask myself if it’s really the story that I want to tell, making corrections that are more authentic to me.

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

Find your authenticity and stay true to the story that you want to tell.

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

I’m finishing up a YA mystery, published by Abrams and expected either next year or in 2026, and I’m working on the sequel to Infinity Alchemist.

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

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa!

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Interview with Erika Turner, Author of And Other Mistakes


Erika Turner is a writer, a poet, and the daughter of storytellers. Sometimes, she writes songs she may one day share. Once, in a Brooklyn community center, she read James Baldwin’s quote “You can’t tell the children there’s no hope,” and she carries those words from the city to the desert and beyond.

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

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

Hiiii! I’m a debut author, raised in the city that is centered in this book. While my day job is working as a book editor, my nights and weekends are spent writing, dreaming, and making sure my dogs are fed.

What can you tell us about your debut book And Other Mistakes? What was the inspiration for this story?

There were a lot of things I wanted to accomplish about this story – part of it was centering queer friendships, while understanding that romance is always sort of inevitable when you’re a teenager figuring out your emotions for the first time. I also wanted to write a contemporary story about a queer protagonist that went beyond the issues of identity – something that recognized that our highs and lows often do exist outside of who we’re attracted to, even if that’s always a part of it. In this instance, for the character Aaliyah, it was having a rocky home life due to her parents’ own issues with each other.

Finally, I really wanted to talk about music in a way that was fun and relatable. I was a black kid who loved emo and rock, and didn’t grow up knowing very much about black culture, of which music is a huge part. While that’s not at all unusual, it was something that made me feel really isolated as a teenager, so I wanted to write a relatable character for other teens who have similar experiences.

Since Geeks OUT is a queer centered website, could you tell us a bit about the LGBTQ+ characters that will be featured in your book?

It would probably be easier to tell you about the straight characters, ha! Aaliyah, the main character is a lesbian, and there are bisexual, queer, and trans characters throughout the book.

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

I’ve always found writing to be the best medium to process the world, and when I started to write a book for the first time, this is the one that pushed itself forward. Part of it, probably, is that I was in my mid-twenties at the outset of this project, and that’s usually a good time to start processing your own teen years. For me, I also had cousins and siblings who were just starting to come into their late teens, so seeing how they were processing those first steps into adulthood and independence inspired me to write something that I hope could be a little bit of a roadmap, especially for brown and/or queer kids trying to find their footing in a world that doesn’t always deem their experiences worthy of examination, or nurturing.

How would you describe your writing process?

I’ll put it this way – I discovered recently that I have an ADHD diagnosis, and that’s been pretty transformational in me being much kinder to the chaos that is what someone might hope to call “a process.”

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

Ella Enchanted was one of the first books I read constantly, and Gail Carson Levine became my “go-to” author, as a child and teenager. Anything she wrote, I read. I’m fairly certain most of her characters would be considered white and straight, but I think I connected to the fact that the girls were always brave, stubborn, and strong. As a kid, I wanted to be the same.

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

As a young writer just starting out, I had the incredibly privilege of being mentored by Naomi Jackson, Janet Mock, and Kirya Traber… black, queer, female writers who taught me the value of pushing forward, pushing through, and believing in yourself. Their wisdom and encouragement helped me get through some of my darkest days of uncertainty, and also gave me real, in-person models of possibility.

In a similar vein, I have been an eager student of James Baldwin as a writer, and his incisive and brilliant work always keeps me motivated, especially when the world seems at its most unreal.

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

I love writing dialogue. It’s really fun to think about how people connect to one another – jokes, quips, sarcasm, flirtation. An entire personality can be expressed in one word, and I find that so fascinating to explore.

The most frustrating aspect of writing is the act of putting a vision into words. It’s like painting a moving image – you know what’s supposed to happen, you even know how it’s happening, and who’s making it happen, but how do you show that on a page? And besides making it as clear as possible, how do you make it exciting? How do you make it sound good? It can be fun when the words flow, but that’s not always (or often) the case.

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

I love dogs, the first several seasons of Grey’s Anatomy saved my life, and I will drink fully caffeinated coffee at 10pm, and you can’t stop me.

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)?

Who was your first queer role model, and that would be Aaliyah Dana Haughton – hence the name of the protagonist in AND OTHER MISTAKES. I remember watching the ARE YOU THAT SOMEBODY music video when I was like…seven? Maybe? And just knowing that she was magic.

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

Keep going, and surround yourself with mentors and community members who will encourage you, fight for you, cry with you, and know that you have a voice worth being heard.

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

I’m incredibly thrilled about a YA anthology I have coming out with Versify, with a cast of incredible authors – including Kirya Traber, who I mentioned above! And I have an adult holiday novel with Avon coming out this summer. Also, on the day-job side of things, I’m editing a middle grade series that I’m completely ecstatic about, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

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

Jacqueline Woodson, Malindo Lo, Robin Talley, and CB Lee all day every day. The incredible Jaz Joyner, whose debut graphic novel, DEVOUR, is coming out from Abrams this May. Kalynn Bayron, naturally. One of my favorite contemporary YA novels of all time is The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth. Oh! And, obviously, James Baldwin. I could go on!

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Interview with Rebecca Thorne, Author of Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea

Rebecca Thorne (she/her) is an author of all things fantasy, sci-fi, and romantic, such as the Tomes & Tea series. She thrives on deadlines, averages 2,700 words a day, and tries to write at least 3 books a year. (She also might be a little hyper-focused ADHD.) After years in the traditional publishing space, Rebecca pivoted into self-publishing. Now, she’s found a happy medium as a hybrid author, and leans into her love of teaching by helping other authors find their perfect publication path. When she’s not writing (or avoiding writing), Rebecca can be found traveling the country as a flight attendant, or doing her best impression of a granola-girl hermit with her two dogs. She’s always scheming to move to a mountain town and open a bookshop that serves tea.

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

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

It’s such a pleasure to be here!! I’m Rebecca Thorne, a writer of all things fantasy, sci-fi, and romance. My books usually feature LGBTQIA+ representation, and are known for their witty dialogue and fast-paced writing style. When I’m not writing, I’m touring the country as a flight attendant—which has been my day job for over a decade. J

What can you tell us about your latest book, Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea? What was the inspiration for this story?  

This is so wild to see such a reception for this book. I wrote Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea after happening upon Travis Baldree’s Legends & Lattes in a Barnes and Noble—back when it was self-published. Aside from it being the exact story I needed at that time in my life—cozy, quaint, low stakes—it opened my eyes about the movement self-publishing has had on the industry. Before that day, I didn’t realize indie books could be in Barnes and Noble.

The actual story of Treason and Tea had been lurking in my mind for years. I wanted to write two women opening a coffee shop on the edge of a frozen tundra. Early iterations involved them serving adventurers who ventured into Dragon Country looking to steal from dragon hoards—but of course, it had higher stakes, because cozy fantasy wasn’t really around back then. When I found L&L, it made it easy to adapt this idea into something quieter!

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

I’ve been writing since I was 11, so by this point I’ve experimented with most genres. I’m a romantic at heart, so everything I write has some element of romance—it’s a safe place to observe those dramatic love stories without risking my own feelings. LOL.

I actually spent a lot of time writing contemporary when I was young. I used it to get a hang of the mechanics of writing and storytelling, without the chaos of creating a whole new world. Fanfiction was also a big driver in my writing development; taking someone else’s characters and setting, and creating fresh plots gave me the chance to really fine-tune my writing style without pressure.

Nowadays, I thrive on creating new worlds! Fantasy grabbed me about four years back, and hasn’t let go. J

How would you describe your writing process?

I’m all about efficiency. Treason and Tea was my fifteenth book, and on a slow year, I write 2 novels. On a good year, like in 2023, I write 5. I use a 5 Sentence plotting method to ensure my books have goalposts I can meet, and that gives me the freedom to discover everything in between those five sentences. But I tie word count goals to those plot events, and that helps keep my pacing on track!

Basically, it takes me about 3 – 6 weeks to draft a new book, and when I’m really moving, I can write 10,000 words in a day. That’s a big reason why I do both traditional publishing and self-publishing; I have so many books that it just makes sense to release some of them on my own. J

If you’re interested in learning more about my writing method, you can check out the craft book I published in December 2023: The 5 Sentence Method: How to Write Your D*mn Book, Already. It’s a lot of fun, haha!

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

My childhood was defined by fantasy classics like Patricia C Wrede and Tamora Pierce. I always adored the quartet idea from Tamora Pierce, so I’m thrilled that Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea is the start of my very own quartet!

These days, I’m reading almost exclusively sapphic fiction and diverse stories, since I grew up with straight, white protagonists. I’m thrilled we have so many great options to show LGBTQIA+ love stories, and that we’re seeing PoC and ND characters taking center stage. Gimme all the representation!

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

Ally Carter was one of my most formative authors. Back in high school, I remember reading her spy series; I’d finish the books the day they were released, and then re-read it immediately with an eye for how she hooked me for so long. Her quick-witted banter and easily-consumable writing style really stuck with me, and paved the way for my own writing.

My goal was always to be like those books: simple, easy to read, vastly enjoyable. These days, I add more intense themes into some of my books, but that goal never wavers. I always want my books to be as approachable as possible!

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

Dialogue is my absolute favorite. When I find two characters with chemistry, I love the way they can just fly off the page with their snark and humor. Adding puns for Kianthe really lightened the whole of the Tomes and Tea quartet, and made it an absolute pleasure to return to that world over and over.

As for challenging… I think I fall into the trap of boring conversation sometimes. I rely so heavily on dialogue to make my stories unique that I forget there’s actions outside of their words. So, if I’m not careful, I’ll wind up with a lot of eyebrow raising, smirking, laughing, etc. When I notice this happening, I try to add some kind of background activity—the characters making tea, or stocking a bookshelf, etc—just to keep things more interesting on every level. It… doesn’t always work. LOL.

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?

See the 5 Sentence Method above. In my opinion, half of the struggle in finishing a book is knowing how it ends—and if that isn’t mapped out, it’s a lot more effort to sit down and get it done.

Another issue I ran into when I was young is hopping from book to book. I would write 30k words, then get a shiny new idea and be convinced that was a better use of my time. Rinse, repeat. I finally realized when I was 23 or so that if I did that forever, I’d never accomplish my dream of being published, because you can’t publish an unfinished book.

Nowadays, when a new idea catches my interest, I write it down in Scrivener, then keep it in my brain and remain focused on my current project. Once that one is done, the new idea is my reward. It’s a much more sustainable option for me. LOL.

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

I… I don’t know. I love teaching publishing and writing—that’s my biggest passion in life, other than writing my own books. So, if you’re interested in learning more about that, find me on my socials—TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, etc—because I answer questions all the time!

If I had to pick a fun piece of trivia, it’s that I failed an FBI polygraph… twice. >.>

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)?

What’s the best book you’ve ever written?

My answer is definitely The Day Death Stopped. No one seems to know about this book, which is a damn shame, because I really stretched my writing abilities for it. It uses footnotes and omniscient narration to follow 3 stories, one of which is told in reverse. The first chapter of the book is literally the book’s ending, so it’s honestly the culmination of all my writing. AND I somehow snagged Moira Quirk to narrate it. Go check it out, please; I adored it.

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

Don’t quit your day job. Better yet, find a day job you don’t absolutely loathe, get yourself happy outside of publishing, and THEN focus on getting that six figure book deal. Publishing is a business of rejection, so if you’re hoping some massive book deal will scoop you out of your misery, you’ll be disappointed over and over. I’ve watched those authors turn more and more desperate, and everyone around them suffers.

Find a job you like well enough. Then go towards your dream of publishing. It will lighten the pressure you put on yourself so much.

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

I’m always working on something! My newest idea is a cozy sci-fi that follows a doctor and a soldier on an edge-of-space station. It’s going to have adventure and coffee that makes someone immortal and space farmers markets and a great, adorable love story. I can’t wait!

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

This is How You Lose the Time War (Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone)is one of my all-time favorites! I reread it at least once a year; it’s so unique, and has gorgeous prose. Otherwise, I’m reading Bluebird (Ciel Perlot), which is a very fun sci-fi romp about an ultra-intelligent engineer trying to keep weapon schematics out of an evil faction’s hands. Next on my list is the Honey Witch (Sydney J. Shields), which I’m confident will sweep me off my feet—it’s Bridgerton, if Penelope discovered she was a witch and relocated to a magical island. Can’t wait!

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Interview with Linda Cheng, Author of Gorgeous Gruesome Faces

Linda Cheng was born in Taiwan and spent her childhood moving between cultures and continents. She received her BFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design, and worked as an art director across South Carolina and Georgia where she developed a deep love for sweet tea, grits, and Southern Gothic stories. She currently resides in Vancouver, Canada with her family. Gorgeous Gruesome Faces is her debut novel.

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

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

Thank you so much for having me! I’m Linda, I was born and raised in Taiwan, spent a good chunk of my adult years in the Southern United States, before settling back in Vancouver Canada. I write spooky love stories that are often served with a side of body horror.

What can you tell us about your debut book, Gorgeous Gruesome Faces? What was the inspiration for this story?

GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES is about a disgraced teen pop star who comes face to face with her estranged former groupmate and the demons of their shared past at a deadly K-pop competition. It’s also a deeply personal story about grief, and how to forgive and love yourself again after making big, terrible mistakes.  

This book was written in 2020 when I was going through a lot of personal hardship. I wanted a way to explore that pain, but also to throw myself into the things that have always brought me joy. GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES is my love letter to Asian horror, pop idol survival shows, fan culture, complicated female relationships, and queer girls.

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

Like many writers of my generation, I started my ‘career’ writing fan fiction, and then progressed to original works. Having moved across multiple countries in my formative years, I naturally gravitated towards coming of age stories, usually ones containing themes of self-discovery.

The supernatural world and the spiritual beliefs surrounding it are intimately tied to daily life in Taiwanese culture. Growing up as a child I was both scared and fascinated by the plethora of ghost stories, which eventually evolved into a full on love affair with the horror/thriller genre.

As Gorgeous Gruesome Faces is centered on K-pop, I was wondering if you have any favorite artists of your own that you like to listen to, as well as any that influenced your book?

My favorite K-pop girl group is ITZY, and I listened to a lot of IU, Red Velvet, and BLACKPINK as well when I was writing the book. The music videos of Pink Fantasy also inspired some of the imagery.

Since Geeks OUT is a queer centered website, could you tell us a bit about the LGBTQ+ content featured in your book?

I like to refer to my book as a horror-romance, as the sapphic love story is equally as important to the plot as the horror and mystery elements. Like me, my protagonist Sunny is bisexual, and her relationships with her love interests run the gamut from friendship to lust to obsession to rivalry. I wanted Sunny to have plenty of opportunities to be messy and make tons of mistakes, because growing up and falling in love and trying to find your identity is a messy process!

How would you describe your writing process?

My stories are character driven, and so I typically start by creating the main characters first, and then build the plot and setting around them. I tend to be more of a plotter, and I like to do a detailed outline before drafting so that I have a road map to follow, even if I do usually end up changing things along the way.

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

I really can’t recall seeing any Taiwanese-American protagonists in young adult literature back when I first immigrated, and there certainly were no queer ones. Malinda Lo’s Ash was the first young adult sapphic romance I’d read, and I remember being blown away. Seeing authors like Emily X.R. Pan, Cindy Pon, and Gloria Chao not only write about Taiwanese characters in their young adult books but also set their stories in Taiwan has been so inspiring, and was a huge motivating force for me to write my own.

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

Horror/thriller movies and television shows are some of my biggest inspirations when it comes to writing. GORGEOUS GRUESOME FACES was greatly inspired by Korean vengeance thrillers and classic Japanese horror movies like The Grudge.

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

I love exploring flawed characters and the bad choices that they make, writing romances, and of course, coming up with good scares! I also enjoy creating unexpected plot twists that will take the reader by surprise. Developing the right pacing and figuring out when to deliver the scares and reveal the plot twists takes a lot of trial and error on the page.

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?

Having a critique group of other writers encouraging me and holding me accountable was what got me through to the end. Community support is invaluable.

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

Despite loving horror movies, I can’t actually watch them alone!

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 reciving and giving horror movie recommendations. My current recommendation is the Taiwanese folk horror movie Incantation.

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

Write what brings you the most joy, what makes you smile. Don’t put the pressure on yourself to constantly produce. If writing becomes draining and you’re finding a lack of enjoyment, give yourself permission to step away for as long as you need. Your story will be there for you when you’re ready again.

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

I am currently working on the second book in the GGF duology!

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

The short stories of Alyssa Wong, Eugenia Triantafyllou, and Nathan Ballingrud

She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran, I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea, The Witchery by S. Isabelle, Chlorine by Jade Song, Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.

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Interview with Sage Cotugno, Author of The Glass Scientists

S. H. Cotugno is a queer and mixed-race Victorian horror nerd born and raised in
Los Angeles, California. They are a director, writer, and storyboard artist in the
animation industry and have previously worked on projects such as Gravity Falls,
The Owl House, and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. The Glass Scientists will be their first
published graphic novel. You can see more of their work by following them on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok (@arythusa).

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

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

Thank you so much for inviting me! I’m an animation director and comics creator who has worked on shows such as The Owl House, Gravity Falls, and Star vs. the Forces of Evil. My debut graphic novel series The Glass Scientists will be published by Penguin Random House in a three-volume series starting October 2023.

What can you tell us about your latest project, The Glass Scientists: Volume One? What was the inspiration for this story?

The Glass Scientists is a reimagining of classic gothic science fiction set in a world of bubbling potions and misunderstood monsters. It follows the story of Dr. Henry Jekyll as he works to create a safe haven for mad scientists in the heart of London, where they can defy the laws of nature in peace. But everything changes when a mysterious stranger arrives, shattering all of Jekyll’s carefully laid plans and threatening to expose his darkest secret. 

I have been obsessed with the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde since I was in high school. As a mixed-race, bisexual, and nonbinary person, I’ve always been drawn to stories about characters caught between two worlds. I can’t think of a character who embodies that experience more than Dr. Jekyll, a man so desperate to fit himself into the boxes society laid out for him that he literally splits his soul in two. Like, same, dude. 

As a creative, what drew you to the art of storytelling, specifically within the comics/ graphic novel medium?

I came to comics through anime! In middle school, I needed to know what was going to happen next to my favorite Yu-Gi-Oh! character, Yami Bakura, so I started reading the imported manga from my local Japanese bookstore. (I couldn’t read the words, but I could glean the general gist of the story from staring longingly at his beautiful, evil face.) 

But I didn’t start making my own comics until I embarked on my first full-time job as a storyboard artist on Gravity Falls. Gravity was a wonderful experience, but I missed getting to tell my own stories, like I had done while making student films. It seemed impossible to make my own animated show (having now developed four shows, can confirm: yeah, it’s super hard!). But it seemed slightly-less-impossible to create my own comic, so I decided to take the plunge. 

In addition to being a graphic novelist, you are also known for your work in animation, most recently working on The Owl House. As a fan of the show myself, I would love to hear more about your experience working for the show if you’re interesting in sharing them?

The Owl House was such an extraordinary show to work on! I learned a ton from the incredibly talented and hardworking crew Dana assembled, especially my fellow directors Stu Livingston and Aminder Dhaliwal. Now that the show has finished airing, it’s been amazing to see how much they’ve accomplished, especially in the realm of LGBTQ+ representation. It takes an incredible amount of courage, perseverance, and downright stubbornness to get an honest-to-God gay kiss into an American animated TV show, but hopefully their hard work will open the gates for the queer creators who follow after them. 

How would you describe your creative process?

For me, storytelling is a testing ground for reality, a place where I can play around with different identities and viewpoints before I’m ready to claim them for myself.

It took me a long time to come out as bisexual–and even longer to come out as nonbinary–in part because I was always questioning my own thoughts and feelings. I’d think: “You’re not gay, stop obsessing over yourself and focus on something that really matters,” or: “You’re not really trans, you’re just overthinking things, as usual.” 

But in fiction, I didn’t have to interrogate every moment of my life leading up to that point. I could explore the queer relationship between Jekyll and Lanyon (a big focus of volumes two and three) and the backstory to my transmasc werewolf character, Jasper, just because I felt like it. And I felt like it because, for all my second-guessing, some quiet, authentic part of me knew what I wanted all along.

I guess that means my creative process is “listen to your heart??” That’s so embarrassing to say out loud! Oh well, I guess I’d just better own it . . .

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

My process might be a bit unusual because The Glass Scientists was originally posted as a weekly webcomic over the course of eight years. The challenge of writing a story over such a long period of time is that you’re committing to the way you saw the world at the moment you first wrote it. I see the world pretty differently as a 33 year old than I did when I was 25, so I had to find ways to make the story feel true to me at both stages of my life. 

Not that I’ve been doing massive overhauls this whole time, but I’ve made some significant changes when something just didn’t feel right:

For instance, since The Glass Scientists incorporates a lot of famous characters of late Victorian literature, I originally thought I should include Sherlock Holmes. I had this vision of depicting Sherlock as this severe, gorgeous lesbian effortlessly dissecting my characters’ defenses, but when it came time to actually write her, I had to admit that I just wasn’t that big of a Sherlock Holmes fan, and trying to fake it would be a disserve to the real fans out there. Plus, from a story economy POV, it made more sense to replace Holmes with a character I already knew I wanted to introduce later in the story. 

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

I’ve always been drawn to stories that take a playful approach to classic literature. In the hyper-specific realm of “reimaginings of classic sci-fi,” I love the stageplay adaptation of Frankenstein by Nick Dear. The way it streamlines the cast down to Frankenstein and his monster throws their fraught relationship into stark relief, and Danny Boyle’s directing in the 2011 production makes the story feel so fresh and modern. 

I also love queer stories in historical settings. I went absolutely feral the first time I read A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue. You couldn’t get me to shut up about it. It even made me reconsider–and eventually rewrite–the ending I had in mind for the main couple in The Glass Scientists. 

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

There wasn’t a lot of LGBTQ+ representation when I was growing up in the ‘90s, but I have a soft spot for shows that weren’t explicitly queer but had a certain vibe, like Ouran Host Club. It might not seem like Good Representation™ in today’s landscape, but for a closeted teen who still had a lot to unpack, real queer characters would have been way too scary for me to engage with directly. I think this kind of media can be an important stepping stone for folks who are still questioning. 

At the same time, I’m glad there are more opportunities nowadays to tell stories unambiguously for and about LGBTQ+ people. Recently, Abigail Thorne’s The Prince hit me square in the chest with its playful yet deeply empathetic depiction of a closeted trans woman told through the lens of Henry IV.

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

My favorite part about comics is that I get to write a story that’s just for me! When I started in animation, it was incredibly difficult to get a series greenlit unless it was a show for young kids or an adult sitcom like Family Guy. (Streaming has expanded those categories a bit, but not by much.) I knew that trying to fit my story into one of these narrow categories would render it unrecognizable, so I never seriously considered pitching it. Because of this, I was free to write exactly the way I wanted to, without having to cater to the whims of focus groups or studio mandates. That experience has been vital for building my confidence as a storyteller. 

The most frustrating part about comics is how long they take to draw! I’m not saying that writing isn’t hard work, but in terms of pure man-hours, drawing outweighs writing ten to one. Granted, my setting isn’t doing me any favors. The Victorians couldn’t design a single chair leg without adding twenty little swirlies and clawfoots to it. Last night I turned to my partner and said, “I’m setting my next story in IKEA.” Nothing but straight lines and sleek Scandinavian design, baybeeee! 

Aside from your work, what are some things you would like readers to know about you?

I’m a huge nerd about medical history, and my favorite part of medical history is (surprise, surprise) the Victorian era, that special period of time after the invention of modern technology but before the invention of modern safety regulations. There were so many ways to die, from wearing the color green, to working in a bakery, to having any kind of surgery beyond basic limb amputation. (Especially if you had the misfortune of being alive during the decade or so between the introduction of ether as an anesthetic and the discovery of germ theory.)

People say it’s hard to time-travel if you’re anything besides a straight white cis man–which is true–but I take solace in the knowledge that there are plenty of eras straight white cis men wouldn’t want to time-travel to, either.

What advice might you have to give for other creatives, particularly aspiring comic book writers/artists?

Embrace your cringe! I was so afraid of looking cringe-worthy as a teenager that it makes me, well, cringe. I regret that I never had a phase where I bought all my clothes from Hot Topic and made rainbow wolf-sonas with spiky sidebangs who cried blood tears while listening to Linkin Park. I love that episode of Mortified where the guest reads her wildly anatomically-incorrect Harry Potter slash fanfiction. I would have learned so much from writing something ridiculous like that! Instead I wrote these very mature, carefully structured, distantly snarky songfics that never had satisfying endings because I was afraid to commit to anything. 

Don’t avoid doing something you love out of fear that you’ll look back at yourself and cringe. You’re going to do that no matter what! But you’ll learn a lot more if you just do the thing you wanted to do in the first place.

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

I wish! Animation is such a slow process, especially if you’re trying to develop and pitch your own shows. I haven’t been able to talk about a project I’ve worked on in years!

But–and this may be cheating a bit–I have been creating new merch for The Glass Scientists pre-order campaign: enamel pins, bookplates, bookmarks, that sort of thing. Before starting TGS, I ran the Kickstarter for a prequel comic called Bleeding Heart and had to make all of the rewards for the campaign, as well as the book itself. It’s been fun to stretch that muscle again. The world of traditional publishing can be so big and overwhelming, so I’m glad to have a small but tangible part I can take on myself. Plus, I get to hand-package them for the fans who pre-order the book. I love being able to give that personal touch! 

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

I just finished reading Molly Ostertag’s Darkest Night, a masterfully-crafted graphic novel about depression and childhood trauma in the traditional of magical realism. I had the honor of reading an early draft of the comic a while ago, and it’s been so inspiring watching it evolve and grow over time.

I’ve been excited to read Mari Costa’s Belle of the Ball ever since they first started posting sketches of the three main characters . . . I don’t even remember how long ago! Mari has a talent for crafting juicy queer relationships that will have you hooked after a single page.

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Interview with Maria Ingrande Mora, Author of The Immeasurable Depth of You

Maria Ingrande Mora (they/she) is a content designer and a brunch enthusiast. Her love languages are snacks, queer joy, and live music. A graduate of the University of Florida, Maria lives near a wetlands preserve with two cats, two children, and two billion mosquitoes. She can often be found writing at her stand-up desk, surrounded by house plants. Unless the cats have destroyed them.

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

CW: Discussion of mental illness (specifically depression and anxiety)

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

Hi! I’m a genderqueer Floridian trying to survive their state’s authoritarian regime and stay in love with the beautiful place they call home. I’m the parent of two teens and the author of two queer books for young people.

What can you tell us about  your latest novel, The Immeasurable Depth of You? What was the inspiration for this project?

The Immeasurable Depth of You follows extremely online Brynn as she’s banished to Florida to spend the summer with her estranged dad on a houseboat with no internet access.

It’s a story for and about teens who are living with mental illness. It’s a story of self-acceptance in the face of the negative self-talk that so often becomes an indelible part of the lives of young people with anxiety, depression, and other diagnoses. It’s also a little bit spooky and a little bit funny!

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

I was a precocious reader as a young person. I found a lot of comfort and companionship in books. While it was a long journey to get there, it was also a natural journey to contribute my own stories to young people needing a moment of escape.

I am very drawn to speculative fiction in all forms. Stepping slightly outside of our world allows for so many creative ways to hone in on the ways we connect with others and with ourselves.

Growing up, were there any stories in which you felt touched by/ or reflected in, in terms of personal identity? If not or if so, how do you think this personally affected you as a writer? 

Weetzie Bat had a huge influence on me as a teen. I remember reading it cover to cover in the bathtub, refilling the water every time it got cold. It was one of the first unabashedly queer and magical stories I read as a young person, and it let me recalibrate what fiction could be.

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

I feel like I’m one giant mishmash of creative influences because I’m so drawn to stories in any form. I’ve fallen in love with fictional characters my whole life, and their worlds and narratives have consistently inspired me to tell stories that make people feel things. Big, huge emotions can be so satisfying when they’re contained by the safe constraints of a story.

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

I love whatever part of writing I’m not currently doing. When I’m drafting, I’m longing to revise. When I’m revising, I’m longing to start a new draft. That friction is part of what keeps the creative process exciting to someone like me (a person with ADHD).

Every once in a while, I get in such a deep flow that I feel like I’m experiencing the story first-hand. This often involves sort of weeping over my keyboard. Those are my favorite moments. I hope those transformative moments exist for the reader, too.

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

I’m in my 40s and I’m still on an ongoing, evolving journey of self-discovery. Life doesn’t stop being exciting when you hit a certain milestone age. And you’re never locked into one label or identity.

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)?

What Florida animal are you most scared of?

Definitely water snakes. While I’m also VERY scared of alligators, the whole thing where snakes can swim at the surface or under the surface makes them profoundly terrifying to me. I become nearly catatonic with fear. If the snakes ever figure this out I’m done for.

What advice might you have to give for aspiring artists?

Don’t wait for someone else to tell you that you’re an artist.

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

On Free Comic Book Day, you can check out my comics debut, Ranger Academy! It’s an all-ages story that you don’t need to be a Power Rangers fan to get into. I hope you’ll check it out.

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

I just finished She Who Became the Sun and I’m just haunted by how beautiful and perfect it was. I cannot wait for the sequel. Time to suffer!

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Interview with Lesléa Newman, Author of Always Matt: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard

Lesléa Newman is the author of 80 books for readers of all ages, including the novel-in-verse October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; the short story collection A Letter to Harvey Milk; the dual memoir-in-verse I Carry My Mother and I Wish My Father; the picture books Sparkle Boy and The Boy Who Cried Fabulous; and the children’s classic Heather Has Two Mommies. Her honors and literary awards include the Matthew Shepard Foundation Making a Difference Award, a National Endowment for the Arts poetry fellowship, two American Library Association Stonewall Honors, two National Jewish Book Awards, the Association of Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Body-of-Work Award, and the Massachusetts Book Award. From 2008–10, she served as the poet laureate of Northampton, Massachusetts. Seven of her poems from October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard are included in the libretto of Considering Matthew Shepard, a fusion oratorio composed by Craig Hella Johnson. Newman lives in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

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

CW: Discussion of homophobic hate crimes.

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

I am so happy to be here! I am a proud Jewish lesbian author of more than 80 books for readers of all ages including the famous and infamous Heather Has Two Mommies. I live with my beloved spouse of 35 years who is very kind, and our 11 year old cat who is very bossy.

What can you tell us about your latest book, Always Matt: A Tribute to Matthew Shepard? What inspired this project?

Always Matt is a fully illustrated book-length poem that celebrates Matthew Shepard’s life and legacy. I was actually asked by a member of the Matthew Shepard Foundation to write a book geared toward young readers about Matt’s life. My hope is that the book will be read and discussed by families and in classrooms and that it will inspire readers of all ages to take action to make the world a better place.

I’ve noticed from your body of work that this isn’t the first time you’ve written about  Matthew Shepard (i.e. October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard.) May I ask what keeps drawing you back to writing about Shepard?

Because fate brought me to the University of Wyoming campus the day that Matt died and because he was on the committee of LGBT students who chose me to be the keynote speaker for their Gay Awareness Week, and because I missed meeting him by one day, I feel that my life is intricately bound up with his story. His untimely death grieves me deeply and I feel compelled to do all that I can to keep his name and legacy alive.

How did you find yourself getting into storytelling, especially for younger readers?

I have been writing stories and poems since I was a young child in order to understand the world outside me, the world inside me, and the relationship between the two. I started my writing career as a poet, studying with Allen Ginsberg and others, and poetry is still my first love. I have also always loved children’s books. And children love poetry! So it was a natural progression from writing poems for adults to writing poems for children to writing picture books.

As an author, you are known for the book, Heather Has Two Mommies, one of the first highly acclaimed (and highly banned) picture books concerning queer themes? How does it feel having that type of legacy as a queer author yourself?

So many people advised me to publish Heather under a pen name. But I never was one for hiding who I am. I am proud to have been called the grandmother of LGBTQ+ kidlit! Many writers have thanked me for paving the way. And I love reading recently published queer children’s books. How wonderful that  today’s children have a more diverse reading experience than my generation did.

What are your thoughts on the presence of LGBTQ+ representation in all-ages media and literature today?

Things have improved but of course we can do better. And we have to do better. All children deserve to see themselves and their families represented in the media. At this point in time, it shouldn’t be a big deal to have LGBTQ+ characters in a movie or TV show or book. It should be matter-of-fact.

In a previous article you stated, “I write out of a Jew­ish les­bian expe­ri­ence about the human expe­ri­ence.” As a queer and Jewish person myself, I would love it if you could possible expand on that quote here and what it means to you writing from that intersectional experience?

 I see the world through the dual lens of being a Jew and being a lesbian. Even if my work doesn’t have overt Jewish content or overt queer content, it is always my perspective. And the closer I get to expressing my own authentic experience, the closer I get to expressing the human experience that we all share. We all have the same emotions: joy, sorrow, anger, hope, despair, grief, happiness, love. The more specific I can be, the more my reader can relate to my words, even when they do not come from a background similar to my own.

How would you describe your creative process?

The author Gene Fowler said, “Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until 3 drops of blood  appear on your forehead.” That about sums it up. I write most mornings with a pen and spiral notebook and wait for something to happen. The important thing to do is to keep the pen moving until something sparks on the page. I can go for a long time –days! weeks!—before an idea takes form. And that can be frustrating. But it’s all part of the process.

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

My teachers, Allen Ginsberg and Grace Paley continue to influence me. I can still hear their voices in my head. Allen always said, “First thought, best thought” meaning try to stay connected to that first creative spark as you keep revising and revising. Grace gave me permission to “not write in the Queen’s English.” She encouraged me to write in Yinglish, (English with Yiddish phrases and syntax) which is the language of my grandmothers, the language of my heart.

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

I did not find myself in any of the books I read growing up. There were no books that featured a little Jewish girl with curly hair eating matzo ball soup with her bubbe on Friday night (later on in life, I wrote one!). I felt my family was different, which really meant inferior. Why couldn’t we have a Christmas tree? Why couldn’t I hunt for Easter eggs? At the time, I was upset with my parents for not letting me do these things, but looking back, I am glad that they instilled in me a sense of who I was and a sense of pride. When I came out (in the early 1980’s) there were no books that featured Jewish lesbians so I wrote a novel, Good Enough to Eat (Firebrand Books, 1986) and a collection of short stories, A Letter to Harvey Milk (Firebrand Books, 1988) in order to see myself.

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

I am a big animal lover and have learned a lot about nonverbal communication from every animal I have ever known. I love doing crossword puzzles (I have been a clue in the New York Times puzzle!) and I am addicted to watching Jeopardy (Heather Has Two Mommies was once a Jeopardy question!).

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

Question: Is it true that someone once stopped you on the street to tell you that you looked just like Hedy Lamarr?

Answer: Yes!

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

I have several picture books coming out in the next few years.

Like Father, Like Son, illustrated by AG Ford and coming out from Abrams next year, celebrates what makes dads amazing and the special relationship between fathers and son.

Joyful Song illustrated by Susan Gal and coming out next year from Levine/Querido is about Zachary and his two moms welcoming their new baby girl with a naming ceremony that takes place in their synagogue.

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

Read as much as possible. Develop a regular writing habit. Find your people, those who care about you, admire you, support you, and also have the courage to give you honest feedback about your work. And most importantly, believe in yourself. Don’t try to write like anyone else. Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.” Your voice is unique and it is your gift to the world.

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

Oh, there are so many!

For graphic memoirs: Alison Bechdel and Mike Curato

For poetry: Minnie Bruce Pratt and Saeed Jones

For children’s books: Rob Sanders, Maya Gonzalez, and Jacqueline Woodson

For teen novels: Abdi Nazemian and Malinda Lo