We are Kayla Bashe kayla-bird, a queer theater student, J. L. Douglas lunasiders, a demisexual lesbian literacy educator, and Shira Glassman (the OP), a bisexual violinist. In our books, the girl gets the girl, womenâs relationships are celebrated, and loving your own gender doesnât doom you to tragedy. We write about lazy summers, dormitory friendships, and riding dragons together. We write about snuggling up to her at a public recital, about hanging out with her on a lonely sand dune, about sending her emails from your missions at the farthest reaches of the galaxy.
Kayla: Â Iâm always jotting things down in a notebook or on my phone; once, I spent ten hours straight writing and then nearly fainted. On weekends, I sometimes write till itâs 3 AM and Iâm barely able to tell the difference between clothes and close. My problem isnât reminding myself to write- itâs remembering to stop! I like to think Iâve been able to develop a healthy work-life balance, though. Or at least vaguely healthy.
J. L.: Iâm really proud to be a part of Prizm! Iâm Canadian, and small presses are sort of a thing for us. But the queer part makes me feel like Iâm part of something special. Since a lot of my favorite books are with small presses, it was always my dream to be part of something like that and produce a book that readers might enjoy as much as I loved reading all those small press classics I randomly found growing up!
Shira: TWENTY SEVEN HOURS A DAY MARKETING. And sometimes these moments of oh my god, there are so many people who are looking for books like mine who will never even have a chance to find out they exist⌠where should I advertise? What else should I do?? But, on the other hand, nobody at Prizm ever told me my characters had to be less Jewish, less fat, less gay, less bi, less whatever. None of that was ever an issue, and I donât know if a larger house or an agent would allow me to do that.
Who are the girls in the picture? Whatâs that stuff on the table that one of them is eating?
Kayla: The Rubenesque redhead in the day dress is Anthea Garlant, the only daughter of Englandâs most eminent magician-academic. Having spent her entire life placing career and witchcraft over anything else, sheâs never courted anyone, despite admitting attraction to men and women alike.Iâm bored to tears of one-dimensional bisexual heartbreakers in fiction- sure, some bisexuals live a hedonistic life of threesomes and partying, but more often than not the âbarsexualâ is just a lazy stereotype thrown around by those who think bi people canât make up their minds. Therefore, I wanted to challenge stereotypes by having a bisexual character be responsible and hard-working, even to the point of repression. I also wanted to create a queer take on the trope of the ultra-dedicated academic whoâs forced to choose between love and convention. Plus, French accents are tres hot!
J. L.: The confused-looking girl in the sundress is Moira. Sheâs the lone Art Camp counselor for Lunaside summer camp, and mostly considers herself an artist otherwise. Sheâs also vegan, which is why sheâs eating halvah, the white stuff on the table (also itâs delicious). Moira is important to me because sheâs the mostly sweet, wholesome lesbian I wasnât seeing in YA. I was lucky enough to start reading YA at a time when lesbians existed at all (the first lesbian book I read was Julie Ann Petersâ Keeping You a Secret), but I couldnât relate to the tough girls I was reading about, so I wrote one who reflected my reality a bit better.
Shira: the brown curvy girl is Aviva. Sheâs a bi Jew and sheâs a working-class chef who managed to become the queenâs girlfriend by being the first, and for a long time the only, person in the palace to believe her about her food allergies. She means a lot to me for several reasons: because one doesnât often see bisexual characters as caregivers, as responsible, as dependable, as selfless in fiction, and more prosaically, one doesnât often see bi women with women in fiction, either. I strive for everything in the first list â Aviva is basically my unreachable perfection â and I represent the second. Itâs nice having a reminder that itâs possible to be a bi person in a same-sex relationship since fiction seems to have a hard time showing both at once.
What do you like to read in your genre? What you read outside of it?
Kayla: I read everything. Sarah Diemer in glittery queer binges, the Honor Harrington series (think Mass Effect without the aliens and with more broadside barrages) when I need motivation for badassery. Phrynne Fisher mysteries in silk pajamas while drinking white grape juice out of a wine glass. Every Hugo-nominated novella I can find for free at Clarkesworld or Strange Horizons. Tamora Pierce made me who I am today, but Francesca Lia Block crafted my outfits. Right now Iâm obsessed with Nina Kiriki Hoffman, with the way her characters find homes and families and the magic within themselves.And, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, thereâs some romance paperback at the bottom of my bag- a scorchingly witty Kresley Cole following an emotionally guarded vampire and a sharp-tounged werewolf, or an emotional Laura Kinsale about an injured Regency nobleman, or an ultra-dramatic Eloisa James centering on a hellion debutante. Romance novels are my toolbox and my port-of-call, my master class and my workshop. I love playing 52-Pickup with their traditional tropes. My motto has always been âWhy should the straight people get to have all the fun?â
J. L.: My favorite YA romances are ones with girls overcoming realistic self-doubt. I like Queer YA the best, but I will read YA with straight characters too. Some of my favorites are (You) Set Me on Fire by Mariko Tamaki (Canadian lesbian NA); OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu (straight YA romance between two protagonists with anxiety disorders); the Penderwicks series (MG series featuring strong female friendships).Outside my genre, I really like reading stuff from the English Renaissance. There were so many strong female voices emerging then, and I feel like it has a lot in common with our world right now, in terms of how they saw authorship as a collaboration and how there was fanfic and stuff like that.
Shira: I donât read much fantasy, although I should. Most of what I read is vintage mysteries, like Agatha Christie (I own nearly all of her books), Doyle, Sayers, etc. It spills over into my TV time, too; I love Columbo!
What inspires you?
Kayla: Iâm inspired by the desire to remix. Like âWhat do you mean, these superheroes arenât hooking up? Their dynamic is amazing. Let me fix that.â or âWhy are none of the girls in this classic novel queer?â or âHow did Game of Thrones fuck up *this* week? Man, I bet I could write a way better medieval fantasy⌠one with way less whitewashing, too!â In the case of Graveyard Sparrow, I wanted to write a creepy, elegant mystery with a vulnerable protagonist that didnât fuck its lesbians over by shoving them into bed with men.
J. L.: I observe situations around me, then I try to figure out how theyâll resolve. Â Sometimes that leads to a story; sometimes it doesnât. Sometimes it leads to a story LATER, which is a sign never to throw out any writing ever.The other thing that inspires me is listening to people who are huge fans of a thing. One of my favorite things is reading (and writing!) characters with really specific hobbies. So if someone is really into something, I try to listen to them, learn everything I can, and sometimes that leads to a character who is really into tea art or superheroes or bugs or really anything.
Shira: I adore German and French opera, but naturally, itâs often sexist and sometimes even anti-Semitic. It inspires me greatly to take what I love about these great works of art and then make Jewish-woman-safe universes inspired by them. Iâm also inspired by my day to day life; I write about things that are really happening to me and those around me, only I add dragons and magic potions to it.
Do you write to music? If yes, songs please!
Kayla: I have a tendency to find a song or playlist that matches the feel of a project⌠and then play it ad infinitum. I can write entire novellas to a single jam.For example, I created all of To Stand In The Light while bopping along to D.A.N.C.E by Justice and the O-Key Radio mix of Calvin Harrisâs Bounce- plus Comicsriotâs Radical Queer Mutant Dance Party playlist.
J. L.: I find it really hard to write to individual songs while Iâm writing, because Iâm pretty easily distracted, but I still end up gathering music that relates to my current project anyway. I listen to that while Iâm riding the bus, or walking, or while at the gymâjust anywhere that Iâm not actually writing.Lunasideâs playlist has a lot of indie rock with shouty choruses and uplifting lyrics. âMe and My Friendsâ by Tim Myers was sort of its overarching, unofficial theme, and âThis Lightâ by Grand and Noble definitely played over and over in my head while I wrote the final scene.Of course, there were also lots of lesbian love songs on there.âWho Knows What Tomorrow May Bringâ by Antigone Rising is my favorite, though.
Shira: It really depends on the scene. If I have to write something tense, I put on tense music. If I have to write something romantic and m/m, I probably have Tschaikovsky on. Once I do that, the scene actually writes itself. Itâs like Iâm just transcribing. (Nearly always classical, and nothing with English words because that would distract me from typing.)