Interview with Brooke Skipstone, Author of The Queering

What’s the story behind the story? What impressed you to jot down The Queering?

I’m a pantser, so once I begin to write a ebook, I’m not totally positive the place the story will lead. And not totally positive the place the germ of a narrative originates. My final ebook (The Moonstone Girls) portrayed a lovely, loving relationship between a brother and sister. In The Queering, I needed to discover the alternative. In this case, Taylor’s brother, fairly than being homosexual, struggles with his personal loathing for gays. In different phrases, struggles with his personal gay inclinations. Taylor and her greatest pal graduate with theatre levels and hope to proceed to dwell collectively, not as lovers, however as mates. However, her brother’s homicide of a drag queen and insistence on accompanying the ladies as they drive throughout the West, forces Taylor and Brooke to fret that they’ll lose one another earlier than they’ll categorical their true emotions.

The thought of a post-college journey in a VW van with two ladies and a person would appear full of enjoyable and laughter. So twisting this trope right into a harrowing, intensely harmful occasion was key to the ebook. Another inspiration is the rabid, anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment that has arisen these days, making me marvel if there was any progress for the reason that Seventies when the primary character, Taylor Baird, felt compelled to cover her true self for 48 years.

If you needed to decide theme songs for the primary characters of The Queering, what would they be?

Brooke and Taylor are greatest mates in faculty, each theatre majors. Brooke was initially interested in Taylor as a result of she’s a composer, and Brooke is a tremendous singer. They get pleasure from singing songs collectively, together with well-liked hits of the day, which occurred to be within the early Seventies. They sing Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move Under my Feet” and “You’ve Got Friend.” Plus Joni Mitchell’s “Help Me.” They additionally have interaction in a burping contest at an area beer joint the place Brooke wins by belching the refrain of “I Am Woman.”

What’s your favourite style to learn? Is it the identical as your favourite style to jot down?

Pretty a lot the identical as what I write, although I do get pleasure from historical past, similar to Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste, Nikole Hannah-Jones’ The 1619 Project, and The Stonewall Riots.

What books are in your TBR pile proper now?

Several by Cassandra Clare, Tess Gunty’s The Rabbit Hutch, and All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir.

What scene in your ebook was your favourite to jot down?

My favourite was the inevitable, terrifying confrontation between Taylor and her brother after forty-eight years, however to say extra would represent a spoiler. I cherished each scene between Taylor and Brooke, particularly their first bathe collectively and their intercourse scene within the again of their VW camper van.

Do you’ve got any quirky writing habits? (fortunate mugs, cats on laps, and so forth.)

Yes, I do. I hearken to white noise/steady waterfall by headphones as I write. Plus, I sit sideways in an outdated wood swivel chair, with the again on my left facet.

Do you’ve got a motto, quote, or philosophy you reside by?

If life have been that easy…

No motto or quote. Maybe one thing in these lyrics from my earlier ebook The MoonStone Girls— “Raise our voice above the din of indignation and the screams of accusation to change hypocrisy to harmony and noise to a soothing melody.”

If you might select one factor for readers to recollect after studying your ebook, what wouldn’t it be?

This quote from the primary character close to the top of the ebook: “We need to eliminate the mindset that being straight is normal, and we’re abnormal. I’ve lived most of my life believing that shit, and I won’t allow you to do the same. You girls are better human beings because you’ve broken free from the continual pressure to fit into stereotypes.”