Part 1 of Interview: Part 2: Transcript to come! Next month we'll be interviewing Laura Lam, author of our October Book of the Month, Pantomime. Let us know what you thought of this month's interview in the comments (because they are working again!!! *throws hat*), and drop some questions you'd like us to ask Laura Lam.
First things first, this a beautiful book. You don't even need to read it to realise that it's beautiful: you can tell by the way the dust jacket is all textured and pretty, with the letters jutting out and being bumpy underneath your fingers. It is a gradient turquoise sky, a stormy sea, and a splash of orange that's like the splash of hope this book will provide for the queer teenagers who read it or have read it. Our August 2014 Book of the Month! It's a reimagining of Homer's Odyssey, which is incredible in [...]
I write speculative fiction, usually somewhere between soft science fiction and magical realism, and often, though not exclusively, with LGBT themes and characters. I suppose I could write more mainstream stories, but I like to twist things up and mess with the universe, and besides, I'm a genre geek. I swear this is less from a God complex perspective, and more about playfulness and political intent. Metaphors for transition, coming out, family acceptance, and the like can replace a description of the real thing, and in so doing, open up some space away from angst so more time [...]