Summer Love is
the first collection of short stories published by Duet, the young adult
imprint from Interlude Press. These short stories are about the emergence of
young love of bonfires and beaches, of the magical in-between time when young
lives step from one world to another, and about finding the courage to be who
you really are, to follow your heart and live an authentic life. The
contributing authors have written stories about both romantic and platonic love
featuring characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, pansexual and
queer/questioning. The authors also represent a spectrum of experience,
identity and backgrounds.
SUMMARIES & AUTHOR BIOS
Beautiful
Monsters
A campaign
volunteer is assigned to assist his high school’s Gay Straight Alliance for the
Pride Parade, forcing him to face the students he had previously avoided, and
the truth about himself.
Author: Rachel Davidson
Leigh is a writer, educator, and small town native who tells stories she wishes
she could have read as a teen. Beautiful Monsters is her first published
work of fiction. She lives in Wisconsin with her family and two dogs who are
spoiled out of their tiny minds.
The Willow Weeps
for Us
Jack, the young
son of a grocer, falls for a charming piano teacher at the dawn of World War
II.
Author: Suzey Ingold
is a writer, linguist and coffee addict, currently based in Edinburgh,
Scotland. Brought up in a household where children's books are quoted over the
dinner table, literature has always had a strong influence on her life. She
enjoys travelling, scented candles and brunch.
The Fire Eater’s
Daughter
When a traveling
carnival comes back to town, Ruth must choose between caring for her mother and
a life with the beautiful and mysterious Constance, the fire eater’s daughter.
Author: Amy Stilgenbauer
is a writer and aspiring archivist currently based in southeast Michigan. She
is the author of the novelette series, Season of the Witch, as well as
the Young Adult novel, The Legend of League Park. When she isn’t
writing, Amy enjoys all things bergamot and tries to keep her cats away from
her knitting.
Surface Tension
Logan just wants
a summer where he can be anonymous and fit in without labels, but that all
changes when he meets out-and-proud Dave at summer camp.
Author: Ella J. Ash is a
lawyer by day and an author by night. She has been a writer in online fan
communities since 2006. She also enjoys dance parties with her family and
cooking experimental vegetarian cuisine. She lives in Toronto with her partner,
three daughters and four tropical fish.
My Best Friend
In a letter to
his best friend, a young gay man reminisces about their relationship.
Author: H.J. Coulter
lives in Winnepeg, Canada, where she works as a respite worker and studies
music, in hopes of one day becoming a musical therapist. My Best Friend is
her professional writing debut.
What the Heart
Wants
A young student
discovers attraction and desire through her experience drawing figures in her
summer art class.
Author: Naomi Tajedler
was born and raised in Paris, where art has always been a part of her
life—including painting, restoring books, and working in auctions. She started
writing in online fan communities in 2009.
The Most
Handsome
Carter, a Cape
Cod boy who recently came out as transgender, meets and falls in love with a
college student visiting for the summer.
Author: S.J. Martin
lives with his partner and their cranky, rotund cat in Washington D.C. He’s a
barista by day and a writer by night. He makes a mean cappuccino and lives for
good coffee, good books, and good company. The Most Handsome is his
first published story.
Something Like Freedom
A boy finds a
safe space from which to imagine a new future after leaving his conservative
parents’ home, thanks in part to a new friend.
Author: Caroline
Hanlin is a full time statistician, a part time stage manager, and an avid
sports fan. She currently resides in Boston, where she enjoys writing during
her commute. Something Like Freedom is her first published short story.
On the Shore
A young woman
retreats to her parents’ beach house to nurse a broken heart, but instead meets
a vivacious girl who helps her find joy again.
Author: Rachel Blackburn
is a writer, musician and librarian based in central Ohio. When free from work,
she enjoys cuddling with her cats, drinking tea, and baking more cupcakes than
necessary. On the Shore is her professional writing debut.
Excerpt:
(From Beautiful Monsters)
Beautiful
Monsters
By
Rachel
Davidson Leigh
“Glad to see you could join the party,”
Terrence deadpans, pressing a rainbow bandana into André’s hand. André grabs a
second bandana out of the bag, stuffs one in each of his back pockets, and then
goes in for a third.
“Cody was checking out the parade
route,” André replies, in a smooth lie. “It turns out we’re still walking six
blocks through absolutely nothing and then calling it a day.” Terrence laughs,
and, as he turns away, André presses a handkerchief into Cody’s hand. “Use it
wisely,” he whispers into Cody’s ear. “You’re one of us now.”
One of us. He’s
never been part of an “us.” Cody stares down at the lines on the handkerchief
and then at the two patches of color on the back of André’s jeans as he walks
toward the arriving cars.
Cody expects panic, but it doesn’t come.
Maybe he isn’t ready to be Gay with a capital G, but if “us” can mean being one
of these idiots, then maybe he’s ready to have people of his own. As he watches
the sharp sway of André’s hips, the heat rising up his neck doesn’t feel like
fear. It feels like... clarity, as though the run put everything in perspective
and now he can’t stop seeing André in crisp, dazzling color.
Someone presses a sign into his hand and
guides him toward the parade staging area with the rest of the crew. Once
again, he can’t hear himself think over the din, but it’s different now. At the
meeting, and for years before that in the hallways, he felt like an invader
locked out by a wall of sound, and now he’s somehow wandered inside.
Buy Links:
Interlude Press
web store: store.interludepress.com
Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Rachel
Davidson Leigh author of “Beautiful Monsters” in the Summer Love anthology. Tell us something about yourself.
Hi! I’m
a teacher, a writer, and a Midwesterner who would probably live in coffee
shops, given the opportunity. My story in the Summer Love Anthology, “Beautiful
Monsters,” centers on Cody Markhausen, a teenage campaign volunteer forced into
organizing a Pride parade, and his unwilling collaborator, Andreas Furneaux,
who brings him to terms with a few unexpected realizations.
1)
Tell us something no one else knows about your characters.
Don’t tell my two leads, but I completely fell
in love with two of my minor characters during the writing process. A large
portion of “Beautiful Monsters” takes place in and around a high school Gay
Straight Alliance and these two young women, Maddie and Juliet, absolutely
refused to blend into the crowd. After resisting (and writing reams of
backstory for both of them), I finally caved and gave them bigger parts. Their
friend-chemistry was just too much fun to keep for myself.
2)
Have you ever written something that made you cry?
Actually, I have. A little while back, I wrote
a short story, which centered on a funeral. It wasn’t autobiographical by a
long shot, but I did pull in my own emotional experience when I was writing.
Long story short, this is why my friend found me on the couch, in the dark,
staring at my open laptop, and crying. It’s also why I waved her away and
insisted that, yes, I really was having a very good time. Behold, the joys of
creative writing!
3)
Have you ever co-written with someone before?
I’ve tried. It turns out I’m not very good at
it. I love reading for other authors and asking talented friends to read for
me, but when we are co-authors I turn into a Midwesterner at a four-way
intersection. For readers not in the United States, that means I sit there,
waiting for the other person to move and apologizing for my own delay. I’ve been
told it’s delightful.
4)
What is the most difficult part of writing for you?
I tend to sit on ideas for a long time before
a word ever gets onto the page, so the hardest part is that first sentence. By
that point, I’ve done the research, I’ve planned out the entire project in my
head, and I can no longer come up with any other excuses not to actually start
writing. On my most recent project, I literally assigned myself to write ten
words a day for the first week. I got to feel accomplished for doing next to
nothing, but it got the ball rolling and, with each word, the job got a little
easier.
5)
Name your four most important food groups.
Cake: Apple, vanilla, chocolate, coffee . . .
I’m not picky. However, I am lactose intolerant, so when I found a nearby
bakery that make an incredible vegan cupcake, I was pretty sure I’d died and
gone to heaven.
Bread:
The more dense, chewy, and homemade, the better. If the loaf is roughly the
size and weight of a small dog, you’re probably on the right track.
Sushi: I also live in the Midwest, so my
ongoing love affair with raw fish is somewhat unfortunate. Luckily, I did grow
up right near a great sushi restaurant built into the side of a gas station.
And no, I’m not kidding.
Coffee: This one counts both the drink and the
environment. While I like coffee, I adore coffee shops. It’s where I’ve gotten
my best writing done for the last decade.
Where to find more information:
Facebook: facebook.com/interludepress
Twitter: @duetbooks, @interludepress
Pinterest: pinterest.com/interludepress
Other: duetbooks.com
Other: duetbooks.tumblr.com
Goodreads
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25375979-summer-love
Publisher: Duet, a Young Adult imprint form Interlude Press
Cover
Artist: BuckeyeGrrl Designs
Tour
Dates & Stops:
23-Jun
24-Jun
25-Jun
26-Jun
29-Jun
30-Jun
1-Jul
2-Jul
3-Jul
6-Jul
Thank you so much for hosting us today! I always love an excuse to talk about coffee and our stories. I'll look forward to reading your review of the collection!
ReplyDeleteCake and Bread? You sound like someone I want to hang out with, lol =) Great interview and congrats on the anthology release.
ReplyDelete