Read on below, and pre-order the book ahead of its Feb. 6 releasehere.
I also listened to a lot of music of the time.
HIV/AIDS sort of forced that shift.
Credit: Amanda Kallis; Ecco
But it also feels close enough to us that its in our recent memory.
Were seeing a resurgence in bathhouses and sex parties and things that were happening in the 1970s before AIDS.
Things like that are coming back because of the pill.
The characters in the book are like the people who dont have access to Prep today.
Statistically speaking, they are people of color, queer, sex workers and they live in urban centers.
It was refreshing to see that.
Writing bad parodies ofNew Yorkerstories, which is hilarious in hindsight.
As I was writing it felt important to represent lives that the media really doesnt focus on very much.
It gives me hope that other stories will get attention also in the future.
I specifically want to talk about Juanito and Daniel.
I fell in love with their young love and dreams, but they suffered so much.
One has his arm around the other one, it kind of looks like theyre lovers or best friends.
I kind of always envisioned their face when I was writing; I was sort of haunted by them.
So I imagined those boys, are they still alive today?
Is one of them still alive?
They were so cute, so adorable, and so free.
Despite all the tragedy and travesties the characters endure family violence, sex work, etc.
I didnt want it to just be tragedy porn.
I didnt want it to feel exploitative.
I really wanted the novel to feel deeply human, and how do you do that?
Shes looking up kind of into the distance, shes not focusing on anything.
Its such a great photo.
They fight to be themselves even when they live in a society that is pushing up against them.
