Author Interview: Abdi Nazemian

We told you guys the interviews are going to be a regular feature on the blog and we weren’t kidding! What’s more, we got so many amazing authors on board, there is really no need for us to stop at just two interviews this month! Yes, there will be more in the next couple of weeks!

Today, though, we’re hosting the wonderful Abdi Nazemian, who found a little time on a busy morning to chat with us! His latest book – Like a Love Story – just released last week, on June 4th, so belated happy book birthday! Naturally, it was a main point of our conversation, but we also talked about the power of character-driven books, the importance of happy endings & how music influences writing. Have fun reading!

First of all, thank you so much for agreeing to talk with us!

I’m excited. You were one of the first people to express interest in a book that is so personal to me, and that means so much.

I feel like I’ve been waiting for your new book for ages, so it’s really an amazing opportunity for me at least.

Trust me, I’ve been waiting longer! I’m so ready for this book to be out.

Oh yeah, I can only imagine! Okay, let’s start at the beginning, though. How did you first get into writing?

I always loved to write as a kid, but I never imagined it could be a career. I wrote comic books inspired by Archie comics (I am a Veronica superfan). I wrote short stories and stuff like that. But in my Iranian community, there were few examples of people in the arts, so I always thought it would be a hobby, not a job. Then when I moved to LA, I had two jobs as a producer’s assistant and my job consisted largely of reading scripts. After reading hundreds of screenplays, I felt like I could do it too. It demystified the process, and so I started writing screenplays.

And to think that not only did you make it, but you’re writing stories ABOUT Iranian characters…

I was a screenwriter for about ten years before I started writing novels. Well, yeah. So I’ve written many scripts about Iranian characters but inevitably they never got made, and other ones about white characters did. That’s part of why I wanted to write novels. I mean, I was always a huge reader, but for me, the jump to novels was in many ways inspired by a desire to tell my stories in an industry that welcomes them with open arms instead of with constant roadblocks.

That’s so cool! Was the journey from scripts to books hard, though?

Not as hard as I thought. I always revered (still do) authors, so I was scared. But I do feel screenwriting set me up for writing novels really nicely. Also, I was so hungry to get personal in my work, so I wrote (and still write) novels with a lot of pent-up passion.

I guess since scripts are basically just dialogues, does it help make your novels more natural? Already having that experience under your belt.

Yes, dialogue is my favorite part of scripts and books. I love when it feels like it’s writing itself, like the characters are just speaking through you. Screenwriting is also very structured, which helped me a lot. I don’t plot my novels, but I feel I have a pretty innate sense of plot and structure even without an outline.

The last few books I’ve read had absolutely horrid dialogues. Seems like some authors just don’t get that characters are supposed to talk themselves, like you say, are supposed to have unique voices.

It’s honestly very hard, and I’m sure you’ll have an opinion about my dialogue. I hope you like it! A screenwriter once told me early in my career that you should be able to black out the character names in a script and still know who is speaking based on their unique voice. I thought that was very good advice. But it’s a tough balance ’cause you also don’t want the voices to be so different that they feel false.

That’s a very good advice, yeah! And definitely something I agree with, both for scripts and books. So we know you turned to books to tell more personal stories that Hollywood for “some reason” doesn’t have a place for… What are your favourite genres to read and write though?

I tend to both read and write very character-driven stories about human relationships. That’s something that can exist in any genre, but I tend to be more interested in character than in action. So a quiet book like Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is a favorite.

But then I guess there aren’t really any genres you wouldn’t write? How about tropes? Or maybe types of characters?

Well, honestly, when you come from a place of character, the genre doesn’t matter as much, ’cause you can write a character-driven sci-fi story, for a example, or a character-driven thriller etc. I tend to write characters I love. I want to love them. They need to be flawed to be real and human and interesting, but I don’t know that I ever want to write a book about characters I don’t love deeply.

So no unlikeable anti-heroes from you?

I don’t think so, at least not yet in my books. Then again, never say never. But even if I write someone who does questionable things, I want to get into their head and empathize with them. I spend so much emotional energy on my characters, and grow so close to them. I would just rather spend that time with characters I care for.

Yeah, that makes sense. And in the end, it’s comforting for readers as well, to have stories about characters they can really love and connect with. Instead of ones they can appreciate as characters from a book, but would never want to meet in real life.

I think so, though I’m happy readers have choices based on what they want to read. There’s a place for all kinds of stories and people want different ones at different times in their lives. Honestly, these days the only time I have to read or watch TV is a little bit before bed and I’m too anxious to read / watch anything too dark before sleep so I tend to gravitate to stuff that will make me feel better about the world we live in, and about the power of human connection. When I was younger and less anxious and had more time, I loved dark stuff. I was in a very different phase with different story needs!

Plus, let’s be real, with the world in the shape that is it right now, who needs dark stories, when you can just turn on the news.

EXACTLY. I hope with a book like Like a Love Story, people will see a truthful reflection of how devastating and unjust the world can be, while also being reminded of the power of activism, love, art, music, friendship, family, connection of all kinds, to combat that injustice.

So I guess it’s fair to say that this want to give people some joy & hope was at least part of what urged you to write Like a Love Story. But how do you generally get inspiration for your books?

That’s a tough question because I often don’t know what the book will end up being about when I start. I guess I just show up and follow my gut, or my muse, or whatever you choose to call that mysteriousness that happens when creativity actually flows. With this book, I knew I wanted to capture what it felt like to be a queer Iranian immigrant teen moving to the U.S. at the heights of this country’s AIDS epidemic. That was my experience, and I had never seen it represented. But it wasn’t until I started writing that Art and Judy entered the narrative, and then Stephen and Jimmy. Pretty soon, it became clear this book would be about trauma, but also an expression of gratitude to everyone who helped me overcome that trauma – friends, activists, artists, the queer community, Madonna.

How much of an influence on this book was Madonna, anyway?

She ended up being a huge influence. So here’s the thing people need to understand about being a queer kid from a conservative community in 1989. There were no available depictions of queer men that weren’t AIDS coverage on the news, usually hateful coverage. I was a Madonna fan from the very first video. I made my parents take me to her very first tour when I was 8. I was such a fan that she became a part of the family. So when she started to overtly represent queer culture in her work in 1989 and 1990, it was my first exposure to celebratory depictions of queer men, and queer men of color. It was revolutionary and brave. She and Elizabeth Taylor spoke out before anyone else in their position did, and Madonna was really speaking directly to young people. She included information about AIDS in the Like a Prayer album in 1989. The press said she had AIDS herself. She was constantly attacked and never backed down from her support for the queer community. So as far as I’m concerned, she saved my life and gave me a way of stepping into my self-acceptance. I know countless queer people of my generation who feel the same. As I wrote this story, it became so clear I needed to thank her through this narrative.

Honestly, I never realised how big of a role she played for your generation, of just how vocal she was about our community. I guess because I was introduced to Madonna by my mother, who just wouldn’t know about it herself, being straight & from across the ocean.

Yeah, I feel we’ve forgotten her activism and her bravery. I hope the book reminds people of it, but also reminds them to appreciate and honor art, because art can save lives, can give young people a guide into their own power and acceptance. This generation has their own artists who are doing that.

I’m listening to Mashrou’ Leila as we speak, a Lebanese group fronted by an openly gay man and their songs are basically what you’re describing. 

Oh I know their music and love them!

Oh my god!! I’m very happy about our tastes aligning, not gonna lie.

It’s always nice to know others out there share your sensibility. I’m so happy we live in a world where Mashrou’ Leila exists and is celebrated.

They should be more popular. But speaking of music. Do you have a writing playlist? And if you do, does it focus more on the lyrics or melodies, vibe of the songs?

I have different playlists for each project. It’s usually very specific to the project. Obviously for Like a Love Story, it was very ’80s with a sprinkling of disco. I’m about to share a playlist for readers to listen to if they want to enter the world of the book and I’m so excited about that. I’m a little nervous ’cause it’s over 4 hours long but so be it. There’s too much to include and music is so integral to this book, both in the narrative, and to the writing process.

It takes more than four hours to read a book, so I would say that’s a good thing! What’s your writing process, anyway? At what point do you let other people read your drafts and who are they?

I tend to discover the book on my own, then once I have written enough that the tone / characters / story is somewhat clear, I share with my agent and then with my editor. The feedback is usually crucial.

Does it happen that their notes change a book in drastic ways?

I wouldn’t say drastic, but they do help with shaping it and talking me through what story I want to tell and how to best tell it. If the notes are drastic, it often means the book isn’t working and I often ditch. I have ditched a lot of half-written books and screenplays. Writers should be unafraid of trying new things and also unafraid of accepting that some stories aren’t theirs to tell.

Even in the book bloggers community, the sentiment of letting books go unfinished is hard to find, so no wonder it’s so much harder for authors themselves, but yeah, you’re totally right.

I think it’s an important thing to remind young writers who are starting out.

Summarise your most recent/next book in up to 5 words and a meme.

Oh wow that one is hard, and also I’m so sorry to say this, but I don’t understand what a meme is!! (You’re welcome to publish that, my adolescence has already been marketed as “historical fiction” so I’m ok with my age.)

And honestly, I can’t think of five words that summarize the book better than the title. It captures everything I want the book to be about. The power of love. Telling our own stories. The illusion of the closet. A Madonna homage. I was and am very married to this title.

It’s a GREAT title. Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?

3 authors who most influenced my writing: Armistead Maupin. James Baldwin. Marjane Satrapi.

And for something that is also very important to us & what we put a lot of emphasis on when blogging. What does ownvoices LGBT representation mean to you?

Own Voices queer rep is so important to me because we haven’t touched the surface of all the queer stories out there, and we need the many diverse voices in the community to write their own stories.

Rec us some great LGBT books you’ve read recently! One can never have enough recommendations!

Queer books. I have very little time to read, but some I read recently: Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not. Truly loved it. Obsessed with Mackenzi Lee’s books and her most recent is a stunning adventure. I love the way Brandy Colbert incorporates queer life into her books, and loved her latest The Revolution of Birdie Randolph. Love Angelo Surmelis’ The Dangerous Art of Blending In and Caleb Roehrig’s Death Prefers Blondes. In terms of adult fiction, my favorite recent queer books were The Heart’s Invisible Furies, Christodora, The Great Believers, Guapa, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I’m sure there are more I can’t think of right now. I also hope young readers dig into classic queer titles, like James Baldwin’s work, Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series, Dancer from the Dance, the word of Audre Lorde. So many more…

We don’t have a lot of classics, but we do have few, so yeah, it would be great if more people my age would read them. What’s one piece of advice you would like to give your younger self?

One piece of advice for my younger self: don’t care so much about what others think. Respect and love yourself, and others will follow.

If you could have dinner with one member of the LGBT community, dead or alive, who would it be?

If I could have dinner with one member of the community, it would be James Baldwin. I’m tempted to say Madonna, but you know, I kind of want her to remain an inaccessible deity. Baldwin would make the most fascinating dinner date.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Abdi Nazemian spent his childhood in a series of exciting locations (Tehran, Paris, Toronto, New York), but could usually be found in his bedroom watching old movies, listening to Madonna or reading Archie comic books. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his two children and his fiancé.

As Head of Development for Water’s End Productions, Abdi has been an executive producer or associate producer on a number of films, including Call Me By Your Name. Abdi has written four produced films: Menendez: Blood Brothers (Lifetime, 2017), The Quiet (Sony Pictures Classics, 2006), Celeste in the City (ABC Family, 2004), and Beautiful Girl (ABC FAMILY, 2003). He also wrote, directed and produced the short film Revolution (2012). He is proud to say that his words have been spoken by the likes of Carmela Soprano, The Nanny, and The Girl With The Most Cake.

Abdi’s first novel, The Walk-in Closet, was released in 2015 by Curtis Brown Unlimited, and was awarded Best Debut at the Lambda Literary Awards. His debut young adult novel, The Authentics, was released by Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins in 2017.

Abdi is not the inspiration for Madonna’s children’s book The Adventures of Abdi, though he will forever insist that he is.

Add to Goodreads | Buy Like a Love Story | Buy The Walk-in Closet

Let me take one last detour, because someone didn’t let me change their song choice in the interview itself, even though I was the one to bring up Mashrou’ Leila in the first place… Not to point any fingers (at Charlotte), but my (current) favourite song of theirs is an older one, Tayf. Frankly, they only have good songs, though.