Author Interview + Blog Tour: Sophie Cameron

So hey, today’s interview is special for two reasons! First of all, we talked with Sophie Cameron and we both love her! We chatted about music, getting inspiration from television ads & the next book Sophie is working on. But this post is actually also part of a blog tour for her latest book!

Last Bus to Everland came out in the UK back in May, but the American edition is getting released today. It’s getting a brand new, beautiful cover by Aimee Fleck, too! So that’s what we’re here to celebrate. (Scroll to the end for the whole schedule for the blog tour.)

And since I said we’re celebrating the book, do be aware that Charlotte reviewed Last Bus to Everland on her blog!

Brody Fair feels like nobody gets him: not his overworked parents, not his genius older brother, and definitely not the girls in the projects set on making his life miserable. Then he meets Nico, an art student who takes Brody to Everland, a “knock-off Narnia” that opens its door at 11:21pm each Thursday for Nico and his band of present-day misfits and miscreants.

Here Brody finds his tribe and a weekly respite from a world where he feels out of place. But when the doors to Everland begin to disappear, Brody is forced to make a decision: He can say goodbye to Everland and to Nico, or stay there and risk never seeing his family again.

Last Bus to Everland

Sophie Cameron

Published: 18th June 2019
Goodreads
Rep: gay mc, gay li, gay/pan/lesbian side characters, hijabi side character, side character in wheelchair, side character with agoraphobia

I’m starting to feel like I could disappear, and they wouldn’t even notice.

Thank you again for taking the time to chat with us! We’re incredibly honored.

No worries at all, thanks so much for asking!

Of course! Okay, so let’s get right into it and start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?

I always really loved reading, and the first story I remember writing was when I was about 6 – it was a whole five pages of a school jotter and I was very proud of myself. I wrote stories all throughout school, then a lot of fanfic when I was a teenager, and after university I did a few creative writing courses and got into it more seriously.

Would you say writing fics helped you in developing your craft?

Yes, hugely! There’s definitely an element of talent to writing but I do think, like most other skills, it largely comes down to practise too. Any sort of fiction writing is going to teach you about pacing, characterisation, dialogue… all the things that make up a good story. It can be a great way to get objective feedback, too – it was super exciting to have people waiting for the next installment of a story, for me that was a real confidence boost. It also pushed me to finish what I started, which has always been difficult for me.

I find it fascinating how many authors started out by writing fics and I love the fact that it’s usually visible in their writing? At least in my eyes, I guess. But the focus on characters and relationships between them? On emotions and making them truly matter. Which is like, the whole point of fics, isn’t it.

Definitely. You’ve got readers who already know and love the characters, so it makes sense to focus on them and their relationships. I really can’t get enjoy books (or any fiction, actually) unless I’m invested in the characters, so I think fanfic is a great way to develop that.

Yeah! I’m a huge fan of character-driven books myself which I think comes in a big part from me reading fics in abundance at some point, so I definitely get that sentiment! So then, how about genres of the stuff you read? Do you have favourite ones? And are they different to the ones you enjoy writing yourself?

I really love stories that straddle the border between reality and imagination, or the possible and impossible – so magical realism, contemporary fantasy, or speculative fiction. Those tend to be what I write myself: stories set in a very real world, but with one strange or magical element. I read a lot of Latin American magical realism when I was younger and that was a bit influence on me, even if my stories are pretty different. I really love contemporary, too, and lately I’ve been writing more of that – I’m still tempted to chuck in a bit of magic, though!

We can always use a little bit of magic in our lives!

Agreed!

How about the other side of things, are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?

I can’t really see myself writing sci-fi, high fantasy or anything set in a totally fictional world – though I do enjoy reading it, so never say never! I don’t think I’d ever do horror, but most other things I’m pretty open to.

Is horror a no-no because you don’t like scary books? (Same here, that’s why I’m asking.)

Yeah, I can’t handle horror at all! Same with films

That’s so valid. Moving on from unpleasant things… How do you get inspiration for your books?

They quite often come from pop culture. The idea for Out of the Blue came from a Lynx deodorant advert about angels falling from the sky. I’m in between two different WIPs at the moment and they both originally came from song lyrics, though they’ve changed so much it’s not at all obvious any more. Scottish folklore is another source for me: Last Bus to Everland was inspired by a Edinburgh folktale, though there’s a lot of Peter Pan and Narnia in it too, and I’m planning on writing a story based on the Brahan Seer, about a man who could see the future through a stone. Incorporating local folklore in your books is so amazing, I wish more authors would do it.

Oh my god, the deodorant ad bit… That’s hilarious & beautiful!! I think I actually even remember the ad, too!

Haha, I feel very grateful to Lynx for the idea!

You mentioned being inspired by songs, so does that mean you have a writing playlist, too? And if you do, does it focus more on the lyrics or melodies, vibe of the songs?

I do! Sometimes it’s more about the vibe – “Colors” by Halsey gave me the feeling I was trying to create in Last Bus to Everland, so I listened to that probably 10,000 times while I was writing it. (Still not sick of it, either!) Most of the other songs on my playlists are more thematic. Here’s the one for Everland if you’d like to include it!

Oh my, it features so many of my faves! Even Superfruit! They definitely should be more popular, what’s up with that! Listening to songs on an endless loop and not getting sick of them is gay culture, just saying.

Yes I love Superfruit!! I never hear people talking about them, it’s such a crime!

They have so many FUN songs!! Thank god for them, honestly. And apart from listening to music, what’s your writing process? At what point do you let other people read your drafts and who are they?

I’ve found that I usually need to leave an idea to sit for a long time before I can actually write it, so to begin with I’ll usually do what I can on a story, then put it away for a long time until I’m ready to come back to it. I quite often work on multiple things at once, too: at the moment I’m editing one manuscript and am working on the first draft of another. I know a lot of writers find that confusing but personally I like the variety, and if they’re at different stages I don’t usually find it a problem. I have a feedback group here in Barcelona I’m working on one MS with, and I have a few beta readers that I share things with when they’re ready. I try not to share things too early as I often end up changing things so much that their feedback isn’t relevant otherwise.

Oh, that’s so cool how you can work on multiple projects at once! I imagine it’s great for when you’re stuck in one, since you can always just turn to the other then while working things out. Can you summarise either Last Bus to Everland or either of the books you’re working on now in up to 5 words and a meme.

Sorry it took me ages to find one!! For one of the stories I’m writing now, I’d say… “celebrities + road trip + Europe + secrets”

A ROAD TRIP. Okay, I’m already in love with this book.

It’s a lot of fun to write!!

Is it about girls? Because I swear to god, I was just reading an article earlier this afternoon about how girls don’t have those big road trip books for ourselves and how it’s only a thing for boys.

Yes, two girls! That’s interesting, I hadn’t really thought of that.

You mentioned magical realism from Latin America influencing your writing, but how about specific authors?

Isabel Allende was the main one. My English teacher in my last year of high school basically forced me to do my final project on her, and I’m really glad she did since it had a huge influence on my writing and I ended up studying a lot of Hispanic literature at uni because of it. I love her older books particularly, anything up to Portrait in Sepia basically. Borges is another big influence, and also Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo.

It’s always great to hear stories about teachers who made an impact on their students’ lives! Even if in ways they probably didn’t expect. How about movies? If (when!) your books were to be adapted, who would you like to direct them?

Ooh I like that question! When writing the fantastical parts of Last Bus to Everland I had the film The Fall in mind, so maybe Tarsem Singh. Alternatively Xavier Dolan, I don’t think his style would fit my books at all but I really love his work.

The Fall is one of my favourite movies… I love the vibe you’re going for with this!

It’s so amazing, isn’t it!? Totally underrated too

It really weirdly is, which I don’t understand at all!

The little girl in it is incredible

Oh my god, she is!! Just, ugh, the whole imagery of it is so beautiful. 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?

I think it means having more control of the narrative around LGBT+ lives and showing them with more nuance. There have been some really good books written about LGBT people by cis heterosexual creators, but as a general rule they’ve focused on the more difficult, traumatic aspects of being LGBT and not the positive ones. Books about trans people by cis authors (including LGB ones) have tended to do the same. Growing up most of the books that I read that featuring lesbians were usually very stereotyped or totally depressing, so they didn’t really help me come to terms with being gay! It definitely would have made a difference to see more positive and varied representation. I do think it’s possible to write outside your experience (and I’ve done so myself) but I think the focus needs to remain on highlighting and supporting ownvoices writers, to make sure we get a wider and more authentic range of experiences represented – not just in terms of LGBT+ rep, but also characters of colour and disabled characters, too.

It’s an important note that you made, about how books with LGBT characters written by cishet authors often tend to focus on traumatic experiences. Almost just like a gay tragedy porn. Which might make for good literature, I suppose, but like you said, does nothing for the LGBT reader, nothing to help them come to terms with themself.

Definitely – it is important to write about those issues because they still exist, but when written by someone who hasn’t experienced them they tend to be too one-sided. They don’t usually talk about community or LGBT friendships, for example.

Oh, yes. One of the most ridiculous aspects of LGBT books not written by members of our community is this lack of friendships. We flock together and there’s a reason for that, but straight authors seem to think one gay character per book is enough?

It’s so ridiculous, isn’t it?! I read a review of Last Bus to Everland recently where a reader bumped a star off her rating because the number of gay characters was “unrealistic”… like 1) no, it’s not and 2) it’s a book about a magical Narnia-like world but that’s too much for you?!

You can just tell they’ve never met a gay person in their life, huh… People say that a lot about fantasy books, though. Like they can handle dragons, magic, mermaids, what have you, but once a gay character shows up, it’s suddenly “too unrealistic”. But before we get too angry, let’s talk more about good books. Rec us some great LGBT titles you’ve read recently!

I really loved Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, a graphic novel about an on-off relationship between two teenage girls by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell. The art is just gorgeous and it’s like the antithesis of what we were just talking about – the main character has a big group of queer friends. I also really adored Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, it’s a really fun and cute romcom but it has so much heart and the characters are really engaging.

Both me and Charlotte absolutely adore Red, White & Royal Blue! It deserves every bit of praise it gets and more! I especially appreciated all the quotes from letters written by LGBT people throughout history. For a lot of readers, it might have been the first contact with our history in any form and I think it’s really important.

Yes, that was such a lovely aspect of it!

What’s one piece of advice you would like to give your younger self?

I’d tell myself to care less about what other people think. It’s something that’s hard to apply, and something I still struggle with, but I wasted a lot of time being concerned with what strangers or people I hardly know thought of me. It’s pointless. And also, sit up straight!! Years of writing hunched over a computer have ruined my back and my wrists 🙁

There’s this joke where I’m from, about how a mother says to her daughter “stand straight so the doctor can see how bent your back is!”.

Ha! I think that is basically all writers after a while

The true price of beautiful stories. And lastly, if you could have dinner with one member of the LGBT community, dead or alive, who would it be?

Ooh that’s a good question! Maybe someone like Marsha P Johnson or Sylvia Rivera, it’d be so interesting to hear about their lives and activism firsthand. But I’m also tempted to say Ellen because I’m nosy and I’m sure she must have all the celesbian gossip from Hollywood

Oh, you’re the second author we’ve talked to who named Ellen! I love this common lesbian experience.

Haha so predictable! But she is lord of the lesbians, to quote Samira Wiley

Or we just all have very good taste!

That too!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sophie Cameron is a YA author from the Black Isle, Scotland. Her first novel Out of the Blue is published by Macmillan Children’s Books in the UK and Roaring Brook Press in the US. She lives in Barcelona with her wife, works as a copywriter, and spends her time reading, trying to play the banjo, and learning foreign languages.

Add on Goodreads | Buy Out of the Blue | Buy Last Bus to Everland

Blog Tour Schedule

June 16th – Q&A @ Silk Jazmyne

June 17th – Siblings in YA @ Amy Jane Alice

June 18th is us, of course

June 19th – Q&A @ Planete Diversite

June 19th – Queer relationships in YA @ YA Pride