Our last but one post of this month is another interview, this time with author Skye Kilaen. Skye’s next book comes out in just SEVEN days, and you can preorder that here. If you’re not already excited about this one, just read the blurb and you’ll find out why you should be. In the meantime, you can read this interview to find out a little more.
You can also, of course, follow Skye on twitter.
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?
The earliest surviving example of my writing is from when I was five years old. It’s a description of an imaginary animal called a Zebrakeet (combination of Zebra and Parakeet.) So I can’t tell you how I got into it because I don’t remember!
But after taking a twenty-plus year break from fiction writing between college and 2016, what got me back into it was the romance genre. I had come out of a very stressful job with health problems, and I needed that HEA! At first, I thought I would only read it… but then that storytelling bug I’d been ignoring for two decades woke up.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
I was a geek girl from an early age, so I love writing science fiction romance in addition to my contemporaries. Even though I read fantasy romance with delight, I’m trying to avoid writing any, because satisfying magic systems are so hard to design! My hat is off to those authors who have done it.
Somehow I seem committed to writing most of my sci-fi romances with at least some suspense, even though I hate writing fight scenes. I don’t understand why I do this to myself.
Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?
The late Corey Alexander, who wrote as Xan West, has been my biggest influence so far, because of how strongly they believed in kindness to readers of all backgrounds. I try to keep those lessons close while I’m writing and editing.
I also appreciate and look to queer romance writers like Meredith Katz, Cass Lennox, and Kris Ripper who have mixed various types of queer relationships within their work, rather than sticking solely to M/M or to F/F. It’s a much harder road as an author, honestly, so it’s encouraging as I take that path to see examples of other authors who’ve done it before me.
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?
As a reader, it means the book I’m picking up is more likely to reflect someone’s personal experience. I happily read non-ownvoices books as well, but unless there’s a note from the author about their background with a topic, I don’t assume the content would necessarily ring true with members of that group. And I seek out ownvoices books and pay them more attention when it comes to representation of what day-to-day life and pertinent issues are for that group.
As a writer, it means being thoughtful about my choices for what to write, what to seek publishing deals for, and what to submit for awards. In what ways am I taking up space and resources that other marginalized authors should have first claim to? In what ways can I avoid doing that?
Not every author is going to make the same decisions about how to not take space from other writers who don’t have the same access to publishing opportunities. But every author should (a) be thoughtful about their choices and (b) be proactive and generous about lifting up more marginalized voices.
What’s one piece of advice you would like to give your younger self?
Stop being such a self-centered brat.
I know questions like this often prompt people to give their past selves gentle advice such as “Believe in yourself more” or “It wasn’t your fault.” I think that is wonderful.
But if there’s anyone reading this who knows the best thing for their past self would be to read them the riot act for being a jerk, I FEEL YOU.
To be honest, it might have been a good thing that I wasn’t writing fiction in my 20s and 30s. I’m not sure I had the empathy and insight that would have allowed me to craft believable characters. 🙂
Summarise your most recent/next book in up to 5 words and a meme.
For my next book, Tell Me Anything:
Hurt-comfort found family bisexual romance.
(Hurt-comfort is totally one hyphenated word. I am not at all cheating.)
And I am including both a meme and a t-shirt that together are a perfect summary of this book.
Rec us some great LGBT books you’ve read recently!
I was fortunate to do a final beta read for Home Within Skin, a sci-fi alien M/M romance by transmasc author jem zero, who is a friend and critique partner. This book comes out September 28th and I adore it. It’s written in second person which is unusual for romance, but I really hope people give it a chance.
This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano is a contemporary YA loose retelling of Cinderella, with a main character who is having some gender feelings, plus sapphic secondary characters. (It does include the real-world sport of Quidditch while rejecting TERF-ism completely.)
Black Water Sister by Zen Cho is SO good. Contemporary fantasy/paranormal set in Malaysia, with a closeted lesbian main character. Cho has written so many stories I just love and I can’t wait to see what she does next.
Village Fool by ‘Nathan Burgoine is just the perfect little M/M romance novella, about a nerdy guy who doesn’t have the confidence to ask his crush out until a friend plays a well-intentioned prank with his text messages. Too many people are sleeping on Burgoine, both his speculative fiction and his romance.
Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier, illustrated by Val Wise and lettered by Oscar O. Jupiter is a sweet graphic novel about two queer girls on a cheerleading squad. I’m so excited that the last few years have given us so many more queer YA graphic novels. Totally here for more.
I probably have to stop now, huh?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Skye Kilaen writes queer romance, both contemporary and science fiction, that’s sometimes about polyamorous relationships. Even her contemporaries are usually at least a bit geeky. After all, she does some of her writing in her local comic book shop.
Skye started writing fiction in elementary school on a Smith Corona electric typewriter because that’s all people had back in the early 1980s. She didn’t realize she wanted to read and write romance until much later, when it finally dawned on her that she adored X-Men comics for the soap opera aspect as much as for the superpowers.
She’s bi/pan and she currently lives in Austin, Texas because of all the libraries and breakfast tacos. Her book blog, Planet Jinxatron, is chock full of recs for romances, graphic novels, webcomics, SFF, and even a little YA.
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