We have a very exciting interview for you today! We spoke with Mark Oshiro, whose debut middle grade releases in just 12 days. Undoubtedly, you’re all highly anticipating it, so let us whet your appetite with this interview!
And after that, while you wait, you can follow them on twitter, and also preorder a copy of The Insiders (out on 21st September. Links can be found here and here.)
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?
Writing was one of the few things I was naturally good at growing up. I was writing short stories in elementary school and junior high, and I actually won a few competitions. I channeled that skill into a journalism career at first, so the vast majority of my life has been spent writing.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
I am a horror superfan, first and foremost. It was an early love of mine. I came of age when those Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark anthologies came out, and I know they influenced what I enjoyed and wanted to write. I love most things under the speculative fiction umbrella! I don’t think I’d ever write historical fiction. That’s really not my thing.
How do you get inspiration for your books and what’s your writing process? At what point do you let other people read your drafts and who are they?
Most of my stories have been inspired by something in the real world; I tend to write about really thorny problems without easy solutions that I’ve had to deal with. Once I get an idea, I do a lot of free writing (to myself, actually!) where I write out all the random thoughts I have in regards to the idea. If I feel there’s a solid basis for a story, then I move on to outlining. I might do research to help guide me, but sometimes that comes later. Then, once I feel I’ve covered the whole of the novel in an outline, I draft it! Right now, especially due to my hectic timeline, my agent sometimes reads my drafts before I send them to my editor. More often than not, though, they’re reading the first/second draft at the same time as my editor.
Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?
Sandra Cisneros, Toni Morrison, and China Miéville.
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?
Oooh, that depends. I have complicated thoughts on the term and the way it’s often been wielded against some of the most marginalized or erased parts of our community. I try to write the queer community I know and have experienced; I try to stay as educated as possible about how our community is changing as well. But for me, I write the books I think a younger version of myself needed to see.
What’s one piece of advice you would like to give your younger self?
Be yourself, loudly and unapologetically. That’s the best version of you.
Summarise your most recent/next book in up to 5 words and a meme.
Magical closet protects queer kids. And if I could design a meme, I would put the Spiderman pointing meme right here with three Spidermans in it, but have it be the three main characters of The Insiders realizing they’re all under the LGBT umbrella.
If (when!) your books were to be made into movies, who would you like to direct them?
Alice Wu. No contest.
If you could have dinner with one member of the LGBT community, dead or alive, who would it be?
Elliot Page.
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
For The Insiders, that would be Juliana’s mom.
Is there a famous franchise or simply a movie/TV show you’d like to be able to write for?
One day, you will be able to come back to this and know why my answer is: Yes, and I can’t tell you.
Do you have any secret non canon ships in your books you wish people would write fics for?
Nope, but only because I’ve seen pretty much everything shipped under the sun!
Rec us some great LGBT books you’ve read recently!
I truly, truly cannot recommend the following books enough: Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles; Between Real and Perfect by Ray Stoeve; Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa; and Nothing Burns As Bright As You by Ashley Woodfolk.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Oshiro is the Schneider Award-winning author of the YA books Anger Is a Gift and Each of Us a Desert. When they are not writing, they are busy trying to fulfill their lifelong goal: to pet every dog in the world. The Insiders is their middle grade debut. Visit them online at markoshiro.com
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