While we’re waiting for Cameron’s newest book – Cassidy is Queen – to come out in June, you can always read about their journey to becoming an author, and a dream team of characters they’d collect from all their books to fight zombies together.
And don’t forget: you can follow Cameron on twitter too!
Have you always known you wanted to be a writer? How old were you when you wrote your first story?
I’ve been thinking about this reply a lot because I automatically assumed the answer was no, but I’ve always made up stories, I’ve created worlds, and played make-believe so, I suppose I’ve always been a storyteller, but I didn’t become a writer until I was 13.
I was in Year Nine, we’d just started a new module in English ‘Creative Writing’ and our task was to write the first chapter of a story. All of a sudden I was in my element, an element I didn’t even know about. I wrote my first chapter about a boy who’d moved across the UK and had started in a new school, around the same time another had moved over from America. Their lives collided, and suddenly feelings became clear for these two 14 year olds. I remember writing a coming out scene in this first chapter, the words ‘I’m gay’ and being so anxious about giving it to my teacher, I was afraid I’d get into trouble for writing the word gay.
This was 2009, the world was in a weird place, and I was only 13 so I didn’t really know what was going on outside of my little personal bubble, I’d just read Geography Club by Brent Hartinger, and this was my first book with a queer protaganist, it changed my whole perspective on books, and telling stories, all of a sudden I wanted to tell them all!
I got an A on that first chapter, and I was overjoyed, my teacher hadn’t even bat an eyelid at his coming out scene. I went home and I started on Chapter Two. This became the first book I wrote, it was 500+ pages and honestly, not great, but it still holds a special place in my heart.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
I really enjoy contemporary fiction, and I almost exclusively read LGBTQ+. I kind of love the Fake Dating trope I’ve come to discover recently at least (hello Boyfriend Material!)I also quite like Enemies to Lovers (Heartbreak Boys!) and in the same vein, Friends to Lovers (The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue!)
I tend to write Contemporary, although I also dabble in Supernatural every now and again. I’m currently writing a book set in 2006, are we counting that as Historical yet?
I’m unlikely to write proper historical, you know way back, I think the earliest I’d write is the 90’s but even then I’m not sure. Tropes wise, I’m quite open to playing with any kind, in the past I’ve done Popular and Not Popular Kid (Kennedy is King), Friends to Lovers (Butterfly Boys), Different World (Cassidy is Queen) and even Fake Dating – kind of (I Am Sebastian). The only one I really couldn’t see myself writing is the Country Inn trope, besides, you really don’t get many Country Inn’s in Liverpool, UK.
When you close your eyes and imagine an apple, what do you see? An actual apple, a sketch of one, a blackness? Do you think that impacts your writing process?
I’ve answered this question recently to the astonishment of my partner. I see complete darkness, not one detail, not even a pip! I’ve always been this way, I remember multiple lessons of teachers saying ‘close your eyes and imagine’, and I just thought everyone was faking it because I saw zilch.
I don’t think it impacts my writing, not really, I do have an internal monologue, so I can imagine words, and phrases and how sentences form, and I’m quite good at associating reference images to my characters – which I only really started doing because of commissioning art, but I found it to be quite enjoyable and it gives me almost a physical point of reference for my characters.
If you wanted to learn about craft, which three authors would you suggest reading?
Just three! Okay, I think everyone needs to read a Mason Deaver book at some point, their writing is beautiful and their stories are so heartfelt. I especially recommend I Wish You all the Best, as a nonbinary person this book articulated feelings that I’d struggled putting to words, so I’d recommend everyone read it, cis, trans, or nonbinary.
Secondly, Simon James Green, I adore his books, they’re light-hearted, and fun but also touching, and full of emotional depth which can be so tricky to get the right balance of – especially when writing hormonal teenagers. One of my favourite things about his books is that his teenagers sound and act like teenagers – which yes, means sometimes they make cringey mistakes that make you want to close the book and have the earth swallow you whole. Of Simon James Green’s books, I recommend everyone read Noah Can’t Even, Noah is the best kind of chaotic protagonist and it’s such a sweet friends to lovers, coming out story.
Lastly, I will always recommend TJ Klune. I started reading his books way back (probably too young in hindsight), I read Bear, Otter and the Kid, then went onto the Tales of Verenia and from then on, I’ve bought, and read on the day every book he’s released. TJ Klune is another author who can make you hysterically laugh in one sentence, then hysterically sob in the next. It’s such a perfect balance of humour and human emotion that you buy into every-damn-story. For TJ Klune, I will always recommend How to be a Movie Star, because this damn book, TJ Klune writes a demisexual protagonist so well and without infantising him, or using him as a joke. I have always loved the inclusion of well-written asexual characters in his books, but this one in particular is a lesson in how to do it right.
When you’re building your world, what do you focus on? How do you try to make it come to life?
Is it cheating if I created my world in book 1 and just keep adding to it? I decided sometime after watching Love Actually for the first time that all my books would take place in the same universe. I love the idea that the characters might know each other, that their lives are running alongside each other. In my contemporary, my books will either be set in Liverpool or London, so there’s not actually more worldbuilding I need to do, I mean, life has done the vast majority for me.
For my Supernatural books I have a notebook full of scribbles, and drawings and maps to keep track of what’s going on in the realm. A lot of my books are Magical Realism, which I guess helps make it come to life, because there are familiar things (half my Wizards were raised on earth prior to making the journey to the realm), so you can be all caught up in this magical world of nonsense and then, they’ll pull out the latest iPhone and Google Map their way to the Elven Settlement. It’s a mix of escapism with a dash of reality, an aspect I personally enjoy within my books.
What projects are you currently working on? Can you share any details yet?
I of course, have Cassidy is Queen, who is getting ready to be published in June 2023, pre-order available now.
And now, I get to be vague here, how exciting! I’ve got a story about a trans ballerina trying to figure out what direction he wants his life to go (rep: trans, polyamory, bisexual). I’ve got two soft drag queens, in a love at first sight story whilst also trying to battle with their own insecurities (rep: demisexuality, gay, drag queens, HIV rep). Two TV Stars who are suddenly faced with the reality of the situation they’re in, and have got a hell of fight on their hands (rep: trans, bisexual) and my current WIP, about an up and coming band, who’ve just gotten their big break but are suddenly the centre of controversy (rep: gay). I am also writing a story about a 16 year old Death as he gets to grips with his new job! (rep: gay)
That’s about all I can tell you for now, I’m hoping I’ll be able to tell more in 2023!
Three images that capture the aesthetic of your book?
Kennedy is King
Three songs you would put in your book’s soundtrack?
For Kennedy is King that’s easy!
– Coming of Age / mxmtoon
– That’s What I Want / Lil Nas X
– Edge of Glory / Lady Gaga
Kennedy’s full playlist is available here
What would be your dream project?
It’s between two, both are adaptations.
I’d love to have a screen adaptation of the Kennedy is King universe, including all three books. I can see it as a series, each series following a different book. I’ve thought about this in great depth.
The second is actually a stage adaptation. I’d love to see Glorious on stage as a musical. I just think Elijah’s story would shine on the stage, and the dancing, just imagine the dancing!
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
If I can only choose from Kennedy, I want Cassidy in a heartbeat, I have a very strong suspicion that my Queen is the only one with enough tenacity to get out alive.
If I could choose from literally any of my characters, I want to form a team of (ofc) Cassidy, Elijah from Glorious, Alfie from Sunshine and Frankie from Butterfly Boys, I think as a team – and you know we’d have the best team name ever – we’d fight, and win with a bit of pizzazz.
You’re stuck on a desert island and you’re allowed only three (LGBT) books. What are you taking?
That’s tough really! If I only had to choose three, I would probably take The Lightning Struck Heart – TJ Klune, Heartstopper: Volume Two – Alice Oseman and Heartbreak Boys – Simon James Green – a lot of humour, miles of fluff and not too much angst, as if I’m on a desert island, I’ve probably already got enough angst going around.
You can collaborate on anything with anyone in the LGBT community: who would it be and why?
I’ve always said I would LOVE for Olly Alexander to read an audiobook version of Cassidy is Queen. That’d be a big dream come true, he has the perfect tone, and inclination in his voice that just screams Cassidy.
I’d also love to work with Russell T Davies on literally, anything!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cameron James is a New Adult author from Liverpool. You can learn more about their books here. To stay up to date with them, follow them on social media: Twitter & Instagram.
Follow on Goodreads | Buy Kennedy is King | Preorder Cassidy is Queen
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