In The Gravity of Us, you get an aspirational love story set amid the drama of a human mission to Mars In As Far As You’ll Take Me, you get a story about finding yourself and finding your own family. In all my books, I want to convey a message of hope. What do you hope readers take from the book? I want kids, teens, and young adults to be able to see themselves on the page and go on these incredible adventures, knowing that no matter what their experience is now-they have a future, and a bright one at that. I was literally sitting there wondering why no one died or ended up lonely, and it made me so emotional because it was the first time I was able to look at my own life and say that I could maybe end up happy too.Īnd the older I get, the more furious it makes me that it took me so long to figure that out. It was the first piece of queer media I’d ever seen where the main characters end up happy in the end. When I was in my late teens, I watched the movie Shelter, not knowing it would completely change my life. Why is it important to you to tell these kinds of LGBTQ+ stories? This was the hardest book I’ve ever had to write, but it’s also been the most rewarding, and I can’t wait to share it with the world. But as I worked through the book, I really fell in love with the characters and the story. Not to mention, with four main characters and overlapping storylines, this was an especially challenging book from a craft standpoint. The themes in Golden Boys range from ambition to joy, romance to friendship… basically everything I love in YA fiction! I wrote this book early in the pandemic, back when the very thought of being creative seemed impossible, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I’d ever finish another book again. What does this book mean to you personally?
But all my fears went away as soon as I saw this final version because it really is perfect. I knew we had a great vision for this, but I was a little worried that it wouldn’t feel like a Phil Stamper book since it’s so different. This is a huge departure from my last two book covers, so my first thought was one of pure relief! I loved the charming illustrations for my first two books, but for Golden Boys, we really wanted something new: a striking, minimalist cover that was impossible to pass up on the shelves. What was your first thought seeing the book cover?
0 kommentar(er)
