I’m always surprised at how writers approach their craft, especially writers of historical fiction. I don’t know of many who do all the research & form an outline before they start writing - but I know a whole bunch who work organically - let the story just develop - who then have to do a lot of rewriting.
At what point do you start looking for a publisher? Do you have a work mostly done, or do you shop around your outline?
I know The Lilac People is the first book you’ve gotten published, but it seems like you had a couple of other book ideas before this one. Did you have the outlines for these already completed?
More great questions! I’m honestly still figuring out what may be the best ways to combat conflicting information online. I feel it’ll require at least a deliberate education (for all ages) in critical thinking, close reading, fact-checking, source-checking, and self-awareness of one’s biases. These are all skills I feel we significantly lack right now as a society. The good news is I feel plenty of folks want to learn or sharpen these skills. But nobody knows where to look. I’m searching for helpful resources to share with folks, so if anybody knows of some, let me know!
I hope other trans history novels get published, too. I’ve mostly only seen them published in the YA category as reimaginings of history and/or including time travel, magical realism, etc. There’s nothing wrong with these books in themselves, but there’s a wealth of other trans history work out there, especially stuff that’s historically accurate to given times and based on fact. I’d love to see other trans history novels published. There isn’t much “non-magical” trans historical fiction that I’m seeing published right now; not because it isn’t being written, but because publishers aren’t picking it up. However, I’m optimistic we’re on the cusp of publishers understanding that work like this exists and is interesting to readers, and they’ll start to represent it more.
I could never, haha. I’d be too worried I’d need to do a massive rewrite because I hadn’t finished my research and later found out something that ruins my entire plot.
With fiction, I start looking for a publisher once the manuscript is as finished and polished as possible. That way, my agent can hand it over immediately for consideration if a publisher wants to look at it. But with nonfiction–I’m working on two nonfiction books rights now–I just need to polish a proposal and see if any publishers are interested from there. It’s really interesting to me how fiction vs nonfiction works in the industry.
Indeed! I wrote several books before The Lilac People, only four of which I attempted to get agent representation. (The rest were just practice swings and I’ll likely never bother fixing them up. They’re just not as important to me as some of my other work and they’re…not good.) But I did thankfully get agent representation for the four books I sent out into the world. But the three before The Lilac People didn’t get picked up by publishers. They were all finished and polished, too, and I’m optimistic that I can finally get them published one by one now that I have my foot in the door. I intend to return to one of them later this fall and see what happens.
Even though I knew something about the Third Reich’s reaction to the lesbian and gay community, I didn’t know about the institute and it’s work, nor did I know about the American role in continued oppression of trans folk. I’m glad you wrote historical fiction without using magical realism and other embellishments. I like my historical fiction to weave a story around facts, as your novel does. Is there anything I can do as a reader to encourage publishers to bring forward non-magical trans novels?
First, thank you for writing such a special book. I really loved it and am grateful to have read it.
I couldn’t help but make comparisons to today’s social and political climate as marginalized communities are under attack and their rights being threatened. Do you see similar comparisons, and did any of that contribute to your writing?
I keep feeling struck by how challenging it must be to research and write about trans history. It seems like more of a calling for you than a job! How do you handle the stress? Do you have a support system in place - other writers or family you turn to?
Before we wrap up, is there anything we didn’t cover here that you’d like to talk about? Anything you’d wish someone would ask about your work that doesn’t come up often?
And finally, you mentioned that you’re working on both nonfiction and fiction right now. Do you have a book in the pipeline, and if so, can you tell us anything about it?
Thank you for the kind words and the thoughtful question! Honestly, simply supporting given works is the best way to show publishers that you want more of this type. At the end of the day, book publishing is a business, so the industry responds best to dollar signs. Purchasing the book is obviously the strongest way to support, but it also helps to request it from your local library, ask if it’s in stock at your local book store, and tell your loved ones about the book. Thank you for the support!
Thanks for the question and the kind words, Emily! The interesting thing is this book was never intended to reflect our current political climate. (I started researching this book about 10 years ago and it was by chance that it published when it did.) Even when similarities started to crop up in our current times, I never tried to lean into that. Rather, I wanted to keep the book purely in its own time and place and stick to my original drive for writing this book: honoring these forgotten folks.
That said, there’s plenty of organic overlap and readers understandably ask about the comparisons and differences frequently. Since I can never put all of my thoughts into a standard Q&A time, I put together a free course: Modern United States vs Nazi Germany: A Comparison Guide for Wellbeing. (You need to make an account to access it, but that’s it.) Heads up, though, it’s a lot of content!
It definitely feels like a calling to me! When asked about the stress researching and writing this particular book, especially with where we are these days, I somewhat jokingly say, “Well, if you look in the acknowledgements, you’ll notice I thank both of my therapists.” This project was the hardest (and likely will always remain the hardest) I ever took on, and I never would’ve attempted it if I wasn’t already in a healthy, stable place. I have a great support system of loved ones and friends, mental health resources, coping mechanisms, etc. It took years of work to build all this from hardships I experienced in the past, but the work was definitely worth it.
You know, I get such a nice variety of questions everywhere I go that I don’t think there’s anything left I wish people would ask me. But thanks for the opportunity!
I’m working on multiple things at once, but it’s my hope that the next two books publishers pick up are a previously-rejected trans historical novel set to 1600s piracy* and a new nonfiction proposal based on the courses I teach on the oppression of gender nonconformity in history.
*A decade ago, publishers said they loved the book, but didn’t think queer/trans pirates would ever be a sellable topic in fiction, so they all passed. However, now that queer and trans pirates are (go figure) a hot commodity, I like to think I can shake the dust off this one, give it a good edit, and put it back out there for consideration.
I really appreciate everyone’s questions, time, and support! I’ll try to check back in early tomorrow for any final questions, but since I’m traveling for a book festival, I may not get to them until early next week (if that’s allowable).
But if there are no more questions, once again, thank you very much! I hope The Lilac People was an enjoyable (or at least insightful) read. My big hope is to get this forgotten history to as many people as possible. If you can spread the word about it, that’d be a huge help. I really appreciate all the time and interest you’ve given. Thank you!