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These are light genderqueer romance novels. They are young adult books in the sense that most of the characters are under 25 years old. They are coming of age or coming out novels because they're about growing up genderqueer and coming to terms with that. But I hope they appeal to a wide audience. (I read all the YA queer books I can get my hands on.)
It's a novel in which folks who fall outside the binary in sex, gender and/or sexuality are main characters rather than making brief (and often tragic) appearances. A novel in which people (sometimes) talk about their bodies, their histories and their expectations before taking off any clothes. A novel in which bi and poly and trans* and intersex people are included in all their complexity.
The novel is descended from a science fiction story I wrote in about 1989. At that time the lead character was called Jamime. Sie lived in a future in which genetic engineering had been used to create people who were basically sex toys (of which sie was one). I did not sell that story, though I received some favorable editorial feedback. Over the years I kept coming back to it, rewriting it from new angles. One of the rewrites was as a young adult story that took place in the present, though still with the gengineering, done in secret labs. I may still do something with that story, or the world in which it exists. (There is a short story set in that world in my collection, Fragments of Gender.) Basically I've been writing around a loose set of ideas for about fifteen years, developing characters and situations. At some point I realized I had the characters to write a young adult novel, and did so.
Though I've had my non-fiction published in many places over the years, I've never had any luck with my fiction. It's hard to get fiction published, especially if it includes certain themes, but probably I simply didn't keep at it hard enough.
For Fool, I did send off a few letters, in case the inclusion of an intersex character might catch someone's attention (in a positive way). As the book neared completion, I decided to go ahead and publish it myself. Part of that decision was based on my being 53; I didn't feel like taking a couple of years trying to sell the manuscript. (If the books are even moderately successful, there's always the chance that some publisher will pick them up.)
I've been a writer all my life, have worked full time as a technical writer and editor, and am very computer-savvy. So I figured I had the skills needed to put together my own books and have them look fairly decent. I do understand the value of editing, and I wish I had an editor but, alas. Same goes for publicity and marketing, though at least my books will not go out of print until I say so.
Jade writes and draws a web comic, Lean on Me, that has trans characters. I know from that strip and from comments she's made on that web site that she has a philosophy about gender identity and human sexuality that is pretty much in agreement with mine. Jade is a fabulous artist who had done cover art for other publications. Finally, because the Internet is such an important source of information and community for the target audience of this book, I wanted an illustration style that embodied that feel. I added all that up, asked Jade if she would do the covers, and there you have it.
Lots of bits and pieces, but no whole characters. I do live in East Lansing, Michigan. Read my transition memoir when it comes out and you can figure some of it out. A Queer Circle of Friends has a character that is somewhat more autobiographical, in the sense that I can imagine myself being very like Tam if I had been born thirty years later. The sequels are/will be a little bit edgier than Fool. (More sex and violence. I know what sells.)
Because there isn't much YA fiction available with main characters that are genderqueer, and nothing at all I could find with an intersex character. There need to be a lot more books with intersex characters, because there are many ways to be intersex and many ways to deal with that situation. Jami is written to be deliberately vague as to exactly how she is intersex (though that is nailed down in Circle), and of course not all or even most intersex people who live in their assigned gender end up being attracted to people more or less of the same gender.
I'm not very fond of labels, but I am trans and queer. I am a long-time supporter of ISNA. I know Cheryl Chase and Alice Dreger, and I try to know as much about intersex issues as a non-intersex lay person can. For more on my thoughts about where or if 'I' belongs in the mix of 'LBG' and 'T', read my essays in Fragments of Gender.
No, nor is Carys supposed to be representative of all female-bodied genderqueer people or Tam representative of all male-bodied trans people. They are fictional characters in my novels.
No, they're genderqueer. From the first chapter of Fool:
Carys: "I don't know why, but I know that everything about sex and gender that seems obvious to other people seems like a mystery to me. Everyone seems so certain about everything. My clown friend David, he's gay, but that's just a different set of certainties for him. He says I'm confused, which I suppose is true enough."
"Confused about whether you like boys or girls, or about whether you are a boy or a girl?"
"This is going to sound totally weird, Jami, but what confuses me is the 'or,' the need to choose, the idea that there are only two choices for everything. It drives me crazy! I don't get it!"
You bet! I'm well into A Queer Turn of Events already. Check out wizzywig.net for the online serialization!
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