We chat with author Emily Hamilton about The Stars Too Fondly, which is a tale of galaxy-spanning friendship, improbable love, and found family.
Hi, Emily! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Absolutely! I’m a native New Yorker who now lives in Vermont with my wife and our little Shih Tzu mix Mimi. I’m the offspring of a Trekkie mother and a Star Wars father and therefore a lifelong sci-fi and fantasy fan. When I’m not reading or writing I’m probably gardening, pole dancing, or baking gluten-free pastries.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember and I’ve been reading even longer. Sorry for not having a more descriptive answer! It’s just in my blood. I’ve been filling little notebooks with stories since I could hold a pencil, I think.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: If we’re not counting picture books, Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
- The one that made you want to become an author: See above, so I’ll take a slightly different tack: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey MCQuiston showed me that it was possible to be the kind of writer I wanted to be, and even be successful. When that book came out, I was several months into drafting TSTF; McQuiston and I were writing in different genres, but I remember thinking “This is what I want to write. This is what I’m ” The super queer, shamelessly passionate, supremely joyful style that McQuiston has really inspired me.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Right now? Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I recently reread it – and this feels trite to say because it is such a classic – but that book is so, so good. Going back to the capital-R Romantic origins of science fiction has really been helping me work out my place in the genre, and understand how much capacity the genre has for sensuality and eroticism.
Your debut novel, The Stars Too Fondly, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Sapphic science fantasy romantic comedy!
What can readers expect?
Adventure, mystery, dark matter shenanigans, alternate dimensions, a chaotic queer friend group accidentally stealing a spaceship, Star Trek: Voyager references, Mary Oliver poems and, of course, an angsty gay romance with a hologram.
Where did the inspiration for The Stars Too Fondly come from?
I had a dream on July 11, 2018, and I know the exact date because I bolted upright in bed and jotted down the main points in a Google Doc titled “Dream 7/11.” The main points were: Abandoned spaceship, long-disappeared crew, breaking in and blasting off, only clue is a hologram of the ship’s missing captain. Of course, I promptly forgot about the Google Doc, but when I ran across it four months later, the premise became a full-fledged outline over, like, one feverish weekend.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Cleo may be the protagonist of TSTF, but Billie, her love interest, is its heart. At the start, I envisioned her as a sort of female subversion of the Insufferable Genius archetype who always somehow seems to be a guy, but she became so much more than that. I’m obsessed with Billie – her wit, her prickliness, her passion, her anger, her stubbornness, her devotion to the people she loves – and I hope readers are, too.
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
I grew up with not a lot of money, so in high school and college I told myself that I couldn’t afford to pursue writing as a career. I settled on working in the publishing industry as the next best alternative, and my first job out of college was assisting two literary agents. But around the same time I started that job, I started writing TSTF. And after a year or two, it became clear to me that I could no longer spend all my time focusing on other people’s books while I was yearning to focus on my own.
At my going-away party, my friend and fellow assistant made me promise to send the book to her first when it was done. I did, and now she’s my agent. I feel so lucky for the connections I made at that job and for the opportunities it opened up for me. I’ll definitely never take it for granted.
What’s next for you?
I can’t wait for my TSTF book tour! I’ll be in Vermont, Boston, Montreal, New York City, and the lesbian bookstore in my college town. And just after TSTF publishes, I may or may not be pitching something new. Fingers crossed.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
I absolutely tore through the gorgeous audiobook of A Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland; I’ve been nibbling on the stunning collected stories in Northwest of Earth by the female pulp-era author C.L. Moore; and I’m currently reading and loving Welcome to Forever by Nathan Tavares, who will be at my Boston book launch event. And I particularly can’t wait for The Pairing by Casey McQuiston and Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright.
