We chat with author Lucy Lapinska about Some Body Like Me, which explores the boundaries of sexuality and the indefinable human capacity for love at the end of the world.
Hi, Lucy! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I live in the Scottish Highlands with my family and two cats, and a lot of books. I’m obsessed with cute characters like Chiikawa and Rilakkuma, I collect tattoos and I’m trying to learn to draw (it is not going well).
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I’ve been writing since I could pick up a pencil, it’s always been the thing I love doing the most. My first book for children was published in 2020, and I’m excited to be taking my work in a new direction! Idk if it was the pandemic or just my mid-30s mind, but I want to create art that is increasingly unhinged recently.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Out and About, by Shirley Hughes. I love how the illustrations are an integral part of the poems, showing real life in all its messy glory
- The one that made you want to become an author: Double Act, by Jacqueline Wilson. I read my copy so much that the cover peeled away entirely. I was lucky enough to ask Jacqueline to sign it, as battered as it was, a few years ago.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: PET, by Akwaeke Emezi. Emezi is the author I want to be when I grow up.
Your latest novel, Some Body Like Me, is out April 17th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Socialist, Lesbian, Robot, Climate, Revolution
What can readers expect?
This is a future where Personal Companion Computers (PCCs) can be customised to look however you want, and for Abigail, that means she has been constructed in the image of her owner David’s late wife. She is engineered to be the perfect housewife, companion and sex toy all in one, but in three weeks time she – along with all PCCs – will be emancipated and gain full personhood rights. But what do you do with freedom when you have been constructed for only one purpose? And how do you learn to love if you don’t really know who are you?
Where did the inspiration for Some Body Like Me come from?
I have always loved science fiction, and robots in particular – and in art forms alongside prose as well, like the video game Detroit: Become Human and the manga Doll by Mitsukazu Mihara. The idea of memory being something fragile and identity never being fixed is so fascinating to me, and I think a lot of people who discovered their queerness in their 30s and onwards will relate. There was also another inspiration, but you’ll have to finish the book before I can tell you what that was… Spoilers!
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
The first scene I ever wrote for Abigail was a scene where she stands out in the rain, and peels back her molecular SmartSkin to expose her chassis to the water falling from the sky. Another character watches her do this, and I loved the idea of having the confidence to strip naked – as naked as you can ever get, down to your bones – in front of someone you trust, at potential risk to damage of yourself. Abigail doesn’t do this to please the other character, she does it because she wants to, because she is falling in love with herself.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
I wrote the book in ten days, whilst on retreat at Gladstone’s Library in North Wales – I do not recommend writing a book this quickly! But I had been obsessed with the story for so long that it was so easy to write, as if I already had the exact sentences I wanted to use completely memorised. It was a challenge to slow down and edit the book, making sure all those scenes I’d envisiaged were coming across correctly, and that the characters were making themselves known as much as they could on the page. I loved creating this book so much.
What’s next for you?
My first graphic novel, created with Logan Hanning, will be published in June! KICKFLIP follows the story of Elliot – a non binary kid who is presenting as a girl at school and a boy at the skate park, but neither of those are who they really are. Throw in a classroom bully and a budding skater crush, and Elliot is about to have a very interesting year…
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?
I can’t wait for Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon – I love the dragon-rich sapphic fantasy of the Roots of Chaos books, and this shorter book will be straight to the top of my TBR when it arrives!
