We chat with Chloe Spencer about her queer sci-fi adventure Monstersona, which is described as Thelma and Louise meet Godzilla and perfect for fans of Erik. J Brown’s All That’s Left In The World and Charlotte Nicole Davies’ The Good Luck Girls!
Hi Chloe, tell us a little bit about yourself!
Hi there! I’m an author, game developer, and filmmaker that’s originally from Woodbury, Minnesota; just outside of the Twin Cities. In the mid-to-late 2010s, I attended the University of Oregon and got a BA in Journalism, and after that, spent a lot of time writing for games journalism sites and short stories for different anthologies. I also made a few RPG games during this time that centered on queer characters. After some time, I decided that I wanted to go back to school so that I could work in the film industry, and graduated with my MFA from SCAD last year. I love to read, play video games, and spend time with my two cats. In my work, I love writing horror, sci-fi, and romance.
How did the idea for your novel Monstersona, out Feb 14, come to you and what inspired you to write it?
I started writing Monstersona in October of 2020, which was during a time of a lot of chaos in my life, as it was for most people. I was working and attending school, and at first, writing the book was meant to be something fun and helped me blow off steam. As I was writing it, I came to realize that it helped me process a lot of grief and losses that I had been through over the years, and to better understand my own emotions. A large part of the novel also focuses on feminine rage and bodily autonomy, which is central to a key character’s experiences, and derived from watching various political movements unfold.
I have also always loved road trip stories, and personally grew to love road trips when I was commuting back and forth from Oregon and Minnesota, and then later, Georgia and Minnesota. Going on solo road trips have helped me process big events in my life and understand myself better, whereas going on road trips with other people have helped me become closer to them. There’s something transformative about road trips that I think fits perfectly within the context of YA novels and coming of age stories, and adding a horror element to that just made the writing process that much more interesting for me.
Could you tell us a little bit about your writing process? How do you go about approaching a novel like Monstersona?
The first big thing that I had to decide was where the road trip was going to take place. I thought that starting it in Maine, the site of many Stephen King novels, would be a cheeky little start. I knew that I didn’t want Riley, who was relatively new to road tripping, to endure a massive cross-country trip from coast-to-coast, as that would be really tough for a new driver to do, and would also unnecessarily prolong the book, so I decided that Minneapolis, Minnesota would be the halfway point, as a way to pay homage to my home state. Once I had the route locked down and knew how long it would take (about 24 hours, but this is extended in the book because they have a dog, need to deal with catastrophic traffic due to multiple crises, and y’know, are being chased by armed men), it was easy to get started from there.
Writing Riley and Aspen’s dynamic was quite possibly one of my favorite things to do. At the beginning of the book, they are strangers and somewhat adversarial, and grow closer over the course of the trip and grow to understand each other better. In a weird, roundabout way, it’s like writing an enemies to lovers dynamic, but less extreme—this made it fun. A large part of their dynamic was also inspired by a relationship that I was in at the time: the good, the bad, and the things that I wished for. Most of the book came pretty naturally, aside from writing Karine, one of the antagonists. She was one whose motivations and background we had to shape a lot more over the course of the editing process, since she’s a complex character.
What are some of the books that made you realize you wanted to become a writer?
Gosh! There are so many! I think that Michelle Paver’s Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series was what motivated me really early on to write—that series was full of adventure, and a large part of the plot centered on uncovering dark secrets throughout; it was both gruesome and mysterious. As I got older, I loved books about road trips gone awry and urban fantasy stories like A. Lee Martinez’ Gil’s All Fright Diner and Perry Moore’s Hero. Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy was also great for me, because it was one of the earliest speculative series that I read that included sapphic characters, although the queer relationship in the books ended in tragedy. Sapphic fiction in general was something that was difficult for me to access, as in the early 2010s, it didn’t really exist. Most of the stories centered on coming out, and were kinda total bummers, albeit hugely important to providing representation at the time. One of the series that really got me through my teenage years was Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise. Controversial as the series can be to some, this dark dramedy was highly influential to me, since it was a narrative that had queer characters who didn’t need to have big coming out experiences; they just lived as they were.
If you could describe your debut novel, Monstersona, in one brief sentence, what would it be?
A chaotic, high-stakes road trip story coupled with a whirlwind, heart wrenching romance.
What can readers expect going into your story?
Definitely expect a lot of fights, blood, gore. I really love horror stories that don’t hold back from showing you the worst, and Monstersona is in many ways, a love letter to the body horror and sci-fi horror subgenres. I think most of the characters in this book are morally gray for different reasons, which contributes to the chaos. But I love to pair that with tender moments: sing-alongs, conversations where characters come to understand each other better, and of course, the development of the romance between Aspen and Riley. So I guess in short, expect an emotional roller coaster—and for some characters to make some seriously questionable choices.
Your deuteragonist and love interest, Aspen, is a huge film buff. What are some of your all time favorite movies and what are some that inspired this book?
Anyone who knows me in real life will know that I will never shut up about Goodfellas. There’s an offhand comment about how Aspen finds it emotionally devastating that Riley has never seen Goodfellas, and honestly, that’s just me inserting myself onto the page—and yes, I will take it extremely personally if you tell me that you’ve never seen Goodfellas. I love, love, love anything Scorsese. Other favorites include My Fair Lady and When Harry Met Sally. Jennifer’s Body and Karyn Kusama’s works also served as a major inspiration. (Karyn if you’re somehow reading this, you are my idol.) The idea of loving monsters, or loving complicated people, is something that I’ve borrowed from Ghibli classics like Spirited Away in the relationship between Chihiro and Haku, or Howl’s Moving Castle. And of course, can’t forget Guillermo del Toro’s Shape of Water.
What started your love of kaiju-style giant monsters like what we see in Monstersona?
Some of my favorite memories as a kid involved watching monster movies with one of my cousins. He was super into the Godzilla films, and we watched a lot of them when we’d get together over the holidays. I also remember watching films like Mighty Joe Young, King Kong, and the Jurassic Park films. My older brother also watched a lot of films on Syfy, so I’ve seen some really obscure (and admittedly terrible) low budget monster movies, like the Watchers series. Monsters are as exciting as much as they are excellent literary devices; serving as an allegory for otherness or fear of the unknown. In the case of Monstersona, the monster is an allegory for feminine rage.
What part are you most excited for readers to get too, without spoiling of course?
Day 3, Afternoon.
What’s next for you?
Aside from the sequel for Monstersona, I’m currently working on a paranormal romance/urban fantasy mystery YA about a ghosthunter who is trying to redeem her reputation by solving a series of murders, and the unlikely ally that she has to pair up with. Hint: it’s a ghost. There’s also some other things in the works that I hope I can talk more about later this year!
What are some other books coming out in 2023 that you’re excited about?
Just finished reading an arc of Riss M Neilson’s I’m Not Supposed to Be in the Dark—it’s her sophomore novel, and it was a spine-tingling, superbly written ghost story. Jenna Miller’s Out of Character, She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran, and Hailey Piper’s A Light Most Hateful are also on my list. Also looking forward to Christopher Hartland’s Against the Stars!
