We talk to Dahlia Adler, author of the NA Radleigh University series and multiple YA novels such as Just Visiting and her upcoming release Cool for the Summer, which is all about bisexual confusion, self-discovery. and changing dreams. Dahlia also appeared in anthologies such as His Hideous Heart and All Out. We got to ask Dahlia all our burning questions about her experiences as an author, her protagonist’s Demi Lovato obsession and so much more!
Hi, Dahlia! Thanks for joining us! Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Thank you for having me! As you mentioned, I’m Dahlia Adler and I’m an author of a whole bunch of books, including the upcoming Cool for the Summer, and an editor of a few anthologies as well—That Way Madness Lies just released in March. I’m also the founder of the website LGBTQReads, which has coincidentally also been around for five years, and I write for a bunch of other sites as well, Buzzfeed most regularly. My dayjob is also in publishing, though on the academic side—I’m an acquisitions editor in the mathematics division of a scholarly publisher. And if that weren’t enough, I also have two extremely adorable kids.
You’ve written both Young Adult and New Adult novels – can you talk a bit about the challenges and perks that come with the two different genres?
Truth be told, the way I write them doesn’t have a massive difference between the two categories, because my YA protagonists are always on the upper end, age-wise, anyway. But one thing that definitely stands out—and I think this is common as a difference between the two—is the amount of familial and especially parental presence.
In YA, the parents might be impediments or problem solvers or in the case of Cool for the Summer, the instigators for the entire plot. In NA, where protagonists are usually on their own for the first time, there’s often an implicit or even explicit celebration of that freedom, combined with an “Oh God, I’m on my own—now what?” And I think both of those are fun to play with—the different dynamics and allowances, and the extent to which characters are able to pursue their passions… and also, specifically because I write queer lit, the intricacies of coming out to parents at different times.
Do you have a set writing routine? How has it changed since the pandemic and do you have any tips for aspiring authors on how to keep writing during these trying times?
I wish. I used to have more of a routine, which was condensed enough between my job and kids and all the stuff that actually comes with publishing books, but now with the pandemic, which has had a lot of childcare challenges, it’s basically just grasping at any time I can find and praying something clicks. The draft I’ve just finished is the roughest one I’ve ever done, and I’m really grateful I have a supportive publishing team and amazing friends who always offer to read my work.
The thing is, for some people these are dream conditions for writing. If I didn’t have kids, this would probably be the best writing period of my life. For everyone for whom the past year has been a wild scramble financially, emotionally, etc. all I can say is give yourself a break and stick to the writing that actually makes you feel like you can breathe. It’s cool if that’s fanfiction. It’s cool if that’s poetry but that’s not what you publish. It’s cool if that’s blog posts. And if it isn’t anything, and you really and truly need a break from it all, that’s cool too. It will come back to you.
Of course, if you’re on deadline and none of that’s an option, just…get some damn words down and let it be rougher than you’ve ever let a draft be in your life. Reward yourself for every freaking page. Leave your document open all day so you can come back to it whenever you can find a minute to breathe—I did that one workday, and in the tiniest bathroom break-sized bites, I got a thousand words without having to budget an actual writing day for it. We’re all doing the best we can.
Now, give us the elevator pitch for Cool for the Summer!
The absolute shortest way to describe it is “Bisexual Grease,” and the slightly longer version is “It’s about a girl who’s finally gotten The Guy, but can’t stop thinking about The Girl.”
What inspired you to write Cool for the Summer?
The initial inspiration was a YA book I’d read where the main character had a summer love interest and a school love interest that collided, and after reading it, I thought it would’ve been a lot more interesting if the love interests hadn’t both been guys. And then of course, my love for Demi Lovato and the magnificence that is Cool for the Summer filled in pretty much the rest of the plot, and the settings are inspired by where I live and by a personal favorite vacation spot.
Lara is a huge fan of Demi Lovato and the book is even the title of one of her songs! What are Lara’s (and your) go-to Demi songs for every occasion?
My absolute favorite is “Confident”—that song pumps me (and Lara!) up like nothing else. Secretly, my favorite thing to do when I’m walking while listening to it is imagine the main characters from my New Adult series doing it as a group karaoke performance. I also obviously love “Cool for the Summer,” and when I want music to totally rip me apart, I love “Stone Cold” and watching her 2020 Grammy performance of “Anyone.”
There is a lot of discussion around food of different cultures in this novel – my stomach growled when Lara talked about her family’s favorite food and then got to discover Jasmine’s mother’s phenomenal cooking. What’s your favorite dish?
My son’s favorite picture book right now is Every Night is Pizza Night by Kenji Lopez-Alt (who’s my gourmand husband’s hero), and there’s great conversation in it about how different foods are the best for different occasions, and there isn’t really any one best. That’s exactly how I feel. I love fried chicken, especially my dad’s (made with matzoh meal, for that real Ashkenazi touch), but for something sweet, my love of macarons is infamous. Duck is that thing I have to order if I see it on a menu. And culturally, there’s no Jewish food I love with the same ardor as potato kugel—it’s a tough food to ruin for me.
Cool for the Summer discusses Lara’s crush on Chase Harding, a sweet and strong football star and she has a list of things in mind that she’s always dreamt of doing with Chase – go to Homecoming, for example. This list then also makes her think of her experience with Jasmine, and how much there is still to explore in her life. If you were to go back to high school, what one thing that you didn’t get to cross off your own list would you want to do?
Truthfully I think I’d change more about how I felt about myself than what I’d done. I feel like I did the stuff I wanted to do; I just wasn’t very adventurous at the time. But in Cool for the Summer, Lara gains a whole new level of confidence about herself through her summer with Jasmine, learns to take herself and her passions more seriously, and I wish I’d done that instead of giving way too much credence to classmates whose opinions didn’t matter.
I loved how you explored the topic of self-discovery and staying true to yourself even if your vision of your future, happy self changes. What was the hardest part of Lara’s journey to get right? What was the most fun to write?
The hardest parts were probably the coming out parts, because there are a few of them, and each one has its own nuances, just like in real life. Coming out isn’t a one time thing, as literally every queer person knows, and Lara has to do a few in quick succession that are coming from different angles, to different responses, to very different people. That said, despite being difficult, it was definitely cathartic!
As for the most fun…probably the scenes in the Outer Banks. There’s minimal angst, there’s so much fun and new connections and parties and other stuff, there’s so much discovery… I got to put a lot of joy in that, especially in the first draft before I really pulled out the more painful parts of Jasmine’s background.
With Cool for the Summer releasing soon, are you already working on another project? If so, can you share a bit about it with us?
I am! I’m currently working on my next f/f YA, which doesn’t have a final title yet but which I call Opposition, and it’s a romance between an aspiring cheer captain and her small town’s new quarterback, who’s the first girl ever to hold that spot. I’m also working on another anthology, this one of fairytale retellings, which is slated for Fall 2022.
Last but not least, do you have any bookish recommendations for our readers?
Always. If you liked/are excited by Cool for the Summer, definitely check out Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan, Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale, Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales, and Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli, and for some other Sapphic books I love, I really cannot say enough good about You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson, Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust, The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski, and Late to the Party by Kelly Quindlen.
