If you are looking for a heartfelt story about love, acceptance, and the fight towards equality, Fin & Rye & Fireflies is the book for you. I don’t want to spoil too much, but I cried. And I’m sure that you will, too!
It was so exciting to ask author Harry Cook some of our most burning questions about his fantastic novel and are ecstatic to share his insightful and amazing answers with you!
Congratulations on a phenomenal book! Where did the inspiration for Fin & Rye & Fireflies come from?
I was initially inspired to write Fin & Rye & Fireflies because I vividly remember not seeing myself represented anywhere when I was growing up. All the films, TV shows and books I read were from the heterosexual perspective and I kind of had to translate everything to fit my life experience when I was coming to terms with my sexuality in my teens. I wanted to write a love story that I would’ve loved to have read growing up.
Fin and Rye’s story is very emotional and touches upon very important and relatable subjects, such as mental illness, drug abuse (and the effects it can have on the addicted person’s loved ones), family relationships and much more. Did you know that you wanted all of these themes to be a part of your story or did some aspects come to you while writing your story?
I knew that I wanted to include all these themes into the story when I first set out to write it, but I wanted to make sure that they were placed tactfully and with as much love and respect as possible for each individual theme. I didn’t want to gloss over anything, but at the same time I wanted to make sure it fit the narrative. That definitely evolved as I was writing.
The story is also about a lot of firsts, which are always important in a teenager’s life. The readers get to experience first love, first heartbreak, first kiss, and much more through the eyes of the characters. What made you decide to start at the very basics with your characters?
I think the interesting thing about ‘firsts’ for young queer people is that, more often than not, our firsts are clouded with a whole muddle of different emotions because there are so many additional stresses that come with figuring out your sexuality, society and parents. While most straight kids experience their first kiss, first love or what not, queer people usually have this feeling of “this is great, but what will my family think” or something to that degree. It’s a completely different dynamic and one I was really keen on telling.
Your book is very diverse; from sexuality to gender-identity to race and worldviews, there is a character in here for everyone. How important do you think diversity is when it comes to the media we consume?
I think it’s imperative. I truly believe that representation is one of the most important things in our society because unless young queer people can see themselves in films, TV and books, their idea around what’s possible, who they are and how important they are is really affected. People need to see themselves in order to know that they are worthy, just the same as everyone else.
Conversion Therapy takes center stage for a part of Fin & Rye & Fireflies. How did you go about dealing with this subject? What did the research look like?
I was adamant on making sure I got as much information as possible. I read a lot. I met with my friend Chris Csabs, who is the co-founder of SOGICE Survivors of conversion therapy in Australia and I had him read my manuscript and give me notes. I really wanted to convey the horror of what it’s about. I wanted to make the villain in the story ignorance and hate. That was my goal.
How important was it to you to have both supportive and loving parents represented in your book and parents who actually want their child to go to conversion therapy?
I think my goal was to show that, a lot of the time, parents want what they think is best for their kids. A lot of it is based in fear, ignorance and what they’ve been taught since they were kids. I didn’t want to make the parents of Fin to be these hateful, horrible people who you couldn’t understand. I wanted to show the struggle of two parents who were trying to figure out why what they had been taught all their life was wrong. I think it’s important to show the human side of what lies underneath so much prejudice and ignorance. It’s fear.
I wrote Rye’s parents as I see my parents: full of love.
Is there anything you would like to tell the readers who pick up Fin & Rye & Fireflies?
I really hope you love reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It means the world to me whenever I hear from people saying they’ve enjoyed it.
Is there anything you’re working on right now that you can tell us about?
I’m currently working on another YA novel. Another book full of queer characters, but this time I’m throwing magic into the mix. I’m so excited.
