We chat with author H.E. Edgmon about his excellent new YA contemporary fantasy, Godly Heathens, where a teen, Gem, finds out they’re a reincarnated god from another world.
Hi, H.E! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I’m a rescued stray originally from the rural South. I’ve floated around the country picking up tall tales for the last half of my life, but these days my eclectic little family is putting down roots in the Pacific Northwest. If I were a god, I’d be the god of dogs–or a nice soup.
Oh, and I tell stories. Different genres and age ranges, sometimes different mediums, but always queer and speculative and overfull of teeth and inappropriately timed jokes.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I spent my formative years hiding from reality while reading and writing fanfic. Discovering the joys and benefits of seeing people like myself in the main character slot grew into a passion for creating whole worlds where our most vulnerable are wanted and powerful.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke
- The one that made you want to become an author: Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Anything Andrew Joseph White has ever put his hands on.
Your latest novel, Godly Heathens, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Terrible immortal children’s fight club.
What can readers expect?
A villain main character whose god complex gets curb-stomped by them actually being a god. Religious trauma sipping meme juice through a curly straw. A hefty trigger warning list and a deliciously good time.
Where did the inspiration for Godly Heathens come from?
Partly all the paranormal YA with love triangles I devoured in the early 2000s, desperate for one, just one, oh my god, please, was one single series ever going to actually end in a throuple. Partly all the years I spent stripping off the spiky protective layers I developed as a queer kid in the Bible Belt, and the weird feelings that came from realizing my attempts to protect myself had kinda made me act like a dick!
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I can’t talk about most of the gods without spoiling everything, but I can talk about Poppy White: god of death, corpse Barbie, Babygirl. If Gem and Poppy were both dangling from a cliff and I could only save one, Gem would be Jell-O at the bottom in a heartbeat. That little monster has me wrapped around her bony, bedazzled finger. (And oh, what I would give to write more about her and her brilliant, steadfast girlfriend, the god of battle.)
This is your third published novel! What are some of the key lessons you have learned when it comes to writing and the publishing world?
It’s kind of wild how every author feels radically different from the next about why we do what we do. Some of us are led by a compulsion to tell stories–we would be doing it even if we weren’t getting paid. Some of us are approaching this in a much more pragmatic sort of way, because it’s the career itself we’re interested in. And everyone knows there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all advice in this industry, but I’m telling you, seriously, there is no such thing as one-size-fits-all advice in this industry. Deciding you want to be an author is great, but acknowledging the why of it is how you end up finding your people and getting where you actually want to be.
Can you share with us a little teaser for the sequel, Merciless Saviors?
It starts the instant after Godly ends, and we get to hold on for dear life as Gem attempts to ride their tornado of a brain like a bucking bull. If Godly Heathens is Gem reacting to their whole world going upside down, Merciless Saviors is the world reacting to Gem going upside down.
What’s next for you?
Just so much. 2024 is a big year for me. Merciless Saviors comes out just six months after Godly, on April 16th. Rob Costello’s YA queer monster anthology We Mostly Come Out at Night is out May 21st, wherein I get to tackle a post-apocalyptic retelling of the Biblical Great Flood. In Terry J. Benton-Walker’s YA horror anthology The White Guy Dies First, I got to sink my teeth into the cannibalism trope–that comes out July 16th. Then The Flicker, my Middle Grade debut that I’m either pitching as “hope for an Indigenous future” or “anticapitalism for kids,” publishes September 24th.
Readers can expect a standalone YA and another standalone MG to follow in 2025, but those details are little secrets between me and my editors for now. And then there are more secrets in the queue, but those are super secrets. In 2026, I plan to take a nap.
Lastly, what 2024 book releases are you looking forward to picking up?
Hold on, let me get on the megaphone: Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White is my most anticipated release from him yet, and my personal favorite of anything he’s ever written. Anyone who knows me knows I’m Andrew’s #1 fanboy (I have a stick ‘n poke Hell Followed With Us tattoo) so that’s saying a whole lot.
Blood Justice, the sequel to Terry J Benton-Walker’s Blood Debts, is out in April, and I could not possibly be more grateful to live in a world where Terry is making art, and the privilege of doing it alongside him. I also have my hands on an early copy of the incredible Courtney Gould’s What the Woods Took that I am both voracious about and trying so very hard to savor properly.
