We’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with Kelly Quindlen, author of Her Name in the Sky and her upcoming YA novel, Late to the Party. We asked her all our burning questions around her stories, music and the difficulties of being a teen!
Hi Kelly! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with us! Why don’t you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hey, thanks for having me! I’m a novelist from Atlanta who writes about queer teenagers and their paths to understanding themselves. I grew up in western New York, Japan, and Singapore – my family was always moving around for my dad’s job. I loved writing from the time I was six years old; books and stories were a major constant in my life no matter where we were living. I went to college in Tennessee, taught middle school math in Louisiana, then settled back in Atlanta to start my writing career. I love traveling, planning weekend visits with my siblings and cousins, and working with the LGBT Catholic community.
If you had to describe the vibe of Late to the Party with one song, what would it be?
“For Real” by Mallrat. They even use the lyrics “late to the party” in that song.
Now tell us a bit more about Late to the Party!
It’s a story for the late bloomer in all of us. There are five queer teenagers at the center of it, but the main character is Codi, a shy wallflower who’s trying to make the most of the summer leading into her senior year.
In this book, you tackle the realities of being a teen and having to cope with the expectations that teens put on themselves to measure up. What do you hope readers take away from Codi’s story?
That the only “right” way to be a teenager is to let yourself grow into whomever you were meant to be. Don’t box yourself in. Don’t tell yourself a limited story about who you are or who you could be. Give yourself the time and grace to discover who you are and what/whom you love.
Codi, Maritza, and JaKory watch a lot of movies together, the gayer the better. Were the descriptions for the movies based on real ones? If so, could you share some titles you love?
Haha, no, they weren’t based on real movies, although the quip about queer women’s stories always ending tragically was definitely borne of my own frustration. Some of my favorite queer movies are I Can’t Think Straight, Imagine Me & You, Saving Face, D.E.B.S., and, most recently, Portrait of a Lady on Fire. I sobbed watching that one.
Music plays a big role in the friendship between Ricky and Codi. Is there a song that you automatically connect with them?
There’s this beautiful, stripped down cover of “Use Somebody” by Tyrone Wells that always reminds me of them. It’s pure and gentle and soft, like their friendship.
Bonus: what’s Ricky’s least favorite song of all time?
Ha, probably that Rick Astley one. Ricky is NOT happy to share a name with that guy.
Speaking of being a teen, want to share some awkward stories with our readers?
Oh man. How about my response to being asked to senior prom? I was so caught off guard—and deeply in the closet, even to myself—that all I managed to tell the guy was, “Yeah, rock on.” Definitely a cringe moment.
Without spoiling too much, what was your favorite scene to write for Late to the Party?
The tender moment in the tree house when Codi paints Lydia’s portrait. That scene felt so emotionally real to me. I also loved writing the scene when Ricky comes to Codi’s house after their fight and the two of them lie on the basement floor and talk about how they perceive each other.
You self-published your first novel and now Late to the Party marks your traditional debut. Would you mind telling us a bit about the differences between traditional and self-publishing and what the change was like for you?
Yeah, it’s been a big change, but in a very good way. The biggest difference is the timeline. My self-published novel, Her Name in the Sky, took a total of two years to write and publish. Once I was ready to put it out there, it was just, boom – it was done. With Late to the Party, I spent four years writing it before we sold it in April 2018. Then it was another two years to go through the editorial and publication process before we got to where we are now, with the actual release. So it takes a lot of patience, but to me, it’s worth it. I’m thrilled with the final version of the book.
I do want to point out that one of my key reasons for switching to traditional publishing was a matter of reader access. Her Name in the Sky is readily available on so many platforms, but even so, I still get a number of messages from people who have trouble accessing the book. Sometimes that’s because they’re in another country, but many times it’s because they’re young and closeted. They can’t order a book online without outing themselves to their parents. So how do you remedy that? My thought is that you have to make it as seamless as possible for queer books, especially young adult queer books, to land in readers’ hands. I want it to be easy for a 16-year-old kid in Missouri to drive to the nearest Barnes & Noble and find this book and pay for it with cash, which you can’t do online. Or to walk into the local library and read it for free without anyone needing to know. Traditional publishers have the wherewithal to make that happen.
Late to the Party releases on April 21 st, but what’s next for you? Can you tell us a bit about what you’re working on now?
Yes, it does! And I can’t wait!
Next up is a teen romantic comedy between a down-on-her-luck basketball player and the cheerleading captain she despises. When they get into a fender bender in the school parking lot, they’re forced to carpool and… well, let’s just say they don’t hate each other by the end of the book ;).
Last but not least, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
So many I could name, but I’ll shout out some of my fellow 2020 queer YA debuts who are going to be affected by this global pandemic. I’d encourage readers to hit up their local indie bookstore and request Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales (available now), The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (releasing in May), and You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson (releasing in June). They’re all gay, and they’re all fantastic!
