The amazing L.C. Rosen, known for witty writing and inspiring queer stories, is back with a wonderfully diverse LGBTQ+ story, Camp! We were lucky enough to chat with Rosen about this book filled with positivity and breaking the toxic masculinity agenda! From writing Camp and favourite characters, to the importance of queer YA books and favourite reads, we discussed it all in today’s interview! Keep on reading to learn more about L.C. Rosen and don’t forget to add Camp to your pride month TBR! You won’t want to miss this one!
Hi, L.C.! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Sure! My name is Lev Rosen, but I sometimes use L.C. on my books. Camp is my 6th novel – I have another YA, two adult novels and two middle grade. I’m a born and raised New Yorker and I still live in Manhattan.
Camp is your new YA contemporary story that breaks down so many toxic stereotypes and prejudice! If you had to describe it in five words, what would they be?
Queer Community Battles Toxic Masculinity.
Now tell us a bit more about it! What can readers expect from this unapologetically queer masterpiece?
Camp is the story of Randy, who has been going to LGBTQIA+ summer camp Camp Outland for four years, and for all four of those years has had a crush on Hudson, who is mas4masc – meaning he’s only into butch “straight-acting” types, something nail-polish wearing, unicorn loving, theatre kid Randy is definitely not. But Randy is an actor, so this year, he’s remade himself as Del (the other part of Randall): Hudson’s masc fantasy, with the plan to woo him, and then once they’re in love, gradually return to his usual self. Of course, the plan does not go as intended.
What was the inspiration behind Camp? Any specific reasons why you set this story in a queer camp for teens?
The big inspiration was old 60s Rock Hudson/Doris Day type sex comedies, where there was a battle of the sexes and people pretended to be other people to win people’s hearts but discovered maybe they weren’t pretending along the way. I love the movie Down With Love, which is a postmodern version of those movies, so much, and I really wanted to create a sort of contemporary queer YA version of Down With Love. The summer camp was a secondary thought – I’d been meaning to write a summer camp book for a while, and this seemed like the ideal plot for it. Plus, I’d gone to a conservative Jewish summer camp growing up, and it’s where I’d experienced the most homophobia – so taking that camp back, and making it SuperGay, felt right.
What was your favourite part of writing Camp? Can you maybe pick your favourite character from the story?
I loved all of it, I have no favourites, just like parents have no favourite children. That being said, something I really loved getting to write that I haven’t had much chance to talk about yet is the musical they put on in the camp. It’s Bye Bye Birdie, a classic, but the counsellor/director Mark puts a queer spin on it. Not just casting Kim as a guy, or having a non-binary Birdie, but transforming the musical into this full musical about queer acceptance. I really loved writing those moments.
Would you ever consider returning to Camp Outland – either following Randy yet again, or one of the other characters, like George or Ashleigh?
I might! They still have a summer left before college… But nothing I can talk about now.
Camp addresses a lot of important issues such as toxic masculinity, the role and influence of stereotypes, and the importance of being true to yourself. Why do you think it is imperative to include themes like that in books for young adults?
I think it’s weird not to. Teens – especially queer teens – are figuring stuff out. More so than adults, who usually have too much busywork to have much time for revelations or introspection, and more so than kids who are learning about the world around them more than their own place in it. But teens are at that point where they’re really seeing how the world sees them and how they see themselves and how those two things often don’t reconcile, and what to do about that. Plus, they’re trying on identities, seeing what fits. YA that doesn’t include that kind of introspection, that kind of figuring out, just doesn’t read as very realistic to me.
Your new book has a love story at its center, but it is also a beautiful tale of friendships – queer friendships! What are some of your favourite platonic friendships between queer characters in literature?
I think one of the best examples of a group of friends of all sexualities in contemporary YA is Julian Winters’ Running With Lions. Winters just gets all the nuances of a big group of friends with a variety of sexualities and it’s really sweet and beautifully done.
Camp is your second YA book – do you have any plans for more books for this demographic? Any future projects you can hint at?
I’d love to write more YA! But as for current project or stuff that might be coming out, I don’t talk about it before it’s announced – bad luck.
Are there any queer YA books that you think simply everyone should read? Any favourites we should add to our TBRs?
The list is long, of course, but stuff by Alex London, Tom Ryan, Caleb Roerhig, and Julian Winters always gets a thumbs up from me. I just discovered Far From You by Tess Sharpe, which is a great Veronica Mars-type twisty noir, or, if you want, check out the first queer YA novel – it came out before Stonewall, and it’s called I’ll Get There. It Better Be Worth the Trip by John Donovan. And it’s not the morality play you might be thinking it is, condemning queerness. It’s not a super positive book, but it’s nuanced and if you’re interested in queer YA, I think brushing up on the history of it is really important. It didn’t start with Simon.
And last but not least, do you have any LGBTQ+ new releases of 2020 recommendations that we should keep our eyes peeled for?
Surrender Your Sons, by Adam Sass (I have read it, it is amazing), Darius The Great Deserves Better, by Adib Khorram, The Summer of Everything by Julian Winters (I am reading it, it is fantastic), I Hope You’re Listening by Tom Ryan, The Fell of Dark, by Caleb Roehrig (also read, also amazing) You Should See Me In A Crown by Leah Johnson, and Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. Those are just off the top of my head. Stuff either I’m excited for other people to see because I’ve read it and it’s great, or stuff I’m excited to read myself.
