We’ve had the pleasure of talking to Rahul Kanakia about her upcoming March release We Are Totally Normal, all things books and cover love!
Hi, Rahul! Thanks for sitting down with us! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hey! I’m an Indian-American trans woman, living in San Francisco. I write all kinds of stuff, from science fiction and fantasy short stories to literary fiction, but my biggest releases are my debut novel, a YA contemporary called Enter Title Here, and my upcoming sophomore novel, an LGBT YA contemporary called We Are Totally Normal.
Do you have any current obsessions you would like to share with our readers (this is The NERD Daily, after all!)?
Lol, let me think. You know what? I got really into Superman recently. I grew up watching the movies, where he always seemed like a bit of a dimwit, but in the comics, he’s actually quite intelligent. I sort of love Superman’s genuine good-heartedness. He’s not grim or gritty. He just wants to and needs to help people, and he always seems to have time for ordinary humans. Probably the best Superman story I’ve seen is Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman, where Superman learns he only has a year to live and decides to finish up all his unfinished business in a series of surprisingly heartwarming ways. Another good one is Alan Moore’s Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow.
If you had to describe We Are Totally Normal in five words, what would they be?
Confused kid probably isn’t straight.
Now tell us a little bit more about the book!
It’s about this ostensibly-straight high school junior, Nandan, who’s relatively well-liked and popular, but doesn’t feel like people really understand him on a deeper level. When he hooks up with this nerdy kid, Dave, after a party, Nandan’s like, “Wait a second, that’s what was wrong! I’m obviously gay!” So he does the whole thing, he comes out of the closet, he starts dating Dave, and it goes okay. He’s into it, some of the time. But other times he’s not. He sometimes feels repulsed by the idea of having sex with another man. And other times he’s really into it! Sometimes he feels as if maybe he’d like to be a girl, but other times he’s okay being a guy. It’s all pretty confusing! And he starts to wish he could just go back to being what he used to be.
What was your writing/research process like?
I did a number of drafts. I started writing the book in, I think, April of 2016, and since then I’ve probably done four or five complete rewrites. The thing I always had a firm hold of was Nandan’s voice, and his longing for a sense of connection. Everything else kind of changed around.
Without spoiling too much, what was your favourite moment/scene to write for We Are Totally Normal?
The middle of the novel is a huge party set-piece. In initial drafts, this party went on for MAAAAAANY chapters. I just love parties. Love writing them. Love all the stages, the set-up, the slow arrival of guests, the moment when it tips over and starts dying, and when you’re left all alone with the people who haven’t gone home. I even like the clean-up. Writing about the clean-up, that is. The party is shorter now, but still a huge part of the book.
If We Are Totally Normal were to be adapted, do you have any hopes in regards to its format or even its casting?
It’d be into a Japanese-style dating simulator =]
The recent covers for queer love stories (yours included!) have been blowing us away with their beauty! Are there any particular covers you absolutely love seeing?
I really like the illustrated covers too. You know what’s really been standing out? Lexa Hillyer’s Frozen Beauty, about a pair of sisters trying to figure out what happened to their missing sibling. I also love the cover for Siobhan Vivian’s We Are The Wildcats, about a field hockey squad’s wild midnight initiation ceremony. It’s got a great perspective and makes the book look like great fun.
What’s next for you? Are you working on any exciting new projects our readers should look out for?
Yeah! I’ve gotten back into short stories, and I have a few things making the rounds. Umm, I’ve got a middle-grade book on submission. Working on making edits to a literary novel for adults, about a newly-out trans woman trying to find a female BFF in San Francisco. I dunno! I’m eclectic! I haven’t been bowled over by a great new idea for a YA novel yet, but I hope it’ll come soon.
Oh! And I’ve written a little manual for writers—I call it The Cynical Writer’s Guide To The Publishing Industry—that’s going to come out in October, just in time for NaNoWriMo. This book details all the secrets the publishing industry doesn’t want you to know about, including the number one mistake that new writers make (other than writing sucky, boring manuscripts). I’m not big on teasers, so I’ll give it away for free: if you’re writing a book with no comp titles—i.e. no titles that are both similar, recent, and commercially successful—then don’t bother. You won’t be able to sell it. The industry only wants books that’re like other books that’ve done well.
Last but not least, do you have any bookish recommendations for our readers?
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…oh here’s one! As I’ve mentioned, I’ve gotten back into comments recently, and now I even subscribe to a monthly comic: Dynamite Comics’s reboot of Red Sonja, written by Mark Russell (who’s also done incredible things with The Flintstones and The Wonder Twins). In his conception, Sonja’s native people, The Hyrkanians, turn to her and anoint her as Queen after they’re faced with the threat of conquest by a neighboring empire. The series is just a lot of fun. A terrible fight against incredible odds, but also quite a bit of humor and character. Not the deepest stuff in the world, but I look forward to it arriving on my iPad every month.
