We chat with author Sidney Karger about The Bump, which follows two men who are expecting a baby via surrogate go on the road trip of a lifetime.
Hi, Sidney! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi there! My debut novel Best Men was published in 2023 and my second novel The Bump is coming out May 21st. I’m also a screenwriter for film and TV and have a few screenplays and TV projects in active development with various producers and studios. Before that I was a writer/director with Comedy Central. I’m originally from the suburbs of Chicago and now I live in New York with my partner and our Australian labradoodle named Zelda.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I started reading every book I could get my hands at a very early age. In grade school I was in a program called Great Books where we’d read and report on classic books and I fell in love with all kinds of storytelling then. When I was about 12 years old, I sat down to write a Choose Your Own Adventure book, which was sort of like fan fiction and I knew I wanted to be a writer when my friends and family kept bringing that book up and encouraging me to write more. My best childhood friend and I also wrote little plays and original songs that we’d perform in our bedrooms. I was also a huge movie nerd so I studied screenwriting and filmmaking in college. But I’ve been making short films, filming original comedy sketches, writing screenplays and working on novels for as long as I can remember.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. Or maybe something by Judy Blume like Superfudge or Blubber.
- The one that made you want to become an author: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger I think I read it in high school. I couldn’t believe the narrator was also the protagonist of the story. The intimacy of that blew my mind and I knew that I had to try writing in the first person.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Most recently I read Yellowface by R. F. Kuang which was such a thrilling, funny, dark, sad, topical experience. It dives deep into the book world in a satirical way that I’d never read before. The highs and lows of that story have stuck with me.
Your latest novel, The Bump, is out May 21st! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Gay couple having a baby.
What can readers expect?
The Bump is a rom-com so hopefully readers will laugh, feel joy, smile and maybe even cry a little.
Here’s the official description:
Wyatt Wallace is a practical, superorganized director of TV commercials. Biz Petterelli is a child-actor-turned-magazine-writer who thrives on spontaneity. Though polar opposites, they are fully committed to their relationship and their life in Brooklyn with their dog, Matilda. They’re also about to have a baby together.
And they’re freaking out.
They’ve both dreamed of becoming parents, but now that it’s happening, they’re doubting everything. Their baby is due in a few weeks and instead of flying to California just before the birth as planned, Biz has a better idea. They could use one last hurrah, along with some serious “us-time” to mend the issues they’ve been having lately—before they get tied down by fatherhood and its impending responsibilities. So the daddies-to-be load up their car and embark on an epic cross-country babymoon.
But when they take several unexpected detours, old wounds are reopened and secrets spill out that could change their relationship for better or for worse, forcing the couple to reexamine the meaning of family while building their own. After all, what’s a road trip without a few bumps along the way?
Where did the inspiration for The Bump come from?
When close friends of mine started having babies and sharing their stories, I couldn’t help but think this high stakes, life-changing milestone would make a fun and profound idea to set a novel around. Since most rom-coms tell the story of how a couple meets-cute, I wanted to tell a story about an established couple who go through all the twists and turns of a typical romantic comedy right before they have a meet-cute with their new baby.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
The story is told in a dual POV of the main couple so I had a blast alternating between Wyatt and Biz. The double perspective kept me on my toes but also allowed me to dig further into what motivates both of them. The main characters are polar opposites so exploring how they overlap and how they don’t was fun and it became the engine to their story in order to finally get them on the same page emotionally.
This is your second published novel! What have you learned between the two when it comes to writing and publishing?
Lots of people are reading! Whether it’s family members, friends, long lost high school friends, social media friends or complete strangers, it’s incredible to learn just how many people read my first book, Best Men. Thanks to my amazing publishing and publicity team, as well as social media, I’m receiving constant feedback on my first book a year later and now I’m feeling the anticipation of my second book.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on my third book right now. It’s maybe a bit too early to describe what it’s about but it will definitely have humor and heart like my first two books. I also have a few screenplays in development, one set up with Billy Porter producing, that I hope will become movies very soon.
Lastly, are there any book releases that you’re looking forward to picking up this year?
I just picked up Emily Henry’s latest novel, Funny Story, which I can’t wait to read since she always brings the rom-com joy. I’m also looking forward to Steven Rowley’s The Guncle Abroad.
