Q&A: Steven Rowley, Author of ‘The Guncle’

The Nerd Daily contributor Mimi recently had the chance to chat with Steven Rowley, bestselling author of Lily and the Octopus, The Editor and the upcoming unputdownable read The Guncle! We got to ask Steven all our burning questions on his favourite scenes to write, future projects and book recommendations!

Hi, Steven! Thanks for joining us today! Why don’t you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

I’m a novelist and screenwriter living in Palm Springs with my partner, the writer Byron Lane. My new novel, The Guncle, publishes May 25^th from G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

The Guncle is your third novel. How has the process of writing changed for you? What are your favourite and least favourite parts of creating these fictional tales?

The Guncle was the first book I sold from a pitch and sample chapters, so it was heavily outlined from the outset. I was definitely a pantser beforehand, with only the vaguest of idea where I was headed before I sat down to write. Now I’ve created some hybrid of the two styles. I see the value of outlines, but I like them loose enough to leave room to let my characters surprise me with some of their choices.

Now, tell us about The Guncle! What can readers expect when picking up this book?

The Guncle is an Auntie Mame-inspired story about a former television star living a reclusive life in Palm Springs who takes in his niece and nephew for the summer after a family tragedy and it brings about a season of healing for all three.

What inspired you to write The Guncle?

Here, I need to thank my brilliant editor, Sally Kim. I had just spent a week with my two nephews and documented their visit on Instagram, she called me out of the blue to say “Do you think there’s something to write about there?” And that’s what got the wheels turning. I have five young nieces and nephews (and no children of my own) and they are incredibly special to me. That summer I lost one of my very best friends from college to breast cancer; she left behind a six year-old son.  The heartbreak of losing a mother at such a young age seemed unbearable to me, and I wanted to write about it to understand. She very much informed the character of Sara and drove me to want to write this story.

Patrick is an incredibly charismatic character. If The Guncle were to get an adaptation, who could bring Patrick’s magnetic personality to the big screen?

It’s incredibly fun to think about, as I see this book very visually – I would love to see it adapted for the screen. In my head it’s an actor like Dan Levy or Billy Eichner. Someone who appears prickly and self-involved at first glance with enormous heart underneath the surface.

Grant and Maisie (the children Patrick takes care of) were such show stealers! What was your favorite scene to write with those adorable troublemakers involved?

Not having kids myself, they were incredible characters to write and I poured my heart and soul into them and love them as if they were my own. There is a showstopper of a scene that includes a very expensive Japanese toilet and it was the first scene with them that allowed me to give the reader a glimpse of them, not as kids in mourning, but just kids. It was a joy to write. But there are also moments where one of them would say something so completely profound it would take my breath away. This is what I mean when I say I love to give my characters room to surprise me.

I have loads of favourite scenes in The Guncle but my top moments were usually when Maisie and Grant would ask Patrick a question that absolutely stumped him. Did you come up with these questions yourself or is there a kid in your life that inspired the unanswerable questions?

Having five nieces and nephews of my own, and several more I consider honorary niblings, I sometimes feel like I’m fielding questions left and right. I think parents learn to tune many of these things out, it’s a survival skill on their part. But as I writer and an outsider I hear every one. And maybe a few are drawn from my own childhood observations, or looking at my dog and thinking “Why don’t you have eyebrows?”

The Guncle is very much a story about loss and the grieving process. What was the toughest scene to get right when it comes to grief?

Layering humour through all of the scenes. How much is enough, how much is too much. It’s almost cliché to think of humour as healing – but it is. And even dark humour can sometimes pull us through. People are complex. It’s easy to write a scene where a character is crying in response to something sad. But how can you communicate the same emotion with a joke or a cutting remark? I tried to treat grief very seriously, as I did in my first novel Lily and the Octopus. But I’m also surprised by how funny these books turned out to be. Pleasantly so. I want them to be healing for the reader as well.  

I also have to give a shoutout to the throuple JED because I loved Patrick’s evolving understanding of a polyamorous relationship. What do you imagine John, Eduardo and Dwayne to be up to after the novel ends?

I’m so glad you mentioned them, because these characters really tickled my imagination. Love exists in so many ways beyond what we’re used to seeing, and they are a lovely example. It was fun to use them as a foil to Patrick who had crafted his life so that at the opening of this story he was very much alone. I wanted a counterbalance. Then it became fun making them role models of sorts, even though their relationship model is perhaps different than so many aspire to.

With The Guncle releasing soon, are you already working on a new project? If so, can you share a sneak peek with us?

I am working on a new novel, although I’m not yet ready to share much about it. I had the joy of writing an original short story for Audible, The Dogs of Venice, and having it narrated by the great Neil Patrick Harris. I wrote it last summer when we were at the height of lockdown and it was fun to travel to Italy in my head. And I’m very involved in the feature film adaptations for my first two novels, Lily and the Octopus and The Editor — they are both inching their way closer to the screen.

Last but not least, do you have any bookish recommendations for our readers?

Surprise, surprise, I’ve been drawn to comedic novels this past year. I recently read and loved Better Luck Next Time by Julia Claiborne Johnson, whose first novel Be Frank With Me was instructive on writing children well. I reread Less by Andrew Sean Greer and on second reading discovered so much delightful wordplay. Likewise, The Grammarians by Cathleen Schine and An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England by Brock Clarke are both joyfully clever and catnip for lovers of language. And there’s a debut coming this summer that made me laugh out loud, Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead by Emily Austin.

Will you be picking up The Guncle? Tell us in the comments below!