Hi, Tucker! Welcome back! How have the past three years been since we last spoke?

Three years? Phew. The world has been in upheaval, obviously. But I’ve had my work to keep things balanced. Writing a book means living part time (sometimes full time) in your imagination, which is my favorite place to be.

Your latest novel, Right Beside You, is out April 29^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Time-travel, Polaroids, mystery, love, NYC. (Did I cheat?)

What can readers expect?

Right Beside You is the story of Eddie, a recent high-school graduate who moves to New York uncertain of who he is and what he wants. He quickly tumbles into a bewildering set of experiences—is he time traveling? is he hallucinating? Is New York just a city of magic?—that challenge his perceptions of reality and truth (not always the same thing). In his sometimes-disorienting adventures, he crosses paths with people from the past and the present who compel him to reassess his understanding of himself. Francis (from 1930) and Theo (from the 2020s) and Cookie (timeless) teach him about love and confidence and finding a place in the world. He learns that history isn’t a done deal, it isn’t frozen in amber. History is very much alive and it pulses through us every day. All you have to do is look for it.

Where did the inspiration for Right Beside You come from?

New York City. In many ways, the city is the main character in Right Beside You. When you walk the streets of New York, sometimes you can feel the spirits of people who walked them years ago. It’s like the city itself is a reminder that that none of us exists without everyone who came before, and that includes (perhaps especially includes) queer people. We have always stood on the shoulders of our forebears. From there we reach higher, and then we offer our own shoulders to the next wave.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I loved digging into historical records about gay life in New York City in the early 1930s, where much of the action is set. I was inspired by just how vital and active and inventive the community was in those years, when the Empire State Building was still unfinished and Mae West was the queen of Broadway. Swimming in those waters while working on this book reminded me that queer people have always found each other and found our way through, no matter how stacked the world is against us. These days, that’s a good thing to remember.

I also loved writing Eddie’s great-great-aunt Cookie. She might be my favorite character in any of my work—exactly the kind of zany, enthusiastic, loving (and beloved) person I want to be someday. Cookie demolishes the boundaries between “real life” and fantasy and does it with glee. She wears sequins in bed!

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

We are living in very complicated times on so many fronts. It isn’t always easy to set aside the challenges and anxieties of contemporary life to focus on writing. But I soothed myself by building sentences. I relished making little worlds in my head. And I fell deeply in love with Eddie and Francis and Theo and especially Cookie. They’ve kept me afloat.

What do you hope readers take away from Right Beside You?

I hope readers find an escape in Eddie’s adventures. And when they finish, I hope they carry with them a sense of freedom and optimism and daring. And maybe some style tips from Cookie.

What’s the best and worst writing advice you’ve received?

The worst writing advice I ever got was to write simply for plot, and to spend less time writing about emotions and inner lives. No! A character’s feelings are, to me, the most interesting things to write and read about. Good and bad, ugly and beautiful.

The best writing advice is a quote often attributed to Mary Heaton Vorse: “The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair.” In other words, just start. Then see where it goes.

What’s next for you?

Lots of ideas. My day job in food media keeps me busy, but we will see. I still dream of writing a sequel to my previous book, When You Call My Name. Maybe someday I’ll have that chance.

Lastly, what books are you looking forward to picking up this year?

I’m especially eager to read The Two Roberts by Damian Barr. He is one of my favorite writers. I’m also looking forward to Run Away With Me by Brian Selznick. And I’ve got Karen Russell’s newest, The Antidote, still unopened but singing like a siren from my nightstand.

Will you be picking up Right Beside You? Tell us in the comments below!

The post Q&A: Tucker Shaw, Author of ‘Right Beside You’ appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

We chat with author Tucker Shaw about all things When You Call My Name, along with writing, book recommendations, and more!

Hi, Tucker! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hello! Thank you for having me. I’m Tucker. I’m a longtime editor and writer, I love food and cooking, I’m a huge fan of Chaka Khan, and my most prized possession is my collection of mixtapes from the 1980s and 1990s. I currently live in Boston, though my heart is, and will always be, in New York City.

How has the start of 2022 been for you?

Complicated, just as for everyone I think. The last handful of years have been doozies, but today, when I sit still, I can feel a new optimism seeping in. Despite it all.

When did you first discover your love for writing?

As soon as I figured out how to hold a pencil. I’ve always loved words, sentences, and stories. I think I love sentences most of all. There’s nothing in the world that energizes and inspires me like a great sentence. To read one is pure joy. But to create one that you’re proud of? It’s a rare occurrence, but the feeling is unmatched. I’ve been chasing that feeling for as long as I can remember. It doesn’t come often.

Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!

Frog and Toad are Friends, by Arnold Lobel. An absolute classic with what felt like so much hidden meaning to a kid growing up in the 1970s who knew he was different.

Your latest novel, When You Call My Name, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Friendship, family, resilience, commitment, love.

What can readers expect?

The story is set in 1990 in New York City. It centers on two gay teenagers, Ben and Adam, as they navigate their way into a gay community wrestling with massive challenges, including the devastating AIDS crisis and a sharp increase in anti-queer violence. But it was also an incredibly exciting time to be in New York, a city buzzing with extraordinary creative energy – fashion, music, art, everything. During these thrilling but difficult times, Ben and Adam face tremendous difficulties while seeking hope, self-awareness, and each other.

Where did the inspiration for When You Call My Name come from?

I was a teenager and early twenty-something in the 1980s and I remember those years so vividly, for the heartbreak that saturated the gay world that I was entering, but also for the exuberance of finding kindred spirits to connect with. I’ve saved countless photographs, magazine clippings and mixtapes from those days, and love letters too. The friendships I forged then remain the most important friendships I’ve ever had. There’s something about challenging times that binds people together, I think.

Can you tell us a bit about the challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?

Writing When You Call My Name was a deeply emotional experience for me, as it required me to walk back through some of the most difficult years of my life. I finished many nights of writing feeling truly depleted. But for every tough memory, I always found another memory of kindness, beauty, optimism, humor, hope, love. I made sure to feel the happy memories too, to keep my balance.

Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

While none of the characters in the book is explicitly based on anyone real, they all reflect characteristics of people I know or knew. As I wrote, I fell into deep and complex relationships with my two main characters, Ben and Adam, and was so sorry to say goodbye to them when I finished. But if I had to choose a single character that I’d love to hang out with, it’s Rebecca. She’s an ambitious fashion photographer and devoted mentor to Ben, and her perspective on life – to understand and trust yourself first – is one I’d love to hear her talk more about.

What do you hope readers take away from When You Call My Name?

We don’t teach a lot about the history of HIV/AIDS crisis in schools, and while we do see some creative representations of that time, there’s so much room for so much more. I think many people, young people especially, are curious about those days – not just the facts and figures, but the feelings. They were terrible times, of course, but they were also transformative times, proving beyond any doubt that LGBTQIA+ people can meet any imaginable challenge, if we stick together and work together. We’ll need that energy in the days and years to come. I hope that people who read When You Call My Name will get a sense not just of what we’ve accomplished in the past, but what we’re capable of accomplishing in the future.

What’s next for you?

Not sure! We will see.

Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

So many. For fiction set in a similar context, I recommend The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, Christodora by Tim Murphy, and Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian. For nonfiction, I highly recommend Sarah Schulman’s Let The Record Show, an extraordinary oral history of AIDS activism from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

One other title that I loved recently, albeit in a completely different vein, is Dean Atta’s The Black Flamingo. It’s a gorgeous and riveting story about finding and falling in love with your true self. It’s told in beautiful verse, and it is so inspiring.

Will you be picking up When You Call My Name? Tell us in the comments below!

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