VQ Library

Interviewing Jason June (he/ him) for our blog has been one of the highlights of Caitlyn’s May (and that’s saying something because her May has been jam-packed with activities that involve cute dogs)! Check out our conversation below!!  VQ: Can you talk to me about your passion for writing? Where do you think it comes from? Jason June: My passion for writing definitely comes from the worlds that grabbed hold of my attention as a kid and wouldn’t let go. My gateway was the Animorphs series, then continued with Redwall , Dinotopia , Goosebumps . I couldn’t get enough. I know someday I wanted to create characters and worlds that would provide such a sense of escape and excitement that those books did for me.  VQ: What was the inspiration for Out of the Blue ?  Jason June: Out of the Blue was inspired first and foremost by my love of merpeople. From the moment I saw Ariel singing in the waves as a little kid, I knew my dream was to someday become a merperson. I’m still wor...

 For our next MerMay interview, we had the opportunity to talk to Ann Claycomb, author of The Mermaid’s Daughter . This book is a well thought out, modern look at the story of the Little Mermaid- and there’s opera! Of course, this is one of Remy’s favorite books, so talking to Ann was an exceptional experience for them. VQ- The Little Mermaid has a long history of being a queer metaphor, from the theories about Hans Christian Andersen to the deliberate references to queerness in the Disney movie. How did that influence your decision to make this a sapphic love story? Ann- I definitely did research Andersen’s personal life as I put this book together.  He only appears as a character in the related short story that you can read at the end of the book, but that story was written first, as I sorted out how I wanted to mess with the idea of Andersen having created the Little Mermaid.  Because from the first stages of the book, that was a relationship that bothered me. He gets ...

  The final week of MerMay is upon us, which means the MerMay LGBTQ+ Readathon is almost over! (Though, let’s be honest, there are a lot of books on that list and we’ll be reading them all summer long.) We wanted to finish this event with a splash, so this week, we’re bringing you a series of short interviews with the authors of merfolk books with LGBTQ+ representation.  For our first interview, we talked to Rose Santoriello (they/ them), author of Haunt Me, Baby as well as other queer monster romance books. VQ: The monster romance genre seems to be growing in popularity. How would you describe it to audiences unfamiliar with it? Rose: Monster Romance kind of has two subcategories—scary and cozy. The scary monster romances often feel like a Romantasy, just with a very non-human love interest. The other size is much more cozy! And reads a lot like contemporary, but with cute monsters.  VQ: How does your own queerness influence the types of relationships you highlight in...

Are you a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies? Do you love cute tropey goodness served with a cup of holiday cheer? Do you enjoy reading? Well we’ve got a book for you! “Just Like Christmas” is a newly-released holiday romance that follows the story of Niall and Sam, childhood friends now drifted apart, but brought back together through fake-dating hijinx! While we’re all familiar with the idea of “enemies to lovers”, this story explores the delightfully fun “frienemies to lovers”- as well as many other classic romance story prompts. We, of course, will not be listing them all here because Spoilers, but suffice it to say, if you’re the kind of person who likes a tale that makes you kick your feet and say “Squee!” you’ll be delighted with the many festive-flavored misadventures that befall our protagonists. Beyond the squee-worthy romance, we enjoyed that this love story is supported by well drawn and interesting secondary characters. Niall and Sam both have siblings who add depth to the ...

The week of Halloween has finally arrived! But since our definition of the Halloween Season starts September first, (when the weather drops below 65 degrees and a leaf somewhere gets just the slightest tinge of not-green), Remy and I got together a few weeks ago to rewatch the 2009 movie Jennifer’s Body for more reasons than just the wonderful soundtrack. One of those reasons is because it is a masterpiece cobbled together with themes such as sexuality, feminine rage, and friendships that develop into lust.  In case you happened to somehow miss the movie that is quickly becoming a cult classic, allow me to recap (spoilers abound, proceed with caution):  To begin, Diablo Cody, the amazing human being who also brought us Juno and, most recently, Lisa Frankenstein, wrote this raunchy, gory rollercoaster ride that shaped some of my formative years. The movie opens with our leading lady Needy already in isolation, living life in some sort of institutionalized setting. This deligh...

  WELCOME FOOLISH MORTALS!!!!!! Friends, we are SO excited to announce our partnership with Transplaining for a virtual Halloween lecture series! Starting next week, we'll be coming live from our haunted house to yours with a series of three spine-chilling talks dedicated to queer themes and artists in the horror genre. (NOTE- all lectures will be recorded, so if you buy a ticket but can't join us in real-time, you can always watch later.) Throughout history, there has always been a link between the supernatural, the otherworldly, and queer identities. Historically this has led to thinly veiled references to LGBTQ+ identities in the monsters and villains of many stories. In today’s world, LGBTQ+ content in stories has taken on a new label of “villainous”; that of the “forced inclusion”, of “everything is gay nowadays.” We at the Virtual Queer Library reject both of those narratives; that of LGBTQ+ characters as perpetual villains and as queer representation being a new, fr...