bacon grief follows a pair of young men whose online meeting ignites a journey of self-discovery and acceptance amidst the challenges of reconciling their identities with their faith and societal expectations. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

I like to say the story is forty percent true. In other words, my now husband and I met online and went through some of the journeys that Tim and Charlie go through in the book. Fictionalized memoir in that way, I suppose.

Charlie and Tim are intriguing and well-developed characters. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?

To my knowledge, bacon grief is one of the only works of fiction for teens and tweens to celebrate and affirm both faith and sexuality. In most of the works for this age group and, honestly, for adults as well, faith is a common thread that LGBTQIA+ people tend to walk away from. Which is totally fine, it’s part of their story. But it isn’t my experience, and I knew there were others. Gratefully, the affirming faith community seems to be trending upward and so queer people that want faith can more easily find it. I think that’s Tim and Charlie’s experience also.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

I think I’m mostly trying to put a humorous book out into the universe that is geared towards reluctant readers that will hopefully allow queer teens and tweens of faith to find themselves. I tried not to be overly didactic, but I did long for readers to feel accepted by the book and, hopefully, by a community of believers outside of it.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

My picture book debut, Silas on Sundays, arrives June 4 from Wildling Press. It is a return to these themes but from a younger perspective. Silas is a gender nonconforming child with accepting parents and, ultimately, they find an affirming faith community. It’s dedicated to Nex Benedict.

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