Erin Cotter was obsessed with the "Royal Diaries" series, but there wasn't a queer princess. Therefore, she decided to write "A Traitorous Heart" to feature LGBTQ characters.

What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?

French history has always fascinated me, and when I learned about how the French tried to end a decades-long religious war by marrying their 19-year-old Catholic princess to the 19-year-old Protestant king, I knew there was a story there. (Slight spoiler alert: this plan doesn’t work the way they thought it would!)

What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?

For me, Reading Rainbow is shouting from the rooftops about all the queer books I love! It feels like the work of sharing queer books is more vital now than ever. The more politicians try to make people scared of queer stories, the louder I’ll be. Our community is beautiful and diverse and deserves to be celebrated with a million different stories and I won’t stay quiet as they try to silence us.

Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books? 

In my opinion, representing people of diverse identities and backgrounds is the entire point of storytelling. It’s so important to see your own experiences and identities in a story and to learn more about people different from you. Mirrors and windows are vital. I couldn’t begin to quantify the ways reading has shaped my understanding of myself and built my empathy for others. (And quite honestly, I couldn’t imagine the person I would be without reading!)

Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.

This book is a queer reimagining of a very real royal marriage. Set in the tumultuous French court of 1572, “Jac” d’Argenson-Aunis is lady-in-waiting to her best friend and former lover, the French Princess Marguerite “Margot” de Valois, but she dreams of more for herself. If Jac plays her cards right, one day, she’ll become a full member of the Societas Solis, a secret society of spies, just like her enigmatic uncle. As tensions between the Catholics and Huguenots rise, she is ordered to orchestrate the politically vital marriage between strong-willed Margot and the charming, arrogant King Henry of Navarre. Despite Jac’s initial scorn for Henry, her growing feelings for him quickly complicate her loyalty to Margot, her ambitions in the spy network, and threaten the fragile peace between the two kingdoms. Amidst espionage, opulent balls, and whispers of witchcraft, Jac must navigate her dangerous world where love and betrayal intertwine.

I decided to write this book because, although I was obsessed with the "Royal Diaries" books when I was a kid, there wasn’t a single one about a queer princess. Something about Princess Marguerite de Valois, a philosopher, fashion icon, and fabulous divorcee before divorce was even legal, screamed could be queer to me, so I decided to write my own "Royal Diaries" book.

While I loved these books, I never quite saw myself as one of the princesses. Rather than writing from Margot’s perspective, I felt more drawn to exploring this story from a non-royal perspective, someone who appears outside the royal machinations yet is actually in the very center of it all. My protagonist, Jac, is someone I would’ve cheered for when I was a teen, and I love how this bisexual heroine blows up a world that doesn’t want to give her any choices in who she can be. I hope you love her as much as I do!

What can fans expect from your book?

Forbidden love, royal intrigue, and secret societies! There’s a lot of bisexual pining and angst from Jac, our protagonist. She’s been forced to match-make her best friend and ex-lover, the princess of France, with the brazen (and bisexual!) young King of Navarre. I loved writing Jac’s love interests so much. We have Margot, a lesbian princess who loves boldly and without restraint, and Henry, a golden retriever of a man who would do anything to make Jac his, but only in the most respectful way possible.

What's up next for you in the bookish world?

It’s still under wraps, but between us, I’m not done queering Renaissance European history quite yet!