Check out our interview with Trung Le Nguyen, author of "Angelica and the Bear Prince."
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
I have a rotating list of lighthearted romantic comedies that I watch whenever I’m stressed, and I decided I wanted to see what it was like to just live in that space creatively, for however long it took to finish the project, which then became "Angelica and the Bear Prince." The book is both an adaptation of one of my favorite fairy tales, East of the Sun and West of the Moon, and sort of a pastiche of American rom-coms like "The Shop Around the Corner."
What does Reading Rainbow mean to you?
For me, that’s recently been about seeking stories by queer people. There are so many different queer perspectives, some close to mine and many very different from mine, and I find them all so valuable. I think for many of us, we’re pretty adept at finding the queer subtext in the things we love. We can make a meal out of the crumbs, and that’s fine and lovely — there’s a context to that way of reading that’s worth exploring, always. But I want more now! And it feels good to do that, to expect more.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
If someone exists in my life, they should exist in my imagination, and so they should show up in my work, to the best extent I can manage.
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
It really started with that rotating list of rom-coms. I thought about how much joy and comfort those stories brought me over the years, and I realized I’d spent much of my life rooting for a lot of heterosexual white women. And it dawned on me that it’s totally reasonable to want people to root for someone more like me in those stories, too. So I wrote about a bunch of people, queer people of a wide swath of ages, developing relationships, falling or staying in love, and just being part of their community without any uncertainty of their place in it. I want queer kids to feel like they can be the stars of their own soft little snow globe romances, too.
What can fans expect from your book?
For "Angelica and the Bear Prince," my readers can expect a sweet little snowscape between those pages. The book is lovingly drawn, and the colors, provided by the incredibly talented Angela Lu, are beautiful and thoughtfully done. But most of all, I hope readers enjoy the cast of characters I’ve put together and all their goofy little dynamics.
What’s up next for you in the bookish world?
After "Angelica," I’m working with a couple authors to tell their stories, one with Laurel Snyder and one with MariNaomi. I feel like I’m on sort of a creative walkabout where I can learn from other writers. It’s exciting!
