Ellis Reid's Blog - Posts Tagged "side-effects-may-vary"

In recent years it has become even more important to me that there is fair representation in books and as a gay woman, I didn't feel like I found that anywhere. I wanted to read books where LGBT+ people were main characters*. And not just because they were gay and they were struggling with the idea of it or involved some kind of clandestine affair, but had regular storylines and then they just happened to be gay as well. Their sexuality didn’t need to be explained, it was just accepted by the characters and by the reader.
What I mean is that Harry Potter doesn’t spend half the series questioning if he likes Ginny and if it’s okay…he just likes her and then he goes about saving the Wizarding World. You know? That's what I wanted for my characters too.

And so that’s what I wrote. I found a genre that has always fascinated me (apocalyptic fiction) and put a diverse bunch of characters into it. And it wasn’t just to tick a bunch of boxes, it was to introduce characters that meant something to me and that would mean something to other people who were experiencing life in the same or similar way as I am. I want people to read my book and think “Hey, that’s me, I’m like that character.” Or "That character is so badass, I wanna be her!" or "That character isn't so badass, but that's okay because I don't want to be badass either."

I saw a quote once that said something like "If you can't find the book you want to read on the shelf, write it yourself." So that's exactly what I did and it's exactly what I will continue to do.



*Reece and Lois, the two lead characters in Side Effects May Vary are lesbian and bisexual respectively.