Sarah Ward asked Meredith Russo:

Hi! Reading 'If I Was Your Girl' and 'Birthday,' I noticed that both Morgan and Amanda's dads were traditionally masculine guys who had trouble accepting their daughters' gender identities but then ended up coming around and supporting them. It's a nice change utterly unsupportive most dads of transgender characters are, and I was wondering since the arcs had some similarities if your dad was kind of similar? :)

Meredith Russo Hmm! Well I come from a big Appalachian family on my mom's side, so my dad wasn't necessarily the only Adult Male Figure who imprinted on my brain when I was growing up. There was my Papaw, all sorts of uncles, and even a few male cousins ten or more years older than me! I would say Amanda and Morgan's dads are a mish-mash of the qualities I find most vexing/confusing/interesting/lovable about the men I grew up around though, definitely.

My dad is a Dad in what I guess you would call some traditional ways--not very emotionally expressive or demonstrative, is the main thing that comes to mind. He's less like either of the dads in my books and more like if Brock Sampson from the Venture Brothers was a better human being, worked out like 1/4 as much, and played SICK guitar solos. (My dad is a very good guitar player.)

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