Y’All West: Interview with Adam Silvera
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Read Time:4 Minute, 9 Second
If you follow any of my social media in the past year, you know that I stan for Adam Silvera, after his book More Happy Than Not devastated and wowed me last year to the tune of being my #1 book of the year. I have mentioned several times how excited I would be to meet him and luckily our schedules aligned enough that we were able to speak at Y’all West. Adam and I talked about everything from telling modern gay stories to how he really is a Slytherin masquerading as a Hufflepuff. We also played a fun game of word association which is transcribed below:
Scifi Elements in Storytelling
“I’d call it Speculative cause its like 90% realistic and 10% scifi,” Adam remarked when we talked about using genre elements to enhance the storytelling. Adam did a lot of researching on real life memory procedures, such as scientists in Sweeden developing procedures for PTSD, and wanted the world to feel really grounded. “A lot of the world building…from the reactions and controversies of people not being 100% receptive to the procedure…there are all these moral questions…such as criminals not living with the issues of their actions.” This element of not dealing with what has happened in one’s life is something that is mirrored in Aaron’s struggle as he wants to have the procedure to remove his feelings for his friend.
Analyzing Male Friendships and Romance
Particularly in this day and age of shipping really dominating pop culture, it was interesting to talk with Adam about romance and friendships within his book. He spoke about a lot of it being a matter of perception, and how people can read into things, which is what happens with his characters who live in an intolerant Bronx neighborhood.
LGBT Storytelling in the Pose-Glee World
Many people (not I) have argued that in this post-Glee, post gay marriage in all 50 states world that the tragic narrative should be put to the side. However, Adam feels like his story fits within the narrative because there are still so many issues within the community. “My book is not a happily ever after…but there are still so many gay youths and adults even who are being assaulted for being gay. So yeah I would love to stop writing a book that features a gay tragic hero, but that’s a story that needs to be told because these are things that are still happening.” He also noted that even though there are many stories that we are tired of seeing, that they can still hold relevance for teens today and he wants to keep seeing these stories (and new ones!) until things get better.
More Happy Than Not‘s Earned Ending
There’s no spoilers here other than me telling the story of how I was devestated by the end. Adam mentioned that the success of the book was wonderful and that he was unsure how it would do given that the ending can be pretty complicated. “I had a different ending designed for Aaron’s narrative and it felt very after school special. This boy didn’t go through all these difficult trials to get an easy ending…I stumbled across a more fitting ending…the story ended on a bittersweet note and that’s more than fitting.” There is a sense of hope and there’s perseverance.
On His New Book, History is All You Left Me
Adam has recently dropped some advanced reader copies of this new book, but I got him to give us a tease of the plot. “It’s about Griffin, who is greiving the love of his life Theo, who has tragically drowned in Calfornia. The boys grew up together in New York and fell in love, but broke apart when Theo went to California for college. Now Griffin is forging an inlikely relationship with Theo’s most recent boyfriend, Jackson, who haven’t met until the funeral. Even though they’ve clashed a bit they’re starting to heal. Things start to surface and they start learning that things aren’t what they seem” It’s a non-linear story, and Adam teased that it converges at some really exciting points.
Word Association
Happy. Sad
Books. Libraries.
Gay. Darren Criss…I’m thinking of hot guys, he’s straight but I’m thinking Blaine from Glee.
Dobby. Don’t care.
Cedric. Hot.
Matthew Daddario. OMG the hottest…he’s the #1 reason I watch Shadowhunters. I mean Alec was my favorite character in the books but when I watched the pilot, I was like I’m here for this.
Fan Fiction. How I started. (He declined to inform us about the username cause he wants to keep those people searching at bay)
Adam Silvera. Ambitious (told you he was a Slytherin!)
Read more at http://lenoirauteur.com/2016/05/16/yall-west-interview-adam-silvera/#iC4e4IlIVcphsV8O.99
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