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AE: From your perspective, what are the current trends in the way lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters are portrayed in YA fiction, and how does "Geography Club" fit into that?
BH: My big beef with young adult fiction in general, and gay YA fiction in particular, is that the books are always so earnest and so gloomy. Yes, there are a lot of serious issues involving gay youth, and yes, the teenage years can be a time of depression and angst. But it ain't all that bad! Adult writers always seem to remember the emotional turmoil of the teen years, but they don't remember the humor and the fun, which are just as important. And when it comes to gay YA, adult writers always seem to want to make a political point to straight people about how terrible it is to be young and gay. They end up making it sounds like we're always being bashed or attempting suicide! It's overkill.

It was important to me to capture the bad AND the good part of being a gay teenager. It seems to have worked, because the number one comment I get from people and reviewers is: "It's so nice to read a YA book where the character is a genuinely nice guy, and where everything isn't all gloomy and depressing!"

All this praise isn't good for my relationship with my partner, Michael, though. Whenever I say tell a joke that he doesn't think is funny, I kid him and say, "Yeah? Well, the reviewer for Horn Book Magazine thinks I'm hilarious!" Michael is rarely amused.

AE: You mentioned that you've been told by publishers that there is no market for books about gay teens; do you think that's changing?
BH: This book was hard as hell to get published. It was rejected by 17 publishers. Editors told my agent again and again that there was no market for a book like this, and all my agent's agent-friends told her she was wasting her time on a gay teen book. But she kept pushing, and finally we ended up at HarperCollins.

Well, all those other editors and agents were full of shit, pardon my French! My book has just gone into a third printing after only three months, and we've already sold many more copies than the "average" teen book. We're an absolute hit, and I know that Alex Sanchez' book, RAINBOW BOYS, was also a big hit. Sure, times have changed, but there was always a market for this book. Those other editors were just to scared to go after it. I predict they'll be a little mini-boom in gay teen books now. I just hope publishers don't release a lot of crappy GEOGRAPHY CLUB knock-offs. It would be flattering, but it would also kill the boom right there.

You want to know how else I know things have changed? All these editors are now coming to my agent complaining that she didn't send GEOGRAPHY CLUB to them! My agent and I laugh about this all the time.

AE: You also mentioned there's been interest in turning your book into a movie; if that were to happen, do you think Min would become a white lesbian? (since all the lesbians in Hollywood movies are white, and there's no such thing as a bisexual teenage girl who isn't slutty or evil)
BH: Not if I had any say! Frankly, I don't think my readers would stand for something like that.

My film and play agent is the same woman who took the book HOLES and turned it into a play and movie. Now she wants to do the same thing with GEOGRAPHY CLUB, and I coudn't be more pleased. Writing the play version has been such a kick in the pants! It's so fun to see my characters come to life, being portrayed by actors. I'm writing two versions, one for commercial theatre, and a shorter, touring version for high schools. Once the play gets out there, that's when I think the you-know-what is really going to hit the fan!

AE: Tell us more about the sequel you're writing and how Min and any other lesbian or bi characters fit in.
BH: I don't want to say too much, because right now I'm still trying to get people to buy GEOGRAPHY CLUB! But I will say that Min gets to shake it up a bit more in the sequel. She really gets down and dirty! Hey, she got to be saintly in the first book. In the sequel, she proves she's no angel.

AE: What's been the most unexpected consequence of publishing this book?
BH: How much I've enjoyed meeting and hearing from people! I used to think I wasn't a "people"-person, but now I know I'm just not a "jerk"-person. All the people I've met or heard from so far are people who really like my book and really relate to the characters. That means, I've systematically eliminated all the assholes in advance! People have been so kind and complimentary and wonderful, so effusive in their thanks. Sometimes I feel a little guilty, because I'm not exactly doing pro bono work here. I do get paid! But I get paid to do something that has obviously touched a lot of people's hearts, and that makes me feel so incredibly flattered and grateful. Getting published was fifteen years of sheer, absolute hell. But being published has literally been a dream come true.

For more info, visit Brent's website at BrentHartinger.com

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