Queer experiences range across ages, genders, and identities. Throughout our winter book club, we have read romantic, young adult novels centering on strong-minded individuals who know who they are and what they want at increasingly younger ages.
However, figuring yourself out is not an experience reserved for youth, and many Queer people blossom later in life. This week, we are reading In at the Deep End, a delightful rom-com from London-based author Kate Davies that focuses on the experiences of a twentysomething discovering her sexuality and learning how to integrate into the London Lesbian scene.
I sat down to talk with author Kate Davies about her debut novel, her illustrious writing career, and her opinions on classic romcoms.
A full writing résumé
While In at the Deep End is Davies' first novel, it was not her first published work.
"It's quite an unusual job, but I used to write children's books for a publishing company in-house, so I had a salary, but I wrote nonfiction children's books," Davies said. She liked that, but felt she wanted to explore different styles.
"I enjoy publishing, but I always wanted to work in fiction. I found it hard to get a job as an editor in fiction — it's very competitive. So I found writing as a sort of escape from my job... I would do it in the mornings before work, on my lunch, or after work."
"It was useful, having worked in the publishing industry, for getting published," she added, "because I knew how it worked, but it was also quite unconnected from the children's publishing that I was doing... Then, when I finished the book, I went freelance."
Davies has dabbled in many different types of writing. Aside from children's writing and her adult novel, she has also done screenwriting and is currently working on a show for the Cartoon Network.
A process of starting over
Davies' writing process is influenced by her background in screenwriting. Her initial idea for In at the Deep End was to structure it as a film, but eventually, she decided the story would fit best as a novel.
"When I started writing it, a really long time ago, in 2010, I started writing it in a screenwriting class as a movie, as like a rom-com, and I kind of wanted it to be like a Lesbian Bridget Jones," she said.
Davies hoped to reflect some of her own experiences on the big screen, "I didn't find anything that reflected my experiences as a Lesbian in London." However, as she continued to work on her draft, she realized it would have a better shot at getting her story out there if she reformatted it.
"I decided to write it as a novel, because I thought novels exist, and films by random people in London don't get made," Davies joked. She continued to draft and reformat her story but realized it was still missing something.
"I wrote it as a kind of Bridget Jones Diary—style novel, and it was okay, but it felt a bit too light, and I decided that I wanted to write something that was much more truthful. I decided to make it about a much more controlling relationship, and I rewrote the whole thing. At that point, I made it much more serious, and I had to sort of find the balance between the comedy and the seriousness as I went along."
An amalgamation of people
While reflecting on her real-life experiences in the London Lesbian scene was important for Davies, she says she didn't mold any characters after specific people she knows. "There's no one that's exactly one person, but I suppose all writers are influenced by people that they know, and all characters are an amalgamation of people," she said.
Despite that, she finds a lot of similarities between herself and her main character, Julia. "Julia is quite a bit like me, but she is cooler than me. I'm not that cool. She's kind of dryer than me; her wit is quite dry. But she's a lot like me in how she came out. I came out in my late twenties and was quite naïve and thought that I'd have a feminist relationship and lots of really equal sex, since I'd, like, opted out of the patriarchy," Davies said with a laugh.
Other characters were influenced by people Davies has met throughout her life. "The old man, Eric, he was inspired by when I worked in children's publishing. I did a book on the Second World War, and I met a lot of [WWII] veterans, which was amazing. The way he speaks is a lot like the way those people spoke. And my grandmother... who would be like 105 — the sort of like turns of phrase that we don't use anymore but those people use, I gave to Eric, and it was fun."
What's next from Davies?
Writing novels has become a creative outlet for Davies in which, unlike in children's writing and screenwriting, she can incorporate her worldview and experiences more freely. For her, this means writing Queer characters and stories.
"I suppose I only started writing fiction after I came out, and I did [only want to write Queer characters] — that was what I wanted to do," Davies said.
The Queer character will continue to dominate the pages of Davies' novels for the foreseeable future. "My next book also has Queer characters in it too. I probably will always. It's nice to be able to put yourself into books.
"When I was first starting in, like, 2010, people would say, 'Oh, books about Gay people don't sell.' And that has changed, you know, over the last ten years or so. I think it's exciting to be in a time when you can write Queer characters and foreground Queer characters. I'm proud to be Queer, and I enjoy writing Queer characters."
Davies also enjoys a good rom-com and hopes to incorporate her favorite tropes into her future projects. "I do love a dash to the airport at the end. I like a meet-cute. I enjoy a You've Got Mail, when they kind of hate each other in the beginning, that's great," she said with a smile.
"I'll tell you what I don't like. I don't like a contrived argument two-thirds of the way through. If they're going to fall out — and I understand they have to fall out — but if they're going to fall out, I want it to be for a real reason and not some petty argument that those characters would never really have in real life."
Davies also has opinions on box-office Queer films, which tend to glorify coming out as the one Queer experience. "I tell you what annoys me: Happiest Season annoyed me. I was like, 'That is a toxic relationship! She should not be in that relationship! Come out to your bloody family!' That pissed me off.
"In a Queer story, not being able to come out to your family just felt contrived in that film. It didn't feel like a real thing holding them back. It was just her, and that annoyed me."
Davies hopes to bring her love of Queer media and rom-coms together to create a less disappointing Lesbian romance. "I'd love to write just a Queer When Harry Met Sally over ten years or something like that, but with two women. I think we can mess around with straight-people tropes," she laughed.
A new precious project
While Davies waits for a film deal, she is getting ready to release her next Queer novel. "My next book is from three different perspectives. It's about a family. It's actually about donor conception, which is a bit of a Queer thing to write about, and one of the main characters is a Lesbian. I'm donor-conceived myself. I'd always known I was donor-conceived. I decided to start looking into it and researching it more when I decided I wanted to start a family, so I just thought it would be interesting to write about a woman who finds out she's donor-conceived and from a donor's perspective. I feel like that was foregrounding a Queer issue."
On the side, Davies is continuing her screenwriting and even preparing a spec script for a Queer project but will have to take a bit of a break as she prepares to welcome a new baby into the family.
"I'd love to do more screenwriting for TV, and then I guess I need to start thinking about my third novel, but first we'll have to have the baby and bring up the baby a little bit, so I'm going to take a break for a few months, which is a bit scary," she said.
While she takes some time off to spend with family, fans will anxiously await the release of her soon-to-be-titled second book.
In at the Deep End is available now. If you'd like to read along with us this week, pick up a copy and check out our book club on Instagram @sgn_books