An ode to Demi Lovato
While fans of the book have compared the story to Grease, Adler says the hit teen movie was far from her head when she came up with the story.

"There's a lot of people who think it's Grease inspired, because I have described it as a 'Bisexual Grease with better life choices,' but that came later, because I found it helpful shorthand... but that was not the inspiration," said Adler.

The book came from a much more contemporary, much more Queer pop culture moment. "I loved Demi Lovato and the song 'Cool for the Summer,' and I had wanted to, you know, figure out what plot [would work] with turning that into a book," she said with a laugh.

Aside from inspiring the story, "Cool for the Summer" also appears in the book. "'Cool for the Summer' is in a relevant scene in the book, which is funny, because I've seen people comment when they've first seen news of the book, and they were like, 'If this book isn't Queer, I'm going to be so mad!' And I'm like, 'It's going to be. I promise. It will do justice to your love of the song, and the exploration and the queerness, so don't be preemptively mad. I'm not messing with you.' And then people get excited that... what 'Cool for the Summer' is obviously about [does come through]."

Adler says the characters in the book were not inspired by anyone she knows in real life but served as alter egos for herself. "I wanted to write characters who were not like me," she said. "I wanted to write characters who were, for lack of a better word, kind of cooler and more in the public eye at school, because I wanted that to factor into things."

Getting in the headspace of a teen queen
Choosing to write "popular" characters was different for Adler, who admitted that young adult books often center on more introverted characters. "It's common in YA to have the more introverted, in-her-head, kind of quieter, a little bit geekier main character, which is more like me, but it was very not what I wanted for the portrayal of characters in this book. I wanted them to be people who were sort of central to the social circle of the class."

Despite distancing herself from her main characters in terms of personality, Adler did make a few deliberate connections with the protagonist, Lara. "[She] is an aspiring romance writer, and she describes something that happens to her in her writing process that was directly lifted from something that happened to me when I was writing my first Queer YA novel, Under the Lights. She's Jewish, which is also from me, and so is Jasmine, the love interest, [who's] a little more observant, or at least her mother is, which is more like me. And where they live is inspired where I come from."

Of course, Lara's bisexuality and subsequent questioning process are also a commonality between her and Adler. "I am [Bisexual], yes. That was a later-in-life realization, which was something that I wanted for Lara. I mean obviously, 17 is not later in life, but for Lara, it feels like a late-in-life realization, because it's very new to her. That was something I wanted to explore, because that was my experience, and actually, [one] that was fully intertwined with writing Under the Lights. It was very fun to be able to have that intertwined with her storyline," Adler said.

Cool for the Summer is only Adler's second LGBTQ book, but she says she doesn't plan to stop creating LGBTQ romances anytime soon. The way the genre has boomed in recent years has been very encouraging for Adler, who believes there is endless possibility for Queer stories in the YA genre.

"[YA] has grown so much in recent years. It would have been a very standout book just a few years ago, and this year I think it fits in nicely with four or five other books that I think were heavy on Bi representation and discussing, you know, things in Bisexual discourse and biphobia," Adler said.

An emphasis on questioning
While the YA genre did see several wonderful Bi romance novels in recent years, Adler's is unique. Cool for the Summer addresses conversations around internal confusion that many Queer books don't address.

"I do think... [Cool for the Summer]'s exploration of compulsive heterosexuality [is a little more unique]. Also, there's such an emphasis on questioning. I do think those things about it are more unique, but just having a romance between two girls, with them being Bisexual, is thankfully not as unique as it used to be, although both of them being Bi is still relatively unique in YA, as opposed to a Bi/Lesbian pairing."

Adler's biggest hope for the book is that she portrayed bisexuality accurately and positively. "I hope it is clear... that it is not a stepping stone to lesbianism. You know, that may be people's experience, and that's valid, but that's not definitionally Bisexual," she says.

She wants to make sure common myths about bisexuality do not have room to grow in Cool for the Summer. "I know people get wary of there being cheating in Bisexual books, because there's always this huge misconception that Bisexual people cannot be faithful, that they're always going to want both. It felt good to write a book where there are two love interest options, and they are different genders, but I hope it's clear that she only wants one of them, and that's her path. It's this battle between her head and her heart, [between] what she thought she wanted and what she knows she wants now."

Crafting Bi characters
Writing Bisexual representation in literature can be difficult. Unlike Gay or straight romances, the author must indicate that the character has a previous history or current interest in multiple genders, which can sometimes make the main character appear hypersexual.

For some readers, just stating that the character is Bi is not enough — they want to be shown. "It's tricky, because you could just say that they are [Bi] on the page, but some people find that unsatisfying. If that's the representation — someone saying they are and then they proceed to have a relationship with only one other gender in the picture... you know, I get it," Adler said.

Writing Bi romances is even more difficult, because readers have high expectations for the magical love they hope to encounter on the pages. "In romance novels, you don't want to show the main character being attracted to somebody else," Adler said. "A common way to do it is to talk about their exes or their romantic past, but if they don't have a romantic past, then it's a tricky thing to do. It can be anything from talking about other people... that they have considered dating, even celebrities that they think are attractive."

Writing good Bisexual representation has led to some less than tasteful attempts, due to the complication of trying to show romantic history while still portraying a raw and authentic romance on the page.

"It's hard to show multigender attraction without describing that there has been or is an attraction to multiple genders. It's... just a fact. This is why Bisexual representation is always going to get painted as a little bit more — I don't want to say sex-crazed, but it is going to look thirstier than other orientations, because that's just something that you're trying to show on the page," she said.

"If it's important to you not to do that and to show that this is... the first person that they have been attracted to, there are ways to discuss it. I've read Bi-romantic Asexual books where they do a good job just talking about who they would consider dating, but not necessarily people they have, so it's something like that."

When it came to her attempt at portraying Bisexuality on the page, Adler wanted to clarify that Lara's attraction to both love interests was complex. "It was really important to me for people to understand that while she could be attracted to two different people at the same time, and could be attracted to two very different things at the same time, that did not mean she felt she needed to pursue both of them. There was still one that had her heart. I hope people get that: your head and your heart can sometimes be mismatches, and what you want can change. And that's what happened for her, and it's never too late to figure out that you want something different than you thought, or even that you are something different than you thought, and that's okay."

Inspired by Glee
Cool for the Summer has many good messages about exploring sexuality and redefining yourself as you grow. Adler hopes those who need the story will find it.

She also says someday down the line, a movie version of the book would be a great way to reach Queer audiences. When she first began writing the book, Adler had a dream cast for Lara and Jasmine but admits now the actresses are much too old to play teens.

"I am never up-to-date on teenage actresses," she said, laughing. "The way I picture Jasmine and Lara are actresses who are way too old to play them now. I see Lara as exactly Dianna Agron from Glee, and Jasmine kind of as Emmanuelle Chriqui, who is like 40 now, but...her on Entourage, when I thought she was like in her early twenties, is how I picture Jasmine. Yeah, I don't have anyone modern, which is terrible. Once the CW stopped having realistic TV shows like Gossip Girl, I just don't know teen actresses anymore."

While Adler waits for the next Dianna Agron to appear, she plans to continue writing Queer literature. Her next romance, Home Field Advantage, is expected to hit bookstores this summer. In the meantime, Cool for the Summer is out and our final entry for the SGN winter book club. Grab a copy from your local bookstore and read along with us on Instagram!