Author Spotlight Q&A: Jess Taylor
Today, we’re sharing another Author Spotlight Q&A. Our featured author is Jess Taylor, author of Pauls, Just Pervs, and Play.
B*: What does being part of the Book*hug author family mean to you?
JT: When I first signed with Book*hug for Pauls, I remember thinking: This press wants to grow. I could tell in our initial conversation on their back porch, that they saw the same thing in me: they understood that I was just beginning all that I wanted to do as a writer, and that I would want to grow.
As a new writer, it was important to find others who were interested in growing, learning, and continuing to put out interesting books. Immediately there was a sense of warmth and kinship that has continued to today.
B*: Can you share another title from the Book*hug catalogue that has left a lasting impression on you as a reader?
JT: Double Teenage by Joni Murphy. A book rarely grips you with its mood within the first few words, but as soon as I began Double Teenage, I knew it would have a lasting effect on me. I am fascinated by its subject matter: the danger in the world, the magic of art and friendship, and how being a woman means existing while juggling threat and love. But it’s more than just the subject matter: Joni Murphy is able to create the way the characters feel by describing their surroundings. It’s enviable.
After seeing this question, I revisited the book and was delighted to find it still has a hold on me after all these years, and I can’t put it down once again! Last time I read was fall of 2016. I was all moody and in my mid-20s hanging out at a friend’s cottage on a writing trip. I wrote the first draft of “A Story About Our Friends Lana and Tia” from Just Pervs on that trip, racing to the end so that I could spend my time reading Double Teenage instead.
I also loved Mat Laporte’s Rat’s Nest and Marta Balcewicz’s Big Shadow (Marta will be with me at my launch)! I’m also a huge Jacob Wren fan and devour his books.
B*: When we see more large publisher consolidations and huge conglomerates dominating the marketplace, what does it mean to you to be published by an independent publisher like Book*hug Press?
JT: Whenever a publisher is swallowed by another, you lose a distinct voice, even if once swallowed they plan to have slightly different mandates. To be with an indie publisher like Book*hug Press means I’m with a publisher who is committed to having their unique voice add to the literary conversation. We need to have a wide variety of literature coming into the world to reflect all the different ways we are human, but also to move the art form forward. Being a part of somewhere that celebrates each unique book fills me with joy.
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Jess Taylor is a Tkaronto (Toronto) writer and poet. She is the author of Pauls, the title story of which won the 2013 Gold Fiction National Magazine Award, and Just Pervs, a finalist for the 2020 Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Fiction. Her story “Two Sex Addicts Fall in Love” was longlisted for the 2018 Journey Prize. Play is her debut novel.
