Sydney Langford (they/them) is a queer, Deaf-Hard of Hearing, and physically disabled author who resides in Portland, Oregon. Their biggest passion in life is creating stories that reflect the diverse world we live in—whether that be rom-coms about quirky, disabled teens; or contemporaries that feature queer joy. Their debut YA novel, THE LOUDEST SILENCE, was released on 7/30/2024 by Holiday House. You can follow them online at @slangwrites.

I had the opportunity to interview Sydney, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome to Geeks OUT! Could you tell us a little about yourself?

Thank you! I’m a huge fan of the Geeks OUT blog and am so excited to be part of it! As a queer, Disabled author my biggest passion is writing stories that reflect the diverse world around us and help underrepresented readers feel seen. Often, this materializes in the form of nuanced characters and chaotic found families!

What can you tell us about your book, The Loudest Silence? What was your inspiration for this project?

When I was 14, I unexpectedly lost about sixty percent of my hearing. Afterwards, I didn’t know where I belonged. I didn’t yet know ASL, nor was I raised in the Deaf community, so I didn’t feel “Deaf enough” for the Deaf world. Conversely, I wasn’t “Hearing enough” for the Hearing world anymore. At the same time, my Generalized Anxiety Disorder skyrocketed. These experiences inspired my debut about an unlikely friendship between a 16-year-old singer who loses her hearing, and a soccer captain with GAD who has a secret passion for Broadway musicals!

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, especially young adult fiction?

After losing my hearing, I found solace in stories, but the more I read, the less I felt represented. TLS was born from that desire to feel represented, to highlight the ups and downs that come with big life changes, and the complex equilibrium that exists between Disabled and/or queer joy and grief. I love YA, specifically, because when you’re a teen everything feels so big and so chaotic, and these emotions can be amplified as a marginalized teen. Seeing complicated feelings and messy characters on-page helped me feel less alone as a kid, and now I strive to do the same!

What advice would you give for authors for portraying disability (whether that of their own or of others) within their own work?

Authenticity readers are your best friend! Even though I myself identify as Deaf, I worked with a Deaf copyeditor for my debut. I learned a lot about ASL and the vastly different experiences people—even with the same disability—can have. It was great insight. Not being afraid to ask questions and challenge your own biases is key too. It’s human nature to operate and write based on lived experiences, so while your experience may be XYZ, it’s crucial to understand that someone else’s could be completely different. Open-mindedness is important!

As someone who is part of the d/Deaf/HOH community, disability seems to be a strong element in your work. How did you set about representation in your book, whether representing a three-dimensional language like ASL, general Deaf culture, or anything else, onto the page?

I wanted to accurately showcase ASL as a beautiful, full, expressive language and the last thing I would want is anyone, D/deaf or Hearing, to think I was “othering” or misrepresenting ASL in any way—intentional or not. But it was a hard balance to strike! I didn’t want the descriptions to feel overly explanatory, but I also wanted readers to clearly picture the signs and/or follow along. After 3 years, with feedback from my Deaf copyeditor and other Deaf authors, I finalized the ASL formatting. I use italics and, like spoken language, put it in quotes. I use bolded italics for emphasis on non-ASL words for clarity.

How would you describe your writing process?

Chaotic and never quite the same! I wrote TLS in a month, and my sophomore book in 3 months, but I don’t think I could recreate those drafting processes ever again. I try to write/edit a little bit every day—even if it’s just five words. But with chronic illness, good days are unpredictable. It’s hard to have a consistent schedule. I’ve learned to be patient with my changing productivity levels.

As a writer, who or what would you say are some of your greatest creative influences and/or sources of inspiration in general? 

I was a musician before I was an author and thus, I derive a lot of inspiration from music. Making playlists for my books/characters or listening to certain songs while writing specific scenes or plotting a new idea really helps me get in the right headspace. Inspiration also often strikes through movies and TV. Julie and the Phantoms, while not similar on paper, is a show that helped me tap into themes I wanted to explore in TLS—like expressing emotions through music, grief and learning about the new person you’ve become post-loss, and teenage found family that feels like a warm hug.

What are some of your favorite elements of writing? What do you consider some of the most frustrating and/or difficult? 

I love writing banter! There’s something so fun about creating silly exchanges between characters. I’m also a huge fan of sarcasm, especially adding cheeky asides from a character to the reader through parentheses. It can be frustrating to pitch new book ideas I was really excited about, and for my team to turn them down. In general, though, my mortal enemy is plotting. I was born to be a pantser, but the publishing industry forces me to be a plotter.

Aside from your work, what are some things you would want others to know about you?

Ooh, probably that I’m always looking for new band/singer recommendations! I love expanding my horizons. (If anyone has recommendations for a fan of 1D, Conan Gray, Bring Me The Horizon, Stray Kids, and Lewis Capaldi… hit me up!) Also, I gush about my friends’ books and my dogs at every opportunity. If you want book recs or dog pictures… I share both pretty regularly on my Instagram page LOL!

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

“Do you want each book to stand on its own or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?” I’ll never say never, but don’t see myself re-visiting any worlds or characters after the first book. I want readers to imagine what happens next because, after a book is published, the characters belong to them more than me. That being said… all of my books are set in the same world, and I incorporate easter eggs to my other work! I love when readers make the connections or spot references.

What advice might you have to give for aspiring writers?

Find the heart of your story! When workshopping new ideas or drafting, I write down a few key things I want to convey through that project. For The Loudest Silence it looked like: a desire to highlight badass Disabled characters, let platonic love shine, and show it’s okay to not be okay.

It’s difficult to stand up for what you want and write the book you want to write, but it’s worth it. At the end of the day, your name is on the cover. Not your beta readers’, or agent’s, or editor’s name. Make compromises and be collaborative, but also trust your gut and produce a book you’re proud of.

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

My upper YA rom-com, Someone to Daydream About, will be published in Summer 2026 by FSG Macmillan. It follows a Deaf, demiromantic girl who spends a whirlwind summer teaching ASL to a neurodivergent, pansexual lead singer in a boy band so he can communicate with his newly-deaf sister. It’s my first foray into romance and I’m pumped to share it with readers!

Finally, what books/authors (queer, disabled, and/or otherwise) would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

For YA: I love Anna Sortino’s Give Me a Sign, I Am Made of Death by Kelly Andrew, They Hate Each Other by Amanda Woody, and Bethany Mangle’s Conditions of a Heart. My MG recs are Clare Edge’s Accidental Demons, The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Arlow, and Wishbone by Justine Pucella Winans. Some upcoming releases to keep an eye out for are Sujin Witherspoon’s Bingsu For Two and Vesuvius by Cass Biehn!