Born and raised in Arizona, Sonora Reyes is the author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School and The Luis Ortega Survival Club. They write fiction full of queer and Latinx characters in a variety of genres, with current projects in both kidlit and adult categories. Sonora is also the creator and host of the Twitter chat #QPOCChat, a monthly community-building chat for queer writers of color.

Sonora currently lives in Arizona in a multi-generational family home with a small pack of dogs who run the place. Outside of writing, Sonora loves dancing, singing karaoke, and playing with their baby nephew.

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

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

Thanks so much for having me! I’m a queer Mexican-American author of The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School, The Luis Ortega Survival Club, and most recently The Broposal, which is my romance debut! I love telling stories about imperfect and messy queer characters who get happy endings no matter what society tells them they deserve.

What can you tell us about your most recent novel, The Broposal? What was the inspiration for the project?

The Broposal is a romance about two best friends who decide to get married so one of them can get his green card, but their feelings for each other might not be as fake as they originally thought.

I have always been a fan of the movie The Proposal, but I couldn’t help but notice it was one of several green card romances I had seen with an immigrant from Canada or Europe. And, let’s be real, most USAmericans are not picturing Canadians or Europeans when they call for mass deportations. It felt only fitting that if I were to write a green card romance, it would reflect on those most affected—my own community.

I wrote this book to cope with the current administration’s previous term, and I really hoped it wouldn’t be as relevant by the time it came out as it was then. Unfortunately, this topic is as timely as ever, which was the last thing I wanted. I hope at the very least, the timing of this release can be a tool for me and others to start conversations and motivate change.

As a writer, what drew you to the art of storytelling, especially romance?

Believe it or not, I actually didn’t start writing (or even reading for fun) until my twenties. I was an undiagnosed autistic kid who didn’t yet have the words to describe why I couldn’t learn the way other kids did. I stumbled over words when I got called on to read aloud to the class and learned to associate reading with shame. I didn’t think I was smart enough to call myself a reader or a writer until I found the forbidden world of fanfiction. There, I was allowed to read and write just for fun, with no pressure to be “smart enough.”

Similarly, as a young person, I never really felt “desirable” enough to see myself in romance stories. Even now, if I get an unexpected complement or someone shows interest in me, I sometimes find myself checking for hidden cameras, waiting for the prank to be revealed. But when I get to make up my own stories, I find it really healing to get in the headspace of a character who is completely enamored with someone as weird or unconventional as I am. I love writing romance because it makes me love myself more, and I hope it can do that for others who relate to messy, weird, lovable characters.

How would you describe your creative process?

My creative process can mostly be described as organized chaos. I set parameters for myself like what times I want to be creative and even outline my stories in as much detail as possible, but sticking to those parameters is another story altogether. I can mentally prepare to be creative during certain times, but the type of creative energy I have is totally unpredictable. Will I want to brainstorm a new book idea, draft something I’ve already outlined, or revise an old draft? Who’s to say?

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

I might be in the minority here, but I really love revising. There’s something so satisfying about taking all the puzzle pieces I’ve created and watching the final picture become more and more clear.

My least favorite part of the process is actually drafting. The first draft of every project is agonizing to write. I like to trick my mind into doing a “zero draft” first with just the bare bones so I can finish sooner, and for some reason adding more words after that is never as painstaking. That way, my silly brain goes into revision mode, even if I’m doubling the word count and basically writing all new words. As long as my brain doesn’t feel like I’m drafting, it’s at peace.

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

I started writing because of fanfiction so a lot of those authors were my earliest and most influential inspirations. The DC and Avatar: The Last Airbender fandoms were where I honed my writing skills, so I’ll always have a soft spot for those franchises.

Right now my biggest inspiration for stories is probably music. Every book I’ve worked on has dozens of songs living in my brain as its soundtrack. Just hearing a new song can inspire a whole new story idea by itself. Sometimes listening to music feels like watching a movie, and all I have to do is put that movie into words on the page and flesh it out.

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

I’m so glad you asked. I’ve been keeping this secret for years, and it’s been eating me up inside not to talk about it. By day I’m an author, but by night I transform with the moon and take on my true form to fight the creatures of the night. It’s a painful and ugly process, but it’s the only way to keep the world from descending into chaos. Anyway, thanks for asking it felt really good to get that off my chest, now forget on three, 1. 2. 3.

I’m actually a pretty open book! What you see is what you get, so I feel like my readers know me pretty well!

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)?

I love getting asked to talk about my special interests outside of writing! I’m currently obsessed with Epic the Musical, which follows the story of The Odyssey. Like I said before, I wasn’t much of a reader growing up, so I only vaguely knew about The Odyssey before this, but now I can recite by memory all two and a half hours of Epic and do a pretty good Zeus impression if I do say so myself.

What advice might you have to give for aspiring writers out there?

I think it’s important to take every piece of advice with a grain of salt. Not all advice works for everyone, and it’s okay if someone you admire gives advice that doesn’t resonate with you. You’re not a bad writer if you can’t “write every single day” or if the “hero’s journey” outline doesn’t feel right for your story. There is no right or wrong way to create something. Just try to remember your own vision of what you want for your story or what you want it to make people feel and keep that in mind while you go through the process.

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

Yes! If you’ve read my first book and thought there was a character whose story felt incomplete, you were right! I have another book coming out in September called The Golden Boy’s Guide to Bipolar, which is a spinoff to my first book, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School. This one follows Cesar, who is the brother of the main character from the first book, and it takes place after the events of Lesbiana’s Guide.

Finally, what LGBTQ+ books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT? 

Anything by Julian Winters, Jonny Garza Villa, Lyla Lee, Aiden Thomas, Karmen Lee, or Adib Khorram! I also really love This is Why They Hate Us by Aaron Aceves, The Angel Room by Lee Call, and This is Me Trying by Racquel Marie.

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Header Photo Credit Lee Call