Hello my lovely bookworms, I am back with another author interview with one of my favourite books of 2024, Something to be Proud of by Anna Zoe Quirke . I read this book back in the summer and it had such a profound effect on me, it brought such smiles, laughter and made me cry. It’s such an inspiring book that I couldn’t put it down. So I instantly asked if I could do an author interview and here we go.

Under the Cover is where I interview some of favourite authors and authors I’ve recently read and discovered. I’m trying to refresh my blog and I love interviewing authors and getting an insight into their storytelling, hence Under the Cover was born.

INTERVIEW WITH ANNA ZOE QUIRKE

Can you pick a quote to summarise your debut book Something to be Proud of?

From the book, I would probably have to pick either, ‘This isn’t for them. This is for us,’ or ‘I deserve to be loved because of who I am, not in spite of it.’ But if we’re talking more generally, I think, ‘This is our place, we make the rules’ from Taylor Swift’s Lover really sums up the queer/disabled joy and community that’s at the core of the story.

It’s a classic question, but one I love to ask debut authors, what started your love for writing?

It was two things, I think. I loved reading so much but I couldn’t always find the stories I wanted to read, and so I wrote them for myself instead! Secondly, as a teenager, I really struggled to speak up for myself and often ended up being treated badly because people knew I wasn’t great at fighting back. Writing was an incredible tool for me at that time to help me find my voice and remember that I did have things to say, I just had to find the right ways for me to say them. Ever since then, I’ve never forgotten the power the written word has, and I love nothing more than getting stuck into a story and giving my characters their own unique, powerful voice too.

Something to be Proud of  is a really important YA novel, what made you want to write this book?

Ahh, so many things! I knew I wanted to write about an autistic person who defied the classic autism stereotypes, I wanted to write a story with lots of intersectional representation, I’d had similar experiences to Imogen at Pride events and wanted to write about the difficulties of being neurodivergent in queer spaces, I wanted to write a male character who learns how to deal with anger in healthy ways, and I also just really wanted to write something fun, full of queer joy, and that I could have a bit of fun with!

Imogen and Ollie are really special characters. Their friendship is beautiful and it made me laugh and smile so much. They gave me Nic and Charlie vibes. What was your favourite characteristic you enjoyed writing about these characters? 

Thank you so much, that’s so lovely! I loved writing Imogen’s passion, I think. They care deeply about a lot of things, and it was really fun to write a character who just doesn’t give a shit and says what they think about important things. And then I also loved Ollie’s openness. He’s not necessarily closed off at the beginning of the book, but he’s definitely more sceptical. It was really nice to write about his journey towards becoming more accepting of himself and more open to new ways of expressing his identity.

I loved the portrayal of Imogen, how inspiring and authentic she is to young autistic and/or bisexual teens of today. What was it like writing to her, did you feel any pressure to represent people with autism/neurodivergent?

Again, thank you so much! To be honest, I didn’t really feel any pressure, no. I was very into autism advocacy as a teenager, so I was no stranger to the fact that people have lots of different opinions about autism and what a ‘valid’ autistic identity is. At the time, I got a lot of, ‘Well, my second cousin’s hairdresser’s nephew is autistic and he’s nothing like you, so you can’t have ‘proper’ autism,’ or similar nonsense like that that eventually led me to quit engaging with those spaces full time and focus on other things instead. So yes, I knew that people were going to have their opinions no matter what kind of autistic character I wrote (and it wouldn’t have been possible to represent the entire spectrum of autistic identities) and so I just focused on writing from the heart and creating a character who had feelings and experiences similar to mine.

I adored the secondary characters, they felt like such a family, a unit that was unbreakable. I would personally love to have Amelia story or Clem and Louisa, Mr Holland, the list goes on, but would you ever want to write a side story of a secondary character and which would it be?

I think I would have to pick Amelia – I’ve got such a soft spot for her. When I was younger I would have really related to her struggles with perfectionism and how that affects the ways she expresses her identity. I’d love to delve more into those feelings and also get to write more about her and Imogen’s relationship. Although I would also love to write a short story about Mr Holland and his husband – I think that would be fun!

The book challenges a lot of stereotypes and opinions especially in schools with inclusivity. But also the understanding of autism and being able to see everyone who they really are and that we are all different. There is a moment with Imogen and her father that really brought such emotion that I wanted that moment to last. Did you draw on your own experiences or research to represent authenticity in your writing? 

Yes, I absolutely did draw on my own experiences for a lot of things, including Imogen’s autism, Ollie’s struggles with his parent’s divorce, and my feelings about accessibility in queer spaces. It was definitely important to do my research as well though, especially for the characters with identities outside of my realm of personal experience, like Ollie’s British-Japanese identity. Luckily, I had a great sensitivity reader, Will, who was a fantastic help in making sure that Ollie’s character was authentic.

What message do you hope for readers to take away from your book?

I hope that young readers especially take away the fact that they do have the power to create change and that it’s such a powerful thing to speak out about things you’re passionate about. But I also hope that autistic readers feel seen in some/all of Imogen and that all readers come away with the reminder that you deserve to find the people who are going to celebrate and uplift you for everything that you are.

This book was also about making a difference, a change. If you could change or implement one thing in the current society, what would it be? 

Oh gosh, that’s such a tricky question. I guess the major thing that would make the biggest difference, I think, would be to have the politicians in our country (or, at least the ones in power) care about protecting and improving the rights of people with less power than them, rather than just maintaining their own power at the expense of everyone else.

Books are a way of seeing ourselves in them. If you could recommend 3 books that celebrate autism and/or pride books to read, what would they be? 

Three books I’ve recently enjoyed are…

Finally – tell us your favourite comedy material from Imogen you wrote. Or can you write something new for my blog? 😀

I had so much fun writing all of Imogen’s comedy routines as someone who very much has stand-up comedy as a special interest but whose literal worst nightmare would be getting up on stage for a crowd to either laugh/boo at them… But my favourite has to be the routine they deliver in front of their friends at the open mic. I loved writing something that kind of turns the tables back on neurotypical people and the weird rules that they have, rather than making autism the butt of the joke.