This author and I go waaaay back, so I’m thrilled to be chatting today with Gabe Cole Novoa, who’s made a serious name for himself in trans YA both historical and fantastical. He recently released two YAs back-to-back, the Remixed Classic Most Ardently and the fantasy The Diablo’s Curse, and he’s here to talk about both of those, getting The NYT Call, what comes next, and more. Welcome, Gabe!

Q: I know you have a brand-spankin’-new book out and I definitely wanna talk about it, but can we discuss hitting the NYT list with a historical trans m/m YA Pride & Prejudice? Please leave absolutely nothing out of your retelling of how you found out and everything went down.

A: Ahhh holy crap it still feels surreal! Happy to tell the tale. So the Wednesday the week after Most Ardently’s release I knew of course was the day the bestsellers lists would post. I honestly didn’t have any expectations—I knew out of all of my books Most Ardently had the best chance of hitting a list because it had the most buzz pre-publication, but the vague pre-order sales numbers I knew weren’t enough on their own. I figured Most Ardently still had a chance, but of course I was aware of what the odds were like so I was managing my expectations.

The Indie Bestseller list publishes first, and when I saw Most Ardently wasn’t there I figured my chances for hitting the NYT list were minimal. Still (and this is where my inexperience comes in) I checked the NYT list around 5 not realizing that it doesn’t actually update until 7. So the list I was looking at was actually the prior’s week list, but I didn’t know that! I told my husband, “Well, Most Ardently officially didn’t hit any lists” and he gave me a hug, and said something cute like, “You’re always number one on my list!” and we continued cooking dinner.

Then at 5:30 my phone rang and I was surprised to see it was my agent. I figured she must be calling about an inquiry we’d received the week prior and picked up the phone. The conversation went like this:

MY AGENT: CONGRATULATIONS!
ME: for…for what?
AGENT: You hit the list! #9!
ME: I—what? I did? I thought I saw the list already!
AGENT: No you didn’t, it doesn’t publish until 7 and you’re on it!

There was a lot of excited yelling and crying and jumping and dancing in my kitchen after that. I kept staring at the list to reassure myself I didn’t dream the whole thing. Hitting the list was a childhood dream I knew would be incredibly hard to achieve, so seeing it happen was absolutely amazing!

Q: Speaking of which, I have long been obsessed with the Remixed Classics series, which I think just does a phenomenal job of pairing author and story; every time I see an announcement, including for Most Ardently, it’s like the biggest YES YES YES moment, and I know I’m not alone there. How’d that glorious pairing happen?

I so agree! As for the how, it began with me asking my agent for more work. She came back with information about Feiwel & Friends’ Remixed Classics series and asked if I’d be interested in doing a Classic retelling. I was like “yes, absolutely” and she was like, “Great, which one?” This led to a research-heavy weekend where I considered a bunch of different options, from Shakespeare to Allen Poe and then I thought, “How about Pride and Prejudice?” The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea—for a lot of reasons, but what stuck with me the most was how much I could relate to the original story. Like Elizabeth, I was raised in a home with heavy expectations of what a “woman” should be like that didn’t sit right with me. And so doing a retelling with Elizabeth as a trans boy made all the sense in the world to me—it was, in a sense, my story. So on Monday I pitched it to my agent—and the rest is history.

OKAY, clearly we must also talk about The Diablo’s Curse – please share a little bit about the book, including how it ties into companion The Wicked Bargain!

Happy to! In The Diablo’s Curse a genderfluid demon and a fatally cursed boy get shipwrecked on a dangerous island where they must find cursed pirate treasure before the island kills them both. If you’ve read The Wicked Bargain you’ll recognize the genderfluid demon, named Dami, as they were first introduced there. It’s a fun book with an all-queer main cast full of adventure, magic, and demon and devil deals and I’m so stoked to get it out in the world! 

I’ve been a fan of your books since way back when you were writing under another name. What’s it like, switching that course in the middle of your career?

You know, looking back I feel like the timing worked out perfectly for me. By the time I was releasing the last book in the Beyond the Red trilogy, I knew I was trans and was already in the process of changing my name, but finishing that trilogy under my old pseudonym then releasing my first trans-led book felt like a great way to re-introduce myself with my new name. That The Wicked Bargain ended up with a Big 5 publisher made it all the better.

In a lot of ways, I feel like I re-launched my career, and it’s worked really well for me. I’m glad I changed over to a new author name when I did, because I think it would have been a lot harder to do so later on in my career. 

Transmasc MCs have seen a major rise over the past few years in YA, and one thing that’s fascinating about it is that I think when we suddenly see a book in representation, it’s very One Genre At a Time, like contemp gets their day and then we can start branching out, but we’re seeing trans boy fantasy, contemporary, horror… it’s pretty glorious. How does it look from a more insider perspective, and what would you still really love to see?

It has been so cool to see the rise in transmasc representation! I feel old saying this but I remember lamenting like ten years ago about how limited the trans rep was at the time (at least in the YA space) so watching so many trans authors enter the scene and hit the list multiple times has been absolutely incredible. That said, at least in YA, it very much has been transmasc heavy—and while those books are absolutely needed and I’m so so glad to see them—we need just as much transfemme representation! There are definitely some books out there and on the way, but I’d really love to see an equal amount of transmasc and transfemme-authored books in the YA space, and we’re nowhere near there yet. 

You already have another series on the way, with These Vengeful Gods slated for Spring 2025. What can you share with us about it? And when will you be updating your website to mention it?

Okay but the way this question made me laugh! I was originally waiting until I had a cover but this question is making me rethink that strategy…

Anyway! I do have another book on the way! And it’s totally unrelated to anything I’ve written! These Vengeful Gods is a dystopian fantasy starring a trans masc nonbinary chronically ill protagonist descended from the god of death who fights their way through a gladiator-style competition toward victory and rebellion against the gods who murdered their family. There’s magic and sassy gods and an all-queer main cast and I can’t wait to share it with everyone next year! 

We know what you’re releasing next, but lately I’ve been talking to authors more and more about “cheat projects,” things they (okay, we) dabble in on the side of the work they’re (okay, we’re) supposed to be doing. Do you have any cheat projects, even if they just live inside your brain for now?

My cheat projects definitely live inside my brain but I’m very much hoping to write my first Adult novel this year! I’ve really come to love Adult Historical Fantasy and absolutely cannot wait to start working on one myself. I plan to dive in after I’ve handled revisions for These Vengeful Gods, so fingers crossed it all works out!

What queer books have you been loving recently? Anything you’re especially looking forward to?

So many! Some queer books I’ve loved in the last year include My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron, The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske (beginning with A Marvellous Light), A Market of Dreams and Destiny by Trip Galey, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, and Beholder by Ryan La Sala.

I’m really looking forward to Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas, Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen, and The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin. 

 ***

Gabe Cole Novoa (he/him) is a Latinx transmasculine author who writes speculative fiction featuring marginalized characters grappling with identity. Now leveled up with an MFA in Writing for Children, when he isn’t being nerdy at his day job, or buried under his TBR pile, you’ll likely find him making heart-eyes at the latest snazzy outfit he wants to add to his wardrobe. Gabe is the author of The Wicked Bargain and the Beyond the Red trilogy, written under a former pseudonym. He also runs a popular writing-focused YouTube channel, bookishpixie and is very active on Twitter.