Today on the site I’m delighted to welcome Kristina W. Kelly, author of Tavern Tale, and Diane Billas, author of Superficial, to talk about their most recent releases, Sapphic representation, and what’s up next for them!
Diane: First, I want to start off by congratulating you on your newest book, Tavern Tale! It’s so cozy and I really enjoyed reading it.
Kristina: Thank you so much!
Diane: I am interested to know, what inspired you to write the book?
Kristina: Really, what inspired it was my love for video games, mainly role-playing games. One day I thought about how much I go around in side quests, and that I have to do the side quests before I do the main quest line in the story. And I thought, well, I wonder if I could write a story like that. And then when I sat down to write the story, I wanted to kind of pay homage to all my favorite parts inside of those role-playing games. So I made sure to add a fun map, and I added little hints to some of my favorite games like Heroes of Might and Magic where one of the characters says, “I’ll bring the might, you bring the magic”. And so I just had a lot of fun trying to make it like sitting down and playing a favorite game.
Diane: That’s awesome, and you could tell it too. When you’re reading it, it feels like you are immersed in that side quest. It was so interesting!
Kristina: Thank you!
Diane: Tavern Tale is sapphic. Can you tell me a little bit more about the queer representation that shows up?
Kristina: So yes, Tavern Tale is an adult sapphic romance. The main pairing is female/female. Divine, the female main character, is bisexual and her love interest Saph is pansexual. There are some other characters throughout, including a side character that is kind of like an iguana, and they are non-binary. I tried to add a kaleidoscope of characters and representations in not just the main sapphic romance. I hope a lot of people had fun discovering some of those characters.
Diane: I know I certainly did. For me, it’s always nice to see pansexual representation since that’s how I identify myself and it is so rarely found in books. What I really want to know is more about the tropes that show up in your book and which one is your favorite.
Kristina: I don’t have the typical tropes, such as grumpy x sunshine, but what I do have is the trope of lost magic, similar to the Marvel show Agatha All Along. I also have a fun take on up-against-the-wall. In Tavern Tale, it’s up-against-a-tree. But my favorite one is self-discovery. Divine, when she’s starting off in the story, is very much on a mission to find her lost magic but really it’s deeper. It’s this connection to her, the loss of her mother, and how everything in her life, including her past, is affecting her, and she’s rediscovering who she is and what it means to get your power and make your power your own, as she’s rediscovering her magic.
Diane: For me, seeing how she grew throughout the story was really inspiring.
Kristina: I’m glad you thought so! You know, one of the things I love about our two books is how they’re connected by that geek culture we were just talking about. You have Superficial, a YA superhero novel. What parts of Geekdom influenced your book?
Diane: So I went to a Comic-Con convention in Philadelphia in 2016 and it was an Avengers themed one, so Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, and Sebastian Stan were there. I had so much fun that I started thinking about, what if I could base a book on something that happens at a Comic-Con Convention? And that’s how the idea behind Superficial first began. And then it kind of spun out, what if one of the celebrities at the convention is actually a secret superhero in real life and he and one of the attendees have to fight some bad guys and save the day.
Kristina: I love that! I’ve seen photos of you dressed up as your characters. You’re cosplaying your character who was cosplaying at the convention?
Diane: Yeah! My female main character, Lea, is an attendee at the convention and is dressed up for it, and I have been known to occasionally cosplay…
Kristina: Another thing I love about Superficial is the queer representation. Can you tell more about that?
Diane: So Lea is pansexual and demisexual, just like myself. Lea starts to fall for the other main character, Jake, the secret superhero. I wanted a m/f pairing with a pansexual MC because I find that there are less books with that representation, even though there are many bi+ individuals living that experience. A side character named Gina identifies as a lesbian, and her girlfriend Ashley is queer. Another character identifies as non-binary and Lea’s ex-girlfriend that she’s at the convention with is pansexual so there is a large cast of queer characters.
Kristina: That’s great and it was a lot of fun meeting all of them!
Diane: And it was fun writing them!
Kristina: So you asked me about my favorite trope in Tavern Tale, so I need to know your favorite trope for Superficial.
Diane: I have to say found family because Lea and Jake both don’t have great family situations so when they get thrown together at this Comic-Con Convention, they end up having to band together with the people they meet along the way to help save the city of Philadelphia from a pirate and a shapeshifter.
Kristina: I really got that when I read your book. It was a lot of fun knowing that there’s probably going to be some other people who pop up to help, and I was waiting in anticipation to see who those helpers were in the story.
Diane: I felt the same way about Tavern Tale! I knew there were going to be some really cool individuals Divine and Saph come upon during their travels, and they certainly did!
Kristina: I’m excited to share with readers which characters come back in the sequel! And introduce new characters. I’m working on book two of the Tales of Trelvania series that Tavern Tale started, and just have to decide if mushrooms, snow, or tea will play the bigger role in this one. What are you working on next?
Diane: My next book is a YA sapphic murder mystery called The Final Chapter. It’s all written and I’m working on getting it published, so stay tuned!
Kristina W. Kelly writes fantasy, sci-fi, and poetry. Her works include her coauthored epic science fantasy series The Etherea Cycle, her fantasy romance Tavern Tale, and her sci-fi and fantasy poetry collection, Imaginari. Kristina is a trumpet player, plays video games, and tends to her flower garden and two children in Indiana. Find her online at kristinaseyes.com and @KristinaWKelly on Instagram/Threads/TikTok
Diane Billas is the author of the YA queer superhero book Superficial and the YA sapphic romance Does Love Always Win? She lives in Philadelphia with her son and husband. You can find her online at dianebillas.com, @dianebillas on Instagram/Threads, and @dianebillas on TikTok.
