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Ask the Author: Garrard Conley

“Ask me a question.” Garrard Conley

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Just finished your memoir and I am trying to wrap my mind around conversion therapy. I have heard of it, but your personal account really shook me. I teach high school and am going to give a quick book talk and place it on my shelves for students to choose for their independent reading if they so desire. Is there a release date for the fiction novel you submitted?
Garrard Conley Not yet, but the first draft is almost done!
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Garrard Conley Mom's been wonderful, as you might have seen from my online posts. Dad is still a Missionary Baptist preacher in small town Arkansas, so there are complications there, though we no longer hide our feelings from each other. I can see progress being made. A lot of the rest of my family has been rather silent about my speaking out. I am not a good Southern boy for sharing family secrets!
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Hi Garrard, your book has gotten under my skin so badly and I've fallen in love with your voice. Do you want me to translate it into Turkish? (just love rhetorical questions, sorry) :p xx
Garrard Conley Um, yes please!
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Hi Garrard, Just wanted to say that I recently finished your book and found it to be inspiring. I know that's cliché and you've probably heard it said before, but it's true. One question I have is whether you intend to publish anymore books, fiction or nonfiction?
Garrard Conley Thanks so much! I just quietly sold my first novel to the same publisher, so yes, fiction it is. God I hope I don't have occasion for another memoir, but given our current political climate, I think we all have some trauma to write about!
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Hi Garrard—I'm in the midst of listening to the audio version of your lovely, beautifully written memoir, ably-narrated by Michael Crouch. I'm impressed with the respectful way you have written about your experience. Well done! I'm curious to know if you've had any negative reactions from the Christian community in response to your book, particularly from your home church? Thanks in advance for your response.
Garrard Conley I actually haven't had any negative responses in any of my readings, though I have faced the occasional online troll (who hasn't though?). I find that face-to-face interactions, no matter how uncomfortable, tend to evoke more empathetic responses. Also, as a high school teacher I have learned how to spot a troublemaker in the room as soon as I enter, and I use all of my hard-earned rhetorical strategies to calm such people. Thanks for listening! Crouch does a fantastic job!
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I just read Boy Erased and I was impressed at the quality of the prose and the emotional punches. It is a remarkable book. Do you have any advice for an aspiring writer? I've self-published ten books, I write pretty much every day, and I've completed thirty-nine manuscripts, but I know I have a long way to go. I write about many things, including homelessness, mental illness, and LGBT issues, but I could do better.
Garrard Conley Thanks so much for the kind words, Phoenix. The topics you mention seem to provide you a framework for making yourself an expert, someone people go to on certain subjects. This will lend you some credibility and allow you to develop a following of sorts. I would recommend reading publications with these topics--homelessness, mental illness, LGBTQ issues--and then pitching articles to the editors. Who knows--one of these articles might lead to a book or a book deal.
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