Goodreads asked Dean Backus:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Dean Backus I first brainstormed this as a screenplay back in the early 90's, when there was almost no LGBT representation onscreen, and certainly none for teenagers. I knew I wanted it to build to a certain scene with two characters finally getting together, then I worked my way backwards: what were the obstacles and problems in their way? Once I had the villainess and the anti-hero locked down and added a couple other characters, it became a riff on the Shakespearean set-up with 2 couples (and another one "offstage").

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