Love Somebody updates a classic with a messy LGBTQ love triangle in Roasek’s debut.
“The themes of the story don’t age.
They keep being relevant because they are so human,” she explains.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Somebody is going to piss off somebody else.
It could completely blow up on them if they don’t grow.
Can you share one thing you kept from the initial play and something you changed?
This is the strongest place that I diverted.
What inspired the struggle within Christian’s family and his arc in the story?
In the end, Christian’s situation very much ended up being based on my own family experience.
What was challenging or surprising about writing yourLove Somebody?
The three central characters are all struggling with learning how to be comfortable being themselves.
What did you want to explore about how teenagers struggle with that?
All three of them have a little bit of my personal experience.
I would hesitate to find anybody who doesn’t relate to at least one of those.
A minor character that stood out to me was Monty.
What inspired that character and what did you want to explore through his friendship with Christian?
Monty is my favorite character.
He is a lot of fun.
Monty is non-binary, but still uses he/him pronouns.
At school he dresses mostly masculine, but he expresses himself a bit more at school.
There’s no one way to express yourself or to identify.
He needs a voice of reason that he categorically wasn’t going to get from Sam.
Monty cares about Christian and has been telling him for years to start standing up for himself.
You are telling a queer generational story through Ros' family with her two fathers.
Why did you decide to add that to her character?
I wouldn’t say that I made her dad gay for a plot point, it just made sense.
Her dad was the mold for that.
What does it mean to you to add a queer book to the stories being told about young people?
I feel lucky because books and publishing are in an era where LGBTQ books are becoming much more common.
My book is among many others and I feel the furthest thing from jealous about that.
I’m thrilled that kids are now spoiled for choice when looking for something to read.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
