Georgia Peaches And Other Forbidden Fruit Author Jaye Robin Brown Talks Books and Barbecue

One of my favorite aspects of Georgia Peaches is the friendship between Dana and Joanna, because so often in LGBTQIA YA there’s only one gay character. Was writing that dynamic important to you? What was your favorite part of writing it?
Oh, yes, I absolutely loved their friendship AND writing it. Honestly, Dana kind of needs her own book. She’s complex and a smidge toxic, but at heart she really does want to be a good friend. One of the things that happened during the writing was the difference in Jo and Dana’s banter compared to Jo’s banter with her new Rome friends. There’s a shorthand that comes with having been friends for a long time. In a dance scene near the end, which I can’t spoil, something happens that completely cracked me and my editor up. He was expecting one thing, and it was not that thing at all. Which made me happy, because I hope it makes the reader laugh, too. This moment really highlights the dynamic of Dana and Jo’s relationship.
As for one queer character versus a host of them, my experience is that queer youth know each other. It’s a side-eye, wink and nudge, kind of club and those friendships go deep. To me, it seems unrealistic that there would only be one queer teen in a friendship group. Writing the Dana friendship, the GSA groups, the drama kids at Jo’s new school, it all seemed totally natural. And necessary.
I absolutely love how Joanna’s faith and her sexuality coexist, especially since that’s so rare in LGBTQIA YA books. What was it like writing that, particularly the scenes with her father?
I knew from the beginning this was going to be a book about a positive faith relationship. I’m certain Joanna had doubts, particularly as she came out in middle school, but she’s amazingly strong in her love of God and her belief in his (or as Jo would say, maybe her) love in return. Her dad, though he seriously messed up, wants to be the right kind of dad and preacher. Even though some of those scenes were difficult to write, I knew in my gut it was going to work out for Joanna. I did try to balance the optimism with a bit of reality, though. There are good pastors and bad pastors. Friends who don’t care about Jo’s sexuality and those she loses. Religion and queer issues are a mixed bag these days, and I wanted to show both sides of the coin, even though the emphasis of this novel is the sunny side.
Was there a particular reason you chose to set the book in the South?
I think being queer in the Deep South is a different kind of thing. There’s a long history here of “colorful characters and their friends” but it’s very much a don’t ask/don’t tell kind of environment. People see what they want to see and believe what they want to believe. And religion, whether you are faithful or not, is woven into everyday life and tends to bring this two-sided teaspoon of judgment and joy. For me, having grown up, come out, and lived in the South my entire life, it was a very personal kind of story to tell, even though it’s not my specific story.
Any new (or old) YA you want to recommend?
I’m currently reading Jeff Zentner’s The Serpent King, which is a really different kind of story about deep South faith and am enjoying it. As for queer fiction, I loved Nina LaCour’s Everything Leads To You, Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and Dahlia Adler’s Under The Lights. All three are sweet romances about queer teens who are accepted and loved by their respective families. I think this happy portrayal is so important in young adult literature.  In books about to come out (no pun intended), I’m super excited for some other queer YA fiction, including Audrey Coulthurst’s Of Fire and Stars, which I got to read at an early stage; Robin Talley’s As I Descended, a Macbeth retelling; and M.E. Girard’s Girl Mans Up, which I had the good fortune to receive an advance copy of. All are going to be important additions to the LGBTQIA YA bookshelf.
What’s next for you?
You had to ask, didn’t you? I’m currently playing around with three ideas in various stages of being finished. Two are young adult contemporary.  One is young adult sort-of-science-fiction. All have queer characters, large casts of characters, and (still to be written) hopeful endings. I guess that’s sort of my thing.
Finally, because you live in NC, I have to ask. Eastern (vinegar-based) or Western (ketchup-based) barbecue? (We all know my feelings on the matter.)
Even though I live in Western NC, I’m an Eastern barbecue kind of girl. However, I went to Memphis summer before last and had a dry rub that blew both of the Carolina types out of the water. Amazing.