James Frankie Thomas on his homoerotic, post-9/11 campus novel, IDLEWILD

As a teen, James Frankie Thomas modelled a prom dress and smooch-proof makeup in a 2004 issue of TEEN PEOPLE magazine. Now, he's the author of a compelling novel, IDLEWILD, published by The Overlook Press. James spoke with me about crafting this novel at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and how he navigated the highs and lows of getting a book into the world. Plus: find out why James jokes that he and Elliot Page are like "two ships in the night", and why it's hard to read (and write) about big events like 9/11 and the COVID-19 pandemic. Podcast notes: James' book list: The Family Chao, by Lan Samantha Chang Eighty-sixed, by David B. Feinberg (not to be confused with 86'd, by Dan Fante) A Dream of a Woman, by Casey Plett Detransition, Baby, by Torrey Peters Darryl, by Jackie Ess Nevada, by Imogen Binnie I'm Supposed to Protect You from All This: A Memoir, by Nadja Spiegelman All This Could Be Different, by Sarah Thankam Mathews This Other Eden, by Paul Harding Pageboy: A Memoir, by Elliot Page Music: Franz Joseph Haydn, 'The Heavens Are Telling' (The Creation), St. Matthew's Choir, 2010. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Frédéric Chopin, ‘Berceuse Op. 57’, Christine Hartley-Troskie. CC BY 2.5 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5), via Wikimedia Commons. Hear my first interview with James: www.soundcloud.com/teenpeoplepod/frankie Thanks to Stephanie Palumbo, Christian Westermann, and Andrew Gibeley at Abrams Books for sending me a review copy of IDLEWILD and securing permissions to excerpt IDLEWILD in this episode! Buy IDLEWILD here: www.abramsbooks.com/product/idlewil…_9781419769146/. Like this episode? Please leave a rating or review! Find James on Twitter at james_f_thomas and online at www.jamesfrankiethomas.com. Find me on Twitter and Instagram at TeenPeoplePod and online at www.annasoper.ca. Advocacy resources related to banned and challenged books from the American Library Association and Ontario Library Association: www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks www.freedomtoread.ca Teen People is recorded in Kingston/Katarokwi, the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat.