Kick off your Pride Month! with a great book. Ok, maybe curling up with an amazing novel doesn't feel as celebratory as hitching on your hot pants and hitting the parade route (please do all of that too!) but it's a great time to support your favorite (or newly discovered) queer author. The cover of Aaron Foley's new book caught my eye on Instagram so I reached out for a chat.

What inspired the novel? What was the initial idea that began the writing of the book?

I knew I wanted to tell a story about contemporary Detroit, and from the point of view of characters who had seen the city in two different iterations: before and after the city’s bankruptcy. I started in 2013, the year Detroit went bankrupt, which was also a year after my 10-year high school reunion. I started with three female leads who would reunite at their own 10-year reunion as the city that built them up started to fall apart.

Three and a half chapters sat in a Google doc for a few years as my professional and personal life took several detours. I did two nonfiction books, broke up with my partner, re-entered the dating scene, took some high-profile jobs and moved cities twice. Somewhere in between there, I picked the story back up and changed the characters to gay men. I hadn't seen a lot of fiction reflecting the Black gay experience, at least not a modern one, so I felt I could add something there. Detroit had changed a lot in those years, too — a lot of old places closed, a lot of new places opened, a lot of new people were moving to the city. I looked at my friend groups as they evolved: Divorces, job wins and losses, nomadic moves, families aging. Gradually, the story began to morph, becoming something that I hope captures what Detroit was, where Detroit is going, and who are the people along for the ride.

What role, and/or how big of a role does Detroit play in the novel? 

I like to think of it as the fourth character. It influences how all three of the human characters approach their individual situations: how Detroit made them, what Detroit owes them, what they owe Detroit. And it’s important for readers unfamiliar with Detroit to get this insider’s perspective, since so much of Detroit’s narrative is written by folks not from the city. There’s a lot of local slang and jargon, and I intentionally stuffed in a lot of intersections (because Detroiters love intersections) and real places. But I also wanted to bring to page some of the city’s nuance, and why it can be complicated for someone to make that place their home.

Who would you cast to play the central characters in a film version of the book?

Dyllon Burnside as Dominick. Jeremy Pope as Troy. Durand Bernarr as Remy. (And for the Detroiters reading this, a dream come true would be for Carmen Harlan to play Dominick's mom.)

Thanks to Saqui Books for getting this collection our in time for Pride! This "ground-breaking anthology features the searingly honest and moving memoirs of eighteen queer Arab writers – some internationally bestselling, others using pseudonyms. " Pre-order now for a June 16 release. 

Hot Lit Finale!