Thank you so much for sitting down with us for PRIDE month!
So, tell us a little bit about you. How did you get into writing?
I used to write songs as a child, because many of my siblings sung and I was rubbish at it. Turns out I was writing poetry, and it creeped the bejeebuz out of my older siblings. I moved on to prose as I got older and the more I read the more I wanted to tell the wonderful what if’s that roamed around my mind.
What are your favourite tropes in LGBTQIA2S novels?
I love a good Ice Queen. They work well in all different genres and the great ones thaw minimally, and usually in quiet or with a love interest.
As an author do you intentionally try to represent LGBTQIA2S characters in your stories?
Absolutely. I grew up never seeing myself represented in pretty much any areas of the world, and never in the books I loved and cherished. It was hard having to always feel distanced in some way from the characters and from the stories. I want to make sure that I do my part in helping the next generation know they aren’t alone, and there are so many ways to be in the community.
What communities (online, IRL, paid, free) are you a part of that support your writing?
For the Lesbian writing and reading community there is a lot of online support in author groups. One group that I feel especially supports all in the LGBTQIA2S+ community is Jae’s reader Group. She is a fantastic author who embraces everyone under the umbrella and gives so much back.
It’s almost cliche that authors live on black coffee and hard liquor. What are you drinking right now?
HA! Black coffee from my I Cth Cth Chtulhu you travel mug. And lately been having scotch on the rocks in the evening … I am a terrible cliché lol.
Any advice for young authors beginning their author journey?
Sure. Read all the books on the craft you are drawn to, listen to podcasts, watch YouTube videos, learn and discover how other writers do it, especially those who write what you admire, and then throw it all up in the air and pick back up only the things that settle well on your shoulders. Oh and read, read in your genre AND outside of it.
Fun question: If you could live in any ‘book world’ what one would it be and why?
I would like in Nadarra. It’s the fantasy land in Emily Noon’s novel Aurora’s Angel. It’s a land of shifters, and the book is one of the best I have read this year. I love the dynamics of culture and races, and the beauty definitely the natural beauty.
Bio:
Neen Cohen is an Australian Lesbian Speculative Fiction author, and lives in Brisbane with her partner, son and fur babies. She has a Bachelor of Creative Industries from Queensland University of Technology and is a member of the Springfield Writer's Group. She's had a multitude of 'day jobs' to pay the bills but her heart has always been in the art of marking dead trees with squiggles of ink and graphite.
When she’s not running after her son, spending time with her partner or working at the current 'day job', she can often be found writing, sitting against a tombstone or tree in any number of graveyards. She's also discovered a new found passion for throwing sharp objects at thick pieces of wood (knife throwing and axe throwing) and tries to squeeze at least 30 hours in to each day because sleep is for the weak.
Check out Neen’s latest misadventures - https://linktr.ee/neencohen
