We are next going to interview prolific novelist and serialisation writer, Saint Caliendo. Her work generally falls into contemporary romance, with LGBTQ and religious themes throughout. Saint was born in Nigeria, but now lives in Canada and identifies as an asexual woman.

Hello Saint. Can you tell us why you agreed to take part in this project?

As always, community means a lot to me, so taking part in events (like this one) are a great way to connect with other LGBT+ creators and the overall audience. Also, I feel it’s important that there’s a diversity of experiences in these sorts of incentives.

You write a lot of contemporary romance novels as well as novels with low-fantasy elements. Can you tell us a little more about your favourite authors and the types of books you read?

When I was younger, I would consume a lot of “pulp fiction” (No, not the movie. It means cheap books made with cheap paper). A lot of them were historical romances, contemporary romances, to crime and mystery thrillers. I also borrowed a lot of books from the library---this is where I had my first interaction with LGBT+ literature. A lot of them were old contemporary tragedies---dating back to the 50s-80s and they had a soul and emotional quality to them that still affects my writing today.

Authors like TJ Klune have won awards, all while writing unabashedly queer fiction. Has that inspired you or influenced your works do you think?

I think I especially appreciate TJ Klune (and other LGBT+ writers like him) for bringing happiness to the sub-genre. Like I mentioned above, most LGBT+ literature I started reading were tragedies. It’s nice to open a TJ Klune book and laugh my ass off. I’m not exactly a comedic person, but I carry over that over to my writing in some way. I love HEAs (happy ever afters), and I love unashamedly cute stomach clenching adorableness.

As for TJ Klune winning awards? I think it’s great! I don’t mind being a “niche” writer but knowing that LGBT+ words sometimes break into the mainstream is encouraging.

Do you remember why you started writing?

I started writing when I got to university because I didn’t have time to work on comic books anymore. My first ever novel was 90K words and featured six main characters, and three timelines (which is typical for a comic, but a bit overwhelming for a novel.) I’ve always loved to make stories, so trying to make sure I kept making them was what led me to writing as a medium. I always tend to say, “I’m a storyteller”, and have only in the last two years been comfortable with the word “writer.” I write because I read a lot. I write because I love to talk and communicate ideas in a way that’s too long for back and forths or essays.

What were your comics about?

But at its core they all leaned heavily sci-fi. Strange, because I don’t work on sci-fi stories anymore, and don’t plan to really.

I used to really love world building, but now I’m more concerned about grounding my work in reality or low fantasy elements influenced by my politics or my relationship to religion.

Your novel, Vampirism, is about a ‘trauma vampire’ and a survivor of trauma. What intrigued you about this idea?

In Christianity (or at least Catholicism), there’s a very special relationship with “original sin” and the idea that everyone is born a sinner with what is essentially a generational curse (the curse on Adam and Eve.) Wern (My MC) struggles with his original sin and damnation of vampirism and has a lot of conflicting thoughts over if he can be redeemed/saved and even if he even wants to be saved.

You have mentioned that you grew up Catholic. How has that influenced both your interactions with your own identity and the themes present in your work?

I think something I find especially strange is that I grew up catholic but was never exactly religious. I went to church three times a week, I took communion, I did confession etc… but, it all felt like a very high dedication hobby. I didn’t believe in God. Never did at any point in my life BUT I was especially intrigued with the aesthetics, theology, and cinematics of Catholicism more than anything else, and it shows in my writing. I’ve always joked that my work will slowly merge to “Gay but make it catholic.”

I think my upbringing makes it easy for me to navigate what is otherwise not really talked about in LGBT+ literature---religion, and LGBT+’s people’s relationship with religion beyond rejection and pain.

You’ve said that “I have a fascination with portraying heightened emotions and internal emotional struggle”. How does this interplay with your own identity?

As an asexual person, I don’t have a clue about how to navigate many emotions. Sure, I might be dating a woman now and I like her very much, but it’ll never be in the way that non-asexual people experience attraction and emotions.

I’m fascinated by those emotions, and I pursue understanding and representing them in my writing because they are things I personally not experience. Sure, it is a bit odd to read through comes about how emotional my work can be, knowing full well I probably wrote it on a bus with a straight face or something, lol.

You’ve claimed your identity when writing your works. What issues have you come across when publishing them online?

I think a lot of people are just curious as to how an asexual person writes romance. Most times it’s just harmless questions, and sometimes it’s weird accusations and probing.

I don’t know, my work is a very distinct thing from myself (on at least an emotional level), and I understand someone wanting me to say “yes, I experienced X thing that I wrote about”, but that can’t always be the case. I’m happy that say, someone things my portrayal of social anxiety, depression, poverty, love etc all steam from a very personal place because it means I portrayed them well, but no. They really aren’t my personal experiences.

What are the most common examples of queerphobia and racism that you experience on your platforms?

Fetishization.

I think this is a carry over for BL manga a lot of readers read side by side LGBT+ novels. I want to chalk it up to age and their reading preferences because I notice my novels aimed at adults never have these issues in the comment section.

In recent years, many creators have been more openly critiquing platforms where they post works in regards to marginalised identities. What do you think that platforms should do in order to better support LGBTQ writers?

I think being able to revaluate the structures in place is a good first step.

Is there anything about the current LGBTQ novels community that you wish were different?

Hmm, I’m not sure. How things are marketed maybe? I’m an Asexual woman. Most of my books don’t have sex in them at all. I also prefer typographic covers, and I’m not a fan of physical representations of characters (drawings, people on covers etc.) I notice when people come to my work, they expect certain dynamics, fan service etc that doesn’t just exist in them.

I think that instead of trying to fit into this narrow marketing there has to be a push to diversify how we market LGBT+ literature.

You mentioned being surprised by Aphobia and Transphobia as still being issues in the community. Your books are diverse and feature these types of protagonists. What advice would you give for authors who are intending to post works with asexual or transgender characters in dealing with this issue?

I think as I continually expanded what I wrote about the pushback reduced. You know, that first Ace and that first Trans character pushed away a lot of exclusionists (and thankfully.) It will probably happen when I have my first non-binary character too.

My advice for writers is that you cannot please everyone. Don’t tuck away that neat story idea because you’re afraid you’ll lose transphobic or aphobic readers. You’ve already “alienated” a lot of readers by daring to have LGBT+ characters at all. Why keep the aphobes and transphobes?

It’s not all doom and gloom though. I know you get lots of lovely comments from readers. Can you give me an example of a comment that you got recently that just made you smile ear-to-ear?

“I was amazed and swept away by your incredible writing and beautiful story from the first line of chapter 1. I was attracted by the knowledge of your undeniable talent, from previous reads, and the exceptional originality of this story's concept, but I didn't expect to experience such intense and diverse emotions. I enjoyed every line of the story, truly. Your descriptions, and overall narration, are just outstanding! I love Wern and Haruto and am so happy they're happy. I can say this work is my favorite from the few I discovered from your repertoire. I would love to buy physical copies of your work if they are available. Thank you very much for sharing your hard work with us.”

And finally, what do you love about being an LGBTQ creator?

The community!