Interview between Jenna Adams (she/her) and Lizzie (Hux) Huxley-Jones (they/them)
It’s Pride Month! We at The Book Network are celebrating by championing some awesome LGBT+ agents, authors, and books. We were lucky enough to chat all things books and Pride related with Lizzie (Hux) Huxley-Jones.
They are the editor of Stim, an anthology of autistic authors and artists, which was published by Unbound in April 2020. They are also the author of the children’s biography Sir David Attenborough: A Life Story. They can be found editing at independent micropublisher 3 of Cups Press, and they also advise writers as a freelance sensitivity reader and consultant.
1. How did you get into writing?
Not to be somewhat of a cliché, but I did write a lot as a child. I read so much that I figured I could do it, and then I really fell out of love with it as a teenager. I would write bits and bobs on my laptop when I graduated from uni, mostly blogs I barely shared, and then I slowly started to remember how much I loved fiction writing. And that’s where I am now, really. It’s been a long process, because as a child I didn’t know you could just be a writer. I knew Jo March could, but she lived in Massachusetts in the 1800s, and I didn’t think that quite applied to me in the early 2000s in North Wales.
2. What does your writing process look like?
I’m mostly a planner – I like to know what I’m trying to do and, if it’s fiction, who everyone feels and what they want and what they’ll do to get it, and even what fruit they’d pick from a greengrocer’s. My interconnecting disabilities mean I have quite bad memory, and so I write down everything, mostly in spreadsheets where I chart the novel and characters and plot lines (I know, way to murder the romance of it all). I like to write in the mornings because it’s usually when I’m mostly awake, but a lot of writing is thinking, and so I do a lot of thinking while walking the dog, or lying in the bath.
3. What did you find most difficult about writing?
This is a difficult one to answer, because really, it’s all difficult. None of it is easy, though there’s amazing moments where you crack the story or a character and it all feels like magical flight. One of the hardest parts is when you’re editing and trying to make the thing on the page more like the thing in your mind. Probably the thing I find most difficult is not being distracted by shiny new projects, like the list of books I want to write which lives in my notes app.
4. As well as writing a biography of David Attenborough for children, you’ve also edited a book called Stim: An Autistic Anthology. How did the book come to fruition?
Stim was born out of love for my fellow autistics, who are passionate, brilliant, creative thinkers, and also out of frustration (see next question, hah). Practically, it came about because I was tweeting about wanting to see an anthology of autistic writing, and the wonderful Julia Kingsford, who set up The Good Literary Agency, DMed me on Twitter to tell me I should do it. And after about five months of imposter syndrome about whether I could or should do it, I pitched it to Unbound.
5. One quote from your introduction to Stim is “The majority of what I read was not by us, but about us.” Why is it important that autistic people have creative control over autistic stories?
When I was awaiting diagnosis, after realising I likely was autistic, I read a lot. I kept finding a trend where parents, family members, carers were afforded more space in the conversation than autistics themselves. While their stories are important, it feels like there’s a history of assuming autistic people can’t speak for themselves. And we can! Some of the greatest writers around right now are autistic, and often they’re passed over – literally yesterday there was a write up in the Guardian about the importance of autistic advocacy coming from autistic people and the new film version of The Reason I Jump which was… written by a non-autistic parent. This is important because basically everything we’ve known about autism historically has come from what people have gleaned about us, not from ourselves. The autistic spectrum is as wide and broad and filled with as different personalities as the rest of humanity, and yet if only a few of us manage to break through, or if people continue to speak for us, we’re still only letting a few voices through.
6. You published Stim through Unbound, a publisher that utilises crowdfunding to get books out there. How did you find the process of publishing via that platform?
It was really interesting. I had crowdfunded a couple of anthologies through 3 of Cups Press by the point that I started with Stim at Unbound, so I knew the drill. I’m really glad I went with them as they allowed me to do some quite radical things in the process – pay it forwards (aka someone could buy two copies, and one would go to someone who can’t afford to buy), and a cheaper price for autistics who were under- or unemployed. Very few publishers would go along with that, and they were really enthusiastic about it.
7. Later this year, another anthology Allies is coming out, which you’re a contributing writer for. Can you tell us a bit about the book?
Allies is an anthology of writing for teenagers about ways to be an ally to various marginalised groups. It’s a kind of handbook, but also supposed to inspire critical thinking, and has a ton of resources in the back. A lot of the essays share our own personal experiences and pose questions for readers to critically think about. My essay is about dismantling your preconceptions about hidden and invisible disabilities.
8. As well as writing, you’re also an editor at the micropublisher 3 of Cups Press. Can you tell us a bit about what 3 of Cups Press do?
3 of Cups Press is a small press, focusing on inclusive publishing. We share a vision for a more equal, more peaceful, more inclusive world and we are dedicated to providing a platform for voices otherwise unheard in the mainstream. Our main focus has been anthologies – first with our series On Anxiety, On Bodies and On Relationships, and more recently, our short story anthology Outsiders edited by Alice Slater and our upcoming poetry anthology Tell Me Who We Were Before Life Made Us edited by Maz Hedgehog.
9. On your website you mention that you’re also a sensitivity reader. Why is sensitivity reading important?
This connects to you asking about autistic creative control on stories, in some ways. There’s been a long history of people writing about a marginalisation they don’t share, and maybe it’s based off a person they know, but the research might end there. The author might claim they’re not trying to represent that marginalisation, but the thing is the way we learn about other people is through stories. Many representations of autism historically (and still now) can be crude, and often lacking emotional interiority, which also links into stereotypes about us not having any empathy. Sensitivity reading is essentially a form of close editing, character guidance, and consultation. If you were going to write a book about a doctor, you’d probably speak to a few doctors to see if your work was accurate – sensitivity reading is the same, but with an added weight of importance. You might be writing the first character of that marginalisation the person is reading, and you might impart ideas about that group of people through your work. I’ve been very lucky to work across some great books in kidlit, with some passionate authors who really do want to tell a good story, and that’s made the whole process really engaging and interesting.
10. Do you think the representation of queer characters, particularly non-binary characters, is important? If so, why?
I grew up under Section 28, a UK law that banned ‘promotion of homosexuality’ in schools, which was overturned when I was about fourteen. A similar law was enacted in Hungary yesterday, at the time of writing. And you only have to look at the anti-trans sentiment in the UK and America, which is ongoing. LGTBQ+ rights progress and roll back, all the time. The wise adage is you can’t be what you can’t see, and so I’m passionate about making sure there are queer characters in everything I work on.
11. Do you have any favourite LGBT+ writers or books?
Far too many to name, but recent favourites are The Split by Laura Kay, all three of Samantha Irby’s memoirs which are a kind of guiding light at the moment, Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters and Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers.
12. What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?
I’m heading for another cliché here, but write. Edit. Write and edit. Most of writing is editing, but honestly, you have to just start. You don’t have to show anyone, and if the blank page is staring at you, just write nonsense for ten minutes, like every thought that comes into your head.
If you want to be a professional writer my biggest tip is that when you get edits read through them all once, close the laptop, go outside and scream or swear or whatever you need to do if you’re having an emotional response to your edits, and then three days later, when you feel calmer, go back to the edits and see if you agree.
13. What are you reading at the moment?
I’m in a bit of a weird limbo writing wise at the moment while in between projects and ostensibly am on a break, so I’m mostly just reading as many YA thrillers I’ve acquired over the years. The next ones on my pile are All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue, Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, and Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo.
14. What are you working on next?
I’m currently working on a couple of fiction projects which hopefully will eventually see the light of day, but don’t worry, they’re all very queer.
Thanks for chatting to us Lizzie!
If you want to hear more from Lizzie, you can follow them on Twitter and check out their books on their website.