Author Interview: Yule Be Sorry (Portland Symphony #4) by London Price
- Archaeolibrarian
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
@LondonPriceAuthor
Hooking up for the holidays? That’s as easy as untangling old Christmas lights.
Sammy: Coal Recipient
I’ve secretly been a fan of Antonio’s acting for years, but since I'm just the stage manager, I never thought he’d look my way. And that’s fine–I can’t get distracted, because my parents sacrificed too much to send me to college for me to flunk out. But thanks to a meddling fairy godgay, we’re now each other’s plus one to all the holiday parties. Good thing it’s casual–it’d take a miracle on 34th Street for someone like him to end up with someone like me, anyway.
Antonio: Santa’s Favorite
I never thought doing A Christmas Carol would make me believe in ghosts…but an estranged family member just walked back into my life. I wouldn't know how to handle this if not for Sammy. Being with him has me questioning everything from my sexuality to why I keep people at arm’s length. He somehow sees past all my facades, so why do I need to convince this gruff, sweet artist that we’re more than just a holiday fling?
Yule Be Sorry is a steamy standalone cisgender M/M contemporary romance with trans supporting characters in the Portland Symphony universe. If you like shy heroes with a sweet tooth, AuDHD and Chicanx representation, ‘famous meets normal’ pairings with a size difference, or loving found and bio families, grab your copy now and watch these guys grab love by the candy cane. CW: past homelessness and abandonment, estranged family, mentions of off-page violence against POCs and misgendering.
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Did your main couple surprise you as you wrote them, or did you always know how their journey would unfold?
Oh goodness, I wish that was a possibility for me! I am not a plotter at all, and my characters often throw in a twist or two I didn’t see coming, but these two were on a whole new level. Sammy and Antonio really took the fruitcake, if I can pervert that adage for Christmas. I thought this book would be 17,000 words. I planned to slap it together quickly as a fun newsletter bonus, but these two basically told me to hold their cocoa and proceeded to take me on the wildest ride I could imagine. 98,000 words is not a good length for a Christmas novel, I told them–they did not care. I had put off this story for a long time, because I was afraid to write out of my lane (both characters are Chicano). But the more I did research into their individual cultures and backgrounds, I found we had a lot more in common than I thought. Connecting to their humanity also connects me to my own. And that’s one thing I love about writing diverse romance–I always learn something new. I always gain new insight into the world by looking through my characters’ eyes, and I’m extremely grateful for that gift. It has to be done with care–I always hire sensitivity readers, and my research process is rather slow and circuitous, but when I get there and I really get it right, there’s no better feeling in the world. I hope it brings a special joy to Chicanx readers at a time when there’s so much fear regarding ICE kidnappings and deportment and family separation. That kind of cruelty can’t be offset by a book, but I’ve done my best to make it something special.
How do you stay fresh in a genre with so many familiar beats — like meet-cutes, breakups, and grand gestures?
I’ve tried to pull in some synchronicity from other genres and kinds of storytelling–Antonio’s arc has a lot of “coming of age” flavor to it, because he wasn’t allowed to be himself as he was growing up. So to watch as his roommates and Sammy all support the growth he never allowed himself is really beautiful, and I do think it gives the romance a fresh perspective.
What’s one romantic moment in your book that made your heart ache (in a good way) while writing it?
One of the changes that Sammy brings to Antonio’s life is that he unwittingly brings music back into it. It sounds silly to say that, because Antonio lives in a house full of musicians, but it was more about the audience and creative vulnerability for him. I’ll let him explain it:
I haven’t wanted to sing with other people in a long time. I don’t know how it is for people who play an instrument, but singing feels personal. It’s a little piece of my soul, even if it’s just show tunes or singing along with the radio. It’s breathing deep. It’s my heartbeat slowing. It’s listening and anticipating and weaving into the sound without trampling anyone else. And it’s the audience, closing their eyes, breathing with us, tapping their toes or swaying a little without realizing it. I’ve missed that. But when I knew my family wouldn’t be there to hear me, it suddenly felt...hollow. I didn’t want to put myself out there like that anymore, you know? Not knowing that someone would love my performance, no matter how I did. Acting is easier, because I’m not really me when I’m on stage. But when I sing, I’m more myself than any other time. As I look out the window, I wish I hadn’t let them take that from me.
That last line gets me every time.
London Price is a queer, cisgender author who writes joyful trans romance. She and her wife live in the Pacific Northwest.
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