Vulgar Geniuses

LARK & KASIM START A REVOLUTION is the recent release from bestselling author Kacen Callender. Lark is a Black, queer, nonbinary, and neurodivergent teen who hopes to snag thousands of Twitter followers and a book deal for an unfinished novel. Kasim accidentally uses Lark's phone to send tweets from their account confessing unrequited love. When they go viral, Lark takes credit for the tweets and uses them to their advantage to get a date with their crush. However, the tweets Kasim made were all about his love for Lark. 

Stay with us as we speak with Kacen speaks about why they write books for the young and marginalized, their love for art, and the peace found in detaching themselves from social media. 

Belinda Huijuan Tang's A Map for the Missing is a story that centers around the possibilities of what could have been as it converges with the limitations of a family and country in turmoil during the Cultural Revolution in China. Family secrets, unrequited love, and a father's sudden disappearance are ingredients that make this debut novel an unforgettable tale.

We speak with Belinda about what is lost when discussing the immigration story and the gaps formed when children are not raised in the country of their parent's birth. She reveals the advice given that was instrumental to the formation of her novel, and how a night of drinking and confession making pushed her into writing this epic story.

My Monticello is an ingenious and vividly written novella from debut author Jocelyn Nicole Johnson. She brings all our fears and anxieties to the reading table and asks that we hold them and look at them from all angles. Such as in her story "Buying A House Ahead of the Apocalypse," where a mother makes a list of things she will need when she considers what will be lost during the end of the world. Jocelyn joins us on the show to discuss how the violent Unite the Right white supremacist rally inspired her titled story. We also chat about how her opening story Control Negro made it into the hands of Roxane Gay and read from the lips of the Lit King himself, Levar Burton. 

Elisa A. Bonnin masterfully builds worlds where fantasy and Filipino culture coexist in her debut novel Dauntless.  We follow Seri as she vows to help protect her people from the Beasts that hide in the trees that Seri calls home.  Seri soon discovers that her people are not the only ones to exist in the world, as she meets Tsana. They team up to help keep their nations from entering into a deadly war. We speak with Elisa about the importance of pulling away from the European perspective and centering stories through a Filipino lens featuring queer characters, how her love of fantasy began, and how she unwinds after a long hard day with Japanese sword-fighting.

Tomas Q. Morin's LET ME COUNT THE WAYS is a memoir that will sit with readers long after they close the book. Morin dives deep down into his childhood to bring to the surface key moments of retrospection into the life he lived as he watched his family wrestle with his father's drug addiction and the beginnings of Morin's obsessive-compulsive disorder. We talk with Morin about stepping into a space of vulnerability and sharing family memories with the public, a glimpse into fatherhood, and he gets real about his feelings about Batman, wrestling, and the best time to have Frito pie. 

There is no denying that Julie Tieu loves writing about love, and it definitely shows in her sophomore novel CIRCLING BACK TO YOU. Julie joins us on the podcast to talk about how she found her way in the world of all things rom-com. Julie introduces us to Candice and Matt, the ultimate "will they/won't they" couple working in the real estate business. Their friendship blooms into an office romance, but when climbing the professional ladder proves to be a roadblock from love, they must figure out what they are willing to  sacrifice and keep.

Carlos Allende's newest novel, Coffee, Shopping, Murder, Love, is a  comedic thriller from Red Hen Press full of scams and shenanigans. Jignesh is an overweight gay Indian man involved in embezzling money from his job. Everything seems to be going as planned until he accidentally murders a coworker. He hides the body in a deep freezer purchased from Charlie, a man he met on a dating site. But things go haywire when Charlie finds out his secret, and more bodies begin to drop. Carlos talks to us about the real-life inspiration behind this story, creating characters that are messy, dislikable, and lovable. 

We jump off National Hispanic Heritage Month with debut author Sonora Reyes. They join us to chat about their bestselling young adult novel, The Lesbiana's Guide To Catholic School, which has recently found its way on the 2022 National Book Award Longlist for Young Readers. Sonora Reyes' novel brings readers into the life of 17-year-old Yamilet Flores. After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend, Yami transfers to a private Catholic school where she vows never to fall in love and keep her mother from finding out the truth. 

Elaine Hsieh Chou joins us to talk about her debut novel DISORIENTATION an interwoven satire that grapples with the ever-present danger Asian Americans face when racism rears its ugly head in the world of academia. Ph.D. hopeful Ingrid Yang is beginning to unravel as she struggles with writing her dissertation on the late Chinese poet Xiao-Wen Chou. A clue from the library's archive helps her to uncover that Xiao-Wen Chou is not dead, nor is he Asian, but rather a white man living his days in retirement after using yellowface as a tool to gain literary success for 35 years. 

If you have a shared love for murder mystery podcasts and word games, then this episode is just the one you've been waiting for. We travel across the world for our conversation with author Hanna Alkaf to discuss her novel QUEEN OF TILES. Hanna drops us into the city of Kuala Lumpur a year after the mysterious death of Najwa's best friend and Scrabble Champ, Trina Lowe. Najwa is ready to resume her life, but as secrets are revealed and lies are told, she must solve the mystery of her friend's death or face being blamed for it.