WPS 2026 Day 27: Meg Swanson

 

Wonderland Pride Spotlight Day 27: Meg Swanson 

Welcome to day 27 of the 2026 Wonderland Pride Spotlight! This is my way to help champion LGBTQ+ books and authors this Pride month! Today I am interviewing Meg Swanson . Be sure to check out my Instagram for even more excitement with this event!

Meg Swanson 's LGBTQ+ Release

• Songs from the Depths

The Interview

1. Are you LGBTQ+? If so, how?

"Lesbian"

2. What rep do your books have?

"Nonbinary"

3. If you were to write in a different genre, what would it be?

"Honestly, of late, I've been drawn to creative nonfiction. My story is not a new one, but I feel that not enough people (women specifically) talk about the comp/het they experience through their lives, and even if (like in my case) it's acceptable to identify as bi, the expectation is hetero relationships. One of my goals with my writing is to offer an escape, yes, but also help people feel not so alone in their living experiences.

I also have been dabbling in contemporary sapphic romance. I have a dual POV book in the works...maybe..we'll see. I really love the magic of fantasy and how real-world issues can be dealt with through metaphor and nuance."

4. What is your biggest writing inspiration?

"Greek Mythology from Edith Hamilton's edition to Rick Riordan's modern retelling. Also, as I've been exploring my sexuality and gender identity, I've made concentrated efforts to read more queer authors - Aiden Thomas, JJ Arias, Andrew Joseph White, Ashley Herring Blake, and those are just the authors I can name off the top of my head. It is so important to read and make representation known - I didn't understand how important that was before I started paying attention and really reading what actually resonated with who I am, and what I want to represent."

5. Anything exciting for you on the horizon?

"Book 2!!!! Rising from the Depths. I am so excited to be done with this project. It has been a huge undertaking, and so much closer to home than my first book. This book started as a goodbye letter to a childhood friend (not dead, but we fell out years ago, and I never reconciled it with myself), and it has evolved from that into a love letter to myself."

6. Who is a queer figure you look up to?

"Suzy Izzard - since I was a teenager. Their humor...I still quote Dressed to Kill regularly. David Sedaris. His journey with addiction, which you can trace in his writing, influenced me a lot and actually helped me embrace myself as a sober writer. OK, these aren't queer figures, but Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, John Leguizamo in To Wong Foo, and Kevin Kline and Tom Selleck in In and Out, I didn't realize how groundbreaking those movies were for LGBTQ+ people in the 90s. While I was definitely fully immersed in the comp/het life, I was still in the community, but....I think I allowed myself to be blind, just because it was normal for people I loved, doesn't mean it was an accepted lifestyle, and I didn't support them the way I should have. So, I look up to those who were out when I couldn't be, and I hope they know how important that is for those of us who couldn't come out, and who still maybe can't."

Outro

I adore this excuse to conduct little author interviews! Happy Pride everyone! Stay tuned tomorrow for another amazing indie author and their LGBTQ+ releases!