WPS Author Interview Day 8: Jo Morgan
Welcome to day 8 of the Wonderland Pride Spotlight author interviews! Today I am interviewing Jo Morgan. To see all of the spotlight posts created by my lovely community, head over to the hashtag #wonderlandpridespotlight over on Instagram!
Jo's Books
- The Key
- Stableshoes (coming September 2025)
The Interview
1. Are you LGBTQ+? If so, how?
"Yes – I am trans non-binary/genderqueer (ftm-ish), pan-attracted, and largely orchid-sexual, in that I am on the asexual spectrum but tend to enjoy written content over in-person action."
2. What books of yours have LGBTQ+ representation, and what rep do they have?
"My debut book, The Key – released by Midnight Meadow Publishing in December 2024 – is a second-chance romance between a trans man and his former high-school sweetheart, who is bisexual. These two main characters participate in an LGBTQ+ DND group, so a number of other queer characters are featured. My next release, Stableshoes, will be released in September 2025 and is a MLM twist on Cinderella. The female protagonist is nonspecifically queer, but she has an obvious attraction to the neighboring kingdom’s princess; their journey will be explored further in the sequel, Seven Shards, which is in progress. I have another unpublished book that features a masculine gay couple at its center, but until that one is unleased into the world, everyone will have to settle for watching me pine alone for them!"
3. Why do you think LGBTQ+ rep in books is important?
"Representation like this – especially realistic, joyful representation that isn’t focused on the trauma of being queer as a whole – is crucial for letting adults of all creeds understand life from this perspective, and in some cases, help people understand themselves. Writing has been an incredible outlet for me to express my innermost thoughts and live in ways I never could in real life, and if I’d had more access to queer content earlier in my life, I might not have taken so long to recognize my own queerness. Beyond these reasons, it’s also a healthy and safe outlet for those wanting to read about characters who are very different from themselves; a reader once told me she enjoyed MLM content because it allowed her to feel safe immersed in a romantic connection that couldn’t result in the assault she’d experienced firsthand."
4. What got you into writing?
"Like many Millennials, I began writing unhinged fanfiction many years ago. In late 2013, I became positively obsessed with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and woke up with a headcanon for one of my favorite characters. Instead of ruminating privately about it, I opened my laptop and wrote it down—just so happens, I never stopped. Within three weeks, I’d written 60k words. In four months, I’d written six installments. The final “book” in the series was the birth of something new, though. My MMC—a child of the character who inspired my writing in the first place—gave me the distinct impression that he had a male companion. This new character, Amund, served as my muse and kept me actively tweaking my fanfiction series for about seven years before he convinced me to bring him to life in a story entirely my own. All of this ((casually gestures at everything)) is Amund’s fault."
5. Who is a queer figure you look up to?
"I look up to a number of queer folks in the public eye, from groundbreaking creators from history like Oscar Wilde to current brave folks like Elliot Page. There are several outlets available now that celebrate queer people in ways I never saw as a kid, like the large cast of LGBTQ+ contestants on The Great British Bake-Off (David Atherton is by far my favorite!). On a smaller scale, my best friend growing up came out as a lesbian when we were about fourteen years old, and she’s an incredible person worthy of admiration by anyone."
