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One of the things I love so much about my title is that Flyboy, I think, really captures the essence of who the main character is and wants to be, and it's a title that takes on multiple layers of meaning as the story unfolds.
For instance, the opening line of chapter one begins: "There's a fly buzzing near my ear at the edge of my peripheral vision, and if looks could kill, this fly would already be dead". By the end of the scene that fly is (spoiler alert!) quite dead -- smashed against the very same church pew where Asher, our closeted trans protagonist, has just traced his real name with his finger. At the end of the chapter, Asher wonders why God would "give wings to such a useless creature", because if he could fly, he "certainly wouldn't stick around here".
So right from the start I think we have these dual desires -- of Asher wanting to be a boy, and not being seen as one, and of Asher wanting escape, which he envisions attaining through flight. Then we get into chapter two and Asher arrives at this magical dream circus where he is finally seen for the boy he truly is, only to...[read on]
Q&A with Kasey LeBlanc.
--Marshal Zeringue
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