Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.

I was born and raised in the spiny desert arms of Tucson, Arizona, spent four years in Chicago, and then headed back west to the Bay Area, because as much as a piece of my heart will always be in the midwest, I cannot winter.

I’ve been a hot dog slinger, a shoe salesman, a PE teacher, and a waitress at a retirement home (among other things) before I figured out the best way to degrade myself was as a writer.

(I kid. I love writing. If I couldn’t write, I would perish.)

I’m also queer, multiracial (white/Native American/Latinx), and deaf/hard of hearing. You would never know these things just looking at me, as I pass mightily and my hair covers my hearing aids. I’m trying to be better and more vocal about the parts of myself that aren’t so readily viewable, but it remains a challenge.

I’m the author of The Lesbian Sex Haiku Book (with Cats!), (Flatiron, 2016), which Tegan and Sara said was “an adorable and hilarious way to start the day,” Cheryl Strayed called a “must-read,” and Bound actress Jennifer Tilly said was “thoroughly charming.” 

In 2021, I released an erotic short story collection, called Transgressions under the pen name Anastasia Fleur. The name is an homage to my mom’s side, the Flores clan.

(There’s way more info about me in my bio, if you’re curious about my bonafides.)

Love Where You Work is my first (published) novel. I’ve written two others. One is a romance/mystery/paranormal tale about a young Native girl whose deafness enables her to hear spirits in other realms that help her solve a mystery. I still think it’s a good story but genre-wise, it’s a mess, so it may not ever see the light of day.

The other novel is an erotic romance and is with an agent currently. Fingers crossed!

What inspired Love Where You Work?

I wrote it to impress a girl.

This girl, in particular.

I’d like to tell you that I have loftier ambitions––and I do! I want people (especially queer people) to feel seen and less alone. I want to make people laugh and feel warm and excited and turned on and loved. I want to write books where queer people have happy, exciting, interesting stories instead of tragic ones.

But mostly I wrote this book to impress Vika. It was conceived originally as a sexy birthday present, a short story called “HRotica.” (It bookends Transgressions.) We had been dating for two months at the time, and she works in HR, hence the title and subject.

Vika loved the story, and we brainstormed a plot together to make part 2, which we cheekily called “HRotica: The Age of Cumpliance.” After that, I was genuinely curious how the story of Julia and Clare would end, so I kept writing.

I was also dealing with grief related to the death of my father, and I made that a struggle for Clare as well. (Like Clare, my dad’s ashes are in my closet. Unlike Clare, who struggles with letting go and moving on, I haven’t been able to scatter the ashes because of pandemic thwarting.)

Do you have any unusual writing habits?

What’s “unusual”?

I only know how I write, which is in bed, trapped under a cat, usually. Is that common?

I’m a night owl who lives a 9-5 schedule, so I try to write in the morning now, which is … interesting.

I wrote my first novel exclusively from midnight to 4am, but that was mostly because a family member was sick and I was on the east coast taking care of them. My body refused to adapt to the time change, so I figured why not write?

What are you working on now?

The relentless, tireless slog that a savvy sadist rebranded as “marketing.”

I’m also plotting the second book in the Love Where You Work series, which is going to focus on Julia’s best friend, Paula. Expect geekiness, cos play, and lots of sex.

What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?

I can’t say that I’m super great at promoting my books, but I rely on my newsletter A LOT, and frankly I love to connect with readers that way, so it’s been invaluable.

Do you have any advice for new authors?

Keep going.

That sounds like a brush off, but it’s not.

Keep going.

As a writer, you’re going to fail. You’re going to be rejected so many times you’ll lose track, by agents and publishers and reviewers and fans and possibly yourself most of all. It’s going to hurt, and no one will reward you for your suffering. Keep going anyway.

Give yourself every opportunity to fail big and often––this is how you succeed.

As Sam Altman put it, “The people who say ‘I am going to keep going until this works, and no matter what the challenges are I’m going to figure them out,’ and mean it, go on to succeed. They are persistent long enough to give themselves a chance for luck to go their way.”

As Denzel Washington put it in his great commencement speech at UPenn, “If you’re not failing, you’re not even trying.”

And as my talented friend Sarah Hepola wrote, at the end of the day, “this career is for those who claim it.”

Claim it unapologetically. And keep going.

What is the best advice you have ever heard?

See above.

What are you reading now?

The Proposal by Jasmin Guillory

The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis

A Year to Live by Stephen Levine

A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman

Whatever Love Means by Christine No

and American Indian Myths and Legends edited by Richard Erdoes

What’s next for you as a writer?

Imperial glory. Obviously.

If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?

Sarah Manguso’s Ongoingness

Lorrie Moore’s Birds of America

Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky with Exit Wounds

And Maggie Nelson’s Bluets

Love love love love love.