This an expansion of a post I made on Facebook about how much Quadrophenia has inspired me as a starting point for several aspects of my book.
I've been meaning to re-watch this cult classic movie since I got serious about writing my book. And Then He Kissed Me, is the book I am currently editing, and it will be my first novel. The release date will be announced on August 1st, along with a full cover reveal.
Editing has been a bit of an uphill struggle for me (I'll write a post about that in the future, I'm sure) and so I thought the movie might inspire me. As I watched, I realise it already had. There are several moments in my book that pay homage to scenes, visuals, and story elements of the film.
I don't think I need to be worried about being accused of the dreaded P word feared by all writers <shudder> because they are very different pieces. I just noticed that when I saw some scenes, like when they're in a night club, or at a house party that these had informed how I imagined such places as I wrote about Tommy and Eric encountering similar situations. It's not surprising really, as it's such an iconic film, even to people who have no interest in the mod subculture than began in the sixties. The photograph above was taken on my recent trip to Brighton and you can see that it's almost a pilgrimage site to fans of the movie. So you will see echoes of Quadrophenia in my book, and I'm pleased about that.
My story is much happier though, because my boys deserve that. That's probably a whole post in its own right: writing happy endings for queer* people in historical fiction because some did have them, but also for the many that did not.
Enough procrastinating, I have a book to edit!
*In case it's an issue, I am bi and I proudly use the word queer as do many people these days. It's an easy and inclusive term for all non-straight identities and it's a little more elegant then LGBTQ+ I do however, acknowledge the pain it still causes for some people based on its use in the past as a slur. I am choosing to be part of the "reclaiming queer" camp, for reasons deeper and more complex than I wish to explain here. We can't all agree, all the time, but I do hope I don't massively offend anyone.
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