Do you like books that feature princesses? Do you like grilled cheese sandwiches? Then check out "The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich" by Deya Muniz.
What was your inspiration behind your most recent book?
This is quite the cheesy answer but… My wife! I first came up with the story towards the beginning of our relationship for a scriptwriting class. I liked the idea of a title that went “The Princess and the … SOMETHING?” and one day we had an incident involving Grilled Cheese sandwiches that became te base of the story. You’ll find a more detailed account of these events at the end of the book!
What does "Reading with Pride" mean to you?
It means reading something that recognizes and celebrates the fact that people like you exist. It means reading about all sorts of different experiences within the LGBTQ community, and to explore these different experiences in both real and fantastical scenarios that were once almost exclusive to heteronormative stories.
Why do you feel representation of a variety of people is so important when it comes to writing books?
Because I know that having people like me represented in the stories I was reading growing up would have helped me accept myself as I am a lot sooner. Seeing pieces of yourself in the characters you love can really help you love yourself!
Beyond that, seeing characters that are completely different from you really helps develop a better sense of the world around you, and to have more empathy towards people with all sorts of different experiences of life. You’ll never truly know what it’s like to be someone else, to grow up in a different body and to see things through a different set of eyes. But you can learn about it by reading stories from and about different kinds of people!
Tell us a little more about the book and why you decided to write it.
I always pitched it as Pride and Prejudice, but with sparkles, secret lesbians and way more sandwiches. It’s a silly goofy story but it also has a lot of heart in it! It made my wife cry!
I already mentioned I first wrote it for a scriptwriting class. That was for my Master’s Degree, and I was going through a lot. I was so exhausted that I needed to make all my projects as self indulgent as possible or I would have perished. I kept including little jokes that had me laughing out loud to myself at 3am. Those vibes carried on through the entire making of the book. They might carry on for the rest of my life, who knows. The point is: I wrote something that was very fun for me, and I hope it is also fun for you!
What can fans expect from your book?
This book has everything: Bad cheese puns, disaster gays, blood coughed up dramatically into a handkerchief, cold pizza for breakfast, victorian funeral vibes, an overworked fashion designer, a dog that’s smarter than most of the human cast, and the best song lyrics ever written!
What's up next for you in the bookish world?
I’m working really hard on something I can’t talk about just yet, and once that’s done I’ll be getting back to me and my wife’s webcomic about gay furry figure skating vampires who fight each other, Blades of Furry! You will see that story in shelves near you… Sometime in the future!!! Beyond that, who knows. Maybe more cheese. Maybe.
