Is the loss of innocence the beginning of compassion and wisdom?

Today we meet Dean Backus and we’re talking about the queer book that saved his life: Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh.

Dean is a playwright, essayist, screenwriter, journalist, filmmaker, and high school English teacher. He is the author of Darts and Flowers and the forthcoming The Deep End of the Pool.

Harriet the Spy is a timeless YA classic by queer author Louise Fitzhugh. In it, Harriet M. Welsch is a spy. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, even her classmates and her best friends. Then Harriet loses track of her notebook, and it ends up in the wrong hands. Before she can stop them, her friends have read the always truthful, sometimes awful things she's written about each of them. Will Harriet find a way to put her life and her friendships back together?

Connect with Dean
website: deanbackusauthor.com
instagram: @deanbackusauthor
facebook: facebook.com/deanbackusauthor

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Buy your own copy of Harriet The Spy: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780440416791

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean Smith
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library

Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

It's a new year, so we hope you enjoy our new format and theme song. Be sure to support us on Patreon, buy the books we feature on the show through our bookshop, or read them through Quatrefoil Library's free e-library. Links in the shows and on our website.

Support the show

A new episode of This Queer Book Saved My Life drops next week on January 7! In our off weeks, we air the most recent episode of The Gaily Show which J.P. hosts for AM950 Radio.

Today is the literature episode from this year’s first annual The Gaily Show Awards or The Gailies. A guest judge is invited to look back at the year that was in literature, film, TV, and poetry. Our guest judge for Literature is author Patrick Nathan. His new novel The Future Was Color was selected by the Los Angeles Book Review as their "Book of the Summer." He is also the author of Some Hell and Image Control: Art, Fascism, and the Right to Resist.

You can find the full list of honorees (and some dishonorees) on The Gaily Show’s social media. On Bluesky: @thegailyshow.org. On Instagram: @the_gailyshow.

Watch on YouTube

We're in video too! You can watch this episode at youtube.com/@thegailyshow

Credits

Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Production and Distribution Support: Brett Johnson, AM950
Marketing/Advertising Support: Chad Larson, Laura Hedlund, Jennifer Ogren, AM950
Accounting and Creative Support: Gordy Erickson

We've partnered with Once Upon a Crime Books on a holiday episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven. Located in Minneapolis, Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Listen to these 4 new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven everywhere you stream your podcasts and visit Upon a Crime Books online at onceuponacrimebooks.com.

Support the show

Happy Holidays from us to you! Whichever holiday you celebrate (or don't) we hope it's with your families of choice!

Here's a holiday message from us to you as Executive Producer Jim Pounds and I look back at the year that was, our upcoming venture with The Gaily Show, and a sneak peak of This Queer Book Saved My Life in 2025.

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean Smith
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library
Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can’t buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

We've partnered with Once Upon a Crime Books on a holiday episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven. Located in Minneapolis, Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Listen to these 4 new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven everywhere you stream your podcasts and visit Upon a Crime Books online at onceuponacrimebooks.com.

Support the show

We have a special Christmas episode of This Queer Book Saved My Life dropping next week!

Today, Once Upon a Crime Books presents 7 Minutes in Book Heaven, the podcast where we interview LGBTQ authors about the new books they have coming out for us to love and cuddle up with.

Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Located in Uptown Minneapolis, you can shop in their store Monday through Saturday 11am – 5:30pm. Or, visit their website! There, you can browse all of their books, from new releases to classic mysteries. Visit them online: onceuponacrimebooks.com

In this new episode, Once Upon a Crime Books introduces us to Lev AC Rosen and his new novel: Rough Pages which is available to buy in in-store or on their website.

Lev Rosen writes books for people of all ages, including the Evander Mills series, which began with the Macavity Award winning Lavender House (Best Book of the Year from Buzzfeed, Library Journal, and others) and continues with The Bell in the Fog, (Publisher’s Weekly Editor’s Choice). The second Tennessee Russo adventure, the fourth Evander Mills mystery, and another YA rom-com will all be out in 2025. He lives in NYC with his husband and a very small cat. You can find him online at LevACRosen.com and @LevACRosen

Buy Rough Pages
Visit Once Upon a Crime Books in-person or buy online: https://onceuponacrimebooks.com/book/9781250322449

Connect with Lev AC Rosen
website: levacrosen.com
facebook: facebook.com/LevACRosen
instagram: @LevACRosen

Credits
Presented by: Once Upon a Crime Books
Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Theme music: Summer Mood by lesfm

We've partnered with Once Upon a Crime Books on a holiday episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven. Located in Minneapolis, Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Listen to these 4 new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven everywhere you stream your podcasts and visit Upon a Crime Books online at onceuponacrimebooks.com.

Support the show

How do you go on in life after losing a child who is still alive?

Today, Chloé Caldwell returns to the podcast! But this time, we talk about the queer book that saved her life: Love Me Tender by Constance Debré.

Chloé is the author of the national bestseller, Women (Harper Perennial, 2024). Chloé’s next book, Trying, is forthcoming from Graywolf, on August 5th, 2025. She is also the author of the books I’ll Tell You In Person (2016), The Red Zone (2022), and Legs Get Led Astray (2012).

Love Me Tender is a novel of lesbian identity and motherhood, and the societal pressures that place them in opposition.The daughter of an illustrious French family whose members include a former Prime Minister, a model, and a journalist, Constance Debré abandoned her marriage and legal career in 2015 to write full-time and begin a relationship with a woman. In Love Me Tender, Debré goes on to further describe the consequences of that life-changing decision.

Listen to our previous episode featuring Chloé, where guest Mia Arias Tsang discussed how Chloé's book Women saved her life: thisqueerbook.com/women/

Connect with Chloé
website: chloesimonne.com
instagram: @chloeeeecaldwell
website: scrappyliterary.com

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Buy your own copy of Love Me Tender: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9781635901740

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean Smith
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library

Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can't buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

We've partnered with Once Upon a Crime Books on a holiday episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven. Located in Minneapolis, Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Listen to these 4 new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven everywhere you stream your podcasts and visit Upon a Crime Books online at onceuponacrimebooks.com.

Support the show

We have a new episode of This Queer Book Saved My Life coming up December 10!

Today, Once Upon a Crime Books presents 7 Minutes in Book Heaven, the podcast where we interview LGBTQ authors about the new books they have coming out for us to love and cuddle up with.

Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Located in Uptown Minneapolis, you can shop in their store Monday through Saturday 11am – 5:30pm. Or, visit their website! There, you can browse all of their books, from new releases to classic mysteries.

In this new episode, Once Upon a Crime Books introduces us to Leslie Karst and her new novel: Molten Death which is available to buy in paperback in-store, or on their website, and it is also available as a digital audio book.

Leslie Karst is the author of the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari culinary mysteries, as well as the memoir, Justice is Served: A Tale of Scallops, the Law, and Cooking for RBG. It was during her career as a research and appellate attorney in Santa Cruz, California, that she rediscovered her youthful passion for food and cooking, at which point she again returned to school to earn a culinary arts degree. Now retired from the law, in addition to writing, she and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Hilo, Hawai'i and Santa Cruz, California.

Buy Molten Death
Visit Once Upon a Crime Books in-person or buy online: https://onceuponacrimebooks.com/book/9781448312160

Connect with Leslie Karst
website: lesliekarstauthor.com
facebook: facebook.com/lesliekarstauthor
instagram: @lesliekarst

Credits
Presented by: Once Upon a Crime Books
Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Theme music: Summer Mood by lesfm

We've partnered with Once Upon a Crime Books on a holiday episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven. Located in Minneapolis, Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Listen to these 4 new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven everywhere you stream your podcasts and visit Upon a Crime Books online at onceuponacrimebooks.com.

Support the show

I don't know who I was fooling by bringing this book to school with me and being like, "I am not gay."

Today we meet Haley Steinhilber and we’re talking about the queer book that saved their life: Annie On My Mind by Nancy Garden.

Haley Steinhilber is a public historian and host of Q4Q: The Queer Personals Podcast.

In Annie On My Mind, when Liza Winthrop meets Annie Kenyon at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she knows there is something special between them. But Liza never knew falling in love could be so wonderful . . . or so confusing. The 25th Anniversary Edition features a full-length interview with the author. Ms. Garden answers such revealing questions as how she knew she was gay, why she wrote the book, censorship, and the book's impact on readers - then and now.

Connect with Haley
Listen to Q4Q: The Queer Personals Podcast
Buy the Queer Seeking Queer Coloring Book: womenandchildrenfirst.com/product/queer-seeking-queer
instagram: @queerpersonalspodcast
email: q4qpodcast@gmail.com

Our Bookshop
Visit our Bookshop for new releases, current bestsellers, banned books, critically acclaimed LGBTQ books, or peruse the books featured on our podcasts: bookshop.org/shop/thisqueerbook

Buy your own copy of Annie On My Mind here: https://bookshop.org/a/82376/9780374400118

Become an Associate Producer!
Become an Associate Producer of our podcast through a $20/month sponsorship on Patreon! A professionally recognized credit, you can gain access to Associate Producer meetings to help guide our podcast into the future! Get started today: patreon.com/thisqueerbook

Credits
Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Associate Producers: Archie Arnold, K Jason Bryan and David Rephan, Bob Bush, Natalie Cruz, Jonathan Fried, Paul Kaefer, Joe Perazzo, Bill Shay, and Sean Smith
Patreon Subscribers: Stephen D., Terry D., Stephen Flamm, Ida Göteburg, Thomas Michna, and Gary Nygaard.
Creative and Accounting support provided by: Gordy Erickson

Quatrefoil Library
Quatrefoil has created a curated lending library made up of the books featured on our podcast! If you can't buy these books, then borrow them! Link: https://libbyapp.com/library/quatrefoil/curated-1404336/page-1

We've partnered with Once Upon a Crime Books on a holiday episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven. Located in Minneapolis, Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Listen to these 4 new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven everywhere you stream your podcasts and visit Upon a Crime Books online at onceuponacrimebooks.com.

Support the show

Today, Once Upon a Crime Books presents 7 Minutes in Book Heaven, the podcast where we interview LGBTQ authors about the new books they have coming out for us to love and cuddle up with.

Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Located in Uptown Minneapolis, you can shop in their store Monday through Saturday 11am – 5:30pm. Or, visit their website! There, you can browse all of their books, from new releases to classic mysteries.

In this new episode, Once Upon a Crime Books introduces us to John Copenhaver and his new novel: Hall of Mirrors which is available to buy in paperback in-store, or on their website, and it is also available as a digital audio book.

John Copenhaver won the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery for Dodging and Burning and the Lambda Literary Award for Best Mystery for The Savage Kind. He is a co-founder of Queer Crime Writers, a board member of Mystery Writers of America, and co-hosts the House of Mystery Radio Show. He teaches in the University of Nebraska Omaha’s Low-Residency MFA program and at VCU. His new novel, Hall of Mirrors, is the sequel to The Savage Kind.

Buy Hall of Mirrors
Visit Once Upon a Crime Books in-person or buy online: https://onceuponacrimebooks.com/book/9781639366507

Connect with John Copenhaver
website: johncopenhaver.com
website: queercrimewriters.com
facebook: johncopenhavenauthor
instagram & threads: @JohnCope74
tiktok: @JohnCope74

Credits
Presented by: Once Upon a Crime Books
Host/Founder: J.P. Der Boghossian
Executive Producer: Jim Pounds
Theme music: Summer Mood by lesfm

We've partnered with Once Upon a Crime Books on a holiday episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven. Located in Minneapolis, Once Upon a Crime Books is an independent bookstore specializing in mystery fiction. Listen to these 4 new episodes of 7 Minutes in Book Heaven everywhere you stream your podcasts and visit Upon a Crime Books online at onceuponacrimebooks.com.

Support the show