Q&A with Mx. Sly, AUTHOR OF TRANSLAND: CONSENT, KINK & PLEASURE

Mx. Sly (they/them) is a non-binary writer, theatre creator, and producer who has lived in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver and is now based in Melbourne, Australia. Their play Charisma Furs appears in Q2Q: Queer Canadian Performance Texts. Transland is their first book. Transland is a memoir of transformation and self-discovery that explores fetish communities from a gender diverse perspective.

ARSENAL PULP PRESS: Did you always know you were going to title the book Transland? Would you share how you chose this title and unpack it for us?

MX. SLY: I think about the concept of homelands a lot. Of all the identities I hold, being kinky and being trans non-binary are the most vital aspects of who I am, but these are also aspects I frequently have to justify and explain to others.

I long for a place where I can be my fullest self and be seen as innately normal and ordinary, even while I’m being peed on or while jerking off my silicone dick. I’m always looking for home. This memoir is about all the intimacy I’ve explored in pursuit of fulfilling an even deeper longing. I search for a Transland.

APP: The book opens with a note to readers that “Transland is a memoir and a work of creative non-fiction.” Why was it important to you to put the work in these two containers or frames?

SLY: I wanted to situate the book in these two containers to give myself more freedom.

The book is a memoir in the sense that all the fetish sessions, thoughts, and feelings happened IRL. However, instead of sharing events in linear order, I’ve reordered the events of my sex life in this book to follow the model of the Hero’s Journey. In this way, the book is creative non-fiction.

Through the freedom to meld true events into a creative structure, I’m able to derive meaning out of all the random sex and BDSM I’ve messed around with. It’s the synthesis of craft and fact that allows me to access genuine moments of catharsis—in this book, and as a masc-of-centre dude processing my life.

APP: What was your favourite scene or chapter in the book to write, and why?

SLY: My favourite person to write about in the book was my Aussie rope top and my friend with benefits, James. I love every moment he pops up in the narrative. If we come back to the Hero’s Journey, James is my supersexual Obi-Wan Kenobi, and meeting him forever changed what I ask for out of existence. He taught me the value of being untameable, ugly, and free.

James appears in the book’s final scene. In a story filled with the rise and fall of many S&M love affairs, it’s my bondage bromance with James and our friendship that’s my favourite part of the story, because the lessons our play taught me have only strengthened and become more impactful over time.

APP: Throughout Transland you provide definitions of types of play, fetish and kink terms, and toys and equipment. Was it one of your goals in the writing of Transland to provide a sort of intro or basic education to those who are curious about the scene?

SLY: My goal in Transland was to balance writing about kink in a way that would feel visceral and authentic to those in the scene without being too opaque or esoteric to be accessible to other readers.

The book isn’t intended to be an intro to fetish, but I do try to offer enough insight into BDSM that one can have nuanced understandings of concepts like submission, subspace, and postplay drop without having experienced them. In the book, I strive to make the play feel real but also relatable.

That said, I don’t always explain fetish terms the first time they’re used. For example, I use “little” as a noun early in the book, as an Easter egg for the kink community. Later on, I explain what a “little” is in a kink sense to broader readers.

In writing about fetish and how integral it is to my personhood, I feel a loyalty and a desire to do justice to my fellow kinksters first and to bring vanilla audiences along for the ride second.

APP: Transland is a memoir with a strong narrative throughline. Chapters build on each other, people recur, and relationships shift. It could almost be read as a much sexier non-fiction version of Tales of the City. Instead of an apartment building, it’s a Toronto sex club called Fountain where the reader first meets the narrator, Sam, James, and Evie. Was Fountain a clear structural device when you began writing these experiences, or did it reveal itself in the writing?

SLY: It’s funny that you mention Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, because Tales influenced the serialized storytelling about sex, shifting relationships, and coming-of-age journeys in this book.

That said, the Toronto sex club being a structural device … let’s say that revealed itself in the writing. Fountain is a place I used to have sex in a lot. So, it’s a structural device in the book because it was a structural vehicle in my life—for getting laid. It was an imperfect mainstay in which I’d worship my dominants, explore submission and public sex, and search for transcendence and understanding. Fountain wasn’t the homeland I was looking for, but for a time, it was closer to being a Transland than anything else I knew.

Coming back to the influence Tales has had on my writing though, I’m planning to work on continuations to Transland, much like Maupin did with Tales of the City. So, stay tuned.

APP: What other artists or art influenced the writing of Transland?

SLY: Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises had a big impact on Transland; it taught me to write in a journalistic fashion about my feelings and impulses, as well as the way my brain forms associations and impressions. A sort of hard-hitting reportage of one’s inner world.

Even more influential, Anne Carson’s Autobiography of Red taught me to trust swift shifts between naturalism and magic realism. As a result, Transland often moves from the naturalistic to the imagistic and surreal and back again. The way Carson writes Geryon to be both an angsty queer kid and simultaneously a red dragon inspired me to think of non-binary people as beings who flow between physical forms freely, because what we feel and what we know is too large to be contained in just one body.

For me, pain, bottoming, and BDSM are a catalyst for transformation, setting me free enough to suddenly become a dog, a lion cub, and sometimes, an alien in outer space. Carson made me feel comfortable in writing and sharing those experiences and gave me confidence that readers will come along for the weird ride, as long as the journey is grounded in universal emotional truths.

Pick up a copy of Transland: Consent, Kink, and Pleasure at your local bookstore, or order direct from ArsenalPulp.com

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Interview with A.J. Schaar, author of The Storybook Coroner

A.J. Schaar is the youngest of four sisters, three of whom are writers (like the Brontës). Already an acclaimed playwright of small renown, A.J.’s first published novella, The Storybook Coroner, was almost immediately recognized as an “INDIE BOOK WE LOVE” by LoveReading. Her work across written mediums is most often called, ‘entertaining,’ ‘surprisingly funny,’ and ‘whimsical.’ (She is going for the record number of times ‘whimsical’ is ascribed to a body of work as an adjective.) You can find her online prescence here.

What is your favourite dragon in literature?

Of course, my first response will be: Smaug. I’d call him the OG (original gangster) of dragons in literature because he not only has dialogue—but his lines are all ‘HOT.’ ‘You have nice manners for a thief, and a liar.’ Objectively outstanding ‘BURN.’

Other personal favorite dragons would include Maleficent, Falkor, the Jabberwocky, and Figment. Cosy Dragon readers may also be interested to know there is a dragon in The Storybook Coroner, “Great Malicestriker,” who lives in the mighty tree at the Center of Asgard.

Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external hard drive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

The idea is still with me for ‘The Tuber of Terror.’ A small potato in a humble garden patch witnesses the massacre of its family before its many eyes on Thanksgiving. Then a freak accident occurs whereby the potato grows to over ten feet in size and develops telekinetic abilities. With its heart set on revenge against potato-eating humans, it becomes a terrorist, suspending its victims in giant jars of water with giant toothpicks. Not too bad for an 8-year-old’s premise? But I’ve never figured out how to make it sustain itself for a full novel, or graphic novel. It might make a better mock ballad, like ‘The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati’ (shout out to novelty records, everywhere, and may Dr. Demento be blessed).

Over the years, what would you say has improved significantly in your writing?

My writing has improved over time in two clear ways:

One, I used to be very susceptible to voice. You could tell who I had been reading by what I’d been writing—especially in terms of rhythm and style (not content). I’m happy to say I am less susceptible now.

Two, I used to explain everything—

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to get a beautiful novel?

Happily, both!

It’s very rare that I start a new longform project unless the idea’s stuck around for several years. That said, I have so many ideas that have been with me for years now, it’s wonderful to have several new projects to decide from as soon as one is finished (or ‘settling down’).

I also like to have at least 2 projects in the works at the same time so I can keep a relatively fresh point of focus on each.

What kind of research do you conduct while writing your books? How does it influence your writing and shape the story?

They say reality is always stranger than fiction, and I must agree with ‘them’ there. I research as I go on almost every project and incorporate a great deal of what I find. My favorite sources are always ‘the original source’ if I can find it; then I trust the Wikipedia wormhole; and if possible, I’ll always talk with real, living, human experts—who know true things that aren’t always publicly disclosed…

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and in what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

Tables and chairs most often… Yes, sometimes I write just sitting in a chair; sometimes I write just standing at a table—most often though, I’m writing while sitting in a chair, at a table. The table and/or chair could be anywhere.

Sometimes I just bend over to put in a small edit… but then I end up doing much more extensive revisions while I’m at it, and end up crouching or kneeling—as if I’m just about to finish it—until some body part gets stiff or falls asleep.

In terms of medium, I can only write poetry with pen/paper because I can’t write ‘finished from the pen,’ and have little arrows and additions drawn all over the pages… For books and plays, digital is so much faster (and I’ll know what I wrote afterwards. Handwriting, shmandwriting).

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I’m very lucky to have family and friends who will read and comment on my work! These days, I’ve finally written enough material that they’ve liked in the past, I don’t even have to harass them to do it. Much.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – eBooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I can’t do the eBook thing. I’d like to, because so much is immediately available. But you should see the sheer number of books in our house. And we (my husband and I) reference most of them, constantly. Any new city we go to, we check out the indie bookshops. That said, we probably order most of our physical books online—because we live in the future.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and have your tastes changed over time?

Tough question… I’ll probably go back to revisit the classics (across genres) more than anything else. In terms of new work, I’ll probably (like you) spend the most time in fantasy, and then second place would be a tie between westerns/noir/sci-fi/adventure. I’m also a sucker for a good biography. And I’ll always stop to read a manifesto.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do?

Personally, I don’t check out social media at all anymore. Professionally, when it’s had to do with plays, I’ve worked with an awesome social media manager! I’ve never walked out a self-published novel before and look forward to learning from the experts as I go.

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next?

Not when the questions are as much fun as these! I truly appreciate the opportunity to share this Cosy chat with you.

About The Storybook Coroner:

Kidnapping. Robbery. Death Queens. PsychoPumps. Master Plans. Hell Holes. Gods. Dragons.

True Love.

Sandwiches.

INDIE BOOKS WE LOVE. “This is a tale full of irreverent humour, with a broad cast of gods introduced, mysteries uncovered, and grand rescue plans concocted… Easily readable and whimsical…  An interesting and entertaining romp through mythology, with a modern twist.”

– LoveReading

 Learn more and purchase this novel at the following links:

Paperback and eBook versions currently available at Barnes & Noble

Details soon at LoveReading’s Indie Books We Love

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