Hi Everyone! This week I tackle the questions we received at the CRUSH book event in Seattle. You can listen to me answering your questions, or read the transcript below of my answers (beware it is long and was created via Otterai, so I apologize for any mistakes)! Check out Tillie Walden's books here, this playlist of 90s music I mentioned in one of my answers here, and pick up a copy of Junior High and Crush here. More answers for the rest of the CRUSH events to come. Thanks! Tegan Well, hello, loners. And also to visitors who have yet to subscribe. I feel you. I hate to commit to things too. For those of you who saw us on the CRUSH tour this past October, thank you so much for your support. For those of you who are like what is CRUSH? CRUSH is a graphic novel that we wrote in collaboration with Tillie Walden, an incredible cartoonist and illustrator, we did a duology with called JUNIOR HIGH and CRUSH, sort of loosely based on Sara and I's early experience in music; a lightly fictionalized version of our time in JUNIOR HIGH or middle school, for you Americans. The series is really amazing for all ages, although we've been hearing that sort of the 9- to 12-year-old range age kid really likes it, and adults like it too, because there's lots of adult humor. Anyway, we went out and did the CRUSH tour this past October, and it was so fun. The book events were incredible thanks to anyone who attended. It was just such a joy. Obviously, we love to chat. We got so many questions, and the majority of them, of course, we couldn't get to because we only had time for three to five questions a night. But I had promised on stage that we would answer all the questions, so this is my first crack at that. These are questions that we got when we were in Seattle the first night of our book tour, so I'm gonna blaze through them right now. The first question was, What's your favorite part of the creative process of making art? You know, I love making things, but I do kind of love thinking about making things. A lot of my ideas don't end up getting made, but I am constantly talking about things that I want to make. I have a note in my phone that's just a podcast idea for every single person I've ever met. I have voice notes in my phone probably now numbering near 100 of just random music ideas that I've never finished. But for me, that's part of the creative process is starting things and not finishing them. I know a lot of people in the creative world will tell you just to push through and finish things, but sometimes I just don't feel like finishing an idea, but it inspires a new idea, which I do finish. So I'd say my favorite part of the process is absolutely thinking about ideas. But I also really do love demoing songs. I like it probably even more than going into the actual studio, because I'm a control freak, and I like to be in control. And also really love writing. I love sitting down and working on stories, and I loved writing our memoir, and I loved writing the scripts for for JUNIOR HIGH and CRUSH. All right. Rosie asks, What's your favorite thing about writing CRUSH? You know, I loved that Sara and I worked on JUNIOR HIGH and CRUSH together. And unlike our memoir where we wrote in alternating voices, like Sara wrote her chapters from high school and I wrote mine, and it just flipped back and forth with JUNIOR HIGH and CRUSH, we actually wrote the scripts together. So we weren't writing just our own voices. We were writing each other's voices and all the other characters, and we kind of did it like, choose your own adventure. So Sara would write a few chapters and then send it to me, and then I would respond. We didn't really write with an outline, which I know is a a bad thing to do if you're a professional writer, but you know, similar to music, we kind of just follow our instincts, and that's, how we did it. But I loved that. I loved getting Sara's chapters and being surprised about what she had done with the characters and what direction she'd taken the story. It was, it was just really fun while writing the book. Did any emotions about middle school get dug up that you've suppressed over the years or memories that you've forgotten about, that the other reminded you of? You know, I think very much writing JUNIOR HIGH and CRUSH, similar to writing High School, it definitely brought up some memories that I had forgotten. It's really wonderful having an identical twin who can compliment your story and fill it in with detail you didn't have. Obviously, Sara and I, we've said this a lot publicly, but we kept journals and lots of photos, and are still friends with a lot of our friends from that time period. So we were also really lucky in writing both our high school memoir and our JUNIOR HIGH and CRUSH graphic novels, to have a lot of friends to pull from and a lot of sources to get details from. But yeah, it did. It did bring up a lot of feelings. One of the things I talked about on the book tour was that, you know, JUNIOR HIGH was a tough time. You know, you go into puberty. Girls in that sort of 12, 13, 14, range, I feel in particular, are kind of tough and mean. And, you know, I would not say that we are guiltless in that. I think we were, we were tough to you know, I think JUNIOR HIGH was a tough transition period for for both of us, and we went long periods without any friends, you know, we had a lot of conflict, and I look back with a softer, more compassionate lens now at the other girls that we went to school with. But it was, it was a tough crew. It was a tough school. School, we went to school really close to a mall that had a bad reputation, and we had a lot of freedom, and, yeah, did lots of bad things. And remembering that for high school was easier, because I think we'd grown out of some of our worst traits and tendencies. But JUNIOR HIGH. Yeah, that was, it was just, it was a tough period. So, all right, there was a question, who's your favorite new kid on the block? Mine is Jordan Knight, and Sara's was Joey McIntyre. What are the pros of novel writing versus music? You know, I think for Sara and I, we ventured into writing books because we wanted to still be creative, but not have to necessarily go out on tour for two years at a time. You know, we've been doing this for a couple decades now, and I love being a musician, but I love being at home. I have a dog, you know, I have a wife, I have a house on an island where I get to garden and putter and work on projects. And Sara's got a two year old son, and also has a wife and a life, and I think we've started to think about, how can we be creatives but not have to leave for hundreds of days at a time? It's sort of the dark side of being a musician that nobody really wants to hear about, and it's hard to understand if you're not a musician. But yeah, like, imagine what it feels like to go away for a week, or, you know, even a couple weeks away from your home or your dog or your partner or your friends. Now imagine that's 200 days. So it can be really lonely, it can be tough, and as we've gotten older, we're definitely strategizing how to be creative without having to do that as much. So I'd say one of the big pros of writing books is getting to be home. You guys just had a birthday. My daughter wants to know what you got for your birthdays. Great question. I have an electric bike, and my partner bought me a new bell and a basket and a really cool bag that kind of snaps into the basket so I can get groceries. I don't drive, so I'm always looking for ways to avoid having to get my driver's license. I don't know what Sara got for her birthday, but she got me passes to the Christmas market in Vancouver. I get a season pass every year, and I go pretty much like twice a week for the whole month of December. But I don't know what Sara got. It's good question. What advice would we give to aspiring creatives who want to publish their work but are disillusioned by the industry and what it takes to be a full time artist? You know, it's a great question. I mean, I always start by telling musicians I you know, I wouldn't dare give advice to aspiring writers, because I know so little about the writing industry and TV and film and books world, other than what we've experienced. And I'm understood. I understand that we're very lucky to have had even the career we've had in publishing, just because, you know, we're Tegan and Sara, so we were able to get a book deal. So I have no idea what it entails or takes to write a book if you're not in a band that can sell books, but I can say that just being creative and being a musician, that the number one piece of advice I give to aspiring creatives is to love what you do. If you do not love it wholly and totally with your entire self and soul, you might not never make it into a career, because it does take up all the space it does take up my whole life. You know, I've spent two decades focusing almost solely on my career. It's not for the faint of heart. It's a lot of mining yourself and a lot of selling yourself. You have to be good at marketing. You have to be good at social media. You have to be good at creating content. You have to be comfortable with going away for long periods of time. You have to be comfortable with people prying into your social life and your personal life. It's it's hard, it's long hours, it's late nights, and these days, since people don't really pay for music, it doesn't pay that well, so you have to get creative about how you're going to make a living. So, you know, my advice would be to love it holy and totally, because if you love it holy and totally, you can put aside some of the shock and awe at hearing all of these other things. But I also think that being a creative is just being creative. You don't need to make it into a career, and this was something we talked a lot about on the CRUSH book tour. You do not need to monetize and capitalize your special hobbies and interests and talents. You can just make things because you want to make things. Don't forget that. Can you each answer what fuels your passion for writing books? Well, I'm only me, so I can answer for me, but I would say that I love to tell stories and I love to talk. And you know, when Sara and I were young, starting when we were about seven or eight years old, we had a computer at home. We used to fight over it to write stories. So we started writing really young. The only class we did well in as we got older was English. So we both really love to read and love to write. So to me, you know, what fuels my passion for writing books is just, you know, that was my first passion before music, and I love to tell stories, and I love to share my inner thoughts, even if it's just with myself. So I just love that. Now we get to do that as part of our job. This next question is very funny. How do you feel about people naming their pets after you? My wife named our dog Tegan. I'm not sure how you feel about it. No one has said Tegan peed on the floor. Again, more than me, that's very funny. I love it when people name their pets after us. I love it when I meet people whose kids are named after us. I think it's very sweet. It's been pointed out many, many times over the last couple decades. But there's a TV show called Doctor Who, and doctor who had a couple assistants, and one of them was named Tegan, and one was named Sara. My parents did not name us after the assistance on Doctor Who, but I do think it's very funny that some people come up that are my age and are like, Oh my God, my name's Tegan, but it's because I was named after one of the assistants on Doctor Who but I love it. Name your pets after us, name your babies after us. I'm all for it. I think it's hilarious that you have to say Tegan peed on the floor. And that's very funny. Do I have a favorite song of yours? I think that So Jealous and The Con will always be albums that have a really special place in my life, my heart, my body, my mind, my catalog, just because they're both records where we were kind of anti establishment. We were going against what normal people were doing in the studio, what other artists were making at the time. I think it's when we like really carved out space for ourselves as artists, and we took a lot of chances and a lot of risks, and those songs in particular, I think, were when we started to really find our stride as writers. So I look back quite fondly on both albums. There are really on neither albums. Are there songs that I don't like, like I love absolutely every moment of both those records. All right, I lost my place. Oh yeah. What did you have for breakfast? Well, it's very early where I am, so all I've had so far is a decaf Americano, and I'm now drinking a ginger peach tea. I kind of start the morning with a lot of fluids. What advice do you have for a writer in a rut? You know, I listened to this podcast recently that talked a lot about how if you start your day with creativity, as opposed to getting through emails and texts and checklists, that it tends to be well, it tends to generate more creativity. So I would say, if you are in a rut, maybe wake up really early, make a cup of ginger peach tea, and write anything. And do that before you check email or look at the news or start working your way down your text messages or your checklist, see if you can carve out a bit of time with a fresh mind to be creative. See how that goes. What are the pros of novel writing versus music? I think I sort of answered that, but I would say, you know, we still love making music. I do think that, yeah, I don't even know if there are pros of novels versus writing music, like in terms of creative process. For me, they're both very similar. I do both solo. I do them mostly on a computer. And, you know, it's all about experimentation and taking risks. I think both really generate a lot of happiness in me. What advice do you have for non binary lesbian, exploring identities? Oh, man, well, I mean, I'm not non binary, so I would hate to mislead you by suggesting I know exactly what your experience is like. I think how you see the world, or your experience in the world may be a little different than me, because I do identify as cis, but as a lesbian, I will say that, you know, I experimented with sexuality a lot over the course of my lifetime. You know, I dated guys in high school and into my early 20s. I have dated a lot of different kinds of women. I'm also, I am, like, kind of like a serial relationship person and a monogamous so, you know, I didn't do crazy, wild experimentation, and I have no idea how I would identify or who I would be if I were born now versus in the 80s. You know, I've talked a lot, actually, with queer friends of mine, especially queer women. You know that, like, I have a few friends who are quite masc, and you know, they don't identify as trans or non binary, but they admit that maybe, if they were younger, maybe they would like, I think a lot of us have just gotten like, I know for myself, speaking solely for myself, I'm very comfortable in my body. I don't really have any dysphoria, so I've, you know, not had to really struggle with that part of my identity. I don't feel like I I've always felt very comfortable identifying as queer or as lesbian and not bisexual, because as much as I think men are attractive and I didn't have a horrible time dating men, I just the feeling I have for women, the desire, the connection, the emotional compatibility, and just like the physical connection I have with women, it just it, it pushed me over the edge to like I am queer, I am gay, I'm lesbian. So but I think that this sort of period in time where people are experimenting more with identity and are moving more on the. Spectrum is really inspiring. And I say, go for it. You have your whole life to explore. There's absolutely no reason not to do it. Who inspired you to write books? I'd say it's less of who, and more just what. You know, Sara and my parents. Well, my mom specifically was such a big reader, and my grandma was a big reader, and Sara and I were really encouraged to read as young people. So, you know, starting from a very, very young age, I just loved reading. And I'd say when the opportunity to write a book came up, it was really exciting to sort of explore that world, and I'm still exploring it and enjoying it. Yeah, I just love to read. Honestly, it would be hard for me to even pin down a top 10 list of favorite authors. I just I just love books. I just love to read. So that's what inspires me. Um, what's your favorite song? Not of yours. Well, you know, I love Bruce Springsteen. I have such an attachment to his music because we grew up listening to it. I love 90s alternative music. I put on 90s playlists all the time. I've definitely figured out that there's just something about 90s music. Obviously, it's because I was a teenager. But, you know, it's also pre digital recording, so everything feels really alive and real. You know, I don't even think we know or notice as much as we probably should, how like music now, everything is on the grid, everything is perfect, everything is smoothed out and just sounds good. And when you listen to 90s music, it's kind of fun. I really encourage you to go put a 90s playlist on maybe I'll put one in this sub stack. But it just it moves. There's a bit more freedom and movement within the vocals, within the instruments. It just has more energy. It feels more raw. I feel like emotionally can take you on more of a roller coaster, because it's not perfect. So I definitely am thinking a lot about how to make our music feel more like that as we move forward into the next chapter of our band. We'll see if we are able to do that. What do you guys identify as today? I identify as queer, cis woman. I like the word queer because I feel it sort of encompasses culture, sexuality and my gender. You know, I don't feel super feminine, but I also don't feel masculine, so I feel like it sort of queerness is just sort of this sort of, it's like a sliding scale or something. Yeah, that's how I identify. What musical artists growing up do you wish would have made a graphic novel? Oh, that's such an interesting question. I mean, my God, we were so obsessed with the riot girl movement in the 90s. I probably, if I'd even been able to get my hands on some of the zines that came out of the Pacific Northwest, I would have been over the moon. You know, we had a lot of comics in our house because my stepdad loved comics, but we didn't really have graphic novels. I think, honestly, these days, I actually have been meaning to I'm gonna do a post about graphic novels, and some of the ones that I've read recently that I love, there's just so much incredible, incredible storytelling and art and, yeah, just like, amazing moving stuff coming out of the graphic novel space. So I'm gonna do a post about it. But any of the books like would've moved me as a young person. What's been your favorite hairstyle that you've had? I love the Love You to Death era. It's like kind of shaved underneath, though you don't never see it, but it's undercut and kind of straight, like I was straightening my hair during that era. I like that. It's kind of floppy, kind of Jared Leto circa My So Called Life era. I'm kind of going for that again. What's your favorite part of CRUSH? I loved creating the character Night Fever. We had ambitions of writing a bunch of songs under the name Night Fever and putting it out as kind of a joke. I ended up writing a bunch of music, but we just are so I just am so overwhelmed with how much stuff we've made in the last couple years, and I just felt too exhausted to see it through and commit fully. And I'm very, very focused on always seeing our art through and fully committing. So maybe down the road, we'll write some music as night fever. But yeah, that was such a… it was so cool to move into the fictional space, write new characters based on just our imagination. And I just loved I love writing a mentor for young Tegan and Sara, because we didn't really have one. Thoughts on the chair you're currently sitting in? I'm not in a chair. I'm in bed!
Between friends, what's the last book you stopped reading before finishing? What an interesting question. That would probably make it for an interesting Substack post on TRQ reads. There are books I stop reading. Um, off the top my head, I can't think of the last one, but maybe I'll write about that. Maybe, maybe I'll write about a couple books I wasn't able to finish. And you all can encourage me to keep reading. Maybe you have an opinion. Um, have you guys almost broken up the band? If so, How'd it happen? What advice do I have for a 13 year old going through middle school? Keep your head up. I know it's hard. We all go through it. It's a tough time. Keep perspective. Lean on your parents. Your parents are cooler than you think. Your parents have good advice. Remember your parents went through middle school, lean on your parents and also just like, be yourself. I'll say that the most valuable lessons I learned and the happier times of middle school when was when Sara and I just ventured out on our own and did our own thing and dressed weird and listened to weird music and just were like, fuck everything. You know? Do you have advice for making friends in JUNIOR HIGH? You know, I gave this advice the other day, but oftentimes special interests or hobbies, the things you're listening to or into, that's how you meet other people, is by sharing that you like those things. You know, if you've got a favorite band, wear that t-shirt to school. If you are really interested in pottery or horseback riding or baseball, you know, join a team, press forward, meet other people who like to do the same, same things that you like to do. Also, I mean, as an adult, the advice that they give is show curiosity. You know, the more curious you are about people, the more they feel seen and cared for, and they often will then, you know, want to know more about you, so ask questions. What has been the hardest years of your life? JUNIOR HIGH was pretty tough. I'd say that seventh parts of seventh and eighth grade were really brutal. You know, I got out of a relationship when I was 26 and there was a tough period. That's when I started writing The Con. That was a tough part of my life. You know, the Heartthrob era was really brutal. We worked way too much, and a lot of personal stuff was happening that was hard. Yeah, you know, it's a cycle. It's a cycle. There's sometimes just bad days, not bad years. But you know, no one's life is perfect. You know? Do you like to play video games and beat each other? No, we don't play video games, but we did when we were younger, we used to play Mario Kart. How did we meet Tillie Walden? Our publisher of the graphic novel and our editors made a list, and Tillie was on that list, and we just fell in love with her work, and we met over email. We didn't actually physically meet her for years, crazy. We met on the JUNIOR HIGH book tour, but we love her. We're obsessed with her. Did you know you'd stay queer when you were in JUNIOR HIGH? You know, I didn't know I was gay. I still liked boys, which is confusing to articulate. But you know, the social pressure of being popular or having a boyfriend like that was still really relevant to me all through JUNIOR HIGH and high school. So I had boyfriends, and I did like them. I did not like them as much as I liked my girlfriends, and I didn't know what that meant. That was sort of that was confusing to me. And then once I had my first relationship with a girl and hooked up with a girl, I was like, okay, like, this is starting to make sense, like I like girls more than I like boys. And I think once I started to figure that out, I was like, I think at that time, I don't think I ever uttered the word bisexual, but I think that I started to be like, okay, maybe I like girls and boys. And then once I was like, out in the world dating women, I was like, I am gay. I am very gay. But I want to say that I don't think you have to stay anything. I think that life is about experimentation, and you should follow what is happening for you inside. I think for me, when it comes to gender and sexuality, that is an inside feeling, and if you feel something, explore that you know. Are you ever nervous for shows? Not really. No, I don't really get nervous before I go on stage. It's very rare. Um, that could be a bad thing, because it might mean I don't, I don't know. I'm not sure what that means. All right, what role do you think nostalgia plays in your music and in the CRUSH project? We are obsessed with nostalgia. I think we look back a lot. I think we reflect a lot. I think reprocessing my life is integral to my creative process. I think looking at experiences, love, loss, lust, desire, heartbreak, rejection, falling in love, all of that, it's like I constantly go back and reflect, and then through that lens, I reflect on how I feel now. And it's like that combination, that collaboration of the past and current feelings that creates art for me. Um, this isn't much of a question. I have a dog named Tillie… that's so sweet. Do either of you have stage fright? No. I was wondering if you guys were really that chill when you were in JUNIOR HIGH. Also, if you have any, I mean, any suggestions for getting through sixth grade? We were not chill in JUNIOR HIGH. We are not chill people. We are very, very excitable, intense, cerebral, extroverted, excitable, complicated, chaotic human beings, very multi layered, and we were like that in JUNIOR HIGH. I think Sara was a little more introverted and a little more internalized. But we were not chill. No, we had so much drama. We f ought with our friends constantly. We fought with each other, we fought with my mom. We went from being excellent students to really suffering and having difficult times academically. We dropped out of a lot of our extracurriculars. No, we were fucking chaotic. And any advice? I mean, look, I liked sixth grade, but I know JUNIOR HIGH or middle school starts earlier. For Americans, it's hard. You are going through so much. You are changing. Your brain is changing. Your body is changing your friends bodies and minds are changing. The world is chaos. Now you've got the internet and cell phones and social media. I said this a little bit earlier. Lean on your parents. Remember that they went through that, that they are your they are your lifeline. They are your North Star. Don't put up with shit from your friends. Have integrity. Believe in yourself, you know, be curious. Ask questions. Care about adults. Adults are really great for helping you get through tough times. That would be my advice. Looking back, did you have any core memories in middle school that you can attribute to realizing you were queer? Yeah, oh yeah. I mean, I can go all the way back to elementary school and be like I was obsessed with my girlfriends, obsessed. Yeah, I always had, I was always obsessed with my mom's friends. I always had a real attachment to women that went beyond, I think, what other girls that were not queer were feeling. I yeah, I definitely feel in in middle school and JUNIOR HIGH, specifically, girls in our age group were really obsessed with boys in a way that I didn't relate to, I didn't understand. I did want guys to like me. I wanted to have a cool boyfriend. I wanted, you know, I had some of the natural social peer pressure desires that everyone had. But I can look back and go, Yeah, I was really, really, really, really, really attached my girlfriends and starting to think about, you know, starting to desire things that were different than I had felt for boys, you know. So, yeah, I can definitely, and I started to see queer things like, you know, through my adolescence, I started to see movies or television characters like on My So-Called Life, or this movie Chasing Amy, or When Night is Falling, or, you know, this book Fall on Your Knees by Anne Marie McDonald. Like I started to find queer representation in television, film and books, and that started to like it was like an awakening where I was like, Oh, wait, I feel that way too. So, yeah, it starts young. CRUSH starts with Tegan and Sara having a shared dream. Have you ever had the same dream in real life? That's funny. What a good question. I don't think Sara and I are telepathic or have shared dreams, but we do, oddly make weird choices that are random and outside of character at the same time. You know, sometimes it means like we'll both show up wearing the exact same outfit that's very different than what we normally wear, or we'll both really feel a calling or a pull towards an artist or a movie or a book at the same time without each other knowing. And then we'll talk about it and be like, Oh my God, but no, we don't share dreams. My first show that I saw you at was at the Delta Airlines show at the East Theater in Los Angeles. Can you talk about how the experience is doing a show for a different type of audience or a different type of venue than normal? That's a really interesting question. I remember that show, so this is, this is a great question. So oftentimes, artists you know will end up getting asked to do shows that are partnership shows or brand shows. Sometimes it's for radio. Sometimes it's like this. It's like Delta Airlines, you know, offers their, you know, premium customers, a special experience, or whatever. This kind of shit only really happens when you're very popular. And that was a moment where we were very popular, so but um, that's who I remember as being kind of funny. Certainly like to work for an audience. For sure, we definitely like supporting and opening for other bands and pushing ourselves to do something new and challenging. You know, sometimes they can go really great. Sometimes they suck. One time we played literally like a bazillionaire, like his daughter was getting married or something, and they had a dinner and a party, and they had us come play three songs. And it was during the Heartthrob era, same as the Delta Airlines show, I think, or right after that, where you have to take these shows because you're opening for other bands, you're doing radio shows, you're not making as much money because you're having to do a lot of promotional stuff. So you take these kind of corporate gigs because they help pay the bills. And I remember it being tough, you know, it's a crowd of people that don't care about your band, they care about one song, and that's hard, but I think for Sara and I, we say yes to them, partly because it's financial, but also it's a challenge, you know, and sometimes I just, I'm like, I'm gonna make these people like us. What's your favorite city to visit and why? You know, I love traveling internationally. When it comes to like, new cities, I love traveling internationally. It's exciting to wake up in a different country every day in Europe, it's exciting to go to Asia. It's exciting to go to Australia. It's exciting to be in new places and get to explore. We don't get to do a lot of exploring in North America, and it's not as exciting, I have to admit. So, yeah, I can't pick a favorite city, but I can just say that's one of the perks of traveling internationally, is waking up somewhere new every day. Um, what's something that's exciting you artistically right now? You know, we have a couple books that we have sold, so we need to start writing, and I'm excited about that. I'm excited to move into a more fictional space, or auto fiction space. Yeah, I'm excited artistically and creatively right now to keep writing for young people as well. I am intrigued to see what we do musically, like I said earlier, I feel like we want to be thoughtful about what we put out next musically. So I'm not sure what that's going to be, but yeah, the wheels are starting to turn, the pots are starting to boil. What's your favorite song that you've written or sang? I kind of answered that already. I love stuff off of So Jealous and The Con. What's your favorite place to eat in Seattle, or favorite coffee shop? I cannot answer that. I do not go there enough to have a favorite. Why don't you tell me what your favorite coffee shop or restaurant is in Seattle in the comments for next time I go there. Do you ever play the game, Code Names? I've never played it. Tell me more in the comments. Will there be a third book? There is not going to be a third book in the JUNIOR HIGH CRUSH duology. That's it. But we did talk with Tillie Walden about collaborating again, maybe on something for adults, and she seemed really excited at the prospect of that. So yeah, I think we'll definitely collaborate with Tillie again. I love the idea of maybe, you know, working in the graphic novel space again, but I'm excited to move into chapter books and move away from graphic novels for a minute. And, you know, just excited to keep experimenting with writing. Are you two huggers? What a great question. I've never had this question before, kind of, I mean, I can't speak for Sara. I can only speak for myself and say that I am my love languages is physical touch, and I love touch from people I know. I have to admit, I struggle with being hugged or touched by strangers. That's a product of probably decades of being touched by strangers. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I am not like repelled by it. I'm not mad at people who want to hug or want to shake hands when they meet us, I promise. But it's hard to hug and touch like 100 people in a row. There's a physical experience there that I think a lot of people don't recognize or haven't had and don't realize. Like, it's a lot, it can physically be a lot. It's a lot to meet 150 or whatever, strangers at a book signing, and every one of them want to touch you. There's a germ part of it, there's a stranger danger part of it. There's an inappropriate touch part of it, but I think some of it is just, you know, just, it's a lot physically to like touch that many people. So, yeah, I am definitely like to hug my friends. How can you find a CRUSH if you're looking for one? What a great question. I have been so lucky in my sort of dating life to sort of naturally meet people out and about. I've never had to use a dating app. I don't even know how I would go about doing that. You know, I've said this a couple times about making friends in this, in this. Now it feels like I'm doing a one man show, a podcast, but um, I think be curious. Curiosity is such a powerful tool. Asking someone questions, listening to the answers to the question, and then following up with more questions. It makes people feel really seen. So I feel like and I think it what it does is, if it's the right person for you, it inspires them to ask you questions and be curious about you. So I feel like whether it's making friends or finding a CRUSH or getting into a new relationship, or even, you know, in your workplace, you know, having connections, ask questions and then ask follow up questions and then see, are they interested in you, or is it a reciprocal thing? You know, I'd say that's where I would start. I want to learn guitar. Do you have any tips for learning? I mean, we're self-taught. I will watch tutorials sometimes about how to play certain chords. I mean, I've been playing guitar since I was 15, and I still do not know how to tell the key of the song, and I'm bad with anything based than basic chord names for basic chords. I so I might be the worst person, honestly. But I think like these days, between like YouTube and Tech Talk and guitar tab, apps and stuff, it's gotten a lot easier. So, I'd say just pick one of those avenues and jump in. This is the last question, what's your favorite place to eat in Seattle, favorite coffee shop? So we got it twice. We'll end there. If you're from Seattle, you tell me in the comments, what's your favorite place to eat and your favorite coffee shop. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll get to the next cities in a bit, but this was Seattle. Thanks for listening. If you haven't picked up JUNIOR HIGH and CRUSH, you can get it online or you can get it from your favorite local bookstore. Don't forget to check out Tillie Walden’s other books, and we'll talk to you all soon. Thanks for subscribing to I think we're alone now. Bye.
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Seattle CRUSH Tour Questions
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