Buy the Book: Nick Burd's The Vast Fields of Ordinary

When Dade's parents separate, and his secret high school fling turns against him, his world turns upside down. But when he meets a dreamy dealer named Alex Kincaid, Dade suddenly finds himself drifting toward a place somehow even better than he ever imagined. It's a refreshing take on a gay boy's love story, and it lets the world know that not all of us flock to fashion and Broadway.

The author Nick Burd was kind enough to answer a couple of question for Popnog:

What inspired you to write this particular story?
A lot of things inspired the book. Obviously, being gay in the Midwest is something that I experienced, and I wanted to chronicle that experience in a novel. But I've also always interested in the weirdness of strip malls and fast food joints and how teenagers interact with these spaces and particularly how it relates to the feelings of loneliness that I think everyone has at that age. Also, high school is a period that I think everyone remembers vividly and can identify with.

Do you think the idea of YA fiction has changed recently?
I think with Harry Potter and the Twilight books there has definitely been this shift in the way people think about young adult fiction. I think it's sort of weird to think about, because it's all about marketing and has so little to do with what's on the actual page. I understand the need to think about it and consider how it'll affect how people approach the book, but I'm also sorta like, "Call it what you want. Young adult, teen lit, children's lit, gay lit. Whatever. Just read my fucking book."

Nick Burd's "fucking book", The Vast Field's of Ordinary, comes out on May 14th, and you can pre-order here.

-- ROBBIE IMES

Previously > The Big Book of Gay Cliches: #1 -- the lovable hairdresser