Q&A

What Does Rebel in Venus mean? How did you come up with the title for the book?

The title, Rebel In Venus, is a message. It’s saying that there is more than one way to define what it means to be a goddess - a goddess being someone who moves in the feminine divine. A goddess might be messy, not white, not born with a vagina, they or she may make mistakes… many times. A goddess fights for herself, she loves herself, and she may not make babies. She or they may not be soft, or docile in nature. She might not identify as she, and they might be queer. They might be loud, expressive, and feisty. They may love having sex… a lot, for the sake of pleasuring themselves. And right now, at this very moment… a goddess might be wondering in the dark before she can even stumble into her own light. Basically, it’s saying there’s more than one way to be a goddess.

For those unfamiliar with the novel can you briefly describe what the book is about?

The formal summary: Rebel In Venus takes place over one ‘girl’s night in’ spent between best friends, Maria and Layla. Over the course of the witty and unexpected evening, Layla’s memory is jolted, and her once carefully repressed past begins to return to her, triggering a sequence of events that ultimately jeopardizes Layla’s unconventional life. In Rebel In Venus, the bold, and sometimes brutally honest stories that unfold, are filled with sexual revelations, high-school humiliations, unwanted pregnancies, unwavering friendships, sex work, divorce, and loss. As the confessions unfold, Layla’s anguished past starts to crystallize and challenges the strength of her friendship with Maria, as well as Layla’s own life. Will Layla learn to save herself in time? Or will her past win over her ability to see a future?