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Lesbian Life: You have what many would consider to be an ideal career, visiting exotic places and writing about them. How did you make that happen for yourself?

Lucy Jane Bledsoe: Hmm. Good question. I am lucky in that I knew exactly what I wanted from a very young age. I knew at five that I wanted to write fiction, no joke. And I always fantasized about being an explorer. I come from a big family, and I'm close to the youngest, so my parents were a lot looser by the time I came around, and so I had a lot of freedom.

In the summers, I'd be out the door at 7:30 and would pretend I was Sacajawea, prowling around the woods near my home.
But that doesn't quite answer how I made it happen. I guess sheer persistence. I wrote a first novel that never got published. I wrote a second novel that never got published. And I decided it was time to give up. I applied to geography graduate school to become a mapmaker. I got in. Then, Seal Press called and asked if they could publish a collection of my short fiction, which became Sweat. They also wanted a novel. So they gave me a two-book contract, and I wrote the novel, Working Parts. That very same year, I got a children's book accepted for publication, The Big Bike Race, and Alyson Publications asked me to edit a book of lesbian erotica, Heatwave - which is still in print and earning royalties! So in the fall of 1995, I had three books come out. I decided to not go to graduate school.

As for the travel and exploration, I never have known if I'm a writer so I can travel or if I'm a traveler so I can write.

They go hand-in-hand for me. Going into the unknown. Crossing borders. Hoping to see and say new things.

The Big Bang Symphony has three main characters, one of whom is a lesbian. It's just part of who she is and yet the book is labeled "Gay and Lesbian Interest." Was this something you asked for, or did the publisher assign it that category? Do you feel your writing has been pigeon-holed because of the lesbian content?

The title character in The Big Bang Symphony is a lesbian who's been out since she was 15 years old. She's an up-and-coming classical composer. She grew up in a commune outside of Santa Cruz, California in the 1960s. Her father, who left her mother before she was born, is a renowned astrophysicist. She is grieving the death of her lifetime partner at the start of the book. I try to write full, multidimensional characters who live in the real world.
In other words, I think lesbian is just part of who we all are. But it's true that some readers expect the term "lesbian literature" to mean that nearly all the characters in a book are lesbians. At the same time, I think homophobia, combined with sexism, is thriving in publishing and among general fiction readers. For some reason, gay male writers can "cross over," but virtually no out lesbian American novelists have been accepted into the mainstream. It's difficult to understand why, other than the idea that our reality - independent strong women who choose other women - just does't register in the culture-at-large's consciousness.

But I think there's another factor at work. It's not just homophobia or sexism. I think it is the pigeon-hole effect. I think publishers and marketers assume straight readers aren't interested in our stories. This doesn't make sense to me. I love reading about people different from myself and seek out novels about others. I think lots of readers might be happy reading lesbian stories if they were given the option. But the decision is made long before publication that only lesbians are interested in lesbian stories. I've been trying to challenge this my whole writing life, especially since all of my work includes all kinds of people, straight and lesbian ones.

I've never been a separatist. Which is another way of saying, I've never stopped expecting people to see me. As a lesbian author. Whether they do or not is somewhat out of my control. But I'm telling my stories to whoever will listen!

In short, I want people to be open and curious about all kinds of people, and reading novels is a great way to sneak into other people's cultures and lives.

Who are your literary influences?

I love to read and I read very widely. Early on in my writing life, I learned from James Baldwin - who of course is gay - that stories could be told in rich complexity. I adore his work. I love Alice Munro for her brilliant story-telling. I love Sherman Alexie for his humor and evolved characters and willingness to risk being full-hearted. I love Virginia Woolf - who doesn't? - and grew up worshipping Willa Cather. The latter two, of course, were both lesbians. I love Audre Lorde for the depth of her truth-telling. Yiyun Li's new novel, The Vagrants, is phenomenal. As is Anne Enright's novel, The Gathering. I read everything Margaret Atwood writes and admire her unflinching feminism.

What lesbian writers do you enjoy?

Some are listed above: Willa Cather, Virginia Woolf, Audre Lorde. For living lesbian authors, I think Irish (now living in Canada) writer Emma Donoghue's books are brilliant. Her humor is sly and her commentary on lesbian life is astute. Besides, her novels are just great reads. British writer Ali Smith is also amazing, in a whole different way. She writes edgy, heart-full stories and novels. I admire Elana Dykewomon's work, too. Rebecca Brown and Karla Jay are both amazing. Nina Revoyr is doing interesting work. And there are so many new lesbian novels coming out which I haven't yet read.

What's next for you? Other projects in the works? Trips to exciting lands?

I'm working on a novel about human evolution! Is that topic big enough? It takes place in the Bay Area, shortly after the "big one," an earthquake that devastates the whole area. It's about the survival of a small band of people who manage to find strength and bonds of love amid the wreckage.
As for trips to exciting lands, this summer, after my book tour for The Big Bang Symphony, I'm going to hike the Haute Route - the high Alps from Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn - with a friend I met in Antarctica.