An Early Look at All of Us

Coming August, we'll be adding All of Us to our Choices library! We've asked the Book Team to give us an early sneak peek at this LGBTQ+ Choices story:

What does writing All of Us mean to you?

Olivia: In Choices, we think a lot about queer representation since it's important to many of us on a personal level. But with that said, it meant a lot to make a book that focuses specifically on queer characters and puts those relationships and experiences front and center!

Emi: It's also really nice to see a queer community and all the nuances of that in a story, since so many of us have one in real life. I know "found family" is a theme in a lot of our books, but I think it rings even more true in this particular one. Having that support network certainly made the more difficult parts of my queer journey easier.

Jeffrey: ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-

Olivia: Yes, what Jeffrey said. The real found family is the emoticons we found along the way.

I can already see you all have put a lot of heart into this story. What makes this book special to you?

Olivia: The temptation to just write "because I'm gay" is strong...

Emi: I mean, as a queer enby: same.

Jeffrey: ＼＼\(۶•̀ᴗ•́)۶//／／

Olivia: Well-said, Jeffrey. On a more serious note, games were one of the first places I felt comfortable beginning to explore my sexuality even before I fully knew what that meant. Having places where I could not only step into another character's shoes and see some of that experience, but also see stories where queer characters weren't just present but happy and thriving, meant a lot. So it means even more to (hopefully) give that same experience to some of our players.

Emi: High five for discovering you were queer because you played a video game, Olivia! I think what's really special about this story is getting to dive into what it means to be queer in the world nowadays. Lots of my stories feature queer characters, but to be able to share what is often going on in our heads (both the funny and the serious) when we're thinking about love and relationships is especially rewarding.

Are there any real-life inspirations behind this story you want to share with players?

Emi: I will say that Blue, one of your friends, draws pretty heavily on Olivia's and my incredibly chaotic friend, Sara, who always has the wildest stories to share.

Olivia: It's hard to encapsulate the entire queer experience in a single story, but I do think we touched on some content that everyone in my personal circles can relate to, ex. - "Is this person actually into me, or are they just... nice???" But I guess also, if you ever hear jokes about queer women U-Hauling after the second date, I married the second person I ever dated, so. Sometimes the jokes are true, and some of those early relationship questions about "Is this okay/am I moving too fast" have definitely made their way into the book.

Any other questions or points you want to add...?

Jeffrey: As the wholesome straight guy, I'm just happy to be included: ♪⁽⁽٩( ᐖ )۶⁾⁾ ₍₍٩( ᐛ )۶₎₎♪

Olivia: And we are happy to have you <3 An important part of any friend group.

Olivia: I also want to say thanks to the whole team who worked on this book (you'll get to hear more from them when it releases!) and to Pixelberry for giving us a chance to work on it. To our queer players, we hope that you get to spend this Pride with people who see you and love you for all of who you are!

Emi: Be gay do crime whatever makes you happy!

Jeffrey: ৻(  •̀ ᗜ •́  ৻)

Olivia: Yes. What both Emi and Jeffrey said. Happy Pride!

Happy Pride! Thank you all! We can't wait to experience All of Us for ourselves this August!

<3 The Community Team