If you ask, we will answer!

Junior High Virtual Book Event Q&A!

Hi!

As promised I cut and paste all the questions from our virtual Junior High book event and answered them below. Thank you to everyone who joined us on the book tour - be it in person or virtually - we had such a great time. It means so much to us that people took time out to come and support the book, and we hope you’ll keep spreading the word about the book and sharing it with people in your lives.

Tegan

Kristan Robertson       4:02 PM

My favorite band and comic creator making a book together has been a true dream so my question is - what graphic novel would you all recommend to each other now that you have become friends through this process? :)

Oh boy, I don’t know if I’d be so bold as to recommend anything to Tillie, since I assume she knows a lot more than me. But I did just recently blaze through Kate Beaton’s Ducks: Two Years In The Oil Sands and absolutely loved it.  

Candace Hein       4:02 PM

What is your favorite chapter of the book?

I absolutely love the Bras chapter.  It’s hard to just choose one chapter though.  Writing that chapter was equally hard and hilarious, and Tillie’s illustrations just exceeded all my expectations.

Candace Hein       4:03 PM

What's the most cringe worthy part of the book for you?

I am quite shy when it comes to talking about my body and so writing about periods and bras and crushes is not easy. I won’t say it’s cringe-worthy but reading it out loud – as we have been doing at the book events – or talking about it on our press tour – as we did on CBS mornings with freaking GAYLE KING! – was a little embarrassing. That being said, there is nothing to be embarrassed, we all have a body and we should talk more about them.

Chen Drachman       4:06 PM

As evident, you guys are doing more and more narrative writing. Will you be interested in writing episodes for High School?

We are very invested in developing our skills as writers.  Writing fiction for Junior High was truly so much fun.  I don’t think we would have been the best writers for the TV adaptation of High School.  I feel we are too inexperienced and too close to the material. That being said, we had a huge role in the development of the show and our writers Clea and Laura were incredibly generous and heard out our many questions, issues, thoughts and suggestions through the writing process (bless them).

Jess Helton       4:07 PM

Rosie asks: What was the funnest part of the making of Junior High?

For as traumatizing as Junior High was at times – the book is very sanitized, and we stayed away from anything too rough or heavy as it was aimed at kids – it was still an important time in our lives. We made lifelong friends, learned about ourselves in massive ways, discovered so much that would eventually shape our adult lives, and it wasn’t all bad. So, diving back in and writing about it was mostly fun and challenging and a joy. I would say the “funnest part,” was seeing the whole thing done and taking it on the road. But I loved writing the conversations between the kids and parents.  I love dialogue. So that part of writing the book was also super fun for me.

Chris Pietsch       4:07 PM

So, I already purchased the book and have read it.  I am wondering if the character named Sid is a shoutout to Sara`s son?  Also, if you plan to have more children will their potential names be in future books (or possibly in this one)?

No! Just a random coincidence. We wrote the character before Sara and Stacy got pregnant. I don’t know if they even put that together to be honest. 

Leigh Rogers       4:07 PM

Hey guys! So my question is this… what’s one thing that you wanted to put in Junior High that didn’t make it into the book?

Well, there were some things that just couldn’t be put into the book.  Some real-life things wouldn’t fit the age group the book was aimed at. But those stories are still there in my head, percolating. I’m sure they’ll see the light of day at some point.

Sonny Taylor       4:09 PM

This question can be for all of you. So because this is your first step into fiction, what was your favourite story or fictional bit of writing that Tegan/Sara did for Junior High?

Fictionalizing the musical part of our journey was really fun.  We never took music in school and never used the music room to write.  We didn’t have social media when we were in school in the 90s, so writing about social media, texting, and the world that created for Tegan and Sara was really fun!

Amanda Norrad       4:09 PM

So what’s the verdict on the TEGAN & SARA CRUISE!? Take alllll my money! No seriously though would be such an awesome time to just hang and chill with everyone :) what a cool opportunity.

HA! We appreciated everyone answering the survey.  The survey was put together by the company that organizes the cruises. Still waiting for feedback from them.  But we’re interested.  The survey was mostly to gauge interest amongst the T&S fans. I hope it happens!

Bekah Gonzalez       4:09 PM

How do you stay consistent about creating art even when you might not have the mental energy to stay inspired.

This is a great question.  Honestly, at this point, we’re so diligent and trained to stay busy when it comes to work that it almost happens without me thinking about it.  Sometimes I have to force myself to focus or sit down and complete something but once I’m into a creative project it’s hard sometimes for me to stop, or be done.  I feel very lucky – and very spoiled – to admit this but, I rarely in the last twenty-plus years have worked on something that doesn’t inspire me. I don’t know that I would. 

Paul Roybal       4:10 PM

What are your thoughts on abelskivers?

One word: delicious.

Anonymous Attendee       4:11 PM

What did all of your partners think of the book? did they resonate with it? thanks – Rachel

I can only speak for my partner – Sofia – but she loved it. She’s read the book a few times and found it charming and sweet. She hasn’t read Book Two yet but keeps bugging me to see it.  Sofia really loves graphic novels and comics, so this project was really exciting for her.

Ashley Lilly       4:12 PM

I remember when Tegan and Sara were featured in The Archies comic ^_^ How does it feel to tell your story using the graphic novel as a medium? Did any other graphic novels inspire your process?

Well first off, it was a total joy to be featured in The Archies comic. Still exciting all these years later! To work in the graphic novel medium and have the privilege of working with Tillie Walden and the whole team at FSG has been really inspiring.  Our creative fire still burns pretty brightly, so uncovering new ways to stoke it is so significant to us.  I think the collaborative process – shared equally between us – has definitely opened us up to more collaboration with each other, and others musically! So, it’s been a real win for our musical creativity too!

Emily Kohring       4:14 PM

T&S: Would you ever consider teaching a memoir-writing workshop?

I don’t think we’re quite ready to give a workshop! HA! But I have been quite vocal with friends, peers and musicians who’ve reached out for help or tips!

Chloe Divers       4:15 PM

Were there any experiences or traits you added to your character to fictionalise it that you wish actually happened to you?

There is so much of us and our friends and family in the book.  Even though we fictionalized a lot, most of it is rooted in some version of our experience as young people.  Our parents are probably the closest to their real selves out of all of the characters.  The friends are mostly composites of people we knew.  We definitely put a lot of real-life experiences in the book. There is a lot of truth in the book.  Even the music part, which didn’t actually happen to us until years later (we started writing at 15) is rooted in some version of what actually happened.

Anonymous Attendee       4:17 PM

When was the last time you two (Tegan and Sara) hugged?

HAHAHAHAHAH. I don’t remember.

Ashleyann Sanabria       4:18 PM

The memoir “High School” was such a beautiful story and relatable as a reflection of the queer experience, which made it so special to read as a queer person who found you both at the same time I discovered my own queerness. I assume the intention of “Junior High” was to share more of the queer experience aimed at a younger audience. Can you confirm this and talk about how long after “High School” did you think of “Junior High” and how “High School” affected the creation of “Junior High”?

Junior High was intentionally aimed at a “middle-grade” age kid, but we peppered the story with adult humour and layers to hopefully reach their parents, and our average fan too.  I hoped that anyone who had experienced Junior High would read it and love it/relate to it/find comfort in it.  We agreed to write Junior High (2 books) at the same time as we sold High School.  So, we knew we would write it in 2020.  And then the second book in 2021. Which is what we did!  I would say that High School was a wonderful warm-up for writing Junior High.  They are such different books, but it was still good for us to take so much time to work on our craft, and get to know ourselves and our team.  High School was written totally separately.  Each of us shared our stories and then we worked with our editors to weave the story together.  With Junior High, we wrote together.  Sara would write for a week or two, then send the script to me and I would keep writing and editing what she had written. We did this until we were “done,” before sending it off to our editors. So, it was really different because we wrote each other's voices, and we never discussed the story.  It was very fun creatively.

Charlie Henderson-Bachand       4:20 PM

What can we expect in the second volume of Junior High?

The book will be released next year, and you can expect A LOT more music, and it gets really fun.  Less school-related story and more about crushes, friendship and music!

Paulina R       4:28 PM

Now that you've written two books focusing on your youth, would you be interested in writing a book that focuses on your adult lives?

I think we’ll get there eventually.  We did sell a book two years ago that will be more memoir/essay based and about our adult selves, but we’re taking our time.

Caleb Phillip       4:28 PM

Question for Q&A (T+S):

Was there a story point that you felt was difficult to communicate adequately - either structurally or emotionally?  And why was it important to you to persevere?

I think High School was far more challenging to write, and we had to push ourselves a lot harder, go deeper and reveal a lot more intimate details.  I think it was important to persevere because it felt like a significant story to share.  With Junior High I believe we were more free, less stuck on telling the story the way it really happened, so there was less difficulty.  In terms of the emotion of Junior High.  I believe Tillie really gets credit – as she should – for creating the moving interstitial sections before each chapter where you really feel the emotions of Tegan and Sara.  That was her idea and a lot of it was written by her when she was drawing the book. 

Alejandro Munoz       4:57 PM

Is there a release date for volume 2?

There is not but we’re not announcing it yet.  There is also an audio version of Junior High coming in August! More info on that soon! But it’s a full cast, there’s music and we narrated it.  Tillie also joined us for a full conversation at the end. It’s VERY cool!

Anonymous Attendee       4:58 PM

Would you want to make a graphic novel version of High School?

In all honesty, I haven’t given it much thought, but I do think it could be a really interesting project!

Anonymous Attendee       4:58 PM

Hello! What ages are Tegan and Sara in the book?

They are 11 and turning 12! Which was how old we were in seventh grade.  We turned 12 two weeks into seventh grade!

Pauline Hb       4:58 PM

Are you interested in adapting Junior High like High School? Would it be animated?

We are interested and talking about it.  We are more interested in adapting book two which is less like High School. There are too many parallels to High School, so we’d be less inclined to use it as a model for the show.  But we are interested and pursuing it.  We’d want live-action, not animation.

Alejandro Munoz       4:58 PM

Is there any music that you'll release that's related to this project?

YES! On the audio version, coming out in August, there is music we’ve recorded.  In book two there is a lot more music – some original – that Tegan and Sara write and perform, so we’ll record that and release it with book two!

Christine Haynes       4:59 PM

what cool song did you play for your recital in real life? Thank you!!!

HA! I don’t recall!

JoAnne Hernandez       4:59 PM

Will there be a 4th book? “Tegan and Sara, the LIFE we LIVE”

No! But we do intend on writing more! Our next project – as it stands right now – is more middle grade fiction (chapter books this time) and a project we sold a few years ago about Twins.

Anonymous Attendee       4:59 PM

Y’all have done some incredible work to document your lives and tell your stories - while this is fictionalized, have you thought of moving into entirely fictional work?

Yes, our next project is fiction!

Anonymous Attendee       4:59 PM

What was the book for you in Junior High that played the role you hope this book will have in your readers’ lives?

We read everything. So, it’s hard to say one book.  But we loved Judy Bloom and Babysitters Club.  We loved the Chronicles of Narnia and a lot of adult books we probably shouldn’t have been reading that young!

Anonymous Attendee       5:00 PM

What made you decide to do a graphic novel vs another prose format book?

When we sold High School, our publisher also included in the deal an offer to do this graphic novel.  So, they suggested this format.  We were intrigued, as fans of the graphic novel world, and we’re so glad we did it! I would totally do an adult graphic novel at some point.

Pauline Hb       5:00 PM

How difficult was it to set your experiences in current day as opposed to when you grew up in the 90s?

I won’t say it was hard.  But it posed challenges for sure.  We had to do research and we wanted to ensure we didn’t change our story so much it wouldn’t connect to people who knew our story.  It was more fun than hard.

Caleb Phillip       5:01 PM

Since this is a somewhat fictionalized story, was it necessary to do as much research as you did for your high school memoirs, or did you feel free to bend the truth more to suit the story’s needs?

We did less research, but we are very close with our junior high friends and so we all talk about this time in our lives still and so we leaned on that knowledge.

Anonymous Attendee       5:01 PM

Has your collaborative creating dynamic from writing this book transferred to co-writing songs?

Totally, I think we’re more open to collaboration with each other than we were before writing this book.

Jessica Parker       5:02 PM

How did the collaboration between Tegan and Sara and Tillie work? Did Tillie work from photos, consult about certain specifics, or was her process separate?

We definitely shared some photos with Tillie, and we described the characters in our script.  But really Tillie was free to create from her own mind.  We didn’t put many restrictions or asks on her.  Our collaboration was truly free of rules!

L Farris       5:04 PM

This is Samantha (sitting her with my identical twin sister Rebecca). How old were you when you wrote your first song?         This is Rebecca: Why did you choose these three colours (blue/red/purple) versus all the colours?

We were 15 when we wrote our first song! And Tillie chose the colours, and never asked us what we preferred and we were totally happy with the colors and her process!

Leigh Rogers       5:05 PM

When I was in junior high, I had posters all over my walls. Did you guys do that as well? If so, what was on your walls?

When we got into ninth grade our rooms really transformed.  In seventh grade, we still had teddy bear wallpaper and stuffed animals.  But at the end of eighth grade we moved to a new house so we were able to shake off some of our childhood stuff, like the teddy bear wallpaper and that’s when our rooms really got teenager-y.  We actually made this website when we put out High School a few years ago, of our rooms. https://highschoolrooms.teganandsara.com/

Michael Lee Gardin       5:06 PM

Thank you so much for this event! My question is about the current vehement anti-LGBTQ political climate that has often taken the shape of booking banning (or attempts). Could you talk a little about the importance of LGBTQ representation, particularly in books, in light of this intense word we are hearing that this is bad or wrong?

We had zero LGBTQ+ representation for most of our young lives.  We didn’t have equal rights until our 20s.  We still ended up being gay.  Getting married.  Having a family.  Finding love and acceptance and success.  The next generation will too.  Will it be hard? Yes.  But it will happen.

It makes no sense to punish, torture, or starve LGBTQ+ youth of their history, or representation of whom they can become.  It’s inhumane to restrict art that could normalize the feelings they have inside of themselves.  The adults actively doing this to young folks are monsters and their actions are unforgivable.  That being said, young people will find representation regardless.  I hope they find this book, our band and the incredible community of LGBTQ+ artists, creatives, shows, music, books etc. that exist.  I hope they find it sooner than later, but they will find them eventually.  

Theresa Ulrich       5:07 PM

I love substack!! Will there be a season 2 of High School?

We love Substack too, and the community there, and hope all of you subscribe! We don’t have news about High School Season Two yet.  The show is written.  The actors are being held. But there is no green light as of yet.

Thanks again for the great questions!

And if you love Junior High, we have two Junior High T-shirts for sale on our website! The tie-dye purple illustration shirt is our favourite, and 50% of proceeds go to Tegan and Sara Foundation! Get yours before the run is sold out!