Author Interview: Rosemarie Gibson (Desiring Her)
Let’s sit down and chat with a lesbian!
This week, I’d like to share an author interview with Rosemarie Gibson. I previously shared one of Rosemarie’s works, Desiring Her – a collection of poetry that tells of the love between two women. Please do check it out!
Rosemarie kindly agreed to answer some questions, so we can get an idea of who she is and how she works. If you love reading, take an interesting in matters of sexuality or just like to meet folk, read on!
1 – Tell me a bit about yourself and your writing.
“I am an openly Queer, Lesbian writer with a degree in English. I’ve been writing since I could write. I have a diary from when I was about 5 years old that is filled with really strange but imaginative short stories and prose, which of course also have bad grammar and poor diction. So I guess if you want to know who I am, the first thing you should know is, I’m a writer. My writing used to be quite fantastical, fascinated with religion and mythology I would use these to draw inspiration for the world’s in which I’d think up. Though I do love still writing that genre, my writing at the moment is largely LGBTQA orientated.”
2 – What’s your current project about, writing or otherwise?
“I have no set current project per say. I am always writing poetry, this is something I am always striving to compile together and be willing to publish. As open as I may seem to be to a lot of people, it actually takes a lot of courage for me to put my innermost emotions out there on display to the world. I think the reason I’m finding myself to be so raw is because I’m learning to accept all parts of me and I’m lowering my shield up and shouting out ‘this is who I am & I am not ashamed!’ I suppose I should also mention I’m working on a lesbian romance novel, but in order to complete this I need to swallow my pride & accept criticism a bit better.”
3 – From where do you draw inspiration?
“Inspiration is literally all around me. I’ve been told that I’m quite the empath, as good as this may be for being nurturing and caring, I’ve realised that it can also lead to me over analysing. My life is my inspiration. I blog about my travels, so I thrive for adventure. I love writing about my visits to museums and castles and nature reserves. I find it completely fascinating how everything seems to interlink. But I think my main inspiration for writing is my life, I grew up feeling I was different, weird, unusual. As someone who liked to get lost in books there wasn’t a lot of lesbian representation out there, so now I strive to make sure other young girls have that representation. So that no one else ever feels ashamed like I did.”
4 – What are you currently reading and do you have a favourite author?
“I’m not really reading anything at the moment, I work too many hours. Too many weird shifts. I used to be able to read 3 books a week, but now I just have no time. I don’t really have a favourite author. I have favourite novels. For instance Jane Eyre has always been my favourite. I find Jane to be quite strong, she overcame childhood abuse, she grew into a strong, independent, determined woman. She pursued her ambitions yet didn’t falter when it came to love. Though Mr Rochester seems to be a narcissistic character who seemingly locks his first wife in the attic for suffering from post-natal depression, Jane still loves him. And I admire that. You see two characters who are different in so many ways, yet so fitting. She accepts him for him, she loves the beast from within, they grow, but they don’t falter on who they are at the core and I just find that fantastic. I may have slipped into a deep analysis, but I find it significant because that novel has always been my favourite. And I want to be as strong as Jane.”
5 – Do you have a favourite character from your works and how did you develop him/her/it?
“I think my favourite character is the comic book character that I created. She’s strong & determined, and doesn’t back down. A lot of bad things have happened to me in the past and though they’ve helped merge me into the person i am now, I know I still have a long way to go. My character, Diamond, is the person I strive to be at the end of it. She’s also a massive lesbian too. Which clearly makes her awesome.”
6 – What’s different about your style or works?
“I think what’s different about my style of work is the fact that it embraces all elements that people place into the category of being taboo. I approach subjects such as mental health, female sexuality, and survival. I’m not afraid to be raw and keep expanding until I feel there’s enough representation out there so no one else ever feels as alienated as I sometimes feel.”
7 – What else do you get up to?
“I like to sing, singing is therapy, just expressing everything like that makes me feel powerful. I like to act, playing different roles helps me get into the headspace of different people and I feel this helps me be more considerate, as well as inspiring my ability to create various characters within my personality. I like to model, I love owning the heck out of my sexuality, out of my body. I have had my boundaries crossed without my consent before, and that’s my way of gaining independence and value over my flesh. All those things are also things that people told me I’d never accomplish, so I love the fact I am able to stick my fingers up at the naysayers and follow my ambitions regardless of how low I am made to feel. I also love adventure and soaking in culture, I’m very much a sapiosexual, if I’m not learning or maturing in some way, I’m getting bored, so day trips are something I very much enjoy.”
8 – What advice would you give to struggling writers?
“I’d give the same advice to writers as I would to anyone, do what you’re doing for you. Don’t be afraid to leave yourself vulnerable to criticism and knock backs. Don’t let it put you down either though, take heed what people say, discover how you can improve but don’t give up on your passions. Don’t give up on your ambitions. And don’t put too much pressure on yourself, things take time.”
9 – What’s your next big project?
“My next big project if you can call it big, is to create a film about two girls who fall in love. Who both have underlying issues within themselves.I don’t feel there’s enough Queer romance on TV that has accurate sex scenes, or even a decent portrayal of the whole concept of emotional intimacy and security, most of it seems to be aimed at a cis-male audience. I want this project to be created by largely Queer people that know what they’re talking about, starring Queer actors in Queer roles.”
10 – How can people find out more about you and get in touch?
“If people want to know more about me they can find me on Facebook : www.facebook.com/rosemarieedgibson or they could probably Google me and I’d come up!”
Big thanks to Rosemarie for her fascinating answers! As a straight white male myself, there’s a huge amount I don’t know about the LGBTQA community, so this is an interesting subject academically and socially. I’ll be keeping my eye out for more works from Rosemarie!
