1--What is the title of your latest release?
DROUGHT
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
My new queer novel is a dual narrative set on a Kentucky farm, described as “a parable on human connection in unexpected spaces and despite one’s own weighted history. It’s a spiritual cousin to Proulx’s BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN…a beautifully written and deeply evocative novel that lingers long after the final page.”
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
I was on a long bus trip in the South and kept passing extended stretches of fields and farms, and the idea of a story on a tobacco farm came to me. And it stuck.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely! He’s the complete opposite of me and has a beautiful soul!
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Lonely. Big-hearted. Dreamer.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
How tobacco farming is done and the intensity of this type of labor, particular in other eras. Also, the difficulty of being in a queer love affair in Kentucky in 1950.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I get feedback from my writing group, but I keep going until I get to the end of a big messy first draft.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Cupcakes.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
A wooden desk crammed with so many bits of inspiration: photos of family, black and white imagery of sexy men, poems, an oil painting, a ceramic chicken. And new things are added for each new book, as each story requires new visual inspirations.
10--Who is an author you admire?
Cormac McCarthy
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
My first book, I was on a train and after many rejections, when I read the email I burst into tears.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Literary queer fiction.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Oh my. I am a film fanatic, and love all things Indie. There are so many. I’ll name The Sheltering Sky because I loved the superb Paul Bowles novel and watch this Bertolucci film once a year. I have to also mention House of Mirth, love the Edith Wharton book, adore the film version.
15--What is your favorite season?
summer
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
With my husband, on a trip. We have been to India amongst other spots and that book inspired my last fiction, A Season in Delhi.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I loved The Brutalist. Pure all-consuming cinema experience.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Italian
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Read a lot. I am up every day in Manhattan NYC by 6am and I love to go outside in all seasons and see the moon and stars before dawn, drink ice coffee and journal.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
My new novel in progress is called HATE CRIME, set in a small rural Missouri town about an under the radar queer man living in a trailer park who gets unexpected involved in solving a hate crime.
When Parnell, a recluse from Newark, New Jersey, inherits a dilapidated tobacco farm in Kentucky from his estranged Uncle Willy, he moves to the farm hoping to jump start his empty life. Such begins an odyssey igniting a dual narrative as Uncle Willy shares from the grave about his deep love for a man named Phil, and a violent curse born from hate and intolerance. In Kentucky, Parnell befriends Darl, who works at the Sonic, and John, an eccentric preacher who guides him to learn the twisted fate of his Uncle Willy. Parnell discovers there are more than tobacco leaves buried in the fields. As he unearths a long-hidden crime, to his surprise, he gains a new sense of self.
Historical | LGBTQ [Rebel Satori Press, On Sale: June 3, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781608643585 / ]
Scott Alexander Hess is the author of seven novels, including Skyscraper, a Lambda Literary Award Finalist, and The Butcher’s Sons, which was named a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2015. His recent fiction The Root of Everything & Lightning is a #1 Amazon Bestseller and A Season in Delhi was released in 2023. His writing has appeared in HuffPost, Genre Magazine, The Gay & Lesbian Review, Thema Literary Review, and elsewhere. Hess co-wrote "Tom in America," an award-winning short film, starring Sally Kirkland and Burt Young. He was an America’s Next Great Author finalist 2022. He teaches fiction writing at Gotham Writers Workshop and curates Hot Lit, an LGBTQ+ themed monthly newsletter. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Hess lives in New York City with his husband.
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