Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work.
Today: Avery Bridge lives in the American southwest, where she gains inspiration from the natural beauty of the surrounding desert, mountains, and endless skies. She also works in the equine therapy industry, providing horse care to the gentle souls who lend their peaceful wisdom to those in need. You will find these settings (and the horses, too) in each of her stories.
https://www.averybridgeauthor.com
https://substack.com/@averybridge
https://bsky.app/profile/avery-bridge.bsky.social
Thanks so much, Avery, for joining me!
J. Scott Coatsworth: Do you use a pseudonym? If so, why? If not, why not?
Avery Bridge: Avery Bridge is my pseudonym. I always knew I wanted to write under a pen name, because for me writing has been a way for me to explore my inner self. As Avery, I can be anyone I choose, the version of myself that I want to put on the page. I chose this specific name first of all because it is gender-neutral. I also chose a name that is close to my real name, because it is still me underneath. And because I am someone who loves a deep dive into etymology: the name “Avery” comes from Old English and Old German (my personal heritage) and means “Elvish ruler”, which is just cool!
JSC: Are there underrepresented groups or ideas featured in Giving In to Gravity? If so, discuss
them.
AB: All of my books feature 2SLGBTQIA+ characters. As a member of the queer community, I grew up with sparse representation in media, and what was available were almost all tragedies. My personal goal is to bring more queer joy into the world, one story at a time.
When my spouse first came out as nonbinary, many people in my life struggled with using correct pronouns. Specifically, my mother refused to even try, claiming that it wasn’t “grammatically correct” to use they/them pronouns. So I immediately set out to prove her wrong by writing a nonbinary character study. I loved this work so much that it turned into a short story, and eventually my first novel. Happily, my mother read the book, and she loved it, pronouns and all! This is how I know that stories really can change hearts, minds, and lives.
My spouse is also disabled, so I am currently making it a point to include disabled characters in my writing. Most people don’t realize how inaccessible the world truly is, and maybe reading about fictional struggles will help make people more compassionate in real life.
JSC: They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice…what do you Know?
AB: My other passion besides writing is horses. I actually got my bachelor’s degree in Equine Science. I feature them in most of my stories, sometimes as a focal point and sometimes in the background. Just as they have been a steady presence in my life, they work their way into my characters’ lives as well.
I have been working with horses for most of my life, in spite of growing up as a city kid with no access to them beyond the once-monthly riding lesson that my parents could afford. Being around horses has always been my happy place, where I can exist in the moment and get out of my head for a while. Horses require presence of mind, and as a daydreamer this has always been a challenge for me. Doing this work strikes the perfect balance against the internal searching that writing requires. Something else I love about them is the fact that there is always more to learn!
JSC: Have you ever taken a trip to research a story? Tell me about it.
AB: While writing Giving in to Gravity, I took a road trip through northern New Mexico with my family. Along the way, my parents stopped us at a summer camp in the Santa Fe Mountains that they had both attended as teens. I was immediately captivated by the place, with its obstacle course in the center pond and aspen-lined meditation trails. This became the setting for the book. After that we ventured into Las Vegas, New Mexico: a small town with a gazebo, haunted hotel, and historic train station. This became the setting for a short story I wrote this year. I find inspiration wherever I go, but I really love keeping New Mexico as the setting for all my stories. This place is ruggedly beautiful, culturally diverse, and largely underrepresented.
JSC: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
AB: I am a plantser! I like to have an outline to follow: when I get stuck in a scene, it seems to help me get out of it if I at least know where I’m trying to go. But I have learned that as I write, I am getting to know my characters. More often than not, they will go off and do their own thing, outline be damned! This aspect of discovery writing has been the most surprising–and the most fun–part of my drafting process.
JSC: Do your books spring to life from a character first or an idea?
AB: I think it’s both simultaneously. My stories are character driven, but the ideas that pop into my brain are pretty well formed at inception: a setting, two characters, and a “what if?” Then I just have to figure out, you know, the actual plot hahaha.
JSC: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
AB: I wanted to be a Disney animator! The idea of taking a drawing and turning it into a moving story always seemed so magical to me. I watched all of the behind-the-scenes Disney content I could get my hands on. But by the time I entered middle school, Disney had already made the switch over to computer animation. As much as Toy Story blew my mind, I didn’t want any part of that. In hindsight, it could have been an amazing career, but I think I made the right decision.
JSC: Were you a voracious reader as a child?
AB: I absolutely was. It began with my parents reading to me from day one, and spiralled out of control from there. In elementary school I inhaled all of The Saddle Club, Thoroughbred, and Goosebumps books in existence. I was constantly being chastised for reading at the dinner table. By middle school I had graduated to The Dragonriders of Pern and Ender’s Game. If I liked an author, I would read every single thing they had written. During high school, I spent class time reading a novel instead of listening to the lecture. Apologies to all of my teachers!
JSC: What pets are currently on your keyboard, and what are their names? Pictures?
AB: My 17-year-old tabby Sir Charles aka Charlie aka Orange Baby aka Pumpkin aka Menace. He still acts like a kitten every single day! And each time I open my laptop this happens:
JSC: What are you working on now, and what’s coming out next? Tell us about it!
AB: The short story that I mentioned above in question 4 is currently out on submission and will hopefully be published this year! “The Balance” explores what it really means when your hometown is toxic, and how the right person might make it worthwhile to stay and make the place better for everyone.
I am currently co-authoring a screenplay about a private investigator who solves mysteries with the help of her mother’s ghost. This is the first time I have written a script, and so far I am having a blast!
After that, I plan to refocus on my steampunk novel. I completed the bare-bones zero draft last year, and have been working on worldbuilding and character arcs before diving in again. I wrote Giving in to Gravity in such a frenzy–spite writing often works out that way–and this time around I want to really dig in and develop these characters and the world before setting them loose in it.
And now for Avery’s latest book: Giving In to Gravity:
When fate throws them together for the summer, will Riley and Sebastian give in to their attraction or keep fighting gravity?
Riley O’Brien has always known they are not a girl, so when their parents send them to boarding school they secretly register for the boys’ academy instead of the girls’. But Riley finds more than they bargained for when they meet the headmaster’s son Sebastian Otero, the charismatic captain of the polo team.Sebastian Otero finally gets to join the elite pre-college program at Torrance Academy where he lives with his dad. But his perfect summer is quickly turned upside-down by the arrival of new student Riley, and Sebastian finds himself attracted to someone he never expected.
It’s the summer of 2000, the days are heating up and there are sure to be fireworks.
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Excerpt
Riley watched as Sebastian pulled a bale of hay down from the stack, and tossed flakes of it over the fence to the awaiting horses. They all clamored to be first, but a large brown and white one guarded his pile from the others. Soon they each had their own pile to eat from, and everything fell into a contented quiet. Riley never got tired of watching Sebastian do just about anything, but they especially loved watching him with the horses. It almost made up for being dragged out of the dorms before dawn.
When Sebastian turned back toward Riley, they couldn’t help but let out a full belly laugh at the sight of him. He was covered in bits of hay from head to toe.
“What?”
“Nothing, you just…,” Riley couldn’t stop laughing, “you just have a little something here.” They reached up and brushed the loose hay out of his thick black hair. His warm hand caught theirs, and pressed it to his cheek.
Riley could feel the heat of his skin and smell the intoxicating mixture of soap and leather and hay that was so uniquely him. They pressed themself against him, their mouth searching for his until they connected. Sebastian pulled them closer, kissing them back eagerly.
Unable to think about anything other than his hands resting against their neck and his lips moving with theirs, everything faded away until there was only Sebastian.
But then his mouth started moving along their jawline, finding their earlobe and pulling it between his teeth. A flash of heat seared down their spine, and Riley yelped in surprise. Sebastian immediately backed off and sat down on a bale.
“We don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for,” he told them gently. “I guess I just got carried away.”
“I love that you got carried away, trust me,” Riley told him, and the glint in his eyes was almost enough to make them lose all self control. “But Sebastian, there are things you still don’t know about me.” Riley’s head was insisting that they needed to be upfront with him, but their heart was screaming to just kiss him until their head shut the hell up.
“I know you.” Sebastian shook his head. “I feel like I’ve known you forever, maybe even longer. Anything else we can figure out as we go along. Right?”
Indecision warred inside of Riley. Now that they finally had Sebastian here, right in front of them, they were terrified to lose him. They wanted to hold on to this feeling, and just be happy for once. Was that too much to ask?
“Hey, I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”
Riley looked back at him, searching for any indication that it wasn’t true. Like usual, Sebastian was completely genuine. But would that change if he knew the truth about Riley?
“I have to tell you something,” Riley began. Sebastian picked up on their serious tone. “I…I…” Riley couldn’t seem to force the words out. “I need to take this slowly.” It was true, it just wasn’t the whole truth.
“Oh.” Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up. “Yeah, of course. Whatever you need.”
“You’re amazing, you know that?” Riley smiled, momentarily relieved.
“You might have to keep reminding me.” Sebastian cleared his throat and made a show of struggling to stand up. Riley laughed and helped pull him up. “Now, are you ready for my idea?”
“You mean this whole excursion wasn’t just a ruse to get me out here alone?”
“Not at first, but I’m not complaining. Wait here.” Sebastian brought one of the horses out of the paddock. “This is Pilot.” He tied the lead rope to the hitching rail, then handed Riley a bumpy piece of rubber. They looked dumbfounded. “That’s a curry comb,” Sebastian laughed. “You brush him in circles with it.”
“Brush him?”
“Like this.” Sebastian stood behind them, his large calloused hand covering Riley’s, and began moving the curry in slow circles against the horse’s side. The length of his arm was pressed along theirs, his chest against their shoulder blade, and Riley’s brain short-circuited. “See how it brings up all the dirt?”
“You have a very strange idea of a hobby.” Riley did their best to keep their voice steady. When Sebastian let go of their hand, Riley continued doing the circles. “Haven’t you ever heard of T.V.?”
“Give it a chance, will you?” Sebastian rolled his eyes. They went through each brush in the tote, Sebastian explaining its function and how to apply it. By the time they were done, Pilot was gleaming and about to fall asleep.
“Did you give him some kinda sedative?”
“Grooming is very relaxing for horses,” Sebastian explained. “Ready for phase two?”
“There’s more?” Riley groaned.
“Wow, you’re crabby when you don’t get any sleep.”
Riley chucked a brush at him, but he ducked it nimbly. “Yeah, well, it’s your fault.”
“Happy to take credit.” Sebastian grinned and Riley glared at him. How could anyone be this chipper so early? “Here you go.” He untied the rope and handed it to Riley, who immediately tensed up.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Pilot’s ears flicked back and forth at their screech.
“First of all, stay calm. Horses can sense fear.”
“Oh great, now I’m really calm.” Riley glanced sideways at the animal standing next to them.
“Now start walking, and Pilot will follow you.”
“Do I want him to follow me?”
“Yes, you do.” Sebastian came to stand next to them. His warmth had an instant calming effect on Riley. “Leading a horse is all about trust. You’re trusting him not to trample over you, and he’s trusting you not to lead him into any danger.” Sebastian was looking deep into their eyes, and Riley suddenly had a feeling they weren’t talking about the horse anymore.
“So, I just have to trust him?”
“You just have to trust him.”
Riley took a deep breath, and then took a step forward.