Molly Ringle asked Molly Ringle:

Although the romance between Sophie and Adrian is the main focus of the Persephone trilogy, you’ve created several secondary characters who fall under the LGBT spectrum. Do you feel it’s important to explore these issues in modern fiction for young and new adults?

Molly Ringle I do! Like a lot of people, I feel LGBTQ lifestyles are underrepresented in fiction, and it may be especially important to include them in books that teens read, because in the teen years it’s likely people haven’t come out yet and could use extra courage and inspiration. Besides, LGBTQ characters broaden the types of romances the story might contain, and I find those fun to explore.

Right now I'm working on two different novels with male/male love stories in them as more of a central focus, and hope to have at least one ready for the world in the next year.

I also look at LGBTQ issues from a more paranormal angle in the Persephone series, because the main characters can remember their past lives (going back to ancient Greece and beyond), in which they sometimes were a different gender or sexuality than they are now. So they have to have a more open mind about all types of relationships, having been in them firsthand!

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