Featured Interview With Steven Milliken
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in sunny Southern California, back in the days when being “out” meant you were on the patio furniture. I quickly realized my best path was to make people laugh—and if they were laughing, they weren’t asking too many questions! Today, I’ve channeled that class-clown energy into my book, LATE BLOOMER BABY BOOMER, a collection of essays about being gay back in the day and finally finding my way. It’s proof that sometimes the journey to authenticity is a comedy of errors—and I have a front-row seat!
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I can’t pinpoint the exact age I became fascinated by books, but it was somewhere between Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. Dr. Seuss taught me to love rhyme; Shel Silverstein taught me how to make people laugh with twisted humor – Uncle Shelby’s ABZ Book gave me my first “comedy routine” in seventh grade English, where I presented it as a speech and got huge laughs which might’ve gone to my head! I always thought writers were like rock stars, and when a high school friend said my emails were “David Sedaris-worthy,” that seed planted itself deep. Two decades of sporadic writing later, I finally published my own book, a collection of humorous essays. The hook? “What happens when the class clown becomes the teacher? Oh, and by the way, I’m gay…” So, if you want to laugh out loud, grab a copy and let’s make my rock star dream a reality!
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My reading tastes are all over the map. David Sedaris is my modern-day muse—I like to think I have my own collection of embarrassing stories to rival his, and I try to keep up! As a teen, I clung to Catcher in the Rye like it was a life manual; and later, A Confederacy of Dunces taught me to embrace the oddities of life. As an English teacher, I spent years dissecting The Crucible and “The Raven”—I probably know more about Puritan angst and ravens than anyone should. And then there’s Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes—classics from my childhood that taught me everyone’s a suspect….
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My book tackles the burning question: What’s it like when a class clown grows up, comes out, and stands in front of a classroom? (Spoiler: it involves more laughs than lesson plans.) LATE BLOOMER BABY BOOMER is my humorous, slightly self-roasting account of navigating the world as a gay baby boomer during my long and winding journey toward coming out, teaching in the urban ghetto, and all the mishaps along the way. This one’s for everyone—gay, straight, or simply a guy who once matched his belt to his shoes.
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