🎙️ Lyss Buchthal

Read Lyss' story, Joan’s Stone on Loan, on Foofaraw now!

Let’s start with one of life’s big questions… Do you believe in love at first sight?

I think that love is something you build rather than find, so I’m not quite sure it’s “love” at first sight, but I do believe in that lil je nais sais quois of “oh yeah this is a person I’d wanna build love with.” Some people might just call that attraction, and maybe I’m just outing myself as being super demi, but I feel it quite rarely, so to me, that’s the equivalent of love at first sight!

Have you ever done anything that might be considered “crazy” to meet someone or get their number?

I once bribed a summer camp director with gummy worms to give me the same night off as my crush so I could ask them on a date, and then when we were returning to camp and our busy schedules, faked car trouble to strand us on the beach below camp for an extra hour of moonlit solitude. I suppose my inner-Steven is showing on that one, huh? Totally worked though.

If someone crashed into you to get your number, how do you think you’d react?

Honestly, depends on if they’re willing to fully cover the repairs or not! If so, shows me they’ve got the gift of foresight and are also financially stable, two big yeses in my book. 

If you had to have a statue of an “inoffensive public figure” that you’d have to see every time you walk out your front door, who would you pick?

Keanu Reaves! He deserves a statue or ten.

Do you think Owen and Steven have a long, healthy relationship after this “meet-cute?”

Maybe it’s the romantic in me, but I think yes. Steven clearly has terrible taste in men, but Owen’s particular brand of crazy is just a special type of dedication to going after what he wants. Whether that’s a business of inoffensive statues or asking out the cute guy in traffic, there’s something to admire in it, and I think with Owen onboard to temper his occasionally over-exuberant enthusiasm, these two guys will do just fine. 

Is this statue rental business a real thing you’ve seen before?

It is not, but I think there’s an opportunity there! If any aspiring entrepreneurs read this and want to use the concept, happy to hand it over for a fifteen percent cut off the top ;) 

What's a great short story you’ve read recently?

Loxley is One Thousand Bats, by my good friend Camsyn Clair! There is something to be said for finding a “come as you are” type love, and I personally think there is no better way to put that to the test than by turning into one thousand bats.

What book are you reading right now?

I am reading the highly controversial “Hogg” by Samuel R. Delany, as well as “Homosexual Society” by Richard Hauser. Both are pit stops in a road trip I’m taking back in time, studying the evolution of queer literature/rights in 20th-century primary texts, and both have taught me very cool, vastly different things about history, queerness, and my creative sensibilities.

Do you have anything else you'd like to share or mention?

I recently did a secret santa short story exchange where I subjected my dear friend (and secret santa recipient) Chad Frame to approximately 6000 words of butt-plug hoarding holiday romance (sorry, Chad). I suppose the least I can do is give him a proper shout-out now that expresses my appreciation for him in a properly phthalate-free fashion. Chad Frame is a Lambda-nominated poet laureate and stunning 3x winner of Writing Battle, most recently with the wicked-sharp dystopian tale Disassembly. His poetry is pretty fucking spectacular if I do say so myself. You can read some of my favorites here and here, or support his poetic genius by buying his most excellent Little Black Book here. If you want to learn from the mad genius himself, join his class starting in two weeks and learn all about balancing poetry and prose for effective and impactful storytelling. Be there or be square!

Thanks to Lyss for the lesson in love and statues!