Today we are very excited to share an interview with authors Sunny and Gloom!
Read on to learn more about the authors, the book, and a giveaway!
Meet the Author: Sunny
SUNNY FUNKHOUSER AKA SUNNY (they/them), is a neurodivergent, queer creator who has been writing ever since they were a teenager. Sunny is autistic with ADHD and likes to collect dolls, make reborn dolls, crochet, act, and sew. They love learning how to do things creatively. An avid table-top gamer, Sunny is a big fan of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering. Musical theater is their other love aside from writing and Gloomy. They’re also an ENFP for people that like that sort of thing.
Meet the Author: Gloomy
ANGEL AKA GLOOMY has been making comics since they were 10, starting with a lovingly crafted Sailor Moon rip-off. Despite the soft magical girl influence in their work, their favorite genre is horror. Besides drawing, Gloomy loves to bake and garden (in theory, if they could only keep things alive), as well as collect merchandise from whatever is currently suiting their fancy, typically cutesy things like Ghibli or Sanrio. Opposite Sunny, they’re as introverted as they come, but consider themselves friendly anyway. They’re also obsessed with bagels.
About the Book: Rainbow! Volume 1
Teenager Boo Meadows has pink hair and a very vivid imagination — she has trouble separating from the real world. In her daydreams, she dances beautifully at balls or fights monsters as a magical girl. In reality, she has a complicated home life, work stress, school stress, and a wicked crush on the girl of her dreams. When a new student, Mimi, arrives at school, Boo starts exploring a side of herself that she never considered before. As she grows closer with Mimi, it may finally be time for Boo to face reality . . . Who is the real Mimi? The one in her dreams? Or the one in real life?
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~Author Chat~
YABC: What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Sunny: We were teenagers when we originally started RAINBOW! and we were both just beginning to navigate our queer identities. It has been a very long time since we first came up with the idea, and now, we’re both well into our adulthoods and can look back on our teenage ideas with fresh eyes. In a way, we were Boo and Mimi then. We were queer teenagers just looking for answers. Now, we have a lot of those answers we were searching for and we’d love to be able to share some of that knowledge with the Boos and Mimis of today. I hope we are able to give something special to the people that read RAINBOW! that came from our years of being confused and looking for community.
YABC: Who is your favorite character in the book?
Angel: Either Mimi or Clarice. Mimi is definitely my favorite to draw.
Sunny: I have trouble saying anyone but Boo. I relate the most to Boo and her specific struggles. I admire that, though she suffers, she maintains a fundamental goodness. That’s something I try to hang onto too; a sense of wonder in a world that hasn’t been very wonderful to me.
YABC: What scene in the book are you most proud of, and why?
Angel: I’ve always liked how the dissociation scene came out, when Boo’s mother is in the hospital. How endless and isolating and disorienting it feels, how the memories flash, how it jumps from one location to the next, and most especially how Boo’s void shatters when faced with her own reality— plus, it took place almost entirely in an empty white space, yet still completely worked. No backgrounds for me!
Sunny: I have the same answer. We actually discussed this before answering and thought that it was funny we picked the same scene. I think that scene represents a turning point in the story. It had all the happy delusions fall away for a moment to reveal the root cause of a lot of Boo’s problems. It was the scene where she really let herself see the damage her mom was causing her, without delusions softening the blow. It was just her real memories.
YABC: Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer from then to now?
Sunny: Actually, I am constantly changing how I view myself as a writer. The older I get, the more weight I feel on my shoulders. I’m “supposed” to be a good writer now. That thought actually makes me feel like I’m not where I’m supposed to be and it causes me to write less. I could learn a thing or two from myself as a young writer back when I had no pressure to write something good and only wrote because I wanted to make something. I wanted to create something for myself because I wanted it and it didn’t yet exist. That version of me has a spirit that I’m working to recapture. When it was just me, Angel, and our silly little stories. I didn’t care if they were objectively good because Angel read them with glee. The most important thing I can say is, never lose the reason you start writing. Always write to create something you love. It’s the beginning of the end when you focus too much on whether something is objectively good. I could learn something from younger me and I could learn something from all young writers that are just learning how much they love to write!
YABC: What do you like most about the cover of the book?
Angel: I actually drew it quite a while ago, and redrew it to be a cover as I couldn’t part with it. I like how it shows Boo’s imagination in a simple but whimsical way, and how all the cute details come spilling and whirling out at once.
Sunny: I didn’t draw it, but I think it’s really cute! I like Mimi’s expression. She’s always looking like a confident person Boo can rely on.
YABC: What’s up next for you?
Sunny: I’m already working on another script! This one is called Phantom Pains and it’s about a trans amputee that can see ghosts. That’s the comic that’s coming after RAINBOW! It will have a larger ensemble cast of queer characters that need to tackle their individual traumas that led to them being able to see ghosts. We are really hoping it resonates with the people that love RAINBOW!
Angel: This is another story we’ve had for a long time, almost as long as RAINBOW! so we’re both very excited about it. Some characters from it have poked their way into background shots in RAINBOW! already.
YABC: What is the main message or lesson you would like your reader to remember from this book?
Sunny: RAINBOW! is all about finding your people and learning to let go of the people that cause you harm. I think surrounding yourself with people that show you how much they love you with their actions makes life so much better. Also, sometimes the people that hurt you are the ones that are supposed to love you the most. Just because people are family, that doesn’t mean we have to stand by while they hurt us. I want people to know they can walk away if they’re being hurt. There are people out there that will love you like you deserve to be loved.
YABC: What would you say is your superpower?
Angel: Working better under pressure than not.
Sunny: That’s a good choice! I think I do as well, but that’s just the ADHD and task avoidance until there are external pressures that force me to act. My super power, as far as writing, is seeing connections. I think I’m good at coming up with a plot because I can see connections between isolated ideas. Angel always gets mad at me for accidentally spoiling movies we’ve never seen before because I guess the plot.
YABC: What advice do you have for new writers?
Sunny: I gave some advice in an earlier question, so I’ll start by repeating that. Always remember the reason that you started writing. Getting bogged down by whether or not something is good isn’t how good stories are told (in my opinion at least). I think good stories come from someone that wants something to become real. Kind of like Boo, she wants things to become real. In a way, they do. Writing is a sort of magic that allows people to make their dreams real. Always write for yourself and people will want to read it. Even if not a lot of people are reading your book it will have one dedicated reader, you. That’s the magic of writing for yourself. Write things you want to read so you can read them. Make up fantasy worlds you want to live in or express your deepest feelings about something in a way that’s beautiful because it’s true to you.
Title: Rainbow! Volume 1
Author: Sunny and Gloom
Illustrator: Sunny and Gloom
Release Date: March 5th, 2024
Publisher: Scholastic/Graphix
ISBN-10: 1339011233
ISBN-13: 9781339011233
Genre: Young Adult Fiction / Comics & Graphic Novels / LGBTQ+
Age Range: Ages 12 to 18
*Giveaway Details*
Five (5) winners will receive a paperback copy of Rainbow! Volume 1 (Sunny and Gloom) ~ US Only!
*Click the Rafflecopter link below to enter the giveaway!*
Book looks interesting!
Ooh I’ve been wanting to read this one! Looks so good!
The cover is cute and the synopsis sounds imaginative.
I am so excited for this GN!
This is a really fun cover and sounds like a good story!