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Posted by CBethM on February 11, 2026 in Author Posts |
I think sometimes it’s easy to forget that writing should be fun.
I write a lot about queer kids. About sad queer kids. About mental health issues, particularly how they affect queer kids.
And I love making the space for that. I love giving sad stories and characters for sad readers who may need them. To see themselves, to see their feelings reflected, to know that it’s okay to be sad, it’s okay that things are hard, it’s okay that you’re struggling.
In my newest book, Brady Mason’s Perfect Fit, Brady struggles. She’s an orphan who feels alone and yearns for family. She’s a queer kid thrust into a public world of fashion that she doesn’t understand or relates to. She’s a tough kid who wants to find a safe and soft place to land.
But at the heart of it all, while writing about this kid and her journey, I also wanted to have fun.
The Devil Wears Prada is one of my favorite movies. There’s something so delicious about watching Meryl Streep dressed in some of the best clothes I’ve ever seen being mean and a little unhinged while Anne Hathaway tries to keep up with her demands. And, well, I’ve always loved Anne Hathaway, will always love Anne Hathaway, from her Princess Diaries years and onward. Because there’s something magical about that, too, isn’t there? About being a fifteen-year-old who suddenly realizes you’re actually a princess, that fairytale moment that I think we all have our own versions of.
So when I sat down to write this story, this emotional journey of a queer kid trying to find her place in the world, trying to find a family, trying to be comfortable in her own skin…well, I happened to be watching The Devil Wears Prada. And I knew, then, I wanted to take the things I loved about The Devil Wears Prada, with Princess Diaries, and decided to find a place and story for Brady within them. Inspired by them.
And it was fun! It was fun imagining a younger modern version of Miranda Priestly and how she would come up in the fashion world and how she would deal with a smart mouthed, rough and tumble Jersey girl showing up and saying she’s her daughter. It was fun thinking about what the fantasy of Princess Diaries would look like for a girl like Brady. And it was fun to take these things and do what I always do when I write: make it queer, make it real, make it emotionally honest.
I still had to learn things along the way. I don’t know much about fashion, for all my love of the Chanel boots Anne Hathaway wears, and I maybe got myself a Vogue subscription to prepare a bit more. I had to think about, if I wanted it to be honest and real while also being a fantasy (orphan is actually a rich woman’s daughter), how can I still tell this story in a way that isn’t too fantastical? How can I give Brady and kids like her the space to have this wish fulfilment story but not move too far away from feeling real?
But I think that balance was where the magic actually happened. Because while we need the mirrors that reflect our struggles, we deserve the windows that look out onto something spectacular, too.
Writing Brady Mason’s Perfect Fit reminded me that while we write to survive, we also write to play. And if I can give one reader the chance to see themselves not just in the struggle, but in the strut down the runway?
Well, that makes the fun even more worth it.
Nicole Melleby, a New Jersey native, is the author of highly praised novels for young readers, including the Lambda Literary finalist Hurricane Season, ALA Notable book How to Become a Planet, Camp QUILTBAG (co-written with A. J. Sass), and The House on Sunrise Lagoon series. She’s also the author of Sunny and Oswaldo, as well as the co-editor of Athlete Is Agender: True Stories of LGBTQ+ Excellence in Sports. She lives with her wife and their family and invites you to visit her online at nicolemelleby.com.
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