Five Questions With: Queer Creator, Matthew Paul Turner
Matthew had been writing for years, but it wasn't until he bravely stepped into Children's Books (and then, even more bravely stepped into his sexual orientation) that things really took off.
Welcome to my series, “Five Questions With,” where I introduce you to people from various industries and walks of life by asking them five questions about their work. This series is free for all readers.
The month of June 🏳️🌈 will be, Five Questions With: Queer Creators.
One of my favorite things to do is highlight, lift up, and support the work of LGBTQ people. If you don’t already know the queer creators coming up in this series, I highly encourage you to check them out, follow them, and show your support.
Matthew and I have been friends for eight years now and with each passing year I become more and more impressed with the human being he’s becoming.
His journey from “journalist in the Contemporary Christian Music” scene, to, “evangelical author/blogger,” to, “best-selling children’s book creator,” to, “out-as-a-gay man paradigm breaker” has been breathtaking.
As a Creator his work is expansive and impressive, and then add to that his queer identity and suddenly the layers and the colors are even more vibrant.
I’ve been running this “Five Questions With” series for two months now (Authors in April and Pastors in May), and when I decided to do “Queer Creators” for June (#PrideMonth) I knew right away I wanted to lead with MPT.
So please enjoy Five Questions with Queer Creator, Matthew Paul Turner, and make sure to check out his latest book, You Will Always Belong.
Question 1: As someone who’s created a lot of different things, can you tell us about one or two things that you’re most proud of having created?
I’m proud of a lot of the projects that I have created or helped create. But one of the things that I am most proud of is when my ex-wife and I self published my first children’s book, God Made Light.
After receiving a whole bunch of declines from publishers, Jessica looked at me said, “we’ll put this book out ourselves.” We ended up selling 4850 copies of the 5000 books we printed.
And that was the catalyst for me being able to sign with Penguin Random House and create children’s books.
Question 2: What is your favorite part of the creative process? (And then, how about your least favorite?)
I’m one of those weird creative types who honestly enjoys every aspect of the creating process.
I love the dreaming and creating and editing and perfecting. Every part of the process helps what I’m making become better.
I don’t love the marketing part of the process, but I no longer hate it. I’m not as “at home” selling myself and my work as I am creating it, but I’ve had to lean into it and embrace it with as much joy as I can muster.
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Question 3: How has your queer identity impacted some/all of what you have created?
Certainly I can look at my body of work and see all of the various ways that my queerness impacts what I do as well as what I’ve done.
Prior to coming out, it probably affected my writing most in what I didn’t share or what I left out of the stories I told.
That’s not always the case though. When I was writing When God Made You, there are several lines I put in that book that I wrote specifically for gay kids, hoping they fully felt the love the and imagery I was describing.
But since coming out, I think my queer identity shows up more vividly. The first book I wrote was called I Am God’s Dream. That book was my prayer, something I wanted the kid inside to one day fully feel.
I am God’s dream. I’m a human sunbeam. Watch me light of this room with my confident gleam.
I’m strong and I’m brave. I’m a one-kid parade. I’m gonna be who I am ‘cause I am wonderfully made.
I feel those words now. I own them.
But they were more like “a hope” when I wrote them.
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Question 4: What is something either you just recently put out, or is coming out soon, that you’d like us to know about?
My most recent book is called You Will Always Belong, and I just adore it.
It’s my favorite book that I’ve written.
And next year, the second children’s book that I finished for Rachel Held Evans is coming out. I can’t say too much about it, but I love it. It might be even “more Rachel” than our first one. Working on her children’s books has been some of the holiest and most sacred work I’ve ever done.
Question 5: Dream with us for a bit… imagine you had no limits on resources, access, or time: what’s something(s) you would create?
I would create a nonprofit that provided queer-affirming therapy for free to every human who could not afford it.
Therapy is a privilege that not everybody can afford. But because I know what it has done for me, I would love for it to become available to others so all of us can have the opportunity to learn how to love ourselves and find healing from the trauma we’ve experienced.
"Leave those kids alone", Pink Floyd.