Author Darcy Green couldn’t have imagined queerness and AFL would be such a hot topic when writing their debut novel, After the Siren.
But with the big-hearted romantic comedy exploring attraction, second chances, and the joys of Australian Rules Football hitting the stands this week, they couldn’t be happier.
A celebration of queer joy and resilience, After the Siren introduces us to footy players Jake and Theo, who are in very different places, or are they?
With former AFL player Mitch Brown coming out as bisexual, queerness and AFL have been all over the news.
But Darcy’s inspiration for a romantic comedy novel combining queerness and Aussie Rules came from something else.
“I’m a sports romance fan, and I was reading a lot of ice hockey romances,” Darcy told QNews.
“As well as baseball romance and any sport romance I could find.”
“Being a massive AFL fan, I couldn’t find my AFL romance, and it got me thinking about why no male player had come out.”
“I was watching footy with my wife, and there was this pest of a small forward running around, I love a pest of a small forward.
“And I started to think that wouldn’t be funny if the first out queer player was not this sensible model player.
“Instead, what if they were a ratbag?”
And the seed for After the Siren was sewn.
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‘I was writing what I needed to read’
While After the Siren is a romance, it is also about the importance of queer friendships and queer community.
Darey has been writing and reading queer stories since their Livejournal days, and is excited for people to read their debut novel.
“When I started writing it, it was originally a bit more serious and angsty,” Darcy told us.
“But in 2023, I was doing some serious work in my other professional capacity, and was dealing with a lot of very grim historical material about the queer community.”
“I found that all I wanted to do was write something that was a fun escape, to bring joy.
“I didn’t want anything bad to happen to any queer people in my novel; I just wanted a fun space.
“So I ended up writing a romantic comedy, kind of accidentally.”
In the novel, two teammates get off on the wrong foot and stumble into something more.
Jake thinks Theo is hot. Theo thinks Jake is a colossal pain.
Neither expects to find a friendship together, let alone romance.
“I had so much fun writing it.” Darcy shared.
“There are some more serious topics in the book, but overall, it is quite silly.”
“What better way to handle the subject matter, and I want people to enjoy the time they spend with the book.
“I was writing what I needed to read.
“I’ve read a lot of sports romance, and often there’s really intense internalised or external homophobia.
“Which I find really difficult as a reader and as a queer person.”
Photo by Dean Arcuri‘If I’m looking for romance, I’m looking for escapism.’
After the Siren is a book for people who love AFL or fell out of love with AFL.
It imagines a world that might be a little kinder and queerer than reality.
“You can’t sandwich a reflection of real life into that lens and hope it’ll just work out,” Darcy said.
“It changes the tone of everything.”
“If I wanted to keep things realistic, I could just turn the dial up on that.
“Or I could be a bit kinder and more rainbow than I feel like things realistically are.
“But creating that spirit and energy that brings joyfulness for the reader has been great.
“This is that classic romantic comedy element, where everything is a little bit elevated, a bit quirky or ridiculous.
“And with this genre, I can get away with a little bit of rainbow sparkles on everything.”
A joyous wish fulfilment, Darcy hopes readers will leave totally obsessed and a bit hot under the collar (or guernsey).
Grab your copy of After the Siren from all great bookstores today.
Source: penguin.com.auFor the latest LGBTIQA+ Sister Girl and Brother Boy news, entertainment, and community stories in Australia, visit qnews.com.au. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
