Amanda and I are chatting with Abby Jimenez, author of the debut novel The Friend Zone. Due to technical difficulties, Amanda starts the interview, and then I finish, but along the way we talk about many things, including what it’s like to be a Food Network champion, what it’s like to go truly viral with a cake that looks like a vagina, and how Abby wrote this book mostly with her thumbs. We also discuss The Friend Zone and the inspiration behind the story. Special highlight: meeting Tom Hiddleston, and vagazzling your own vageode.
Content and trigger alert:
During the course of the interview, we discuss menstruation and body parts, and the conversation frames the book from a cis-centric perspective given that the characters are cis-gendered. But we recognize and want to acknowledge that not all women have vaginas, have uteruses, or menstruate.
Also: we discuss infertility, fibroids, hysterectomy, and the painful pressure and hyperattentive focus on fertility that many people feel. I went through infertility myself for other reasons, and some of the discussion in the conversation was painfully familiar. So if this might hurt or feel bad, skip this one, k? Take care of yourself.
You’re awesome and wonderful exactly the way you are.
