The Necessity of Writing Queerness Without Romance, a guest post by Maria Ingrande Mora

When I was a high school freshman, I had about five crushes at a time. Sophomore year? Same thing. My junior year? Yeah, you get the picture. Despite being a chaotic bisexual who loved the twisted-tangled feeling of a crush, I didn't date anyone. I certainly didn't have any relationships. Did that make me less queer? Absolutely not. In The Immeasurable Depth of You, 15-year-old Brynn does most of her socializing online. Fandom is community. So when she's sent to Florida to live on her estranged father's houseboat with no internet access and no phone, she feels more isolated than she's ever been before. That's saying a lot since Brynn is used to living with a sense of isolation as she navigates severe anxiety and intrusive thoughts. When she meets Skylar, Brynn finds her irritating and irritatingly crush-worthy. But for many reasons, the relationship that develops with Skylar is not romantic. It's a complicated, deep friendship. Romance isn't a prerequisite for queerness. The nature of Brynn and Skylar's relationship doesn't make Brynn or the book less queer. Giving Brynn a meaningful relationship that was neither romantic nor sexual was a very intentional move on my part. Having a crush on someone who doesn't feel the same way can be really difficult. Having an intense friendship of any kind can be even more difficult. I wanted to let Brynn experience and process the unique (and relatable) intensity of platonic love layered […]

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