Let Me Introduce You to "Donnaville"

My first novel is coming out this fall

Hi my dear readers! I have a book that will be coming out this fall, and I thought I would tell you a little bit about it in this post!

PS preorders are available here, and they will help my small, literary publisher, Indolent Books, publish the book:

https://www.indolentbooks.com/donnaville/

It’s unlike anything I’ve written before.

Q: Why did you decide to call your forthcoming novel DONNAVILLE?

A: Since I was very young, I’ve been obsessed with the idea of the mind as a city. As a teenager, I read a poem by Delmore Schwartz that says, “the mind is a city like London,/Smoky and populous. It is a capital/Like Rome, ruined and eternal…” I wanted to see what my mind — what my self — would be like if it were a city. What would the divisions between rich and poor be like? Would there be aggressive cops who hurt people? Would anyone rebel against them? What would sex and love and flirting be like in there? Would the economic system be oppressive?

Some of this imagining came about because I realized there was some kind of prison inside me in which parts of myself were imprisoned, and sometimes even tortured. I really wanted to destroy this prison, but in order to do that, I had to see it clearly first. I knew it was only through exploring it that I could learn how to tear it down.

I also knew there were a lot of beautiful things in my city — groves of flowers and fruit, some courageous people — and I wanted to put them in as well.

Q: How queer is DONNAVILLE?

A: Very queer! I like to say that the only heterosexual character is a horse. Everyone else (including the llamas) are bisexual, gay or lesbian, and/or nonbinary. There’s a goddess in the book called the divine mother, and she’s pretty much a lesbian (she gets involved with several of the other female characters).

Q: If you identify as a queer woman, and all the characters are parts of you, why are gay men so prominent in the story?

A: even though I strongly identify with the specific history and culture of being a woman, gay men have always loomed large in my imagination. My wife says I must have been a gay man in a previous life. I often think gay men are sexy, and I like their personalities.

On that level, the book is a big romp across different genders and sexualities. There are three lesbian characters in addition to the goddess, and two gay men and a bisexual one, as well as a child who doesn’t yet know her sexuality. And sometimes the lines get crossed — sometimes people get attracted to people outside their official sexual orientation, people they’re not “supposed” to be attracted to.

Q: Are there any characters who aren’t you?

A: Yes! Tourism is a big part of Donnaville’s economy, and there’s an important character named Hylas who’s a tourist. That means that unlike most of the characters, he’s not a part of me. He gets into a relationship with one of the protagonists — which is a way of illustrating what it’s like to get into a relationship with me. Also, my wife, who I call E in the book, is present as a character.

Relationships are a major theme of this book. How to share your real self with others, how to honor your own needs but also make room for the needs of another person.

Q: When is the book coming out?

A: In October, from Indolent Books! There will be a New York City launch October 17 at the Bureau of General Services — Queer Division, and a Hudson Valley launch October 25 at Stanza Books in Beacon.

Q: Have you gotten any nice blurbs?

A: Yes! Novelist Matilda Bernstein Sycamore said about the book: “Part anti-prison fable, part gory horror camp, part dyke Goddess gay porn, DONNAVILLE shocks the senses to open the gates between myth and belonging. This is the abusive family narrative turned inside-out, vomiting up the possibility of survival. Tender and grotesque, DONNAVILLE frees the self of its burdens.”

And Steven Petrow, who’s a columnist at the Washington Post, said: “Not an allegory but a wild romp of a fantasy story that takes the reader on a journey to the most forbidden recesses of the psyche, and the most hopeful ones… Donna Minkowitz’s debut novel DONNAVILLE invents a whole new way of talking about the internal struggles we all face.  … Minkowitz narrates a harrowing personal journey toward wholeness and a state in which no parts of her may be abandoned to self-torture and shame. A very queer, very sexy novel, where the author assumes all genders and many different sexualities, and where riotous sex scenes can be the occasion of important plot points. I’ve long loved Minkowitz’s work. DONNAVILLE is one more reason to be grateful to this fearless author who sheds all skins.”