If you’re all caught up with Heartstopper but still looking for some queer romance, try a book — or more specifically, try Jonny Garza Villa’s new book Futbolista. Released earlier this month, the book marks Villa’s first foray in the New Adult Romance genre after a string of queer and Tejano-centric young adult novels. The San Antonio-based author will be in Dallas this weekend for two events celebrating not only their new release but Independent Bookstore Day.
Villa is currently on a Texas book tour for Futbolista which brings them this way over the weekend.
On Saturday, April 26 at 11 a.m., Villa will appear at Whose Books in Oak Cliff for the store’s Conversation with the Author with Jay Guillory.
They will then venture to Plano for the Saturday opening of the bookstore Bibliobar which is hosting a day long celebration with author signings, tarot readings, refreshments and more. Villa will speak and sign books at 6 p.m.
With stops in Houston, San Antonio and McAllen so far, Villa has seen big response at their stops.
“I’ve had tremendous experiences with both readers who know me and romance readers,” they said. “I think this title is embracing a larger readership and I’ve been able to see who’s coming out and buying the book. This is a great start.”Â
For Villa’s first New Adult Romance book, the author finds this as a new start that graduates from their young adult audience.
Futbolista is a classmates-to-friends-to-lovers romance that’s a mix of spicy, heartfelt, queer and Mexican-American facets centered on college football — or soccer for some foks. The book follows the first semester of one guy’s freshman year of college, navigating who he is, who he’s allowed to be and who he wants to be.
Initially, Villa started the book as another Young Adult title but their editor had the suggestion to go a little older after Villa’s book proposal. The editor challenged Villa to move into a college-aged readership or New Adult. This proved to be just what they needed.
“My editor allowing me to write this in an adult perspective gave me the freedom to create the story as it was meant to be,” Villa said. “This made most sense to land here this time and felt correct. Because of that, this has been the most fun I’ve had writing a book.”
Plus, Villa sets their titles within Texas which adds a bit of homespun elements to their stories. Queer, Tejano and Texan perspectives permeate their books. This makes for a unique trio where they have certainly created their own lane in queer lit.
“I love the ability to set these stories in Texas and South Texas more specificially,” they said, “That way, I can center on the Mexican-American or Tejano experience while also reflecting no singular way to be queer and brown. I can have characters who knew they were queer since birth or struggle to come out. I enjoy being able to show that diversity of experiences because they are all worthy of telling.”
For more informatiion about Independent Bookstore Day at Whose Books, visit WhoseBooks.shop and for information about Bibliobar’s IBD opening day schedule, visit the shop’s website.