P.J. Ellis is an editor for Men's Health Magazine, and a published author. His books include the début work Love & Other Scams (out now), and his latest novel We Could Be Heroes which he describes as his "love letter to the LGBTQ+ community, and to the city of Birmingham".
Speaking to Midlands Rainbow, P.J. Ellis explained: "By day, I’m the Sex & Relationships Editor of MensHealth.com. By night, I’m an author of romantic comedies which look great in your beach bag. My second novel We Could Be Heroes follows Patrick Lake, the star of a popular comic book movie franchise, as he arrives in Birmingham to film a sequel and ends up falling for Will Wright, a local bookseller and part-time drag artist.
"My first novel Love & Other Scams was an ode to the wedding romcom—think Bridesmaids, Four Weddings, My Best Friend’s Wedding—with a class-conscious heist twist. We Could Be Heroes started as a similar riff on a classic, in this case, the celebrity-meets-civilian romance of Notting Hill. In writing about a closeted actor and a drag queen, I found that I couldn’t avoid exploring the culture wars that drag queens and LGBTQ+ people as a whole keep getting pulled into by bad-faith, right-wing “activists.” But while it touches on some real issues, this book is first and foremost a bighearted romantic comedy with lots of humour."
Talking about the drag inspiration for the character in We Could Be Heroes, P.J. Ellis said: "We’re living in an era of polished, expensive, RuPaul’s Drag Race-style drag, but what I love about the UK, and Birmingham in particular, is that queens like Pork Pie, Dahliah Rivers, and Yshee Black manage to combine that glamour with good old-fashioned “bastard” drag: it’s funny, it’s stupid, it’s rough around the edges, and it’s bloody entertaining."
Ellis is originally from Telford, Shropshire, not far from Birmingham and grew up thinking of Birmingham as "the big city". After becoming freelance in his early-twenties, the writer decided to move to Birmingham and never looked back.
"I met, fell in love with, and eloped with my now-husband all in the space of the last year while simultaneously working on We Could Be Heroes, and I think it would be disingenuous to say that my own real-life experiences didn’t filter into the narrative in some small way. But this novel is also a celebration of other forms of love; the friends, family, and wider queer community depicted in the story are all fictionalised reflections of the people I’ve been lucky to know here.
"The plot of We Could Be Heroes hinges on a chaotic night out on Hurst Street, and I had plenty of personal insight to draw on there. But I also wanted to capture how it feels to live in a place that is constantly playing second fiddle to other cities, like a superhero’s sidekick, when it deserves a spotlight of its own. I was actually taken aback last year by how moving I found the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. As a city, Birmingham sometimes struggles with its reputation and I feel like it gets looked down on by London and Manchester. But in that moment, the eyes of the world were on us, and we did ourselves—and each other—proud."
Sharing his writing process, P.J. Ellis added: "I have a friend here in Birmingham who is also an author, and we meet up every Saturday morning for coffee and accountability, sitting together writing from 10 am until noon. And honestly, that is probably when I am most productive. The rest of the time, I’m scribbling down scraps of story by hand and typing random lines on my Notes app as and when they come to me, until there’s enough of it all to add up to something resembling a book. (Friendly-but-firm nudges from my agent as we get closer to deadlines help a lot too!)"
When asked about the title of his latest book, We Could Be Heroes and its obvious reference to David Bowie, Ellis admitted: "Under Pressure, Bowie’s collaboration with Queen, is on perpetual rotation in our house."
The blurb for the upcoming book reads: "BIRMINGHAM, 2024. When American actor Patrick arrives in England, finding love is the last thing on his mind. Starring in a blockbuster superhero movie, he’s on a strict filming schedule, which does not include coming out as gay. But when Patrick meets Will – a local bookseller and drag performer, whose charm is impossible to resist – the temptation for a secret romance has never felt stronger. NEW YORK, 1949. Comic-book artists Charles and Iris aren’t like other married couples. They too are harbouring secrets of a dangerous nature. But together, they are creating a new kind of hero – one who is destined to bring Patrick and Will together… and might just change the world."
We Could Be Heroes publishes in June 2024.
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