Interview with Candice Montgomery for By Any Means Necessary
By Any Means Necessary
by Candice Montgomery 
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Release Date: October 8th 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Synopsis:
An honest reflection on cultural identify, class, and gentrification. Fans of Nic Stone and Elizabeth Acevedo will eagerly anticipate Torrey.
On the day Torrey officially becomes a college freshman, he gets a call that might force him to drop out before he’s even made it through orientation: the bee farm his beloved uncle Miles left him after his tragic death is being foreclosed on.
Torrey would love nothing more than to leave behind the family and neighborhood that’s bleeding him dry. But he still feels compelled to care for the project of his uncle’s heart. As the farm heads for auction, Torrey precariously balances choosing a major and texting Gabriel—the first boy he ever kissed—with the fight to stop his uncle’s legacy from being demolished. But as notice letters pile up and lawyers appear at his dorm, dividing himself between family and future becomes impossible unless he sacrifices a part of himself.
Can you briefly describe your novel BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY and the characters in it?
Yeah! BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY is a story about newly minted college freshman, Torrey McKenzie. While the story begins with Torrey’s first moments on his new college campus, back home he owns a bee farm, gifted to him by his late uncle. He learns that very day that his apiary is being foreclosed on. He has tough decisions to make. Drop everything and go home to fix this problem or stay and choose himself. Choose his new college, new friends and new potential boyfriend.
Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?
Y’know, I very unexpectedly fell in love with Desh, who is Torrey’s college roommate. He’s just weird and quirky and he doesn’t give a single shit about anyone else’s opinions. He’s the king of memes and he talks shit while he’s dead asleep. He loves hard. And he supports Torrey hard.
How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?
This story came to me while I was on a writing retreat at a farm in southern Oregon. I found inspiration for it one morning when I was sitting outside watching fat little bumblebees dance from softly swaying sprigs of lavender.
If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?
Sebastian Kole’s “Love’s On The Way.”
If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?
I loveee fancast prompts like this!
Torrey: Broderick Hunter
Gabriel: Giaro Giarratana
Emery: Nyla Lueeth
Desh: Abe Kim
Aunt Lisa: Zoë Kravitz
Fall is here and we love to go find our perfect spot and enjoy a good book. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date?
Ohh! Hot black tea, either orange or raspberry flavor with a little vanilla. And best place to read would totally be something like a grassy lawn on a quiet, college campus.
Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY?
Absolutely! Camryn Garrett’s FULL DISCLOSURE, Dahlia Adler’s JUST VISITING, Dana L. Davis’ TIFFANY SLY LIVES HERE NOW, Brandy Colbert’s THE EVOLUTION OF BIRDIE RANDOLF, and if somehowwww it hasn’t happened already, you gotta pick up EMERGENCY CONTACT by Mark H.K. Choi.
What’s next for you?
Currently I’m in the middle of writing my next YA project, a southern gothic thing that I’ve commonly described as “spec fic YA romance in the vein of hoodoo meets Nicholas Sparks for Black teens.” It sounds like a lot—I can assure you, it is. But then again, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY felt that way, too. And here we are, guys! Here we are.
Candice “Cam” Montgomery is an LA transplant now living in the woods of Seattle, where she writes Young Adult novels. Her debut novel, HOME AND AWAY can be found online and in stores now, and her sophomore novel, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY will be released October of 2019. By day, Cam writes about Black teens across all their intersections. By night, she bartends at a tiny place nestled inside one of Washington’s greenest trees. She is an avid Studio Ghibli fan and will make you watch at least one episode of Sailor Moon and listen to one Beyoncé record before she’ll call you “friend.”
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