Isle McElroy: Celebrate the Small Victories

Isle McElroy (they/them) is a non-binary author based in New York. Their writing has appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, The Cut, GQ, The Guardian, Vogue, Bon Appétit, and other publications. They have received fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Tin House Summer Workshop, the Sewanee Writers Conference, and they were named one of The Strand's 30 Writers to Watch.

In May 2021, Isle founded Debuts & Redos, a reading series for authors who published books during the pandemic. Their first novel, The Atmospherians, was named an Editor's Choice by the New York Times and a book of the year by Esquire, Electric Literature, Debutiful, and many other outlets. Follow Isle on Twitter and Instagram.

In this post, Isle discusses intimacy and empathy, shares how long the idea gestated before the writing process began, and more.

Name: Isle McElroy
Literary agent: Marya Spence
Book title: People Collide
Publisher: HarperVia
Release date: September 26, 2023
Genre/category: Literary Fiction
Previous titles: The Atmospherians
Elevator pitch for the book: People Collide is about a husband and wife who trade bodies. After Elizabeth goes missing, presumably in Eli’s body, he goes looking for her, while working to maintain the appearance that he is her.

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What prompted you to write this book?

I wanted to write a book about intimacy and empathy—and the limits of both. What happens when you become the person you believe you know best? How well can we ever really know the people closest to us? These questions drove the book for me.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

The idea came to me in 2015, but I didn’t begin writing the book until late 2020. The writing process came very quickly, in part because I’d been thinking through the book for so long. The idea of the book didn’t change much over those years, miraculously, but the book became larger in character and scope, which seems true of any novel over the course of drafting.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

I don’t think there were that many surprises. With this being my second book, I knew what to expect about the publishing process. One of the biggest lessons I learned was to be a little more trusting, letting the book speak for itself, instead of trying to shape every way the book might be read.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

I think the biggest surprise while writing was discovering what would happen in Paris. I didn’t set out to write those scenes when I began the book, and I was pleased to uncover them in the process.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope they might begin to see their relationships in a new light, and to leave with a deeper understanding of how they relate to those closest to them.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

Celebrate the small victories!