An Interview with Crystal Lopez

Writing has never been just a hobby for me. It is my therapy, my release, my most honest form of breathing. I write when I am struggling and when I am finally at peace. I write when joy catches me off guard and when love takes over everything. Writing is the only thing that knows how to reach into the crowded, heavy noise inside my head and turn it into something soft … something quiet.

My identity is not something I write around … it is something I write from. My life as a lesbian is woven into every love story I tell. I write sapphic romance and suspense because these are not just genres to me. They are my truth. They are the lives I know, the love I have lived, and the stories that deserve to be told with the same depth and tenderness that any love and trauma deserve.

I don’t just create characters. I give a voice to the pieces of life that usually stay buried, the things people carry quietly and alone. I can write about the darkness of abuse and sexual assault because I have been there. I have lived through the things that are meant to break you, the things that leave marks you don’t talk about at dinner tables. But I can also write about an undying, deep, and healthy love because that is exactly where I am standing right now. I know both. I have survived one, and I am living inside the other, and that is what makes every word I write feel like something real.

Every book I write is a piece of my soul laid bare on the page. I write for the person who is not afraid of the dark but is still out there searching for the light. I write for the one who needs to feel like their story matters, like their pain has a place, like their love is worth celebrating. I want you to take this journey with me. Let it break you open a little, let it heal something you forgot was wounded … but most of all, let it make you feel seen.

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What inspired you to start writing this book?

I’m not really sure I would call it an inspiration. It was more of a story that took root in my mind and blossomed over time. I kept telling my wife about it, how it would be a good book. She is the one who pushed me to actually put it on paper.

Tell us the story of your book’s current title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

It was actually something else in the beginning, but it ended up already being a published title. It took me a while to settle into Silencing Sofia, but it ended up fitting it even better. Finding names for titles is not an easy process, there are just so many books out there already that most of them are already taken.

Describe your dream book cover.

I am absolutely in love with my book cover. I love florals, I love pretty things, but I wanted the cover to be both beautiful and deep. It’s hard to get ‘deep’ when it’s a picture of flowers, but somehow my cover designer nailed it. I get complimented on it daily.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Oh gosh! Great question. It’s Her by Hayley Parfett is made for Silencing Sofia. Fighting for Me by Riley Clemmons, I Choose You by Kiana Lede, Control by Zoe Wees, What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish, and You’re My Shelter by Fariha Islam.

What books are you reading (for research or comfort) as you continue the writing process?

I just finished Hearing Red and I’m currently looking at what my next book is going to be.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

My biggest ‘job’ is being an advocate to our autistic son and being a mama. I’m also on the board of a non-profit that works with veterans and Gold Star families. Both keep me very busy but it’s so worth it.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

I’ve always loved to write, it’s been something ingrained in me since I was a child. I always dreamed of being a writer, but I never actually took the steps to become one until my wife really started to push me to do it about two years ago. I’m really glad she did.

Where is your favorite place to write?

Cuddled on my bed, pillows surrounding me, listening to mood music.

What advice would you give your past self at the start of your writing journey?

Start sooner and let those stories live! I’ve had so many stories in my head throughout my life. I’ve LIVED stories that people beg me to write, but I’m nowhere near ready for my personal stories to be told.

What’s one thing you hope sticks with readers after they finish your book?

Emotion. My books are emotionally driven; I want the reader to feel something. Most of the time it’s going to be sadness mixed with hope and love, but there will be a time or two that it’s going to just piss someone off … and that’s okay. Why? Because anger IS emotion; it pulled something from them, and I’d rather have them be angry at my book than to walk away feeling nothing.

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Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.