Author Bio
S. E. Thomson (he/him/they) is an autistic, disabled, queer, unapologetically chaotic trans man. Born in the 1980s and held together with caffeine, neoprene, and dark humor, he’s lived in many places, worn many hats, and collected more life experience than strictly recommended. He writes to connect to others and to create the kind of stories he wishes he'd seen growing up: affirming, joyful, and sometimes devastating; always authentic. Believing in radical honesty, gentle rebellion, and the healing power of saying, “Hey, me too,” S. E. is here to speak with just enough snark to try to make it hurt a little less.
Q&A with S.E. Thomson
Q: Please introduce yourself! Share your name, pronouns, and something fun, interesting, curious, or important (take your pick) about yourself that you would like our audience to know about you.
A: S. E. Thomson; He/Him/They; I have set foot in all but 67 countries in the world.
Q: What genre or format do you write in? (for example: romance, fantasy, short stories, poetry, etc.)
A: LGBTQ Fiction Novels (I used to write children’s books under my old name though).
Q: Who do you write for? Who is your audience, and are you seeking to reach a particular type of reader with your work? Why?
A: Apparently, when you keep telling people your life stories and they either laugh so hard they cry, or cry so hard they laugh, it’s hard to not write the book so many people have asked me to write. Turns out writing a book is way cheaper than therapy; though with more confusion over semicolons.
Q: Where do you get your inspiration as a writer?
A: From anyone who stands up to injustice or who manages to turn marginalization into art without sanding off the sharp edges.
Q: How do you fit into the disability and chronic illness community?
A: I am a neurodivergent disaster-human with Ehlers-Danlos, manic depression, severe anxiety, and a TBI (traumatic brain injury). It’s a super good time.
Q: Does being disabled/chronically ill impact the way you write? For example, do you have to pace yourself differently than your colleagues or structure your writing sessions in a particular way?
A: I wrote A Life in Too Many Margins in my recliner with a folding TV tray table, hunched over like a gorilla hoarding his meal, in pain, with a subluxed shoulder, 16 hours a day for a year. Let’s just say I am still learning about how to pace myself. Being autistic and ADHD makes it hard to step away sometimes. The old hyperfixation bug grabs ahold of you and won’t let you go get food or water for a whole day sometimes. I was diagnosed very late in life as well, so I never really had a chance to hone the skills I need to moderate my work as I’d like to. Yet.
Q: Does being disabled/chronically ill affect the content you write? Does it affect the audience you try to reach?
A: Absolutely, it not only affects it, it drives my writing. I don’t think I would even have become a novelist if I weren’t disabled and queer. The only reason I started to put things down on paper is to help others like me, so my only goal is to reach them. To let them know they are not alone.
On Representation
Q: Do you wish you could read more books with disabled or chronically ill characters? Do you wish there was more diversity in the types of stories told? Overall, how do you think we are doing when it comes to disability representation in literature?
A: Very much. I find myself feeling sad quite often about the lack of disability representation in fiction; especially contemporary literary fiction by queer and neurodivergent folks and people of color and/or other intersectional groups. It’s gotten better in recent years as we’ve moved away from disabled characters being villains or “inspiration pornography,” but my dream world would have an entire section in every bookstore!
Q: Does disability representation play a role in what or how you write? Please talk about why or why not.
A: I don’t write as “proper” as most authors, I suspect my disability and mental challenges make my writing sound more childish or rudimentary, not to mention my extreme snark and jaded sarcasm. I wouldn’t change it for the world though; so far 19 out of 19 early readers have told me that my writing personally resonates with them and two have said they haven’t finished a fiction novel in years until A Life in Too Many Margins.
On Advice
Q: What advice would you give to new writers?
A: Just get it on the page. Anything and everything. Just write something - it’s easier to edit crap than to edit nothing. I put off starting this book for 18 years because I didn’t want to write drivel. Finally, I just wrote garbage. Garbage can be polished, just write.
Q: What writing or life “hacks” would you recommend to other disabled or chronically ill writers, especially those who are still starting out on their writing journey?
A: No hacks here. I’ve never found a shortcut that works for me, not even slicing onions with a potato peeler. I would just say: don’t write from your recliner on a folding TV tray table. Remember to take breaks (set alarms). Drink water.
Q: What do you wish someone had told you when you were finding your path?
A: ”HEY YOU! Yeah you, you’re trans, autistic, and have EDS, go talk to some medical professionals and stop abusing your knees!”
Q: What was the best piece of advice given to you as a writer, or even as a disabled writer?
A: If the world (or your brain) tells you that you can’t write because of your disability, just smile, roll your eyes, and remind it that you already spend half the day navigating stairs, showers, meals, doctors, and the occasional existential crisis while not melting down, so typing a paragraph is nothing.
About Your Work
Q: Would you like to share anything about your current work-in-progress?
A: I just released A Life in Too Many Margins on eBook in November 2025. The paperback and audiobook, narrated by the amazing, award-winning André Santana, releases on April 18, 2026. I have written an outline for a new book, but haven’t started on that, I am taking a break to focus on marketing and events right now.
Q: What do you love most about crafting a new work?
A: Indirectly/in my heart: the thought that someone somewhere will read a line I wrote and it will affect them or change their mind or make them realize something they never knew. Directly: the hyperfixated zone I get into with the very first run of the spell-checker.
Q: Where can readers find your work? Please share links and pertinent information.
Final Thoughts
Q: What would you like to share or say to the Underground Bookshelf audience that hasn’t already been brought up?
A: You are doing great and you are amazing and worthy and I am proud of you for being here now in this life.
Q: Thank you for sharing your thoughts, today. Any final words?
A: Thank YOU!
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