Scott Heim’s debut novel, 1995’s Mysterious Skin rocked the literary world with its stark portrayal of child abuse and sexuality in a sleepy rural town. Ten years later, director Gregg Araki adpated Skin into a film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose daring performance transformed the sitcom sweetie into an indie darling.

Heim’s third and latest, We Disappear, finds the former New Yorker returning to Western Kansas. But this time, dude gets personal. Queerty correspondent Megan Metzger recently sat down with Heim to discuss this latest tome, how writers must adapt in a world where we’d rather read a blog than a book, hiding inside his characters and why we should all join him at a reading this Thursday. Hint: it's more than just the free booze.

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