Pride Month 2026: An Interview With ‘Just Another Summer’ Co-Writers Tilly And Susan Bridges

Sometimes a change of scenery can be a good thing. That being said, two LA-based siblings, Haley and Becky, are going to have to take some convincing before coming around to the idea of spending their summer in Montana. A consequence of losing their roles on a popular TV show, Just Another Summer is a brand new graphic novel co-written by Tilly and Susan Bridges. With art by AoiG. and Giulia Rinaldo, colors by Valentina Briški, and letters by Chas! Pangburn,  here’s what the Bridges had to share about the sisters’ less than ordinary summer:

Rachel Bellwoar: The first thing I thought of when I read the solicit text for this graphic novel was a Disney Channel movie starring Aly and AJ called Cow Belles. How did the idea for this story first come about?

Tilly and Susan Bridges: Just Another Summer had two main goals from its inception: to give queer and trans teens something that sees and understands them, and to try to convey that no matter how different we all think we are, we’re more alike than not. And those differences that do exist should not just be tolerated, but celebrated.

But we also really want people to laugh, which I guess is a third goal.

Oh! And we also want readers to love these four teens as much as we do.

So okay, four goals. It had four main goals.

We’re writer-nerds, not math-nerds.

Bellwoar: What interested you in writing a story about sisters?

Bridges: Family is often depicted as fraught in our media, and Just Another Summer certainly has that in the relationship between Hayley and Becky and their mom. But sometimes family can be great too, even if they get on your nerves sometimes, and we wanted to show what an unconditionally supportive sibling relationship would be like.

Becky and Hayley certainly don’t always agree, and are the first to rib each other for funsies, but their love and support of each other is unwavering. Everyone needs someone like that in their life, and too often we don’t get it. So we really wanted to show what that can and should look like, while also not shying away from the manipulative and difficult relationship with their mother (which we both have a lot of experience with).

Bellwoar: In the same way that Jake and Hayley make assumptions about each other, it would be easy for readers to make assumptions about how a city girl meets country boy romance will play out. Did you enjoy the chance to subvert expectations?

Bridges: Absolutely! Far too often in romcoms, a woman leaves her successful career and city life to go be with a folksy small-town guy, but … why? Why would she do that? Love doesn’t require giving up on your dreams or the rest of your life, and who would even ask that of someone they claim to love? We definitely wanted to subvert those tropes and show that, y’know, when two people actually love each other, there are other options. Nobody should have to sacrifice any part of themselves for someone who claims to love all of them.

We also really wanted to not forget the “com” portion, because too many romcoms seem to be more concerned about the “rom” and then forget to be funny. This can be both things, too! You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.

We can have it all! Let’s eat the entire pizza!

Bellwoar: The premise of this story is sisters Hayley and Becky lose their TV jobs and have to spend the summer on a farm. A lot of the farm life details (like cows’ tongues feeling like sandpaper) come across as very authentic. A credit to your research or do you have experience working on a farm?

Bridges: Neither of us has ever worked on a farm, and thank goodness, because that is not the life for us. But in the early days of the COVID lockdown, Susan’s pandemic hobby was watching videos about cows from dairy farmers. 

She was entirely delighted to be able to put all that newfound knowledge to use (and Tilly was thrilled to maybe hear a little bit less about cows now that all the info got out and into this book). Also, Susan wants to add that she has in fact been licked by a cow at a fair, once, and it was … memorable. 

Bellwoar: As people who’ve written for Star Trek, how much did you enjoy getting to make Jake a Trekkie?

Bridges: We loved being able to do that, because Star Trek is foundational to our writing (the Star Trek Voyager: Homecoming trade paperback releases August 18th from IDW!), and to our relationship (we met writing Trek fanfic and had a Trek-themed wedding).

But it’s really important to us as people, because of its core values of inclusion, compassion, and the belief that we can all choose to be better. And thematically, for a story about teens from entirely different worlds (metaphorically, they’re all stubbornly human and not Andorians or Vulcans), it was the perfect fit.

Just Another Summer, like Star Trek, is about coming to understand those who are different from you, and to love them for those differences.

Bellwoar: I haven’t even gotten to my favorite character yet — Anne, the waitress who’s stolen Becky’s heart. There’s a directness to their courtship that’s really refreshing. How did you land on that dynamic?

Bridges: We wanted something totally different from what Hayley and Jake are going through, but also … we’re both generally very direct with each other. We have great communication, and both grew up dealing with way too many people who never said what they actually meant. And we think “refreshing” is a really great way to put it, because we felt that way too.

What if instead of playing coy, we were just direct about what we want? Not in a disrespectful way! Just … let’s lay all the cards on the table and let those cards fall where they may. We’re mixing card metaphors here, but you know what, it works, so we’re going with it!

Many lesbians are also notoriously bad at spotting flirting, so what if it just … wasn’t like that this time? So it’s also sort of subverting the more “expected” narrative you see in sapphic relationships.

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Tilly and Susan!

Just Another Summer goes on sale August 4th from Maverick.