Cover Reveal and Q&A: A Place to Dance by Eric Rosswood with Richard Lamberty, and illustrated by Vincent Chen

Ah, my first cover reveal and Q&A of 2026. An auspicious moment, no? And just to get us off on the right foot, I thought a book worthy of discussion is the upcoming August 4th title A Place to Dance. Let us raise a middle finger to attempts to bifurcate our children’s access to LGBTQIA+ titles by celebrating the true story of Richard Lamberty and his lifelong love of same-gender ballroom dancing. Or, as the publisher copy puts it:

“When dancer Richard Lamberty was a child, he loved dancing—especially ballroom dancing. But he was always jealous of the moves female dancers got to do. Intrigued by the female dancers’ different steps, Richard developed the skills to dance either role in order to compete with a male partner in the Gay Games in Europe. He then came back to the United States and cofounded April Follies, the longest-running and largest queer partner dance competition in North America.

Richard Lamberty is a two-time world champion ballroom dancer whose story inspires the LGBTQIA+ community to put on their dance shoes and do what they love.”

Now we’re going to kick things off a little differently today. Naturally, I’ll show you the cover at some point. Naturally we’ll talk with author Eric Rosswood and illustrator Vincent Chen. But since this is one of those rare cases where the book was written with the help of the subject himself, we’re going to start with a statement from Richard Lamberty right from the get-go about why he chose to write this book.

He says:

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I have often been told that I should write a book. Writing isn’t really my thing, even though I love storytelling. When Eric contacted me about doing a book I was blown away. I remembered teaching him and knew he had written several books, but didn’t really know much about them. But a book about gay dancing? About ME? Why would anyone care?

He explained what he wanted to do. We talked, at length. After listening to him, I knew this would be an amazing opportunity.

I grew up believing that I would never get to experience dancing the way I wanted to in my heart, and a big part of that was never seeing any gay people portrayed in a positive way. Two men dancing together in public was not only frowned upon, it was actually dangerous.

It took time to find a focus for the story. Should it be about dancing at the Gay Games? Becoming a world champion? Teaching?

When we hit upon telling the story of how April Follies came to be, we both knew this was the right path.

I didn’t set out to change the world of Ballroom Dancing. I just wanted to dance. And to do that I needed a place where I could dance like I wanted and feel not just safe, but embraced and celebrated.

The only thing is, Ballroom Dancing is a partner activity that takes place in a community. So I had to find a partner who was willing to risk their career, and build a community for us to dance in because not only did such a place not exist, it was actively discouraged.

The world has changed so much since when I was young. Gay people have so much freedom to be themselves and live lives fully expressed. I also see what is happening in our country and the world. That freedom is fragile. We can’t assume it will be there tomorrow.

Young people need to see themselves in the world in positive ways. They need to know that it is OK to dream, and by standing up for what is right and good in this world, dreams can come true.

In such a short book it is not possible to include everything. There was one story that we had to cut, but it was what really changed how I thought about the world.

I was in San Francisco on a business trip (not related to dancing.) A friend suggested I go to THE RAWHIDE, a gay Country/Western dance bar.

I don’t country dance, but it sounded fun.

Stepping into the RAWHIDE in San Francisco the first time and seeing hundreds of men dancing with each other was overwhelming. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Men in each others arms whirling around the floor. In my wildest dreams I had never imagined such a thing.

I needed this in my life and it was a big part of why I moved to San Francisco.

Ballroom Dancing was not Country Western dancing in a gay bar. And yet, something sparked in my soul. The dream of a place to dance MY dancing finally seemed possible.

I do not believe April Follies would have ever happened if I had not stepped into the Rawhide that night. One moment can change a thought, a life, the world.

If A PLACE TO DANCE helps one child see what is possible for their dream, then it’s a success.

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One couldn’t ask for a better start to this discussion:

Betsy Bird: Hi, Eric! Thanks so much for answering my questions today! A PLACE TO DANCE looks absolutely fascinating. Can you tell us a bit about how you got attached to this project and what it was about Richard’s story that appealed to you? 

Eric Rosswood: Hi, Betsy! Thanks for chatting with me. What a wonderful way to kick off the new year! Back in 2007, a new job brought me to the Bay Area in California. After a few months in the city, I wanted to expand my circle of friends and try new experiences, so I went online to look for group activities like hiking, book clubs, game nights, etc. During my search, I found an ad from someone seeking a partner for a salsa dance class, and that’s how I met the man who would later become my husband! So dancing is a big part of how I got to where I am today.

My husband and I kept dancing after that first class and eventually joined a formation team that went on to compete in April Follies, the largest and longest-running queer ballroom dance competition in North America. It’s there that I realized the queer ballroom dance community was larger than I had ever imagined. People came from all over the world and danced freely in a way that the mainstream ballroom community tried to prevent them from doing. I knew April Follies was special and I wanted to tell the story about how it was founded so more people could learn about its magic and the joy it brought to the community. Richard was one of the cofounders of the competition so naturally I interviewed him, and while doing so, it became clear that he was the actual story, not the competition. 

BB: Oh, I absolutely love that. Excellent origin story. And Vincent! Thank you for speaking with me about A PLACE TO DANCE too! So what was it about this particular story that appealed to you? What drew you to this project? 

Vincent Chen: Hi Betsy! Thank you for having me. I was thrilled when I was approached to work on A PLACE TO DANCE. As a queer artist I’m always excited to help create stories celebrating queer identities. It’s an honor to help tell Richard’s story of how he paved the way in creating space for LQBTQ+ people in the classical ballroom world.

BB: Eric, for you, what were some of the challenges you encountered in turning a true event into a comprehensible story? 

Eric: Craft wise, I think finding the right story arc for nonfiction biography projects can sometimes be challenging. Going beyond simply stating that something happened, to uncovering the details that shape a story with a beginning, middle, and end. That involves doing more than just a data dump of information. It involves finding the heart of the story that makes readers connect and relate to the character. Once we have that, how do we keep the pacing so that readers stay engaged? Our editor, Yolanda, helped us find the right place for page turns to keep things moving, and sometimes to slow things down. And of course, Vincent’s gorgeous art helps with engagement as well. You’ll see the ballroom spreads he created are phenomenal. The costumes, hair, and jewelry…the movement and flow of the dancers. Spectacular!

But on top of that, I think there’s an additional challenge when writing queer picture book biographies. I love celebrating queer joy, yet so much of that joy exists in spite of the hate and discrimination our community has endured. I want to tell stories about our accomplishments, but I also can’t pretend those painful experiences never happened. For example, April Follies was created to be a place where everyone could dance freely with people of any gender in any role they wanted, but that environment was only needed because Richard, Tom, and other people in the queer community were often kicked out of traditional dancing spaces. So, I’d say one of my biggest challenges in writing nonfiction is finding a balance. How do I acknowledge the harm without letting it dominate the story or overshadow the light? How can I stay truthful about the past while keeping the focus on queer joy?

BB: Daunting doesn’t even seem to begin to describe what you’re talking about here. Along similar lines, was there anything that you or Richard wanted to include and that simply couldn’t fit into the book for any reason?

Eric: Ballroom dancing has a long and diverse history, and there are plenty of instances of same-gender couples dancing. For example, in the early days of the Argentine tango, it was actually pretty common for two men to dance together. Some say it was because it was considered improper for women to dance. Others say it was because Argentina had an influx of male immigrants, who far outnumbered women during that time. And some say it was simply a way for men to show dominance. But the point is that there is so much history to pull from, and we couldn’t include everything, so like any well-choreographed dance routine, we had to highlight the best moves that showcased the story being presented.

And I think Richard really helped do that. The best parts of the book were pulled from the many discussions we had together, and the manuscript evolved from solely being about the origin of April Follies to being about the story of his life. It’s about self-expression and acceptance. It’s about fitting in versus truly belonging, and because of Richard’s involvement, we were able to pack so much more heart and fabulosity into the book.

BB: To say nothing of the movement in the art! Vincent, I‘m no artist. All I know is that illustrating an action like dancing sounds like a bit of a challenge. How does one go about capturing movement on the page in a nonfiction context? 

Vincent: Using tons of photo references is the key to illustrating something as complex as dancing.

BB: And while you’ve done a book on RuPaul in the past, creating a picture book autobiography WITH the subject himself sounds daunting. What kind of research did you do to get the look of the book just right?

Vincent: Luckily, I had Richard to help provide me with the details of his life. Richard also sent me a lot of photos throughout his life that were really helpful! 

BB: Generally, when an illustrator works on a picture book of any sort they’re kept separate from the author(s) until near the end of the process. Was that the case here? And did Richard have any feedback or changes on the earlier drafts? 

Vincent: The authors and I worked together somewhat closely. They were very helpful in providing feedback on the dance positions. As someone who is very much not a trained dancer, it was great to have Richard’s expertise to help make all the dance forms in the book just right!

BB: Makes sense. Eric, you’ve written younger books for kids and you’ve written group biographies for older readers. Co-writing a picture book autobiography with the subject himself feels like it would require an entirely different set of muscles. What did your writing process look like? 

Eric: Richard and I spoke a lot over Facebook and Zoom doing a deep dive into his life and the world of dancing. I also went down a rabbit hole watching videos on YouTube. Who knew there were so many different types of clogging?! I chatted with Richard a lot to make sure everything in the story was factually accurate, dancers were in the correct forms, and the proper wording and descriptions were used. Is it cha-cha or cha-cha-cha? Sometimes getting bogged down in the facts can make writing feel more like homework than a creative journey, so I’m glad Richard was by my side the whole time making things easier.

BB: What about you, Vincent? Were there any challenges along the way? Or anything that surprised you in the course of your work? 

Getting the dance positions right was definitely a challenge! I learned so much about proper hand and foot positioning when it comes to ballroom dancing. 

BB: Finally, what else are you two working on these days? What’s next for you? 

Vincent: I’m actually quite free at the moment! I’m hoping to get back in touch with my personal art. My goal right now is to get writing again and hopefully have a new story to share with everyone. 

Eric: I have a picture book called FELIX FINDS HIS POLISH which comes out shortly after A PLACE TO DANCE. That story is about a boy who paints off the paper and onto his nails. He’s nervous about what his classmates will think, but then surprises everyone when he incorporates his decorated, fluttering fingers into his art. I also have a couple of other projects I’m submitting in the next month or two so there’s definitely more on the way. People can learn more about my work by going to www.EricRosswood.com or following me on Instagram @ericrosswood.

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Such huge thanks to both Eric and Vincent (and Richard by proxy!) for talking to us today.

What’s that? You want to see the cover too? Who am I to deny you?

Additional thanks to Donna Spurlock and the team at Charlesbridge for arranging all of this today. A Place to Dance will be everywhere, August 4th.

Filed under: Cover Reveal, Interviews