An Ex-Christian Bisexual Hooker Goes Through Trials and Tribulations in Angel B.H.'s Powerfully Honest Debut Novel, All Hookers Go to Heaven

After a number of false starts in her writing, debut novelist Angel B.H. finally decided to simplify and focus on short fiction, aiming to write a series of stories with themes that were constant in her work. Raised in Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, and later finding herself in Montreal and Europe, the author kept being drawn to explorations of religion, sex, and money, and eventually (with the encouragement of an editor) found that these stories were suited to form a unified novel.

That leads us to All Hookers Go to Heaven (Invisible Books), the story of Mag, a young woman raised in a conservative Christian home on the East Coast, who tows the line to preserve her salvation until falling for another girl on a program designed to move young folks into Evangelical Missionary work. Full of shame from this digression, Mag flees the Church and enters the world of sex-for-hire, rebelling against her cloistered and repressed, virginal past.

All Hookers Go to Heaven is an excellent reminder that writing honestly can cause forms and authors to evolve to serve the story that they need to tell. As a result of this journey, the author discovered the importance of participating in the literary community and industry at-large, and managed to create a heartfelt, gripping novel centered around the beauty of sex worker friendships.

Check out this Long Story Novelist Interview with the author, where Angel B.H. talks about the inspiration for the novel, and how she navigated the creative process. 

Open Book:

If you had to describe your book in one sentence, what would you say?

Angel BH:

I would playfully call it the trials and tribulations of an ex-Christian bisexual hooker.

OB:

Do you remember how you first started this novel or the very first bit of writing you did for it?

ABH:

I’ve started many writing projects over the course of my life and abandoned nearly all of them. Feeling frustrated at my inability to persevere, I decided to try and keep it simple by writing a series of short stories near the end of 2019. I wrote freely, keeping in mind the themes of God, sex and money. Writing short stories was easier, and it was only my editor Paige (who I hired based off of a suggestion on Facebook- shout out to Paige!) who later suggested I turn the stories into a novel. 

OB:

What was the strangest or most memorable moment or experience during the writing process for you?

ABH:

I did a good bulk of the writing for this book during lockdown in 2020. That was a very difficult time for all of us, and with me being the type A control freak that I am, I suffered a lot mentally. I was also experimenting with various birth controls to ease my endometriosis pain, which didn’t help. Essentially, I was a bit of a basket case, locked away trying to work on this novel. I remember one day when I was feeling particularly frustrated over a certain section, so I just ran out of my house and scream-cried for like an hour in the street. I later asked my editor if that was normal. She said no…not necessarily. 

OB:

Who did you dedicate your novel to, and why?

ABH:

I dedicated it to all the angels I’ve known. Many of whom are, or have once been, sex workers. This book is about sex worker friendships, and the small acts of solidarity that constantly occur between us. I’m so thankful for these moments, for these relationships. 

OB:

What, if anything, did you learn from writing this novel?

ABH:

I learned a LOT. First and foremost, don’t try to write a novel alone. Start networking and getting to know other writers and industry people. Join a writer’s group potentially. I think I tried and failed to finish my projects so many times because I was so DETERMINED to keep things private and do it on my own. That was naive. I would recommend having an overarching structure in mind while writing a novel. I didn’t, haha, but I certainly will in the future. And finally, know that the days where nothing comes, the writer’s block, it’s all part of it. Don’t be a perfectionist! I'm saying all these things mostly to myself. 

OB:

How did you choose the setting of your novel? What connection, if any, did you have to the setting when you began writing?

ABH:

Each location in this novel is somewhere I have personally visited or lived. That helped me conjure up the imagery and scenes with greater ease and color. While a great deal of this novel is fictionalized, it is all based on real places and a few real events. I am attached to each and every setting.

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Angel B.H. grew up in Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. Her second birth was in a punk-lesbian bar in Montreal. She currently resides in Europe. She enjoys writing about sex work, Evangelical Christianity, and hopelessly complex friendships between women.