On August 28, 2000, Peter Mecurio’s life changed for good, when his then-boyfriend found an unattended baby in a New York City subway station. In There, he candidly chronicles their journey to becoming a family. In a starred review, Kirkus calls his profound account “a must-read for anyone who’s been told that a home is incomplete without a mother and a father,” and it made our list of the Best Indie Books of 2025. Over email, Mercurio told us more about his story.

What was the original idea that started you working on There?

In 2013, the New York Times published a personal essay I wrote about my family’s story. The response was overwhelming—something I hadn’t remotely expected. Readers wrote to me, and people in the publishing world reached out, encouraging me to turn it into a book. At the time, I resisted. I thought of myself as a playwright who writes dialogue, not an author who writes chapters. But eventually curiosity won out. After many starts, stops, and rewrites, I finally got the book I wanted out into the world. (Fittingly, one of its main themes is about overcoming resistance—mostly my own.)

What has it felt like to have There out in the world? What’s the reception been like?

Because it’s such a personal story, I worried about how the book would be received—and what impact it might have on my family. But the response has been deeply humbling. Readers seem to connect with different parts of the story, and many have told me it made them both laugh and cry. I especially love when readers reach out to share what resonated with them or how the book reflected something in their own lives.

What inspired you during the writing of the book? What were you reading, listening to, watching?

My husband Danny and our son, Kevin, were my greatest inspirations. Music also played a huge role—I wrote while listening to a playlist filled with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bruce Springsteen, Indigo Girls, Brandi Carlile, Stevie Nicks, the Avett Brothers, Kim Richey, and others. I might have to share that playlist one day. As for reading, two memoirs especially inspired me during the process: Brandi Carlile’s Broken Horses and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run.

Where and when did you write the book? Describe the scene, the time of day, the necessary accoutrements or talismans.

Better question: Where and when did I not write the book? The process pretty much took over my life. I carried a pocket-size notebook everywhere and kept a larger one on my nightstand for those middle-of-the-night ideas—which came often. When it came time to shape all those notes into a real manuscript, I spent countless hours in coffee shops around Chelsea and the West Village. I work best with the hum of background noise; my brain doesn’t do well with silence.

What was most challenging about writing this book? And most rewarding?

The biggest challenge was learning to write prose instead of dialogue. I’m used to writing for characters onstage, not narrating them on the page. I read everything I could to help—Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird and Stephen King’s On Writing were invaluable. And I kept Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art close by whenever resistance crept in. The most rewarding part was reliving and reconnecting with some of our family’s most sacred moments. I cried a lot during the process—not recommended in a coffee shop.

What book or books published in 2025 were among your favorites?

Yikes—I haven’t made it to any 2025 releases yet! I’m still working through a long list of must-reads from years past. Recently I finished Mark Woods’s Lassoing the Sun, which resonated because my family and I love exploring National Parks. And to give you a sense of how far behind I am, I’m currently in the middle of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking.

Editor at large Megan Labrise hosts the Fully Booked podcast.