- We met on a show where neither of us won.
We did the YouTube show until that went away.
And then we did a TV show until that died.
And now we're just striving to find a medium that sticks.
- We've forged a bond through various projects
that were doomed to fail and did fail.
Oh my God. - So, we had-- Oh.
- Trixie, I think there's a package for me.
Hold on one second.
I'm so sorry. Hang on one second.
- Well.
In the meantime,
I'd like to talk to you about our book,
'Trixie and Katya's Guide to Modern Womanhood' from Plume.
- Well, who was that at the door?
Why, another three copies just showed up!
(laughing) - They're rollin' in.
- Trixie, if you had to describe our book in one sentence,
what would that sentence be?
- A real page turner.
- Well, maybe a complete sentence.
- Oh. - Subject and predicate.
- Sorry.
What is a real page turner?
(laughing) - Perfect!
- I mean, it's right here on the back.
\"The 'RuPaul's Drag Race' legends,
"stars of 'UNHhhh,' and expert biological women
"share the secrets of their feminine mystique
"in the satirical guide to beauty and homemaking."
Because it sums it up and is a warning.
You probably shouldn't do everything
we tell you to do in this book.
- Well, I mean, I interpret satirical as factual and instructional, so.
You know. - Tea.
We are very, "Do as we say, not as we do."
Because, as I say in the first chapter,
we've made all the mistakes you've made in your life
and we've done it like, with lashes on,
with puke on our shoes.
So, whatever you are ashamed of, we've gone deeper.
- We've gone deeper
and there's usually been a little bit of blood.
- How did we decide who was going to write what?
- Well, once we came up with the list of topics,
certain ones pinged red or pink. - Yeah.
Totally. - Such as,
I know I wanted to do hygiene
because I'm passionate about teeth
and I'm passionate about smelling like (beep).
- We've always wanted you to do hygiene.
We've all wanted you to do hygiene.
- Still like to see it.
- I'd still love to see it. - But, yeah.
- That was like, one of the funnest processes, like,
"Okay. I get to do this."
- Yeah. I think one of the advantages we have is
that we work together,
but we often have completely converse
and different histories, points of view
and attacks at a problem.
So like, breakups.
I know way more about breakups than she does.
- I've never had a relationship.
- I know way more about drinking than she does.
- And even makeup. Like, your relationship with makeup--
- You own a cosmetics company!
- Yeah, she's more utilitarian, you know? - Yeah.
- She's just trying to get to the stage on time.
- Is that a euphemism for ugly?
- And I think like, hair.
She did the chapter on hair because,
honestly, her relationship with hair, it needs explanation.
You know? - Exactly, yeah.
- We've been waiting.
- I have a lot of explaining to do, yeah. So, it's confessional, and yeah.
Compared to our other collaborative efforts,
how would you describe working on a book
as opposed to a TV show, web show, et cetera?
- This was a little more independent from each other.
And we also had similar benchmarks the whole time.
So it was like, "Oh," like, "By Friday I have to finish this
"and she has to finish this, and if I don't do it,
\"I'm the (beep)hole.\"
- And to be honest, I really do not think
that I would have completed any of it
had I not done it with Trixie.
- I'm dead serious.
I think if I was alone, it would have been the type of thing
where I would have been like, "It's gonna be great!"
And then I would have never had the balls to start it.
Do you know what I mean?
- I would have talked about it ad nauseum
to every single one of my friends. - To people who didn't care.
- On the street, "Oh my God, did you know I'm working on my book?"
And then it never comes out.
- Yes, because I love Stephen King
and he was saying, a lot of his earlier books,
he wrote them in like, one sitting because of depression,
manic episodes, and (beep).
And I don't have any of those.
- Well, I have a few. - All I have is work ethic
and that has never gotten anybody anywhere.
(laughing) - Yeah, I know.
Good ol' fashioned gumption.
- And I think together,
we do have like, the slightest bit of integrity,
and so we do try to like, show up for each other.
So it's like, if we both have a chapter due Friday,
we're writing a book.
Drag queen literature, this quality is kind of unprecedented.
I mean, even the photos are (tongue pop).
- They are stunning!
- These pictures are lit, really like, amazing.
- I'm surprised the book's not burning on fire right now.
I can't help but notice how "museum ready"
all of these photographs are in the book,
and I'm wondering, what do you think readers will take away
from these stunning images?
- I'm gonna show you the image
that I take away from this book.
There's something about this that will stay with me forever.
- You know, and it's funny you say that
'cause I pushed to have that to be a full page.
(laughing) - I'm not surprised.
Honestly, full disclosure,
we did have to say goodbye to some images
because they were maybe a little over the line.
Relationships personified.
- Mars and Venus, ladies.
You know what I'm talking about.
- And the best part is, in true drag fashion,
these pictures might be stunning,
you better believe we took most of them in my living room.
- Absolutely we did.
And let me tell you another thing.
For fans of drag
who love to cry "Facetune," "Photoshop,"
yada, yada, yada.
Most of these photographs were taken by Albert Sanchez,
who is a genius photographer,
and I was in the room looking at the monitor
at the raw files. And honey, they were fabulous.
- By the way, let me just say this.
We talked about this.
It was sold to us like, "Don't you want to take the wig off
and just do some comedy work for a while?"
- I thought we were going to be like Diane Keaton
at the laptop in her cottage in the Hamptons.
You know what I mean?
No, it-- - It was a bait-and-switch.
"Oh great, you want to write a book?
"There's 12 photo shoots."
- I've done more drag for the book
than I have for real people.
- Dead serious.
Oh my God, my favorite picture is the one
with the hair clips.
Where did we get those?
- We both get incredible gifts from fans.
I mean, I've received everything from an envelope
with 100 dollars in it, to a freeze dried leg,
to baby molars, and everything in between.
And this girl Alexis gave us these hairpins,
these custom made hairpins. - Icon.
- (Beep), bald, (beep), they both say.
- By the way, it takes a lot of balls to go up to a drag queen
and give them a hair clip that says (beep), bald, (beep).
- I fell out.
We used them in that photo shoot and it's a miracle.
- The fans are the reason we make anything,
and the reason we get to pay bills and survive.
- So, like-- - Yeah.
- To be able to incorporate anything like, that they--
And our fans are also regularly, flagrantly
displaying that they're more creative than us,
and like-- - I know. Oh I know.
That is the gag.
- "Yeah, it's cute that you do drag.
"Look at these hair clips I made."
- "I see what you're trying to do.
"Allow me to do it better for you, for free."
- Totally.
Sometimes people give me such nice jewelry
and it's hard to not be a read. - I know.
- Like, "I'm just trying to help, trying to help your situation."
- But on the other hand, I'm just like, "Thank you."
And I put it on immediately. Immediately.
- I know. 'Cause I have like, bare ear lobes, I'm like,
"Oh my God. Thank God."
- The fans are so generous,
and like, this is just a small little thank you
for that generosity.
- I love that picture.
- I (beep) love it too.
I love that picture.
- It's probably my favorite picture of us ever taken.
- Yes.
- It also really sets the tone for the book
'cause it's like,
yes, I guess we are objectively gorgeous.
That's not up for discussion.
But, our whole M.O. usually is
to throw ourselves under the bus.
You know what I mean? - And I'm driving the bus.
- Yeah, we're gorgeous, but we're (beep), bald, (beep).
- Yeah. - What will readers learn
about modern womanhood from this book?
- That the life of the modern woman is not linear.
It's expansive.
We don't go from A to B.
We go through, and around, and back, and forward.
It's like a prism.
It's like a fruit bar and it's also a wagon wheel.
It doesn't really matter who you are or where you come from,
if you buy this book, you're a woman. And that's on period.
- I can't wait for us to go to a luncheon
with Danielle Steel, Stephen King, Jane Evankovich, or whatever.
Evanovich. - Yeah, yeah.
- And the one, 'M is for Murder,' or whatever.
- Well, there's a few-- - Nora Roberts.
- Nora Roberts, the romance author. - Yes.
- And we can take J.K. Rowling's seat 'cause that's empty now.
You know? - Absolutely.
We're so ready and we're thrilled
to start our new lives as incredibly wealthy
and very successful mainstream authors.
- And I just want to say,
I want New York Times Best Seller list so bad.
- I want it so bad.
- I know you're not supposed to say you want things,
you're supposed to fake surprise. But we're drag queens,
and we're allowed a little more like, vanity
than most people.
- I agree.
I'm never going to say I want it,
but I will say that I need it or I will die.
(laughing)