Read Alaska's juicy tea on Drag Race season 5 (and that time a queen burned down her home) in memoir excerpt

When it comes to RuPaul's Drag Race superstar Alaska's storied existence, anus-thing is possible—especially when you've overcome complications from a suspected arsonist after living your dreams at the center of the gayest show on TV. Now, in her new memoir My Name's Yours, What's Alaska? (out Nov. 9), the crowned All Stars 2 queen opens up about all facets of a life that made her beautiful, fashionable, and cost her lots and lots of money. Below, read a preview from the book in which she pours out her true feelings on all of her Drag Race season 5 sisters and that time a fellow queen burned down her house while she was on set.

Excerpt from My Name's Yours, What's Alaska? by Alaska

Even though I was sure there was no way I could win, in every single episode I was terrified the axe was coming for me. I wasn't scared of losing. I was scared of missing out on all the fun stuff we got to do. What if I got sent home before Snatch Game? What if I didn't get to perform in the Rusical? I was having so much fun being there. It was the coolest experience, and after all the work it took me to get there, I didn't want it to be cut short.

I don't need to tell you what happened on the set of Drag Race season five; if you're reading this book, you have likely seen it for yourself. However, here are some brief thoughts on my memories of being on Drag Race:

RUPAUL:

There are people who talk about Ru and say she doesn't care about the contestants or that she's cold. My experience with her was never like that. Even when the cameras were down, she was chatting with the girls and making jokes. Especially during season five, I got the feeling she was just as excited to be there as we were. There was definitely a mutual respect between the contes­tants and the host. The respect went both ways.

PENNY TRATION:

The first queen eliminated. She helped me into my plastic dress for the first challenge. She stapled me into it. I was shocked she went home first. We shot the show promos the day after her elimination, so she had to stick around for them. She was a good sport. She continues to do Drag and is a total class act.

MONICA BEVERLY HILLZ:

Monica came out as a trans woman on the Drag Race runway. There seemed to be an unspoken rule that if you were actively transitioning or living your life as a woman, then you wouldn't be cast on Drag Race. Or at least it was very unlikely you'd get on. Every single one of us from season five had previously worked with trans Drag queens. We all loved Monica and supported her. The fact she even had to come out was perplexing to me. Arbitrary restrictions like these are not only discriminatory, but they can be dangerous, too. There have been stories of other queens who competed on Drag Race who stopped taking their hormones when they got cast. Since then, trailblazers like Peppermint, Kylie Sonique, and Gottmik have broken barriers and brought wider awareness to the fact that trans people are and have always been an essential part of the world of Drag.

BOY DRAG:

I got in trouble on episode three for my Farmer Ed/Peewee Herman boy Drag. I wasn't trying to do anything controversial; as far as I'm concerned, I was in Drag. "You're born naked and the rest is Drag." I didn't understand why they were so shook by it, but at the same time, I knew I wasn't going to win, so I was throwing the rules out the win­dow and having fun. To me, my character was one of the best in the bunch. And I was wearing eyelashes! RuPaul and Michelle Visage seem to have loosened up about boy Drag in more recent years, and then Shea Couleé set a very high bar for what boy Drag could be with her Flavor Flav Snatch Game, followed by ChelseaBoy's Joe Exotic on Drag Race Holland.

ALYSSA EDWARDS AND COCO MONTRESE:

This rivalry was so exhausting. They kept talking about it: "We have a history. We have drama with one another. We'll talk about it later." It felt like a carefully crafted ploy for television drama. It made for good TV, but damn it was a relief when they finally let it all out.

SNATCH GAME:

One of the best episodes to watch but one of the most boring to film. It was so f---ing boring. You don't have a live audience. The only person you have to make laugh is RuPaul, which is great, but she's paying attention to only one person at a time. It's like performing in a vacuum. There was no way to know if you were doing well or not. I came in with the vague idea to do Lady Bunny. I'd never done her before, and I didn't prepare. I thought I did a good job, but the judges said my voice didn't sound like Lady Bunny. I disagreed.

LIP-SYNCS:

The most exciting part of the show. They turn the music up so loud in the room, and there's so much energy. Even though we'd only watch the lip-sync performances from behind, it was always clear who was going to stay and who would sashay away. We all knew who the win­ner would be, every single time.

RED, FOR FILTH:

I sometimes have a tendency to flat-out steal lines from other people. In the case of my perfume commercial, I stole directly from RuPaul herself. "R U ready, for me?" That was an old RuPaul saying from the Red Hot era. That might have been the reason why she liked my commercial so much.

JINKX MONSOON:

Jinkx was unassuming because she was nice, and her look was rough around the edges. None of us saw her as a threat, only as a nice per­son. Once we realized she was an amazingly talented actor and an all-around comedic genius, it was too late to stop her.

Finally, on the last day of filming, it was down to Jinkx, Roxxxy Andrews, and me. We were going home and would have to come back to film the reunion episode, when the winner would be announced. All that had mattered in my life was getting on the show. Then Sharon got on, and all that mattered was getting out of Sharon's shadow and being famous on my own two feet. Then all I wanted was to stick around to the end, so I could participate in as much of the show as I could. But now that winning was within reach, I was so close to having it all.

I got my phone back when filming was over; most everyone who had my number knew where I was and that I wouldn't have my phone. There were only two messages. The first was from Veruca: "Alaska, this is Veruca, I just want you to know I didn't do it."

Okay, whatever that was about.

Next message, from Sharon: "Alaska, bad news. Veruca burnt the house down and the cat's missing. Welcome home, baby."

End of messages.

Subscribe to EW's BINGE podcast for full recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race, including our new season diving into all five All Stars seasons, featuring exclusive interviews with Jujubee, Alexis Mateo, Shea Couleé, Alaska, Detox, BenDeLaCreme, Kennedy Davenport, and more. And be sure to catch up on our BINGE recaps of RuPaul's Drag Race seasons 1–13 with Symone, Jaida Essence Hall, Trixie Mattel, Katya, Peppermint, Bianca Del Rio, Bob the Drag Queen, Sasha Velour, and more!

Related content:

• RuPaul's new Christmas movie unites the largest Drag Race cast in history
• Alaska and Detox spill RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars 2 tea on the moment that almost saved Alyssa Edwards
• Alyssa Edwards, Jinkx Monsoon reveal the Drag Race season 5 girl Alaska called 'the devil'