GVN: Hello F.T. Thank you so much for speaking with Geek Vibes Nation. Could you start by telling our audience about yourself and your work?
Hi. Thanks for having me. I’m FT Lukens and I am an author. I write YA speculative fiction mainly in the fantasy and contemporary fantasy realms.
GVN: How did the idea for your upcoming novel, Otherworldly, come about? Could you tell us what some of your inspirations were?
The idea for Otherworldly came from wanting to write two very different points of view regarding the supernatural. The character creation piece was what I started with and created the two main characters, Ellery & Knox and then built the world around them. For example, I knew Ellery was going to be a skeptic and I needed a reason for why Ellery would have stopped believing in the supernatural and threaded that in with the concept of the prolonged winter. I was inspired by several folklore stories such as myths around Doctor Faustus, crossroads bargains, and deals with the devil. And I also used elements of classical mythology specifically some Greek myths and other bits of folklore to round out the world.
GVN: How did writing this novel differ from writing your other novels? Were there any surprising challenges?
All of my novels have been inspired differently. For Spell Bound, I started with the idea of magical wi-fi and began with the worldbuilding first then filled the world with characters. Otherworldly started with the characters and the intent to write a pairing of opposing points of view. That created a challenge because I wasn’t sure what setting was going to work the best for the character dynamic I wanted to portray. Originally, I started writing Otherworldly as more of a fantasy with a fairytale vibe, but the manuscript wasn’t working the way I wanted. So, I changed it to a contemporary fantasy and that worked much better.
GVN: Ellery and Knox are such engaging and interesting characters. How did you go about creating them?
Ellery and Knox are two very different personalities. I wanted to make sure that they were well-rounded and that there were concrete reasons for how they interacted with each other and the world around them. For Ellery, it was ensuring that though they were skeptical and rather caustic at times, that they weren’t one-note and that it was obvious that their doubt and brusque attitude came from a place of hurt. I wanted their growth to be relatable to the reader and surrounded them with other characters that would help them peel back that defensiveness and allow them to grow and make decisions for themself. For Knox, it was balancing his supernatural abilities and otherworldliness with his humanity. I didn’t want there to be a power imbalance in the relationship between Knox and Ellery so that is one of the reasons why Knox doesn’t retain the memories of his past lives, and why his knowledge of the human world is based on televisions shows. That gives his innocence a believability that wouldn’t be there if he had more experience with the human realm.
GVN: I really loved the worldbuilding in your novel. What do you think are the keys to creating a successful fictional world?
When writing fantasy and sci-fi, the best thing an author can do is make sure that the world has internal consistency. And by that, I mean once rules are established in the worldbuilding, those rules are followed throughout the narrative. That doesn’t mean there can’t be surprises that the characters and readers learn along the way, but that does mean that if it’s established that it takes five days for characters to journey from one location to another, they shouldn’t be able to do it in two. Also, engaging all the senses in descriptions of the world can really add to the immersive experience for the reader. Sometimes, we rely too much on one sense, like sight, and forget about touch, smell, and sound. And it’s also fun to throw in small details that are relatable to readers. For example, in Otherworldly, Knox talks about binge watching his televisions shows, which in the age of streaming, is very relatable.
GVN: What is your secret to creating such engaging secondary characters?
When creating secondary characters, I just make sure that I make them as fleshed out as the mains, even if all that information doesn’t make it to the page. Even though Charley and Zada are big parts of Ellery’s life, it’s obvious through dialogue and action, that they have a life beyond their part in Ellery’s story.
GVN: Your novels include such great queer representation. Could you tell us why that’s so important to you?
I just want readers who are looking for queer representation to be able to find stories of queer characters having fun adventures.
GVN: Any advice for aspiring writers?
When asked this question, I normally say to read widely. Even if you only ever intend to write fantasy, read contemporary stories, read lit, read romances. Each genre has something that it excels at that can help in your own writing, and you can learn so much from reading. But also, I want to add to keep at it. Publishing is difficult. It can be hard to keep the motivation sometimes. But your stories are important, and they’ll find their audience.
GVN: Can you tell us about what you’re working on next?
I’m working on edits for my next novel that is coming in 2025 which is another contemporary fantasy based around a teen psychic. And I’m drafting a novel that is a fantasy questing comedy.
GVN: Please assign yearbook superlatives to three of your characters.
Most likely to begrudgingly help a human – Bram
Most likely to confront a goddess – Ellery
Most likely to enjoy a field of corn statues – Charley
GVN: Where can our readers connect with you online?
I am mainly only on Instagram these days which is @ftlukens. I have a website ft-lukens.com as well.
Otherworldy can be purchased everywhere books are sold on April 2nd.
Author Bio
F.T. Lukens is a New York Times bestselling author of YA speculative fiction including the novels Spell Bound, So This Is Ever After and In Deeper Waters (2022 ALA Rainbow Booklist; Junior Library Guild Selection) as well as other science fiction and fantasy works. Their contemporary fantasy novel The Rules and Regulations for Mediating Myths & Magic was a 2017 Cybils Award finalist in YA Speculative Fiction and the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Gold Winner for YA fiction and won the Bisexual Book Award for Speculative Fiction. F.T. resides in North Carolina with their spouse, three kids, three dogs, and three cats.
Writer. Video Essayist. Film/TV Critic. Pop Culture Enthusiast.
When he isn’t writing for Geek Vibes Nation or The Cinema Spot, Tristian can be found typing away at one of the novels or screenplays he’s been working on forever.
