GVN: Can you start by telling our readers a bit about you and your new novel, Thieves’ Gambit?
Thieves’ Gambit is about nine teen thieves from nine different countries who are all invited to compete in an international, underground thieving competition. It’s a round-the-world adventure full of glamorous galas, car chases, backstabbing, first love, archenemies, and of course high-stakes heists. This is the book of my heart, and the adventure I’ve been yearning to go on my entire life, which I think says more about me than any bio ever could.
GVN: How did you come up with the idea for Thieves’ Gambit? How closely does the finished version resemble the original idea?
I know it’s a cliché, but the premise for Thieves’ Gambit actually came to me in a dream. I woke up convinced that someone had written this awesome book I dreamt about. After a morning of frantic googling, I realized that no one had, so I wrote it! The bones of the original are definitely still there, but I added more mini-heists and character altercations with each draft. Basically, the version of TG being published is a more outrageous, faster-paced, twistier version of the original.
GVN: What was your writing process like for the novel? Did you outline meticulously or pants your way through the story? How was writing this novel different from your previous book?
I’m what I call a plantser–something between a planner and a pantser. After getting the feel for the story by writing the first chapter, I whipped up a super brief outline, which was more like a brain dump of cool set pieces and twists I knew I wanted to use. After that, it was just a matter of sitting down and making myself crunch out the story. My first draft took about a month and a half to finish, which is pretty standard for me, as long as I don’t have other obligations. Thieves’ Gambit was definitely a lot more addictive to write than my previous projects. I haven’t had another project that’s just flowed the way writing TG did. (Until recently, but more on that later. 😏)
GVN: Ross Quest is a heroine for the ages. How did you go about creating and developing the character? Did she surprise you while you were writing the novel?
My character creation process is a little atypical. I’m a plot-first writer, so when I start writing characters are the one thing I have no idea about. Once I know the story and the journey I need a character to go on, I work backwards, asking questions like “what kind of person would make the decisions I need them to make?” and “what kind of issues would this person be dealing with? What kind of arc would compliment the story I want to tell?” As I was writing TG, Ross bloomed alongside the plot twists and turns. In a certain sense, I guess you could say she wrote herself, since I didn’t realize she was going to have an arc about friendship and trust issues until it showed up on the page.
GVN: Ross has such an interesting supporting cast of characters around her. How did you go about creating and developing secondary characters?
Much the same way I came up with Ross! Characters showed up as I needed them, and once they burst onto the scene, first to fill whatever task I needed them too, I then got to ask questions like “what kind of teenager would literally kill to win this game? What’s their story?” The one thing that was (kind of) intentional with my cast was wanting it to be diverse. In a game that brings together the best teenage thieves in the world, it was only logical that they would be teens from all over the world, so it made sense for every character to be from a different country.
GVN: Could you talk about how you approached worldbuilding in this novel?
There’s something so enthralling about the criminal underworld. (Anyone else love John Wick?) I was super excited to build my own sinister underground with sinister secret societies and legacy thieving families. Since TG is written from Ross’s limited and sometimes bias perspective of this high-stakes world she’s been born into, I was able to sort of build everything I know about this world from what Ross would know. What kind of thieving factions was she aware of? What does she know about the criminal underworld? What kind of rules would her Mom have taught her about interacting in this world? Basically, it was a lot of me asking myself questions about how Ross’s common knowledge about the world would differ from my own.
GVN: Lionsgate optioned the book last year, and that’s so exciting. How did it feel to have them snatch up the rights before the book was even out?
Uh…bizarre? Surreal? I kinda think someone is elaborately pranking me?
I’m super grateful for all the film interest we’ve had, and that Lionsgate has been so overwhelmingly enthusiastic about this project, but to be honest I’m shocked that so many people have seen adaptation material in my work. I never thought of Thieves’ Gambit as being a movie while I was writing, I just wanted to write the wild adventure that was in my head. I guess I think cinematically, haha.
GVN: What’s it like developing the feature film version of the story as the novel is about to come out?
More helpful than you might think! My creative team on the film side has been very inquisitive about the world, pulling more and more details about characters and relationships than I knew I had in me. It’s so cool to think that all these details that might be too frivolous to go mention in-depth on the page might be expanded upon in the movie. In addition, I’m also lucky to have Hollywood supporters who are just as excited for my book’s release as my publisher.
GVN: Can you talk about what you’re working on next?
A million and one different things! (Just kidding…mostly.) Of course the sequel to Thieves’ Gambit is my top priority at the moment, but excluding that I might be finishing up a middle grade project that I’m absolutely in love with. Since it’s written by me, it’s packed with outrageous set pieces, fantastical locations, and a steady roster of frenemies. On the YA side, there’s a new project that knocked on my door a couple of weeks ago demanding to be written. I don’t want to say too much about this project, since it’s still being drafted, but it’s very much in the same spirit of Thieves’ Gambit, with a diverse cast, international locations, and ambitious action scenes but with a slight supernatural twist.
GVN: Where can our readers connect with you online?
My website, kayvionlewis.com is a surefire way to get my attention. I’m open to messages via the contact form there. On Twitter (or X?) you can find me @kayvionlewis and on Instagram @kayvionclewis.
ABOUT THIEVES’ GAMBIT
The Inheritance Games meets Ocean’s Eleven in this cinematic heist thriller where a cutthroat competition brings together the world’s best thieves and one thief is playing for the highest stakes of all: her mother’s life.
At only seventeen years old, Ross Quest is already a master thief, especially adept at escape plans. Until her plan to run away from her legendary family of thieves takes an unexpected turn, leaving her mother’s life hanging in the balance.
In a desperate bid, she enters the Thieves’ Gambit, a series of dangerous, international heists where killing the competition isn’t exactly off limits, but the grand prize is a wish for anything in the world—a wish that could save her mom. When she learns two of her competitors include her childhood nemesis and a handsome, smooth-talking guy who might also want to steal her heart, winning the Gambit becomes trickier than she imagined.
Ross tries her best to stick to the family creed: trust no one whose last name isn’t Quest. But with the stakes this high, Ross will have to decide who to con and who to trust before time runs out. After all, only one of them can win.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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.