Sci-fi, Vibing, and Ghosts In The Ash: An Interview w/ Author Yume Kitasei
Interview Conducted by Anna Catalano
What first drew you to the science fiction genre?
Science fiction lets you put all the things you know and take for granted—laws, societal rules, technological constraints, cultural practices—into a jar and shake them up. Sometimes thinking about how the world could be can alter how you think about the world as it is.
What, if anything, was your inspiration for writing "Ghosts in the Ash?"
The story digs into how it feels to live in a place that's not your own or that doesn't quite accept you. As someone who is biracial and bicultural, I'm not a stranger to that feeling. I've lived in four countries, and felt it in each place at some point. There's something bittersweet to it: the pleasure of connecting with other people, but also the sharp loneliness of being different.
What is your favorite (and least favorite) part of the writing process?
The worst part is slogging through a first draft, when you are in that time right after you thought you had a terrific idea, but what's coming out on paper doesn't match your mind's eye at all. The best part is completing a round of revision, and feeling yourself not only getting closer to where you wanted a story to be, but discovering some new things along the way too.
One of these must go: drafting, editing, or querying. Which one and why?
Querying. To write, you generally have to be committed to the act even if no one will ever read what you write. An audience is never guaranteed, so you have to be okay with shouting into the void sometimes. I'd write even if I never got an opportunity to publish. I'd be sad about it, but writing is compulsion--it's just something I do.
Particularly in regards to crafting a longer work, do you prefer to plot and outline, or wing it as you go, and why?
My new strategy is to "vibe" for 20,000 words, outline, write to outline, then re-outline and rewrite. It's one-quarter pantsing and three-quarters plotting. I'm hoping this more disciplined approach will leave room in the process for discovery without just chaotically thrashing around the way I used to.
If you could tell your younger writing-self anything, what would it be?
The road may be longer than you expect, and that's okay. Don't be in a rush to publish. Spend the prelude honing your craft. Even now that I'm published, I'm hopeful my writing will continue to improve. THE DEEP SKY was the fifth novel I ever wrote. I hope the sixth, tenth, twentieth I write are even better. If I ever get to twenty-five, it'll be a masterpiece.
What can Planet Scumm readers be excited to see in your upcoming novel “The Deep Sky”?
THE DEEP SKY is a feminist space thriller -- it's a closed-room mystery but also a story about finding a place to belong. Hopefully this novel will give you a thing or two to chew on, maybe a few feels, but also a little fun.