Author Chat with Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

 

Contributed by Angela Blount 

 

Greetings, YABC! Today we are pleased to welcome Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, authors of Illuminae (The Illuminae Files_01). Their book presents a unique YA science fiction experience through an eclectic collection of literary mediums. Amie and Jay were kind enough to answer a few questions about their new release! –Angela N. Blount

 

 

Meet Amie and Jay. 

 

Angela Blount: Collaborative writing can be a challenging process. Could you tell readers a little about how you were able to assemble this project together, and what aspects you found your individual strengths contributed to?

 

Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff: Typically, we begin with a concept session at the pub. Jay drinks, Amie watches him drink, and about 4 drinks in, the magic starts to happen. We’ll only plot around 100 pages in advance, as new thoughts and twists tend to occur to us as we write. Then we break that 100 pages into scenes, and decide what format each scene should be (IM, email, interpretive dance routine, etc).

 After that, scenes are broken down into POVs, and we divide writing duties up based on the character writing them. Amie writes Kady’s PoV, Jay writes Ezra and AIDAN. When it comes to IMs, we get an idea of the scene’s “job” (ie “Kady and Ezra have a fight here”), start up a gchat window and then ad lib the rest of the conversation. It’s a lot of fun. Doesn’t hurt that we were both huge RPG nerds in our youth.

 It really does come down to choosing a partner whose abilities compliment your own. Jay likes to write the big flashy scenes, and often goes to pretty dark places. Amie is great at finding power in quiet moments and introspection, and of course the kissy stuff. Although do not be fooled by her sweet exterior – she’s totally capable of bringing the carnage, too.

 

AB: Your joint author bio states that you two met thanks to “international taxation law.” Would one or both of you care to elaborate on that? 

 

AK & JK: Okay, so if you’re a foreign national (also referred to as “an alien”) earning money in the United States, you need an International Tax Identification Number (ITIN). But anyone who’s dealt with the IRS knows how difficult it can be, especially if you’re living half way across the world. The process can be politely described as “nightmarish”, but it’d be more accurate to say “omgwtfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdgaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Jay, though a mix of mad ninja skillz and dumb luck managed to get an ITIN on his third try. Amie was in the process of trying to get hers, and mutual friend ­ who knew Jay had just lived through the ordeal ­ decided to introduce us. Amie offered to buy Jay brunch if he’d teach her his secret ninja handshake, and the rest is history.

 

AB: Illuminae has a straightforward timeline set 560 years in the future. Was there a particular reason you two chose this span of time?

 

AK & JK: In the ILLUMINAE series, humanity travels interstellar distances through wormhole technology, and has also developed complex artificial intelligences capable of independent thought. Speaking to an astrophysicist friend of ours, and also a computer hacker friend (who can’t be named for legal reasons) we decided 500 years would be the minimum amount of time required for humanity to begin to comprehend wormholes and develop the required level of technology to effectively utilize them as a means of travel.

Of course, this is all speculation. We don’t actually know if wormholes can be used to traverse interstellar distances – that’s really only a theory at this point. But getting to play with fringe theory and get paid for it is one of the awesome things about being a SciFi writer.

 

AB: What sci­-fi influences would you each credit as especially impactful on your creative development?

 

AK & JK: William Gibson. Anne McCaffrey. Douglas Adams. Gene Roddenberry. Phillip K Dick. Joss Whedon. Frank Herbert. Isaac Asimov. Glen A Larson. Ronald D Moore.

 

 

 

Angela N. Blount is a Minnesota native, transplanted to the deep South–where she currently resides with her understanding husband, their two children, and a set of identity-confused cats. She is a staff book reviewer for Young Adult Books Central, an underwriter for LitPick, a memoirist, sporadic poet, and webcomic artist. In her spare time, Angela enjoys painting, reading, coffee shop loitering, questionable attempts at horticulture, and all things geeky.