Q&A: Andrew Fukuda, Author of ‘The Light Between Us’

Photo Credit: Justin Ong

Andrew Fukuda, a lawyer turned author, has a writing style similar to none. In his debut novel, Crossing, his character explores the mysterious disappearance of a towns residents while his series, Hunt, takes a more urban fantasy route with ghouls and ghosties taking the forefront. Both massively popular releases, these titles firmly slot him into the category of having no writing category.

In 2020, Fukuda mixes it up again with his latest YA entry, The Light Between Us, a mostly fictitious retelling of the plight of a Japanese-American teen during the second World War.

Nerd Daily contributor Tasha Leigh had the opportunity to read it prior to its release date and also to sit down with Fukuda to discuss writing, reading, and what drew him to the heroic 442^nd.

Thank you for sitting down and answering my questions today! First off, I wanted to ask you about your writing style because it feels slightly different with each of your novels. Crossing is a mystery of sorts while the Hunt novels are horror/urban fantasy. As such, it isn’t possible to pigeon hole you into a single genre. When writing, do you specifically set out to write something completely different to your last novel? Or does the story guide itself?

Great question. For me, it’s always the story that dictates a particular writing style. Every novel I’ve written has from inception had a kind of unique music to it, a sensibility all its own. I choose a writing style that best captures and amplifies that sensibility. Writing across genres doesn’t exactly help with author branding, but it does keep my writing career fresh and challenging.

Although you write across a variety of genres, you write a lot about cultural isolation. Do you feel your life experiences have affected your general writing style?

That’s an accurate observation. I think much of my life has been lived with a stranger-in-a-strange-land isolation, and this sense of disaffection and loneliness has fed into all my novels.

Relationships also take the forefront in your novels. Do the relationships come first? Or the general narrative?

I’m going to cop out by answering: neither and both. Meaning that for me the relationships and narrative weave so intimately and intricately together that they become impossible to tease apart, or decide which takes the forefront. That said, This Light Between Us is probably the most relationship-driven novel I’ve written.

So, I had the opportunity to read your latest novel This Light Between Us and I have to say it took my breath away. How would you describe this novel to those reading this interview?

It’s about two older teens who are pen pals, one a Japanese American boy, the other a French Jewish girl, coming of age during a turbulent time. As World War II reaches their respective shores and they face their own persecutions, they come to depend on each other even more. But the darkness grows, threatening to pull them apart. From the desolation of an internment camp in California to the horrors of Auschwitz and the devastation of European battlefields, the only thing they can hold onto are the memories of their letters. But nothing can dispel the light between them

TLBU is set mostly in America during World War II. What drew you to writing about this specific period in time?

I’ve always been fascinated by World War II. There’s something so raw and brutal, heroic and horrific about that moment in world history. But I never found a way into that history, could never quite find a story that was all my own. Then one day the idea of a Japanese American boy writing to a Jewish Parisian girl dropped into my head, and I became curious, then interested, then obsessed in telling their story.

Although Charlie writes only a small number of letters throughout the novel, she becomes a major presence throughout. What was your process when writing her character?

Many rewrites and much agony. She was one of the most difficult characters I’ve ever written, mostly because I’m not French, or Jewish, or a teenage girl, or a bubbly extrovert! But it was crucial I got her right; if she didn’t come across as authentic and fully-formed, the whole novel would collapse. It took a lot of rewrites but I’m very happy with how she turned out. She feels very, very real to me, and will always be one of my favourite characters.

Just so you know, the ending absolutely killed me. Was there ever a temptation to take it in a different direction?

I’ll try not to give too much away, but early on I played around with other possibilities but nothing seemed as true or vital as the ending I settled on. Writing that crucial scene took forever – many, many rewrites. Ernest Hemingway wrote and rewrote the final scene in A Farewell to Arms 47 times, and I never quite understood that level of obsession and perfectionism. But now I do.

In your acknowledgements, you state that this is essentially a work of fiction with historically accurate components scattered throughout. How did you decide which real world events and characters would make the final cut?

I did a ton of research, and compiled a massive list of interesting facts, events and people. I initially tried to include as many of them as possible. The result was an unwieldy manuscript bloated with historical details that, while interesting in themselves, did not always serve the narrative. Out came the scissors, and I did a lot of snipping. I lost a lot of characters and events, but gained a story.

Why the 442?

Because they did so much, sacrificed so much, and yet have been relegated to the footnotes of history. I wanted to put them in the spotlight, give them their due. And here’s another reason, more personal: if I ‘d been alive back then, I’m pretty sure I would have enlisted. And I guess I wanted to see what that would have been like.

Not being from America, I found this novel was highly educational relating to the events of the Manzanar camp. Although many know of the atrocities committed at Auschwitz and Dachau, the treatment of immigrants is regularly skimmed over or omitted in international history syllabus. Where would be your top recommended starting point for those wanting to find out more about these important historical events?

For the Japanese American experience, I can recommend this website. It’s chockful of videos, interviews, and loads of incredible information. For the French Jewish experience, The Journal of Hélène Berr is a transfixing read. For those interested in a deep dive into the Holocaust, Laurence Rees’ The Holocaust: A New History is a disturbing masterpiece.

Now you majored in History before continuing on to law and you are now a full time author. Do you feel your previous education/employment has helped you become a better writer?

Yes, because both taught me how to research, and both taught me to write cleanly and concisely (but not imaginatively, which is a whole other skillset).

What would you tell your younger self about your road to published author if you had the chance?

Getting published for the first time is just the starting line. Staying published is a marathon, an oft gruelling one at that, full of highs and lows. Along the way, it’s easy to lose the spark, the magic. That’s why this quote from Henri Matisse is helpful: “You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover.”

If you could have any of your works adapted for the screen, which would it be and what form would it take?

This Light Between Us for the big screen. Steven Spielberg, if you’re reading this, make it happen!

QUICKFIRE ROUND

Fiction or nonfiction? Fiction.
Plotter or pantser? Plotter.
Favourite bookish trope? The unlikely hero of humble origins.
Least favourite bookish trope? The parents who are gullible idiots, constantly played by their smarter, more interesting teen kids (can you tell I’m a father of teens?).
Coffee or tea? Coffee.
Pizza or pasta? Pasta.
Beach holiday or hiking in the bush? Hiking (anywhere).
Convention crowds or smaller signings? Smaller signings.
Sunny or rainy? Sunny.
If you could pick a single holiday destination for the rest of your life, where would it be? Hawaii.
Music, books or Netflix – you can only pick 2? Music and books.
If you could recommend five authors to the general public that are must reads, who would they be? Emily St. John Mandel, Justin Cronin, Kazuo Ishiguro, Charlotte Bronte, Anthony Doerr.

Will you be picking up The Light Between Us? Tell us in the comments below!