We chat with co-authors Joshua Davis and Kal Kini-Davis who are a father-son writing duo about their summer sailing YA romance novel, The Uncertainty Principle, which is a combination of high-seas adventure, a deep longing for connection, and quantum physics.
Hi, Joshua and Kal! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?
Joshua: I started out as a journalist covering wars, drugs, and diamonds for Wired Magazine in the 2000s. I also spent time as a member of the US armwrestling team, representing my country in the lightweight division. I wrote the NYT bestselling book Spare Parts, which tells the true story of a group of impoverished high schoolers in Phoenix who built an underwater robot that won a major national robotics competition, beating MIT. The book was turned into the film Spare Parts starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Marisa Tomei, and George Lopez. More recently, I produced the film Radical, starring Eugenio Derbez, which won the Festival Favorite award for best film at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
Kal: I certainly don’t have as much science experience as my dad but I know the ocean. I’ve been fascinated with it for as long as I can remember but I only started sailing my freshman year of high school. COVID had just started and sailing was isolated enough that it was possible to do with all the restrictions. My family decided to sail for the summer to get away and when school started, I joined the sailing team and from there I just went deeper and deeper. I decided I wanted to learn how to build my own boat so I started volunteering at the Dolphin Club, a local club that has wooden rowboats. I was only scratching the surface though so I decided to take a gap year after high school to study wooden boatbuilding in Washington state. My goals have since changed but my love of boats and the ocean is equally strong. Next year, I am going to continue to study craft at RISD where I will major in furniture design.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
Joshua: My mom and my dad read to me as a kid and both of them liked telling me stories about their lives and adventures. They split when I was young and when I visited my dad in LA, he’d take me to the Crown Books in Los Feliz. It was a small bookstore, not very fancy, and the closest thing it had to a kid’s section was a classics carousel. I’d spin the carousel and pick whatever looked interesting. One of the first books to make an impression on me was The Count of Monte Cristo. I still love it. I started keeping a journal at age 10 and just kept writing from there. I didn’t study writing formally. Maybe that would have helped.
Kal: Like his dad, my dad also told me stories as a kid. In fact, he told the exact same stories that his dad told him. The stories were about a character named Ipsky Pipsky and every night my brother and I got to choose who Ipsky would be that night – a racecar driver, a firefighter, a scientist, a sailor – and my dad would tell the story. Every story was unique and wild and that was where I really learned the power of imagination. I also learned that adults can have an imagination that is just as spectacular as a kid’s, but only if they practice. I’m making sure to practice.
The Uncertainty Principle is out June 3rd! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Joshua: All S’s…Sexy summer sailing sea self-discovery
What can readers expect?
Joshua: The book captures a love triangle and I bet readers won’t be able to predict what will happen.
Where did the inspiration for The Uncertainty Principle come from?
Kal: The summer I was 13, we were sailing in the Caribbean as a family to isolate during COVID and my dad and I noticed an interesting convergence. There were these vagabond sailboats anchored alongside some of the world’s largest megayachts. We thought it would be kind of fun to tell the story of a romance between a kid from one of the sailboats and a kid from a megayacht. That was the kernel of an idea that started The Uncertainty Principle.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Joshua: I personally enjoyed writing the dads in the book, perhaps for obvious reasons. There are three dads that make a showing and they are very different. I think it’s important to remember that there are all kinds of ways to raise kids – it’s not one-size-fits-all.
Kal: I enjoyed writing Mia, maybe also for obvious reasons. I grew up alongside her. Her self-discovery was also my self-discovery. So much of writing her was just me trying to figure myself out; her social anxieties and frustration at her parents and confrontation of queerness were also all mine. It’s kind of like my story is written between the lines of Mia’s.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
Joshua: Kal was 13 when we started and his understanding of himself and the characters changed. As he grew up, we had to start over from time to time as he realized new things about Mia or the others.
Kal: A teenager’s relationship with their parents is a turbulent one no matter what, and adding a book into the mix doesn’t make it easier. I would get frustrated at my dad for not understanding how teenagers act. He would write something in the book and I would have to say, “That’s not at all how we talk,” and we would have to rewrite the section. It was also hard to find a good balance between the book and the rest of our lives. When your dad is your co-author, you have to know when the book can be dinner table conversation and when to put it to rest for the night.
Can you tell us a bit about your process in working on the book together?
Joshua: At first, we just talked about the story a lot. What if this happened or what if that happened? Eventually, I started taking notes.
Kal: The writing process went on for years. Sometimes my dad would write a stretch and I’d rewrite him. Sometimes I’d write and he’d rewrite me. By the end, we’d each rewritten each other countless times.
What’s next for you both?
Joshua: Kal and I are working on the TV adaptation of The Uncertainty Principle. And we’re thinking about Mia’s next series of adventures.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?
Joshua: Right now, I am reading Forged by Danielle Teller and really enjoying it. It’s the story of a young woman in the 1920s who rises up through the gilded age by force of will. I also read Josh Brolin’s autobiography From Under the Truck, which isn’t exactly an autobiography. It’s more of a reflection on moments in his life. Most people know him as an actor but he’s also a writer of substance who was close friends with Cormac McCarthy and you can see the influence. Next up for me is Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Odyssey, a book from the 80s by these two brothers who sailed around the South Pacific looking for aliens on Ringo Starr’s dime.
Kal: I’m just about done with Ocean Vuong’s new novel, The Emperor of Gladness. Ocean Vuong is one of those writers who just makes me want to write. I always go to his work for inspiration. Earlier this year I read Greenwood by Michael Christie, which is a haunting novel about family and climate change. Next up on my list are Steinbeck’s East of Eden and I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman.
