Two girls on opposite sides of a war discover they’re fighting for a common purpose–and falling for each other–in Zoe Hana Mikuta’s high-octane debut Gearbreakers, perfect for fans of Pacific Rim, Pierce Brown’s Red Rising Saga, and Marie Lu’s Legend series.
We chat with debut author Zoe Hana Mikuta about Gearbreakers, writing, book recommendations, and so much more!
Hi, Zoe! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi! I’m Zoe Hana Mikuta and I’m the YA sci-fi debut author of Gearbreakers, which comes out on June 29th. I’m currently a junior at the University of Washington in Seattle, studying English with a minor in history of religion. I grew up in Boulder, Colorado where I learned Muay Thai kickboxing and basically lived at the Boulder Bookstore. I’m also neo pagan, a half-Korean tea fanatic, and apart of UW’s club for queer girls and nonbinary students.
How is your 2021 going in comparison to that other year?
It’s going really well! I moved back to Seattle in early January 2021 (when the pandemic started back in March my mom called me like, ‘Uh, come home, right now’) and now I’m living in my first-ever apartment and feeling out what it means to be an adult – which I’m finding basically means I can do whatever I want, which is both a good thing (independance!) and a bad thing (binge watching TV constantly!). I took school off because it was Zoom-uni, so I’ve gotten tons of writing done so far this year, I think because I am in a more solitary space. However I do remember that before classes went online last spring, I was going out almost everything single night, and have literally no idea how I did it. My favorite thing now is being in bed by ten.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
Because of Winn Dixie (3rd-ish grade), the Percy Jackson series (5th grade), The Ones We’re Meant to Find (2-ish weeks ago and I can’t get that twist out of my head).
When did you first discover your love for writing?
Very early on – I’d say in elementary school? It’s just the art I always gravitated toward, the one that also felt the most comforting while being the most fun. I think it’s the world-creation of it that really always excites me, like how when I was little me and my friends would play pretend in the woods behind my neighborhood – your run-of-the-mill fairy kingdoms and forest creatures setups – and I would run home and write it down and build on it. I feel like writing is one of the more expansive art forms in that way, that it’s as big as you want to it to be.
Your debut novel, Gearbreakers, is out June 29th 2021! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Cyberpunk, cutthroat, sapphic, soft, hopeful
What can readers expect?
200 ft mecha deities vs. teeny humans fight scenes, bad-mouthed kids with tattoos, and a lot of tenderness between them.
What inspired you to write Gearbreakers?
Pacific Rim is my favorite movie of all time, dramatic acting and plot holes aside. I knew I needed to do something with mechas, but I wanted them a little more evil and a lot scarier.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
I think one of my worst habits as a writer is acting like if I make the first draft as perfect as possible, it’ll cut down the need for editing later and thereby shorten the whole process. I need to remember that it’s always going to be a long process and it’s always going to be edits later – I need greater patience, with myself, basically, instead of getting frustrated when a scene’s not working like how I wanted to and getting more stressed because I’m stuck on it. Overcoming it is something mental that I had to work on, to kind of just let things go, move past, and trust that I’ll be able to smooth it out later – definitely something to practice at. I think it’s the kind of ideology that bleeds into other parts of my life and not just writing, so bonus points!
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
My favorite scenes to writer were the quieter ones – as much as I do like my fight scenes – where the crew of found family renegade kids are just being kids, goofing off and irritating one another, so it feels like, for a brief moment, the world isn’t as dire as it is. I think it’s really important to have those scenes like that because it reminds them what they have to fight for. Or maybe I’m just mean and it’s showing what they have to lose.
What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
I started writing Gearbreakers when I was seventeen, the same age as my characters, and signed with an agent the first week before I started my freshman year at UW. My parents completely thought I was getting scammed. I just remember going to my uni’s gorgeous library with my coffee after class, doing my papers and then switching over to edit – I felt like a true academic, the aesthetics of which are very important to me. A week before my nineteenth birthday I got a call from my agent saying we had an offer on Gearbreakers, and just totally losing it on my dorm room bed while my roommate slept undisturbed. I was late for class, and then later because I got myself breakfast to celebrate. It’s truly very odd to think about how there’s other people in the industry who are doing things for my story, while I just went around to class or, now, just sit in my room on my laptop. I think for some part it hasn’t completely hit me yet, but I’m sure launch day that’ll change!
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
The best writing advice I’ve received is to write for myself. It’s clear in an author’s prose whether or not they had fun writing the piece or if they were just pushing through it, and on the author’s side, it massively helps when I have active excitement about an idea. I would say the worst writing advice I’ve received is to outline. This is just for me, specifically, since I never know what’s going to happen until I actually start drafting – don’t want to spoil the ending for myself! Writing processes are so individualistic so I needed to solidify that I could do it my own way even if it seems messy to another person.
What’s next for you?
The sequel to Gearbreakers comes out next year, but after that I’m expanding my genres! I have a really bloody Alice in Wonderland retelling meets Attack on Titan meets Gideon the Ninth YA fantasy horror project in the works (read: lovers-to-enemies sapphics and feral saints in Wonderland!). I just want to try out as many genres as possible.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
As previously mentioned, The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He, Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhiuyan if you want something softer, and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia if you want that good chill down your spine.
Can’t wait to read this book! This interview was great!