J.D. Netto knows how to make magic happen on the page and off. Netto is an author, designer, branding specialist, and has likely added three more creative roles to his resume in the time between our interview and its publication. While many of his books are fantasy, his latest, The Other Side of the Ocean (JAB Books, June 17), is a fictional exploration of life for undocumented people in America. Our starred review calls it “Heartfelt and authentically grounded; a must-read.” Our conversation, held over Zoom, has been edited for length and clarity.

The Other Side of the Ocean, set in 2011-2012, begins with a conversation about someone being detained and potentially deported by ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]. What does that feel like in 2025?

The book is based on real events, and that was one of them. I grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts, which has a large Brazilian American community. Seeing that it’s happening today is—baffling. We, as a country, strive to be great in so many things, but when it comes to acknowledging the humanity behind every immigrant story—that’s left to bits and pieces. Under this administration, it’s been a heartbreaking thing to witness. We’re still seeing these raids. We’re still living through these moments.

Suddenly, because you may have a hint of an accent, you have to drive with your passport and people may think, Are you really an American? It’s a strange moment to navigate. I’m a green card holder; you’d think that I’d have peace of mind traveling after all these years, but suddenly it’s Maybe you shouldn’t travel. Maybe you shouldn’t do this. What now?

The book feels deeply personal. How much of Matt’s life overlaps with your own?

Some moments are fictional, but they always connect to something that I witnessed or that somebody within our community witnessed. I came to the States when I was 11 years old and, for all intents and purposes, I was an American—inside that school. But outside of school there were nuances that said otherwise. I had to navigate that—boom—when I turned 18 and graduated to undocumented status. By that point, I had nothing back in Brazil. I was just a kid.

I was a DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] recipient waiting for my priority date so I could get a green card. It was a strange process, and then the world stopped during Covid-19. And so did USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services]; those petitions were in limbo. Writing The Other Side of the Ocean was my way to cope. A lot of Matt’s life mirrors my own. The romance, unfortunately, is not real. James never happened in my life. I wish something like that had happened. I thought the storyline was a great opportunity to show the disparity of these realities. Sometimes people are so oblivious to how life is for a Dreamer, an undocumented kid. I wanted to find the universal truth within the story. We all want to be respected; that’s a universal truth.

You’ve self-published and you’ve also worked with traditional publishing houses. Tell us about your experiences working with each.

I self-published my first book in 2012 when I was 24. I’m also a graphic designer, brand strategist, and copywriter. By that time I was freelancing, and I started my creative agency while working on The Whispers of the Fallen. I was lucky enough to sell 40,000 copies of that book, and I realized that self-publishing gave me a lot of control. But it also gave me a lot of work. And seldom any time to write.

Years later I came to realize that once I built that platform, I was ready to expand with a team, and that’s what traditional publishing is giving me. I’m seeing the other side of the coin. It’s a relief, but as an artist, relinquishing control is hard. I designed all my covers. I illustrated The Other Side of the Ocean. It’s a challenge and a relief. It’s bittersweet.

Your branding company, J.D. Netto Creative, seems like it’s the best thing for someone aiming to self-publish. Those skills go hand in hand.

After I wrote The Whispers of the Fallen, I wrote four books. I worked in that universe from 2012 to 2017. Five years of my life! I learned a lot. I didn’t go to college, but that was my very public college experience. And I realized that creative entrepreneurs need to be well versed.

What happened to The Whispers of the Fallen?

I took that series down—on purpose. I started writing the first book when I was 18 years old. I was in the closet. I was a church boy. I wanted to write a very different book, but I was bound to the confinements of religion. Perhaps I’ll revisit it and rerelease it, but for now, I’m working on the third book in The Echoes of Fallen Stars series.

The Echoes of Fallen Stars combines elements of fantasy, romance, religion, and folklore. Tell us about the research you do to create these worlds.

For The Echoes of Fallen Stars, I resorted to religious trauma. I remember a [religious] leader said, “J.D., you’re like a helium balloon. If we don’t hold you down, you’re going to drift. You’d go off and make people question many things.”  I was that kid in church who’d say things like, “Why do I have to give money to the church?” “Why is God a man?” I remember thinking, What if God and Lucifer were secret lovers? It’s the yin and yang with the shadow and the light. And I started writing The Echoes of Fallen Stars. When I was younger, I read a lot: demonology, angelology, Norse and Greek mythology, Brazilian folklore. A lot of that came into play.

Tell us about the differences between writing fantasy and writing realistic fiction.

When it comes to fantasy, I get to use a lot of coded messages, motifs, creatures, and systems that spark thought. With The Other Side of the Ocean, I found it to be more raw because you can only use human emotion. That also exists in fantasy, but I couldn’t use a dragon or a magic system to [express] Matt’s sorrow and disappointment. I’m writing the Winterbornetrilogy now, which starts in Massachusetts and ends in a world of eternal winter. But the teenage protagonist is raised on this earth. It’s been interesting to explore human trauma in a world of dragons. It’s been a liberating experience.

What was it like, as a self-published author, to be reviewed by Kirkus Indie?

It was helpful, and it was scary. A Kirkus review opened many doors for me. The second book of that series, Gods and Monsters, ended up in Times Square on a huge billboard. That review is part of what got that attention. If you’re an indie author and you need validation, it’s going to open doors. Invest in yourself.

Christopher A. Biss-Brown is the curator of the Children’s Literature Research Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia.