Julie Kagawa’s primary source of inspiration for her fantasy novels is a bit unconventional. “I love video games, and a lot of my characters and the weird, surreal landscapes in my books all come from them,” she tells me.

We’re chatting about her new book, Fateless (Harper/HarperCollins, July 15), the first novel in a new trilogy by the bestselling YA author.  Seventeen-year-old Sparrow, an orphan and trained thief living in the desert city of Kovass, is tasked with a new assignment that causes her to unwittingly resurrect a terrifying, evil force bent on total destruction. The world of Fateless is indeed as vividly wondrous and immersive as any game, with two suns that converge at Demon Hour, a vast Dust Sea traversed by giant beetles, and a glittering Tapestry of the World that determines one’s fate. The stakes are high—save the world or die trying—and Sparrow and her loyal companions are deeply compelling, not just for the momentous task before them but for the emotional bonds that tie them to one another.   

Kagawa is a multitalented creative who, in addition to having a passion for video games and writing more than 30 fantasy novels, used to sell handcrafted miniature dragons on Etsy that were eagerly snapped up by fans and readers. Kirkus spoke with her by Zoom from her home in Versailles, Kentucky. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

You are such a prolific writer—did you always intend to become a novelist?

I’ve just always loved reading and making up stories. But before I became an author, I was a dog trainer.

A dog trainer! Say more.

Well, I grew up on a one-acre farm in Hawaii. We had chickens, rabbits, dogs, and cats. I had a horse, and I had goats. There were all these animals just stuffed into this little farm. Growing up surrounded by animals, I wanted to become a veterinarian. But then I hit high school and discovered that to be a veterinarian, you kind of had to know science and math, which weren’t really my thing. I abandoned that dream, and that’s when I decided I wanted to become a writer.

While I was writing and hoping to get published one day, I took on a bunch of placeholder jobs. I worked at a vet’s office, I worked at bookstores for years, and then I started working at a pet store. This pet store needed dog trainers, so I applied to become one because I thought that would be so neat (though if you look at my two dogs now, they’re terribly ill-behaved). Finally, I got my first book published and stopped training dogs to pursue writing full time.

Reading Fateless, one is instantly transported to the universe you’ve created. Your characters are so alive and appealing and your worlds so rich and vivid. Young adult fantasy seems to be a natural match for you.

Fantasy has always been my favorite genre. When I was little, I started with Where the Wild Things Are. Then I read all of Madeleine L’Engle’s books and graduated to The Lord of the Rings and the Dragonlance series. I would read anything with a dragon on the cover!

And I’m drawn to teenage protagonists because they’re at an age of discovery. It’s an age of firsts. First taste of freedom, first job, maybe first car, and of course, first love.

What do you draw upon as inspiration for all the worlds, characters, and stories you’ve created throughout your writing career?

Lots of books and lots of movies. Anime, too. But what I keep going back to, over and over, are video games. My favorite video games, like Assassin’s Creed, have inspired many a story of mine. The games that I love all have great stories as well as great visuals. Fateless, by the way, was inspired by Prince of Persia and Assassin’s Creed.

Are there any large themes in these games that we’d find reflected in your books?

What I hope people glean from my stories are the tropes of heroism, selflessness, giving up something for the greater good. Being a hero, being the good guy, standing up to your friends, sacrificing yourself when it needs to be done. All the good tropes like that.

I think the best video games tell a story and are inspirational. My favorite video game of all time is Final Fantasy X. It has this beautiful story running through it, with themes of sacrifice, love, and courage. The ending was so emotional, with one character sacrificing himself for the greater good of the world, it made me sob. I love an ultimate noble sacrifice, so noble sacrifice is woven into my books as well.

What is a typical workday like for you, and how do you allow for the time and space to come up with new ideas? Have you ever been interested in doing any other sort of writing beyond YA fantasy?

My typical workday is what you see here: me sitting at my desk in my office, just typing away. I set myself a quota of 1,000 words a day, unless I’m up against a tight deadline, and then that word quota jumps a little bit, but I try to get that 1,000 words a day.

Evenings are my relaxation time, when I’ll play video games and watch anime. Right now I’m not really playing anything but Minecraft, which I’ve played before. In fact, all these video games that I’ve mentioned are ones I’ve done over and over in the past. But they’re still with me. They still inspire me. If I want a quick refresher, I can go on YouTube and look up gameplay. I’ll watch videos of Assassin’s Creed or about the new version that’s coming out soon. That’s a typical day for me.

I do take on side projects, and I also have a folder of ideas. If some idea won’t leave me alone, I’ll go to that folder and just write it down. Right now, I’m working on a side project that’s just for me. It’s something that inspired me, and I want to get it out. Now, I did that before, and that side project actually became a new series in the end.

But as to other genres, I’ve realized, for example, that I can’t do nonfiction. I’ve tried to write nonfiction, and suddenly I have vampires and fairies showing up. So I’ve accepted that I am fully a fantasy author. I have to have fantasy or sci-fi creatures in my writing. No matter what I write, it has to be weird somehow.

What have been some of your favorite reader responses?

It’s always fun when I’m talking to readers and telling them my favorite video games, and then they turn out to be familiar with the games, too. They’ll say, “I could totally see that in this one, how that influenced this book.”

And I’ve been quite pleased with how I’ve ended a few books, like The Iron Queen and Night of the Dragon. I wanted to make people cry, and I achieved it. The best responses I get are when people told me, “Oh my goodness, I sobbed at the end of your book.” That’s what I was hoping for! Your readers are attached to the characters. They’re attached to the story once they cry for your characters. Those characters have now become real to them.

Christine Gross-Loh is the author of Parenting Without Borders and The Path.