TJ Klune is not only a writer of fantasy books, but he's also a reader. He calls fantasy "the genre I feel happiest reading."
Klune is the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of several book series, as well as the stand-alone novels The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.
His books are heartfelt and positive with engaging characters who love openly and who will steal your heart. As a queer person, Klune believes it's important, now more than ever, to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories.
Klune's new novel is called In the Lives of Puppets. True to his style, this is an engaging fantasy adventure about a family assembled from spare parts; most of them are machines. When their father Gio is captured, this motley crew must travel to the City of Electric Dreams to rescue him.
In the Lives of Puppets is inspired by classic fantasy including Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, Pixar's WALL-E, The Wizard of Oz and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Klune also revealed a musical influence in the story, noting some characters are based on a type of music or a particular musical performance. For example, his character The Coachman, a robot who runs a sideshow of old machines, is heavily influenced by Gerard Way, singer for the band My Chemical Romance in their video for "Welcome to the Black Parade."
Klune has been called “the king of writing found family.” His books involve people rejected by society who eventually go out and make their own family. Klune draws on his own history of growing up queer in a family that did not accept him.
He wants those who feel isolated to know they can find love and support in other communities and they don’t need to seek approval from the family who gave birth to them.
“When you go out into the world and find all these other people out there who are like you or who understand you, that becomes your family,” he said.
Looking for a good book recommendation? Want to recommend a book you've just read? Check out our What We're Reading page on Facebook, or text us at 218-326-1234.
What We're Reading is made possible in part by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.