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Isamu Fukui was gracious enough to take a few moments and chat with us about his new book, getting published and what he has planned next.

How did the idea for Truancy develop?

It started back when I was in my 7th and 8th grades. I was having a particularly unpleasant time at school, and as a means of dealing with it I began taking notes whenever something bothered me. When things failed to improve dramatically in 9th grade, I finally decided to take all of those notes and put it into a book that would embody my frustrations would the system.

What inspires you to write?

This may be a cliché, but I swear it’s true – inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime. If I think up an interesting story concept, I try to jot it down and save it for
later. Some of those ideas ended up being merged into Truancy, but I’ve still got a lot of them lying around and I hope to get to some of them in the future.

How does it feel to be published at such a young age?

Probably less remarkable than you’d expect. I don’t feel particularly special because of my age, and I don’t think I should. Obviously I’m thrilled to be published at all, but publication is about the book, not the author, and I’m mindful of that.

Do you feel that schools are teaching to the lowest common denominator instead of challenging students to excel?

I think that there’s way too much emphasis on memorization, too little reward for creative thinking, and something approaching obsession with standardized testing and averages. Schools these days reward those who can play the system, and not necessarily those who are most talented.

How close do you feel that society is reflected in your book?

Truancy takes things to an extreme – it portrays a society like ours gone wrong. Consequently there are quite a few elements that readers should find familiar; zero tolerance education, oppressive governments, an escalating cycle of violence. Truancy is not meant to glamorize or sugarcoat anything. Instead it lays bare the ugliness of the worst parts of our society.

You’ve been compared to Aldous Huxley.  Was he a big influence on Truancy?

It’s quite an honor to be placed in that sort of company. I did read Brave New World and found it both enjoyable and fascinating, however I don’t think that there was any deliberate inspiration drawn from there. The two are dystopic novels, but beyond that I think the comparisons run thin.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I read, I surf the internet, I play videogames, I hang out, I take naps. I lead a pretty normal life outside of novel writing, and I like to keep it that way.

What books would we find on your shelves?

All sorts – I’m open to reading anything. I’ve got books on my shelf ranging from 1984 to Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, from The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to The Cartoon History of the Universe. If it’s interesting, I’ll read it.

You started writing at age 13.  What made you want to be a writer?

My interest in writing dates back to age 12. While I was always a voracious reader, up until that point I had never had much interest in writing and hated writing assignments above all in school. That changed when I happened across a collection of J.R.R. Tolkien’s notes as published in The Return of the Shadow. For the first time I got a glimpse into the mind of an author – I got to see how a novel can evolve from the simplest of ideas into the most epic masterpiece of its time. I saw that, and said to myself “I want to be able to do this”.

Do you feel that schools do enough stop violence?

In my experience most schools focus almost entirely on security – restricting student freedoms, performing routine searches, cracking down on anyone that steps out of line. These measures do little, if anything, to actually recognize and deal with the students who are for whatever reason unbalanced. Using blanket, brute force security strikes me as a remarkably hamfisted and shortsighted approach. It’s more likely to inspire deeper discontent rather than prevent an actual tragedy.

Is it intimating to have your book published worldwide?

I’m delighted that the story has found such a universal audience. It tells me that my sentiments and my experiences are not limited to my life, my school, or even my country. When I dedicated Truancy to “everyone who has ever suffered in the name of education”, I meant it.

What’s next for you?

Well I can’t talk too much about this because no deal has been signed yet, but the second book in the Truancy series was finished last year. Beyond that I intend to go to college, but I will continue to write books for as long as people are willing to read them. This is my chosen profession, and it’s what I love doing.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with us.

My pleasure.