1. Please tell us about Across a Field of Starlight, including what inspired this book.
AAFOS is about two teenagers from two very different spacefaring societies who meet in extraordinary circumstances and become unlikely pen pals. Fassen was raised by a scrappy militia occupying a planet and is training for military service, and Lu is from an isolated commune that prioritizes scientific research and staying out of other people’s business. The two are desperate to stay in touch, even if it means entangling their worlds in the same interstellar war.
When I pitch the book I usually describe it as “the conflict between a Star Wars protagonist and a Star Trek protagonist,” and aesthetically I pay homage to throwback 70s futurism, but I am more strongly inspired by the science fiction and messages of Ursula Le Guin and Iain M. Banks.
2. Many of your titles are collaborations — what was it like to step into the role of both author and artist?
This is actually what I first came into comics doing! I wrote and drew my first major work, O Human Star, from 2012 to 2020, and I am strongly interested in the interplay between image and text. That’s gone on to inform my collaborations, where as a writer I trust my artists with visual storytelling that goes farther than words alone ever could. And as an artist, I create visuals that strengthen a writer’s message instead of just echoing what their scripts say.
3. What message(s) do you hope to share in your work?
I consider myself first and foremost an author of science fiction, but I always view ideas through a humanist or social lens. What are the implications for how this new technology or idea would affect how we live our lives? These fundamental concepts we take for granted in how we navigate the world - gender, say, or the concepts of autonomy, ownership, identity, mortality - how much can those change and can we still consider ourselves people afterward?
4. Where can we go to find more information about your books?
You can learn about all of my past and present projects at bluedelliquanti.com, my professional website. There I provide links to both my self-published work, like O Human Star, and my books for larger publishers like AAFOS.
5. Any future projects or other titles you’d like to share about?
This October I am participating in the ShortBox Comics Fair, an online showcase of new digital work, debuting a graphic novella called Adversary. Keep an eye out for it among a bunch of exciting new comics by artists from around the world!
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