TJ Klune: On Writing an Action Movie in Book Form
TJ Klune is the #1 New York Times and #1 USA Today-bestselling, Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The House in the Cerulean Sea, Under the Whispering Door, In the Lives of Puppets, the Green Creek Series for adults, the Extraordinaries Series for teens, and more. Being queer himself, Klune believes it’s important—now more than ever—to have accurate, positive queer representation in stories. Follow him on Instagram.
In this interview, TJ discusses celebrating and encouraging weird stories with his new thriller, The Bones Beneath My Skin, his hope for readers, and more.
Name: TJ Klune
Literary agent: Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency
Book title: The Bones Beneath My Skin
Publisher: Tor Books
Release date: February 4, 2025
Genre/category: Thriller
Elevator pitch: A spine-tingling standalone novel by bestselling author TJ Klune—a supernatural road-trip thriller featuring an extraordinary young girl and her two unlikely protectors on the run from cultists and the government.
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What prompted you to write this book?
I wanted to write an action movie in book form, a queer thriller that I’ve never done before. Why is it that every action movie is so heterosexual? Queer people can run from explosions and government agents just the same as everyone else. It’s fun for me to stretch my wings a bit to try different things.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
The Bones Beneath My Skin was originally written in 2017, and then self-published in 2018. From there, it was picked up by Macmillan/Tor to be republished in 2025.
The first idea of for this book came in 2015, and it was going to be completely different. I wanted to write an adult novel about a group of kids—think Stephen King’s IT. There was going to be a group of boys protecting a girl who was something special.
Sound familiar? It should, because in 2016, “Stranger Things” came out, and though I wanted to go in a different direction, it felt a bit too similar. So, I shelved it for a while, letting it percolate. It wasn’t until I started reading about cults in the 1990s that I found the direction I wanted to go in. Instead of a group of boys, it would be two broken men. The little girl, however, still exists, just not in the way I planned.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
My first publisher—an indie where I got my start in 2011—wanted to publish this book. However, I became aware of some information that I probably wasn’t supposed to hear. When the publisher sent the book to my editor there, they said something along the lines of: “This is a weird book, even by TJ Klune’s standards.”
When I was a kid, that word—weird—was used as a pejorative to describe me. I was always the weird kid. I was told that by peers, teachers, family, and it always felt like an insult. So, when I heard the publisher use that same word, it gave me these strange flashbacks to when I was a kid, and how cruel some people could be.
So, I pulled the book from the publisher and published it on my own. And now, it’s being rereleased by a publisher who not only celebrates my weirdness, but encourages it, too. This book found the right home.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
Not necessarily when writing it, but in hindsight. I wrote The House in the Cerulean Sea right after The Bones Beneath My Skin. Arguably, the character of Artemis Darth Vader is a sort of precursor to who the kids on the island would become. In fact, I often wonder what it would be like if she met, say, Lucy. I think she would be extremely fascinated by him, and that they might end up being the best of friends.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
That there is still hope in the world, even when things are at their darkest. This book is a different side of my writing, but it carries some of the same themes I’ve become known for: found family, queer peace and joy, and what it looks like when you have to fight for what you believe in.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Read as much as you write! Read fiction, read nonfiction, read fan fiction. Reading is so fundamental in becoming a better writer. I try to read anything and everything I can get my hands on. Not only can it help spark ideas, but it can also give writers a chance to see how other authors perform their craft.
