Author Interview + Review: K-Pop Idol Diaries by Go Futa!

Author: Go Futa

Genre: Young Adult

Date Published: July 21st 2020 

Page Number: 186

Gigi is a 16-year-old from South Korea, who dreams of becoming an idol for the famed talent agency, One-Shot Entertainment. As fate would have it, Gigi is recruited as their newest trainee, but winds up in a situation far from what she ever dreamed of when she’s placed in an experimental unit group project code-named “SKS.” From there, Gigi’s new life as a K-Pop idol begins to unfold more like a K-Drama after she’s assigned to the newly defined co-ed unit SKS-7, and must adjust to working with 6 male bandmates who aren’t very thrilled by her placement in their group.

Will Gigi be able to survive in SKS-7 and the world of Korean idol life, or will her dreams go up in flames as quickly as they were ignited?

This book sounds interesting, right? Before I give you my thoughts, let's hear a little from the author! Keep reading to see what Go Futa has to say about her writing process, inspiration, and struggles.

Interview

Q: What inspired you to write K-pop Idol Diaries? 

A: We’ve been writing stories as a hobby since high school, so we’re always constantly thinking of stories. However, K-Pop Idol Diaries is the first story that we’ve worked on as a duo (the author has a twin sister who co-writes with her, how cool!). We were inspired by the idea after attending K-Con NY (A Korean convention that features a lot of K-Pop groups!) 3 years ago. While attending the concert, something just clicked when watching the many boy and girl groups performing – wouldn’t it be interesting if there were a mixture of boys and girls in one group? Would what the dynamics of that group be like? At the time, we were unaware of KARD (the only co-ed group in K-pop), who had yet to officially debut, so the idea seemed somewhat infeasible when we were discussing whether that had ever been done. However, once they did a few weeks later, we resurfaced the idea and decided to develop it further. Even though we had never written a story together, something about this idea seemed interesting, and we both wanted to work on it, so that’s how K-Pop Idol Diaries was born.  

Q: Why write about a co-ed group rather than the typical K-pop group?

A: We decided to use a setup that’s typical in manga, i.e. reverse harem, but highly unusual for a K-Pop group, as we thought this would tell an interesting story. We like reading reverse harem manga, but a lot of the time, the male characters are usually tropes, and the heroine often lacks personality, or is disguised as a boy in a gender-bender “twist.” Hence, we really wanted to create characters who not only had depth, but also felt real. So, while the group setup might not be the most believable, we figured that as long as the characters were, readers would buy into the co-ed group setup, and hopefully fall in love with them as well! 

Q: I think it is interesting that Gigi is a rapper, something girls in K-pop aren’t well known for, what made you write her as a rapper?

A: I think this is similar to why we decided to write about a co-ed group rather than a typical K-Pop group – we wanted to write a scenario not usually found in K-Pop. Coming from the West, we see female hip-hop stars all the time, and they all seem so strong, determined, and confident. We really wanted to create a heroine who possessed those same traits, so developing her as a rapper felt the most natural. Gigi being a rapper also opened the door for the scenario of why Gigi would be placed in a previously all-male group in the first place. Because “hardcore” female rappers aren’t typically found in girl groups like Twice or Red Velvet, it helped set the stage that such a rapper like Gigi wouldn’t feel at home in those groups, and would be a better fit for a group like Big Bang for instance.

Q: What is your writing process like with your twin sister being your co-author? Do you write together or do you each write your own scenes?

A: It’s really fun working together, and a lot of that has to do with our writing process. Basically, we wrote the story as if we were doing a role-play, where one twin would “play” as Gigi and 3 members of SKS, and the other twin would play as the other 3 members. So although we planned out the scenes together, there’s some level of randomness based on how one twin thinks a certain character would react to the other’s dialogue. This method worked out nice because it ensured characters were written consistently, but it also caused us to favor the characters we were assigned to role-play as (haha)! Unfortunately, the twin writing for Gigi has the most work because they have to write out her thoughts that eventually becomes edited as the narration. 

Q: What is the hardest part about writing a book about the Kpop industry? Did the fact that the novel is based in Korea make it harder in any way since it’s a foreign country?

A: Good question. The hardest part was definitely all the research involved. It’s pretty difficult writing about something that’s foreign, as it requires a lot of research for even a basic level of realism. Although we love K-Pop, we don’t have a deep knowledge of the industry beyond a fantasized view, so while we did our due diligence, we knew it would be impossible to be completely accurate without being in the industry ourselves – and that’s true with writing a story for any industry, regardless of whether it’s in a foreign country or not. As far as the setting, we made 2 trips to Korea between writing this book to feel more connected to where these characters lived, the food they ate, etc. This really gave us an appreciation for the culture beyond just the music, and was one of the most fun parts of our research. We still have more research to do regarding culture and society, but having both minored in Japanese language and culture in university, studying other cultures is something we enjoy doing. 

Q: Is there a character in the novel that you and your sister relate to or reminds you of yourself? If so, why?

A: Definitely the twins, Michael and Jordan (haha)! We actually gave them some characteristics of ourselves. For example, they’re born 1 minute apart, one twin is more outgoing while the other is more shy, and of course, they’re inseparable. Being twins ourselves, we wanted to stay away from obvious twin tropes like being portrayed as tricksters, constantly speaking at the exact same time, and possessing indistinguishable personalities. We know quite a few other twins and can confirm this is not the case! So there’s a lot of them in us, and it was fun putting some of our experiences as twins in our book. 

Q: If you or your sister had the chance to join a K-pop group like Gigi, which group would you choose and why?

A: BTS! They’re our absolutely favorite group, and not only do they produce amazing music, but they’re also inspirational. Their underdog journey gives us hope that we should never give up on our dreams, and that’s the positivity we’ve kept with us through our journey of releasing our first novel – which has been a dream of ours for a while. 

Q: This is part one of the K-pop Idol Diaries; what can readers expect in the next installment?

A: Readers can look forward to the debut of SKS-7! Will it go more smoothly than their preparations? And, along with some new characters introduced, expect to find more drama as well, cause if there’s one thing Gigi’s no stranger to – it’s drama! Please look forward to it!  

What a cool journey, right? The amount of time and effort Go Futa put into this book is amazing and it definitely shows. Speaking of, I would say its time for my thoughts! 

Review:

I have to say that this book really surprised me. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the characters and plot of this book really stood out to me. 

Gigi was a force to be reckoned with and Go Futa succeeded in creating a strong and determined female character. I enjoyed getting inside Gigi's head and seeing things through her eyes. She drove the story forward, and I was never bored even for a second. Then we have the boys. SKS-7 is full of characters, that is for sure. I loved that the boys really stood out on their own and didn't blend together, which can happen in a reverse harem novel like this. Each member had their own personality and I enjoyed getting to know each one. Together they created a highly entertaining mix and I want more!

The next part I want to touch on is the plot of the book. The story-line flowed well and kept me interested from start to finish. I was always wanting more and waiting for more drama to emerge, and I was not disappointed. I wasn't able to put the book down for a second. The pacing was good, but I would have liked an ending even if it was an open ending, meaning we would have gotten the idea that this wasn't the end. This is part one of a bigger picture, but I wanted there to be more of an ending than there was. However, that did not take away from the entertaining story so I wasn't too bummed about the way it ended. I was left wanting so much more! Speaking of, I would've also liked a bit more romance in this installment or a sign of what to expect in the next part of the series. I was a little disappointed that romance didn't play a big role in this part, but I understand that introducing the characters and setting was more crucial in this part. However, in the end, I still really enjoyed the book.

I cannot wait to see what Gigi does next and how her relationship progresses with the other members because I can already see sparks. Don't forget to add K-Pop Idol Diaries to your Goodreads TBR list and buy it on Amazon!