Say hello to author H.D. Hunter! His book, Futureland: The Architect Games, was published on November 19, 2024, by Random House Books for Young Readers. This is the last book in the Futureland trilogy about the adventures of Cam Walker and a flying theme park created by his parents. Today we’re going to talk about his latest book, his revision process, and more, so let’s get into it!
Interview with H.D.:
SN: What was the process like collaborating with Cake Literary on Futureland? What drew you to the premise and was it like hammering out a plot and beats together, or did you get an outline and go away and do your thing?
HDH: Futureland is so complicated! What initially drew me to the premise was that the story seemed so fun. I wanted to write something fun and exciting for kids. The worldbuilding across Futureland feels boundless, the characters are many and varied, and we had to find a good way to plot a cohesive mystery in three parts across three different locations. But somehow, make it all flow together! Working with CAKE required a lot of sharing insights and opinions and many more rounds of revision than usual. Still, each book was different. By the time I was ready to draft The Architect Games, I was pretty much doing my own thing with outlining, plotting beats, genre-bending, and all that. But when we started, it was very much a lock-step collaborative process.
SN: You’re known as the fastest reviser, what’s that process like for you? How many drafts do you usually write, and how do you know when you’re done?
HDH: Haha! I look at revising as a system. I like to be super organized. So, I know what revisions I’m going to make on which round of reviewing the manuscripts. Sometimes I’ll go through just for character changes. Sometimes I’m just adding scenes. Other times I’m just removing them. Each round through has its own focus so I can keep my eye trained on one thing, and that helps me move swiftly. Revising is like nurturing a plant to me. The “fast” part is that you show up every day and make your deposit. You water and fertilize, and it feels like it takes forever, but eventually, your seed sprouts and the blooms come after that.
I usually will have between five and seven drafts, but I think I’m getting better—I’m needing lighter revisions from start to end on some of my newer projects. Personally, I love my work. I’m a little delusional in that I don’t hate my first drafts or really struggle with imposter system. And I really enjoy reading my writing. So, I know I’m “done” with a book when I get bored of reading it, haha. It’s like okay, it’s good, there’s nothing left to change, I’m not having fun polishing anymore. Must be time to publish!
SN: You’ve written across genres; what do you enjoy the most when writing for a middle-grade audience?
HDH: My favorite thing about writing middle grade is the comedy. No matter what sort of story you’re writing, there’s a whimsy that plays in middle grade, unlike any other category. I write about a lot of serious things—but when I’m writing in middle grade, I feel the freedom to be silly and fun, and it makes me excited that I can meet readers with that version of my writing.
SN: What was your a-ha moment when you knew, “Yes, I want to be a writer!”
HDH: I was in fourth grade! I had fallen in love with the poem Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe, and my teacher, Miss Green, explained to me what it meant to be an author. She told me I could write my ideas and stories and end up in somebody’s textbook one day, maybe even 100 years later, just like Edgar Allan Poe. That was all I needed to hear.
SN: Growing up, what was the book that made you become a reader and why?
HDH: According to my parents, I came out reading! I started to read very early, around age two, which was a big tip-off to my neurodivergence. I always had books in hand and I enjoyed horror, fantasy, and stories about history. I can’t really name just one book, but I was enthralled with things like Goosebumps and Louis Sachar’s Wayside series.
SN: You’ve self-published and you’ve had multiple books published traditionally, what advice would you give new writers who are deciding what route to take in getting their stories out in the world?
HDH: I would encourage writers to define success on their own terms. There are many ways to have an incredibly fulfilling career, whether you’re indie or traditional, and most authors I know aspire to do some sort of hybrid career. Prioritizing what’s important to you is a good first step. Do you care more about creative control or reach? Do you want an easier path to recognizable legitimacy, or are you more eager about building connections from the ground up? Both sides of my career have given me amazing experiences, and they truly aren’t interchangeable for me. So, have your cake and eat it, too! But which route you start with will likely be determined by what you imagine your ideal publishing experience to look like.
SN: People tend to romanticize the writing life. You’ve been a full-time writer since 2019; what was the most surprising aspect of writing full-time that you didn’t expect? What’s your writing routine like?
HDH: When I’m in project, I’m writing in hour-long sprints at least 4-6 times a day. I write mid-length novels, so I’m trying to get to a first draft of between sixty-five and seventy-five thousand words. If I can clock six thousand words in a day, I can finish up a first draft relatively quickly and then take my sweet time to revise and polish. This speed also helps me stay engaged with the piece, and not lose the pulse due to other life obligations or project fatigue. I have the privilege of writing full-time as a career—so this volume isn’t possible for everybody. But I think a daily writing practice, even if it’s only fifty words, can be good for anyone committed to finishing a project.
I think the most surprising part about taking on writing as a full-time career is how similar it is to any other full-time career. I didn’t escape the corporate world, or bureaucracy, or some of the other factors that can sometimes make business challenging. That was probably a bit naïve of me, but if I could do it all over, I’d just be a bit more intentional about preparing how to navigate a version of the corporate world where art is the main product, especially with so high a personal stake in my art.
SN: What’s next for you?
HDH: I’ve got a lot cooking! The Futureland series ends with The Architect Games in November 2024. I’m out on sub soon with a YA Fantasy. I’m drafting a YA apocalyptic-adventure-romance. My next scheduled release is in 2026; it’s a YA horror about Georgia’s very own haunted lake, Lake Lanier. Search for the lake on Tik-Tok or Google if you haven’t heard of it!
Book Recs
SN: Young black boys are an often overlooked/underserved demographic in publishing. Do you have a few middle-grade books you could recommend for them?
HDH: The Last Last-Day-of-Summer by Lamar Giles
Nothing Interesting Ever Happens to Ethan Fairmont by Nick Brooks
Alex Wise vs the End of the World by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Fun question:
SN: If you could have two superhero powers, what would they be?
HDH: Teleportation, easy. And I’d want to be able to speak every language known to existence.
Thank you H.D. for such a fun interview! Wishing you much success with your latest book!
About H.D. Hunter
Author H.D. Hunter
Hugh “H.D.” Hunter is a storyteller, teaching artist, and community organizer from Atlanta, Georgia. He’s the author of Torment: A Novella and Something Like Right, as well as the winner of several international indie book awards for multicultural fiction. You can find his work online in Porter House Review.
Hugh is also the author of the Futureland series, including Battle for the Park, which was named a Georgia Center for the Book 2023 Book All Young Georgians Should Read. Battle for the Park is also a 2024 selection for the CORE Excellence in Children’s Science Fiction Notable list. Futureland: The Nightmare Hour and Futureland: The Architect Games are the second and third books in the series.
Website: www.hughhdhunter.com
Instagram: @hdhunterbooks
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She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Otis College of Art and Design and her BA in Journalism from the University of Southern California. Her first early reader will be published by Simon & Schuster in ’25.
I didn’t realize there was a book 3 out! I’m going to have to get it asap!