1. What were your thoughts about this book as you discovered that there were both the Deal with Devil concept combined with Aliens, alongside of the main character, Katrina, being revealed as transgender? And what about the donut shop? *** Den of Geek Interview: First, what brought together the two very different speculative fiction tropes—soul-bargaining and stargates—together into the same story for you? How did you create a universe in your head where both things worked without contradicting each other? Ryka Aoki: I respect both science fiction and fantasy, but I had honest intentions and reasons to mix them in Light from Uncommon Stars . I was a little bit worried about how people would accept this—or not. But I’ve been thrilled with how readers have embraced and accepted this book. I think this book might resonate with readers because we all hold seeming contradictions. In the book, Shizuka Satomi mentions how great pieces of music contain such different-sounding sections and