Inside Choices: A Knight In New York 🗽
Get ready to fall head over heels for the most chivalrous love interest to ever grace the streets of New York City! ⚔️🗽 We're pulling back the curtain on A Knight In New York, our enchanting reverse isekai romance that's been stealing hearts faster than you can say "fairytale ending." From bumbling assassins to adorable talking animals, we're diving deep into how our team crafted this magical blend of medieval charm and modern-day romance. So grab your favorite coffee (or mead, if you're feeling whimsical) and join us for an exclusive Q&A session with the creative minds behind this spellbinding story.
A Knight In New York's original concept was 'reverse isekai'. What does 'reverse isekai' mean, and what drew the team to this idea?
Jeffrey: Isekai, very broadly, means stories where the main character travels to another world. It can be through a portal, through death and reincarnation, or something else entirely. The reverse of that is a story about a character coming into the main character's existing world. I think the team was drawn to it because we're always looking for unique spins to add to our bread-and-butter romance stories. We know supernatural elements have earned lots of attention. So we wondered, "what if we tried something like this?"
How did this story evolve from its original concept to the final version that was released?
Jeffrey: The core of the initial pitch was LI from another world, fairytale romance with MC, and assassins from the other world to mess things up. You can go in a lot of different directions with that. One big question I grappled with was determining the threat level from the assassins. The more life-threatening the danger, the darker the tone, and I didn't want to put the MC in a place where they feel like they need to grab a weapon. Tonally, that level of violence would've been an entirely different story than what we were going for, so that became a line I couldn't cross. As a result, the assassins became bumbling henchmen. That endearing incompetence informed the danger within the fairytale tone. That tone led to basing the story structure on one fairytale-inspired story per chapter. Fairytales frequently feature animals and animal helpers, so obviously, this had to become a core component of the book. And by then you can see the core structure of the final version: MC and an LI from another world falling in love while solving fairy-tale problems (featuring bumbling henchmen) in order to get the LI back home.
All the feels! 🥺💕
There's a lot of heart in this story! How did the team make sure those emotional moments landed?
Jeffrey: I think it comes down to knowing what those emotional moments are and giving them time to breathe in the story. That way, most of a chapter should feel fun and snappy, but then slow down when it's time to sit with emotions and feel things. It also helps that we have great art. Go praise our artist for doing such wonderful work.
Which side characters (like Swan, Jack and Jill, or the magical animals) ended up being unexpected favorites?
Jeffrey: They're all expected favorites to me 😉 But I'll give Swan the nod since she's a special shoutout to all my friends obsessed with 2D men. I've been the token guy in the group chat when this group of friends is going feral over the 2D boys and all I can contribute is "Nice 😎👍"
Is there a magical creature from this book you'd want as a pet?
Jeffrey: Rufus. Though I may regret that. If you think a cat getting the zoomies at 3 am is bad, wait until it can fly. The Rufus zoomies will be scary.
Would you rather live in the fictional world of Dreamhaven or the real world of New York?
Jeffrey: Realistically, I'd want to live in New York and take vacations to Dreamhaven.
Which is better: NY style pizza, or NY style bagels?
Jeffrey: Bagels. My one regret when I was in New York was not eating more bagels. There are so many different combinations to try!
The art of bringing fantasy to life 🎨
Was there a favorite background, scene, character, or fantasy detail that you loved bringing to life?
Sam: They were all fun to work on, and I don't have a favorite art asset, but if I was forced to choose, I'd probably go for animating the love interest moment. It was challenging to get all the characters to look just right in that kneeling pose for both the Male and Female LIs.
How did you visually contrast the fantasy world of Dreamhaven with New York?
Sam: Most of the story takes place in New York, but it was a fun challenge to create art assets for both locations. The goal was to create two worlds that feel distinctly different yet narratively connected. Through use of different art language, like color palette and lighting, texture and environmental dynamics... we can create different art assets that fit the theme of the book.
What was the most fun challenge for the art team?
Sam: Creating Art for the book as a whole has been amazing. Seeing how the writer grounds the timeless mystique and otherworldly atmosphere of a fantasy setting to a story in a familiar urban reality has been great. Bringing the art to life for such a story is challenging, but fun and rewarding at the same time. The characters were particularly fun to work on (Bumplekilterskin and the Queen were especially tricky, but I like how they turned out).
Behind the writing magic ✍️
What was your approach to writing a fantasy-themed royal character in a modern setting?
Jeffrey: I think it started with finding references from other reverse isekai stories where a character has to learn how to function in the unfamiliar modern world. That helped give me some ideas to build around to get Henry a foothold in the modern world in the first few chapters. Then afterwards, judiciously finding places where Henry's ignorance of the modern world can be used to bring him and the MC closer together.
What made Henry/Henrietta fun (or challenging) to write?
Jeffrey: Generally characters in a story know how to operate and exist in the world they live in. That's not the case with Henry! There were lots of moments wondering "would a medieval knight know how to do this?" and then making space in the story to teach Henry how this world operates. It's challenging, but that's also where a lot of fun exists.
Were there any romance tropes or fairy-tale moments you knew you wanted to include from the very beginning?
Jeffrey: I wanted Henry to be a chivalric cinnamon roll, so I'm glad I got to do that. Funnily enough, there was an earlier conception of Henry where he was a bit more like Zidane from Final Fantasy 9, which would've made him more flirtatious (without really meaning it), but that version of him didn't really fit the story. As for fairytale moments... you've got talking animals. Everything beyond that is a spoiler that you'll have to play to find out.
A Knight In New York blends humor, heart, and action into a thrilling story. How do you balance these themes when writing a book like this?
Jeffrey: Balancing the humor is always the most difficult part. I have to be careful that I don't undercut the emotions of a scene or that I drag down the pacing by making too many jokes at once (less is more in this regard). I've been guilty of both of these in the past. I think through experience, I've gotten a better feel for when it's time to be funny and when it's time to prioritize other emotions, like the power fantasy of action or the heart of an emotional beat.
Speaking of humor...any scenes or chapters that made you laugh while writing it?
Jeffrey: I'm usually cackling at my desk at least once per day over some silly bit I'm writing. The humor is everywhere, but I particularly love all of the animals with their understandably warped views of the world. Oh, and Jack and Jill's intro gets me every time the music drops.
It's not everyday you get to romance a member of the royal family, so it's no surprise that players have fallen head over heels for Henry/Henrietta. What makes them stand out to you as a love interest?
Jeffrey: Choices is no stranger to royal family members. I've been involved with writing many of them myself! I think the two things that distinguish Henry are his fish out of water ignorance and his chivalric devotion. Henry isn't a himbo, but he can come across that way because he's so (understandably) clueless about the modern world. And while many LIs are devoted, Henry's blend is one that exists in a fun tension where he's proper and tied to the idea of slow-burn courtship with grand proclamations, but is also kind of head over heels for you.
Talk to us a bit more about your process. How does a story go from an idea to a finished product?
Sam: To create Art assets for a book, the initial process is usually a discussion between the writers and the Art leads to figure out the overall look and theme for the assets needed in the story. As an Art lead, the next step for me is to find all the relevant material I would need to create either a character, background, prop... that would be required for the first chapter of the book. After which, I would then proceed to create said assets with the help of the Art team. This is also the time I would start coming up with ideas for the book cover illustration. There are usually several other 'Art hand off' meetings between the Art Lead and the writer to further discuss other assets needed for the book as new chapters requiring new Art roll in.
Getting personal with the team 💭
When a book releases, do you read the comments from players on social media?
Jeffrey: I do! It's like panning for gold, I'll sift through the spice to find those nuggets of external validation 😆 I was happy to see positivity from readers of KINY.
What show or movie would your ideal love interest come out of?
Jeffrey: Any one of the many movies or shows with a smart, determined, princess type. Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean is a good example. Or Lady Mariko from Shogun as a more recent example.
Ready to embark on your own fairytale romance? A Knight In New York is available now in the Choices app! Whether you're team bagels or team pizza (we won't judge, but pizza is the correct answer), one thing's for certain: you're about to fall head over heels for the most charming knight to ever wield a smartphone. 🗽⚔️💕