Fox Beckman – Beyond the Blurb – Representation For All Series

Stolen From Tomorrow (Trust Trilogy, Book 1)

Ravi Abhiramnew’s job is simple: hunt down and neutralize supernatural threats. That is until he meets Cayenne, a charismatic time traveler who claims to know everything about him—even his most closely guarded secrets.

Going to dinner with Cayenne is probably a bad idea, and a romantic island getaway definitely is.

When a monster picks their resort as its hunting ground, Ravi’s combat skills and Cayenne’s time magic should make it a breeze to kill the monster and get their vacation back on track. But it turns out the real danger lurks much, much closer…

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Beyond the Blurb

Beyond the blurb, tell us about your book. 

Stolen from Tomorrow is the first in a genre-bending trilogy, an action-packed time-travel romance with monster fights, lots of snark and spice, and generational trauma—all the fun stuff! 

Professional monster hunter Ravi grew up knowing that there very well could be a monster under his bed, along with half a dozen different ways to kill it. More comfortable on the battlefield than he is in a conversation, Ravi is used to keeping his true self hidden, and everyone around him at arm’s length. Beneath his thorny exterior, he’s dedicated, good-hearted, and longing for connection.

Cayenne [last name unknown] was born in the year [unknown] in [unknown location] and discovered their innate ability to travel freely through time at age [unknown]. Never revealing anything incriminating about themself, Cayenne is a perpetual mystery, and that’s just the way they like it. Here’s what we do know:

• Enigmatic them-fatale 
• French accent 
• Clock tattoo
• Owes Ravi some kind of debt

Ravi and Cayenne both have secrets. Neither can afford to get caught. But whether it’s a good idea or not, Ravi and Cayenne are drawn to each other like moths to flame. Only time will tell if that spark burns down everything in its path.

What are the main themes? How about tone?

I go into any book with one or two Big Ideas I want to explore, but with The Trust Trilogy, “one or two” just wasn’t gonna cut it. For what looks on the surface to be a spicy supernatural romp, there’s a lot going on here. We got:

1.) The Mortifying Ideal of Being Known, 

2.) The Value of Found Family, 

3.) Subverting the Chosen One Trope, 

and most of all, 4.) The Transformative Nature of Love and Trauma. 

Also, there are some pretty peppery sex scenes. 🙂

What was the biggest challenge writing this book?

Piece of advice, never write a time travel story! Keeping the complex, twisty timeline nailed down over the whole trilogy was a serious challenge. You should see my murder wall of sticky notes.

What inspired you to write this story?

The Trust Trilogy is my first foray into contemporary urban fantasy. My roots are in historical/high fantasy, but Stolen from Tomorrow was inspired by the ‘Monster of the Week’ genre found in all sorts of media, and especially inspired by those with mythic story arcs—Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, the Dresden Files, and TTRPGs to name but a few.

Another (less fun) inspiration for The Trust Trilogy was partly a desire to speak on my experiences with manipulative narcissists. (Sometimes, the real monsters are the friends we’ve made along the way!) For me, Ravi’s journey throughout the books was enormously healing, and I hope it helps others who’ve lived through similar struggles.

Are you the type of writer that plans everything out or do you fly by the seat of your pants?  Some combo therein?

I always have some rough outline in my head, but in the process of writing, I like to leave enough room to surprise myself. Sticking to a rigid plan never works for me.

Do you write in order or skip around?

Mostly in order. Sometimes I’ll have a future scene stuck in my head that I must write down before I forget it. Then I’ll go back to fill in the gaps.

Be honest. Do you control the plot, or do your characters take over?

Honestly, the plot is whatever the characters choose to do! My secret to ‘controlling plot’ is knowing my characters well enough to predict what kinds of situations will make them grow—or break them. I just plunk them in a scene and watch the fireworks!

Do you have a favorite side character?

An impossible choice! The first book introduces a diverse cast of engaging characters that you’ll see much more of later in the series, and they’re all a blast to write! If I had to pick, I’d go with Constance, a hedgewitch tossed forward in time from the 1200s with her talking cat Griswold. Her uncertain grasp of modern-day English continually delights me.

Have you learned anything while writing this book?

Tons! I’m an avid researcher. I will absolutely get lost for days down the research rabbit hole. For my last novel (m/m fairy-tale romance Brendan & the Beast) I learned enough about Baroque-era France to fill two books! Similarly, with Stolen from Tomorrow I got deep into monster folklore, South Indian cosmology and culture, and martial arts. My search history and bookmark tabs are wild, believe me.

What do you plan to write next?

While the next two books of The Trust Trilogy are being published, I’ve been drafting up a new m/m fantasy adventure-romance, tentatively titled Red Wolf. It’s got all my trademarks—magic as allegory for otherness, talking animals, and emotionally stunted boys falling in love. Plus, fantasy geopolitics and cultural revolution, so that’s a fun bonus!

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Fox Beckman (she/they) is an author with a penchant for spicy stories about swords, sorcery, and smooching. Her books feature strong, nuanced characters that interrogate the status quo and subvert expectations. A member of both the Loft Literary Center and the Author’s Guild, Fox lives in the Twin Cities with too many hobbies and a very patient spouse.

Representation For All

Characters They Write About: Oodles of queer rep! The whirlwind romance of Stolen from Tomorrow is between a closeted gay Indian man and a flamboyantly flirty nonbinary character of mysterious origins. Ravi’s team of monster-hunting weirdos is comprised of a pansexual witch, an asexual angel, a bisexual professor, and there’s even one or two straight characters sprinkled in, if you squint.

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Where you can find Fox:

Website: https://www.foxbeckman.com/

Twitter / Instagram: @foxbeckman