Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Zilla: Science fiction gives a ripe field for comedy, and you find it in spades in Brian K. Lowe’s novels Alien House and Wasted Space. He’s here to tell us about them—Brian, take it away

Brian: Phil was sent to Earth to masquerade as a college student to size us up for invasion, but his ship crash-landed and he lost his weapons, papers, and most importantly, his clothes. Needing a place to stay, Phil pledges Alpha Tau Ceti, the worst frat on campus.

Resurrecting his mission from the ground up turns out to be the least of his problems: someone is shooting at him with lasers, the dean wants him to help with a TV show about UFOs, his fraternity brothers are hiding a secret in the basement, he keeps losing his pants, and worst of all, nobody warned him that Earth girls were so cute.

Conquer the Earth or spend time in the library stacks with a cheerleader? No one said college would be this hard.

Zilla: What inspired you to write this book?

Brian: There was no divine inspiration; it kind of just grew on me over the course of a few days until I had no choice but to write it. I still don’t know where it came from (but I have some vague hints).

Zilla: If you could meet your characters, what would you say to them?

Brian: When I meet high-school grads headed to college, I always tell them that the next four years will be the most amazing, inspiring, and enjoyable time of their lives, the period where they will enjoy the most freedom with the least responsibility. I tell them not to hurry and to appreciate the ride. If I were to meet the ATC gang, that advice would be superfluous, because these guys have mastered the art of college living. I’d probably just remind them, “Recycle your empties.”

Zilla: How much research did you need to do for your book?

Brian: I did very little research, because most of what happens was inspired (loosely) by real events. Most of the characters are amalgams or exaggerated versions of people I knew. Whether anyone I went to college with was actually an alien is a question we debate to this day.

Zilla: Is your work more plot-driven or character-driven?

Brian: Most of my work is plot-driven, without question. Alien House, though, I like to think of more as character-driven, because it’s Phil’s arc as college forces him to grow up (like a lot of us away from home for the first time). I feel the sequel, Wasted Space, is more of the plot-driven story that I typically write.

Zilla: What’s your next writing project?

Brian: Because I can’t focus on one genre, there’s an urban fantasy novel, the sequel to my first space opera, and a disparate handful of short stories all shouting for my attention. It’s anybody’s guess which one gets finished first.

Zilla: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Brian: All my work is listed at www.brianklowe.wordpress.com. Alien House and Wasted Space available on Amazon.