The British legend of King Arthur is eternal, but every generation puts its own stamp on it, from Thomas Malory’s 15^th-century Le Morte D’Arthur to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s 1980s retelling, The Mists of Avalon. Now Gen Z gets its own version with Gwen & Art Are Not in Love (Wednesday Books, Nov. 28), the YA debut of London-based writer Lex Croucher. “Frankly a delight,” says our reviewer of this irresistible novel featuring a female knight, jousting tournaments, clandestine palace alliances, and a queer romance. (No, Gwen and Art are really not in love.) Croucher answered some questions by email; the exchange has been edited for length and clarity.

Gwen & Art Are Not in Love offers readers a fun twist on the Arthurian legends. Were those stories a big part of your childhood? Were there particular retellings that you loved?

I was actually introduced to King Arthur by Disney’s film The Sword in the Stone, and my main memory is being completely terrified of Madam Mim. I don’t think I even connected that film with King Arthur—it was just the scary fish and dragon film! It’s based on T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, which I read as an adult and completely fell in love with. Any book where a hedgehog sings a little song is golden to me.

Who is your ideal reader for this book, and where would they be reading it?

I wrote this book to entertain myself during lockdown, so it was very much written for both my past and present selves—the version of me as a teenager who didn’t have access to any queer YA books, and the lucky version of me who got to read stacks of them during lockdown to make up for everything I’d missed. Ideally, I’d like everybody to read this sitting in the rose garden of a castle—but, failing that, any cozy corner will do. I read a lot of my favorite books as a teen in the middle of the night, when I was definitely supposed to be asleep, so I take it as an enormous compliment when people tell me they were up reading until the early hours.

What kind of reader are you: digital or physical books? Audio or print? Fiction or nonfiction? All of the above? Do you typically have lots of books on the go at once?

I read everything, although I definitely skew more fiction than non. My brain overheats if I have too many books on the go, so I usually try to stick to one book on audio and one on paper. I’ve started listening to audiobooks while I run, and it’s a bit of a weird sensory experience to have romance in your ears while you’re absolutely fighting for your life in the park, but I can always tell when I’ve been getting in a lot of training, because it also means I’m doing a lot of reading.

If a writer were going to tell the story of Lex Croucher’s life, who would you choose (and why)?

Casey McQuiston. Firstly, because they’d make me sound much funnier than I actually am. Secondly, because if my life is a Casey McQuiston novel, then I’m guaranteed ride-or-die friendship, hot romance, and a happy ending.

What fall release(s) are you most looking forward to reading?

Alecto the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir, the last book in the Locked Tomb series—although I have a feeling I might be waiting until early 2024 for that one. Tamsyn is a genius, and I’m going to steal her brain.

Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.