Masterful Storyteller of Dystopian Worlds, Time-Slip Adventures, and Post-Apocalyptic Romance
Lena Gibson, award-winning author, blends dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and time-slip genres with themes of love, acceptance, and resilience. Her authentic characters, inspired by her experiences, redefine representation while delivering gripping, hopeful narratives.
Lena Gibson is a writer of extraordinary depth and imagination, seamlessly weaving together genres to craft stories that resonate with readers on a profound level. With a First-Class Honours degree in Archaeology and a background spanning History, Biology, Geography, and Environmental Education, she brings a richness of knowledge to her world-building, creating immersive settings that are as compelling as her unforgettable characters.
Her Train Hoppers series plunges readers into a dystopian future ruled by corporate overlords, yet it is not the bleakness of the world that defines her work—it is the resilience of the human spirit. In her Love and Survival series, including The Edge of Life and Aftermath: Into the Unknown, she explores post-apocalyptic landscapes infused with romance, reminding us that even in the darkest times, love and hope endure. Meanwhile, her time-slip novels, The Wish and the forthcoming The Right Time: Back to the 80s, blur the boundaries of time and reality, proving that great storytelling knows no limits.
A newly recognised autistic author, Lena is also redefining representation in fiction. Her characters, shaped by her own experiences, challenge outdated portrayals and offer readers authentic, deeply nuanced perspectives on neurodiversity. She has dedicated her craft to writing characters who are complex, vibrant, and real—people who struggle, mask, adapt, and ultimately find strength in their differences.
Lena Gibson is a storyteller in every sense of the word—whether as an author, a teacher, or the keeper of family lore. She does not simply write stories; she crafts experiences, drawing us into worlds where adversity is met with defiance, love is found in unexpected places, and hope remains an unshakable force. It is an absolute privilege to feature her in this issue of Reader’s House magazine.
Lena Gibson masterfully intertwines genres, crafting deeply moving narratives filled with rich world-building, unforgettable characters, and an unwavering message of hope.
How do your experiences as an elementary school teacher and keeper of family lore influence your writing?
In both roles, story-telling is important. I have an excellent memory and have always enjoyed telling stories about my past, my parents, and my grandparents. I loved to make my childhood sound like an adventure rather than difficult, which it was. As a teacher, I’m providing lessons and building connections with my students so I seem like a real person–not just their teacher. This also helps when creating characters.
In your “Train Hoppers” series, how do you balance speculative elements with themes of love, hope, and acceptance?
In my Train Hoppers series, I created a dystopian society controlled by corporate overlords. That’s the setting for my story, but the characters are how I create the balance. Like us, they need love, acceptance, and hope. Each book has four to six characters who find in each other the family and acceptance they’ve been missing. Within each is a romantic subplot, while the ensemble works together, maximizing their strengths to find hope and rebel against the corporatocracy. Writing about hope in the face of adversity is a relevant theme, especially living in current times that seem darker than ever.
Can you discuss how your First-Class Honors degree in Archaeology and minors in History, Biology, Geography, and Environmental Education inform your world-building?
My educational background shows my varied interests, including the climate crisis and knowledge of the geography of western North America where many of my stories are set. For example, in The Edge of Life: Love and Survival During the Apocalypse, I wanted to show the beauty of the world even in the face of a world-ending event like an asteroid impact. I used what I knew from my education, family trips, museum visits, hiking, and my knowledge of climate, tectonic plates, and volcanoes to create obstacles for my characters.
As an adult newly recognized with autism, how do you incorporate this experience into your characters and narratives?
It’s bothered me for years that many autistic characters in books are flat, emotionless characters who don’t understand social interactions and come off as comic, or stunted. I want to write characters that show different aspects of ASD that are more common than people think. After all, I was hiding in plain sight for 49 years before my autism diagnosis. If I have the courage to be up-front about my experiences, perhaps it will give other people, especially girls and women who are underdiagnosed, permission to do the same.
My autism often shows in my hyperfocus or feelings that are too big instead of non-existent. I’ve spent my life masking when I’m not at home and I know how much energy this takes. I hope to portray characters who struggle with similar issues in everyday life but are true to themselves and find strength in their differences.
I think I have become more subtle at creating characters that reflect this experience but still show key aspects of dealing with ASD.
How does your passion for different genres manifest in your writing style and the blending of genres in your works?
By choice, I have yet to write a single-genre story. My stories tend to be love stories wrapped inside a different genre, whether they’re time slip, women’s fiction, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, or motorcycle racing. I also utilize aspects of psychological horror, thrillers, and action-adventure stories. I love to read all these genres and deliberately combine genres by incorporating key aspects as I write.
An early review of my upcoming January 2026 publication, The Right Time: Back to the 80s was referred to as “genre-defying.” I prefer that wording to genre-mishmash or even combined genre. I imagine braiding threads of different genres to create something unique.
I couldn’t find enough stories like this to read, so I decided to write my own. By July 2026, I will have four series, all different genres.
The Wish: A Time Slip Novel is romantic women’s fiction, a thriller, and has speculative elements. My upcoming second time-slip novel, The Right Time: Back to the 80s is also women’s fiction.
The Love and Survival series (The Edge of Life and Aftermath: Into the Unknown) is apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic romance.
The Train Hoppers series (Switching Tracks: Out of the Trash, The Long Haul: Pursuit of Hope, and Rebels and Saints: Catching Freedom) are post-apocalyptic/dystopian adventures.
My August 2025 publication (Racing Toward Destiny: Love on Track) is a sports romance and/or women’s fiction.
What challenges do you face when writing post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction, and how do you overcome them?
I don’t find it challenging, I find it freeing. I love writing post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction because I can keep relatable components of our environment, problems, and society, but change what I want. The speculative nature of these genres allows my imagination to play a part in my writing. I enjoy mixing the past, the present, and the future to create something new.
What advice would you offer to aspiring authors looking to create authentic and relatable characters in speculative fiction?
I think it’s the same for characters in any genre, make readers care about your characters and what happens to them. If the characters feel real or strike a chord, I’ve done a satisfying job of making authentic and relatable characters.
