What are some of your favorite moments in the book? Are there any particular characters or situations that you most identify with or that were the most fun to write?
I’m a huge fan of makeover moments, particularly if it’s a montage set to a classic 1980s song. Although it doesn’t have a soundtrack in the book, the most fun scenes to write were the ones where Gracie is exploring her new luxurious world. Even though I dress for comfort （read: sweatpants） I’d kill to have a walk-in closet filled with designer clothes like Gracie has in her hotel room. I’d just stand in the closet and admire them.
What was the hardest scene to write?
Spoiler alert, but I’m going to assume if you’re reading this, you’ve finished the book. The hardest scene to write was Gracie’s confrontation with Todd on the balcony. I personally wanted Todd to get a really brutal comeuppance, like a total knock-out. I also needed it to be realistic to Gracie’s character. Balancing the two to make it emotionally satisfying took multiple rewrites.
On its release as an audio original, there was an amazing response from listeners. What are some things fans of the story enjoyed that you were excited to see?
I was thrilled at the response from readers. I was moved to see how many people resonated with the mental health themes of the book, and how the characters deal with it in their individual ways.
Mental health issues are still stigmatized, hidden or endured in isolation because people are ashamed to ask for help or scared to express their feelings. I’d love to see mental health discussions normalized and as a writer, the way I do this is through my characters. I wanted Gracie, Fangli, and Sam to represent how some people might approach those often incredibly important but difficult conversations.
What was it like to first hear Phillipa Soo narrate the audiobook?
It was extraordinary. A performance like Phillipa’s brings an additional layer of brightness and depth to the characters. I have a huge amount of respect for her performance and gratitude for how careful she was in her interpretation of the text.
You balanced social issues in this novel with humor and heart. Why did you feel it was important to push the boundaries of the traditional love story to include more complexity and nuance?
Good characters have multi-faceted lives. They work, they have friends. They get overwhelmed by big problems and aggravated by small ones. It makes sense to me to reflect that in the story as well, since when we fall in love, we fall in love as whole people, bringing with us all of the intertwined joy and pain and confusion of our lives. Characters should, too.
How did your own experience as a bicultural author inform your characters’ stories? How else has your background and lived experience influenced your work? Are there any scenes that you pulled from real life?
Experiences of racialized people depend on so many factors: family, gender, geography, dominant culture, and ethnic background being only a few. But at the same time, I think there are common moments for many of us. Straddling two cultures shapes how we perceive our identity, the world, and our place in it. There are definitely some elements of real-life reflected in Gracie’s story. Her attempt to learn Chinese is identical to my own. I use an app, too!
What are you hoping readers will walk away from your book thinking about or talking about?
I hope there are enough elements that will resonate with different readers. Some may wish there’s a real Eppy app available （I do） or come away finally feeling seen in a book that features characters like them. My overall goal was that people could lose themselves in a different world for a few enjoyable hours. If I achieved that, I’m happy.
There is a lot about family and how that is defined in the book. Why did you want to tackle that issue?
I like to write multi-dimensional characters and family is a huge component of who we are and how we’re shaped as people. To have a story without family, or that didn’t incorporate the impacts of family, both good and bad, would be like having a sandwich without bread.
What do you think are the most important elements of good writing/storytelling?
When I look back at stories I’ve enjoyed versus stories I’ve adored, the main difference is that the enjoyable stories have had strong plot or strong character elements. The incredible ones have had both. Having that mix, and then layering on themes and threading through motifs build stories that people want to keep reading.
If you were to write a spin-off about a secondary character, who would it be?
Wei Fangli. We’re not all movie stars, but I think most people can relate to her longing for connection, her battle with balancing her professional and personal lives, and her struggles with coping with her mental health. She’s a very rich character who I could see going in many different directions.