Hello and welcome! Today I'm sharing with you an exclusive interview from, quite frankly, one of the most amazing debut authors of 2019. . . Joan He!
Read on to find out what Joan's been up to at the age of 13 (hint: nude models), her favorite character(s) to write in DotC and her advice for all aspiring writers!
Author links:
I'm horrible at bios so let's do a fact list instead:
As a second-generation Chinese American, I was raised on a diet of Chinese cartoons and dramas. Journey to the West was basically my Sponge Bob.
I'm a recent grad of the University of Pennsylvania, where I majored in Psychology and minored in East Asian Language and Cultures.
Cats and wombats for life.
The weirder the story, the better.
I am represented by John Cusick of Folio Lit.
Source: Author's website
Hi Joan and welcome to My Bookish Escapades! Thank you so much for making this possible! I just wanted to say DESCENDANT has such a gorgeous cover and I am so in love! To start off, can you tell us a little something about DESCENDANT? Something no one else knows perhaps?
Hmm…secrets, secrets. I’ve been very public about my journey with DESCENDANT so I’m having a hard time thinking of something that I haven’t already blabbed all over the internet :’) But fun fact (well, not so fun for me): the book used to be written in 1st person, and we changed to that to 3rd during the revision process, after a major rewrite too.
Publishers Weekly dubbed DESCENDANT as "Chinese Game of Thrones" and I think they're not far off. How did you develop the plot and characters of DESCENDANT to make it such a compelling, diverse and addictive read?
Well, I definitely bit off a lot more than I could chew at first—hence the super heavy revisions. But I really just wanted to write a story as complex as the Chinese palace dramas I watched, one that respected the reader’s intelligence too. As a teen, I never wanted to be spoon-fed a story; I wanted to be puzzling things in real time. I also wanted to write a character journey that was less than triumphant. Failure has consequences for everyone, including the main character—especially the main character. Fear of failure plagued me as a teen—failing myself, failing expectations of parents, teachers, peers, etc.—and too often, I found that main characters felt invincible. Don’t get me wrong—it’s always refreshing to read about a heroine who takes names and kicks ass. But sometimes you aren’t free to kick all the ass you want, and I wanted to write a story that showed that, a story that featured a main character who can try very, very hard at what she does but still face limitations, and still fail—and come out stronger for it.
I understand DESCENDANT is your first published book? What was the highlight of writing it/having it published?
The highlight has definitely been having it reach readers. I love seeing what other people love about the story. No two tastes are the same!
Personally, I absolutely fell in love with Akira. Is it weird that half the reason I loved DESCENDANT is purely because of him? Who's your favorite character to write in DESCENDANT? And if you can describe her/him in three words, what would those be?
Akira was a fun one to write, much more fun than Hesina for sure. But my favorites to write would probably be one of the brothers, Sanjing or Caiyan. Or Sanjing and Caiyan together in a room—that would be explosive. Since they are such opposites, I’ll give you six adjectives. Fire vs ice, heart vs mind, outspoken vs reserved.
What do you hope readers would take away from DESCENDANT?
What I said above: it’s okay to fail. During my teenage years especially, I felt like all the forces in the world were against me, and that’s a feeling I really tried to capture in DESCENDANT. In retrospect, I now see that not everything in high school was as life or death as I thought they were :’) But, in a fantasy world, those stakes can be real. And when faced with those stakes, you don’t have to succeed to grow. Growth can come from realizing that maybe something isn’t for you, or maybe you need a different approach. Growth can come even when you need to retreat just to figure out how to tackle the next day.
I have a Bachelor's Degree in engineering but ever since I fell in love with reading, countless times I've thought "what if I was a writer?" Did you always know you were gonna be a writer?
Nope. I was actually training to become a professional artist from the ages of 7 to 13. I took a lot of classes and would head to the studio every single day after school (translation: I saw at least hundreds of nude models before the age of 13—all in the name of art of course ;)). But it’s one thing to be good at something and love the validation that comes with it, and another thing to love something wholly in itself. I enjoyed art and was good at it, and I liked being seen as the “artist,” but I didn’t feel a burning passion to do it when no one was watching or praising me, and that was a red flag. When it came to writing, I wrote even when my parents didn’t approve of it, or when I wasn’t necessarily seen as the best writer at school. I for fun, and I loved it.
I tried writing once. Embarrassingly, I only got as far as the first chapter before I gave up. Do you have any writing advice for aspiring writers?
Write the stories only YOU can write. Though DESCENDANT is my debut, I’d finished 3 manuscripts before it. Those all catered to the trends. I wrote the stories that everyone was writing, because I’d loved reading them. But writing is rewriting, and I’ve found that the only stories I’ve managed to stick with and see through the grueling process are the ones that truly feel like mine. When I know I’m the only one who can come up with these stories, I feel more urgency, dedication, and ownership. I know that my voice matters, and if I don’t write that story, no one else will.
Last but not the least and this is purely for the most selfish of reasons but.. is there anything you can tell us about book two? I know this is most probably still kept hush, hush but DESCENDANT left me hanging and I'm just so excited (and a bit scared honestly) to see what happens next. No need to say anything if you don't have to though. 😉
Ah this question! It’s complicated. I answer it pretty in depth here.
Thank you so much Joan for being here! I feel so lucky to have read your debut in advance. It was such a surreal experience. So excited to read it again! Looking forward to reading more books from you. Have a lovely day =)
Don't miss Joan He's 2019 debut, Descendant of the Crane!
DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE
by Joan He
Release Date: April 9, 2019; Albert Whitman Company
From Goodreads:
Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own.
Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father’s killer, Hesina does something desperate: she engages the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death... because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.
Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant and alluring investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?
In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.
In this shimmering Chinese-inspired fantasy, debut author Joan He introduces a determined and vulnerable young heroine struggling to do right in a world brimming with deception.
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