Where art meets writing and settles down in a quaint studio in Midtown Manhattan, Yao Xiao’s creative mind is able to run free. Xiao is a cartoonist and illustrator from Tianjin, China and is based in New York City. Much of her work reflects inner thoughts and complex experiences she has faced. Her walls are embellished with old work as well as newer projects. Memories flutter around her workspace, from smiley pictures of her and her friends to written letters compiled on a pin board. 

It’s no wonder nostalgia comes up for Xiao– she has made a resting place for herself, to allow her to open up Pandora’s box. EnVi had the pleasure of speaking with Xiao in her studio about exploring writing as a method of self expression.

Early Journey In Art

Drawing came naturally to Xiao from a young age; it was something she did without much thought. It wasn’t until she read an old Chinese graphic novel named Zhang Yu Liang Zhuan (The Story of Zhang Yu Liang) when she realized pursuing art was a career option. 

The novel follows a woman named Zhang Yu Liang from China who moved to Paris to study painting. She taught herself painting from books and furthered her studies in art by attending an art academy, Xiao explained. The woman went on to participate in art shows, and have her own exhibitions, and even had a studio to do her art. “I think it gave me an idea of how someone can take this path,” Xiao said, recounting the contents of the story. 

Much like Yu Liang, Yao Xiao came to New York City from China as a high school student and soon after went to the School of Visual Arts to pursue art and illustration. Following a similar path as Yu Liang over the years, Xiao has been active in art shows and festivals, showcasing her art and comics, and now has her own studio space for work. 

Storytelling Through Illustration And Writing

Through illustration and comics, Yao Xiao has been able to dive into deep introspection and create a world where she can visually work out complex concepts and emotions. This ranges from deeper moments like Drawing Grief to something as subtle as watching dust particles float between a shaft of light during childhood.

“[For visual work] there’s a comic I’m working on that’s about language and belonging,” Xiao told EnVi. She referred to her latest comic called No Word Island, which made its debut at SI MoCCA Arts Fest 2024 in New York City. 

“When I do visual [work], it’s like an abstract feeling that is hard to put into words and I want it to be a visual work because that’s a feeling that I have that is not analytical for me.” Xiao said. No Word Island is one of many works done that touches on an experience Yao Xiao has gone through. With language playing a big role in life– living in an English speaking country and having all of her family back in China– this comic spotlights the aspect of having to translate yourself in order to be understood.

“It’s really freeing to make a work that is about speaking a language and being bilingual that is part visual because […] that’s the language that has never stopped for me. There’s no break.” 

“Baopu” is another one of Xiao’s comics where she dives into searching for connection, belonging, and identity through the character Baopu, a young, queer immigrant. Xiao took this ongoing series to the next level and created her first graphic novel called “Everything Is Beautiful, and I’m Not Afraid .” Her comic work also extends into Buzzfeed, The New Yorker, and more.

From reading fiction to memoirs, Xiao has always had an interest in writing and has written only for herself. “I always wanted to tell my story,” Xiao said. However, it was a while until she felt ready to share her writing and thoughts with the world.

“Because English was my second language, it was very hard to build that confidence to say that what I’m writing is a piece of work that can be shared and it’s not just my personal journal,” Xiao admitted, tying it back to her comic No Word Island. 

In 2021, Xiao attended graduate school at Hunter College for her MFA in Creative Writing. It was during this time when she started developing her current untitled project: a book of essays exploring a central theme of nostalgia. 

Capturing Fuzzy Memories

After taking steps towards sharing her writing, she opened a door to new ways of conveying her thoughts. 

“I discovered that my process between writing and drawing have a lot of similarities […] I can go back and forth with them and it doesn’t diminish my skills with them when I return,” Xiao shared. She continued, saying, “I really like that alternating—turning on different parts of my brain.”

Xiao told EnVi about her process of deciding whether to turn a project into something visual versus into an analytical writing piece. First, she lets old memories, experiences, and anything notable emerge as fuzzy images. From there, she figures out if drawing a comic or writing an essay will best portray them. 

Xiao alluded to an essay she wrote called “The Old House” as an example, published in the magazine Passages North and will also be in her book of essays. Her grandmother’s house, which she described as “a house in the countryside and is disappearing,” came to her as a fuzzy image. With fond memories surrounding this image, she discerned that a visual of the house would not be able to fully capture its essence.

“It feels like the way I draw won’t be enough to represent what it was to me.” Xiao conveyed. “It maybe captures something in the moment but I don’t feel like that’s the portrait of the place.”

Writing about it only felt right to Xiao. She was able to maintain the image of her grandmother’s house in her head and immortalize it onto paper in writing. 

Fond And Tender Nostalgia

When Yao Xiao started writing her book, she originally wanted to write a memoir on her journey of becoming an artist, but realized she wanted to write about the memories of her family and her life in China that were tender to her. 

“I really wanted to reach the kind of emotion I feel when I think about them so that really became the idea behind this book of essays,” Xiao said fondly. “To really organize […] me recounting the life I didn’t continue in China but without moving on from it, so I said the book was about nostalgia.”

The opposite of a tender moment, but something that has imprinted on Xiao, is one of her favorite essays she’s written: “How Long Does It Take To Disappear.” It was featured in the magazine f(r)iction and will be included in her book. She wrote about witnessing a complete decay cycle of a hedgehog she rode her bike past everyday to school until it became nothing.

“I think that was the most complete process I had seen this happen,” Xiao laughed as she followed up by saying it had potential to be a “spectacle” and disgusting if she had made it into a comic. She did not want it to come off as such. It was a piece she wrote to process how nature and her city life coincided in that moment.

“This essay is currently my favorite because it’s just describing how things are… I was able to discuss these things that are otherwise abstract to me.” Xiao said.

By writing, Yao Xiao has been able to capture her feelings of nostalgia and remembrance in a way she can process and cherish.

Voyage Into the Past

Xiao explained how writing about nostalgia often feels like looking through a window “to see a version of the past.” The past, like the present, is multifaceted and complicated as if it’s coexisting now with the present, in not only herself but in many people’s memories. Though it’s easy to stay stuck in the past, she chooses to look back with positive feelings. 

“For me I’m really trying to make a connection so I can take what I received from that time and move on with those things,” Xiao said. “I realized I can’t take everything. I think having that realization really prompts me to work on this book right now.” 

When sitting down to write a draft, Yao Xiao harnesses strong emotions about the experience or thought she is going to write about. She feels very attached to her pieces but makes sure to revise it with a different mindset. The editing process helps her feel present when writing about past experiences.

Looking Ahead

Xiao has a lot in store for the progress of her book. She was recently accepted as a MacDowell fellow, an artist residency program for creatives. She aims to continue deeply working on “central themes of her essays,” as well as exploring different forms. Xiao is also looking forward to developing new ideas for upcoming projects as well as diving back into visual work.

“While I can’t share a specific timeline, I hope to have this book finished and meet the readers as soon as possible,” Xiao mentioned. She hopes to continue to foster connections and touch her audience through her work. 

You can support Xiao and keep up with the progress of the book on her Instagram as well as her website!

Interested in illustrations inspired by Chinese traditions? Read our interview with children’s book illustrator Stella Hong here!

The post Creative Spotlight: Yao Xiao on Evoking Nostalgia Through Writing appeared first on EnVi Media.

Before The Last Bloodcarver became the anticipated debut it is today, it was a document titled “BloodcarverWIP.” 

“I started a new project […] with no plans for it at the time. It was self-indulgent, fun, and something I normally didn’t write,” Vanessa Le wrote in her How I Got My Agent blog post, recounting the inception of her novel in July 2021. 

This project would become one of the most anticipated young adult novels of 2024. The Last Bloodcarver follows Nhika, who is one of the few that can alter human biology with a simple touch. When she is captured and sold to an aristocratic family, she is tasked with healing the last witness of a murder. Le’s debut received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and School Library Journal, with critics praising Le for her “exquisitely rendered prose, intertwining a murder investigation with themes of unresolved grief, medical ethics, and lost heritage.” 

EnVi had the chance to speak with Vanessa Le about her publishing journey thus far, the intersection between writing and medicine, and what it means to write from your heart. 

Choosing Your Passion

Le felt drawn to writing before she could even remember. 

Across Asian cultures, there are different variations of what is known as a choosing ceremony. This is called thôi nôi in Vietnamese and happens when a child celebrates their first birthday. Parents will display a variety of objects on a tray, and whichever the child chooses will determine their career and passion.

Le chose a pen.

“My mom always tells this story,” she said with a wistful smile. “It’s startlingly accurate. I guess since I was born, I was destined to be a writer.”

Her first brush with the publishing world was in middle school, when she tried querying a portal fantasy novel. “I probably repressed that memory because it was so bad,” she laughed. “I guess I did know about the [publishing] process. […] But it’s definitely different 10 years ago than it is now.” 

In college, Le joined writing workshops and fiction classes. She recalled it being the time when she started thinking about craft and the process of bringing a novel idea into fruition. She credits her knowledge about publishing to the friends she made online. “It wasn’t until I graduated and joined BookTwitter […] that I really understood what it meant to publish,” she said. “Most of what I know about the process is just learning from friends and making a lot of mistakes along the way.”

The Intersection Between Two Passions

Le is currently in her first year of medical school and has found a balance between her two passions: writing and medicine. “It really helps that I love both, […] so it never feels like a chore to either be writing or to be studying medicine,” she said. 

When she wrote The Last Bloodcarver, she pulled from her background in health and human biology. From the very first chapter, readers can see how well medicine is interwoven into the story, giving the magic system a life of its own. 

“[Science fantasy] is a niche I want to write in more,” Le told EnVi. “It’s been really helpful combining two things that I love.”

When asked if she has experienced any struggles balancing her two passions, she said, “There’s more pros than cons. When I’m in class, inspiration is everywhere. Like I’ll sit in a class and learn about a disease and think, that’s a plot point in some book. Or on exams, I’ll see a question and I’ll be like, I wrote about this disease.” 

Writing Closer to Home

The Vietnamese culture woven throughout The Last Bloodcarver is based on Le’s very specific experience with the culture. “It’s the kind [of experience] where you don’t really speak the language, can’t read or write it, but you have all these tangential experiences with the culture and it’s so tied to your family because that’s the only point of contact you had with your culture.”

She recalled the moment when a university professor had changed the way she approached writing. He’d told her that her writing was more full of life when she wrote closer to home. So The Last Bloodcarver was born from writing about themes and characters who were very close to Le’s heart — and her care really shines through in her story. 

A scene that survived the editorial process was also a moment that Le had gone through herself: a moment of rediscovering the “nuances of culture that [one’s] forgotten about.” She tried to emulate the feeling of being seen and realizing that someone else has gone through the same experiences you have. “I’m really glad [the scene] survived the editorial process,” she said. “I think the [process] made it even stronger.”

Le finds that she processes a lot of life through fiction. The Last Bloodcarver was written during the pandemic when anti-Asian racism escalated. She also was going through different struggles at the time and grappling with illness in the family. “And I gave all those struggles to one character, and that was Nhika,” she said with a laugh. “I was discovering how to deal with [everything] through her character arc. […] I was discovering a lot of myself through her.”

For a story so personal, Le tries not to think about the reception of the book. Instead, she said, “In terms of putting something that’s really raw and a part of myself out there for a lot of people and getting critiques on that, of course that’s gonna be difficult. That being said, if at least one person sees themselves in Nhika […], then that’s okay with me.” 

“[Everyone] is entitled to loving or hating the book, but at least I put it out there,” she said with a smile. “At least someone might find something to enjoy about the book, and that’s all I can really ask for.”

Looking Towards the Future

When asked where she sees herself ten years from now, it’s not about choosing one career path over the other for Le. Instead, she hopes to pursue both a medical and writing career. “When I first started publishing, I wanted my bibliography to be a reflection of my own life. So I can point to a book and remember exactly what I was going through at that time. So in that regard, I hope I do keep writing, chronicling my own life through fiction.”

The end goal is to strike the perfect balance between both passions, and Le has proven time and time again that she is more than capable of doing so.

The Last Bloodcarver comes out today and is available at your local bookstores! Follow Vanessa Le on Instagram and X for the latest updates on her books. 

Interested in reading more of our author spotlights? Check out our interview with Ann Liang here! 

The post Creative Spotlight: Vanessa Le On Her Science Fantasy Debut The Last Bloodcarver appeared first on EnVi Media.

Stella Hong, a children’s book illustrator based in Sydney, Australia, is making waves in the art world with her vibrant illustrations and tradition-inspired stories. Her portfolio is covered with whimsical drawings that range from “look-and-find” books to stories that exemplify family and acceptance among younger readers. With the desire to share the experience of reading with family while representing her Asian roots in the process, Hong has carved a unique niche for herself, capturing the hearts of both children and adults alike. In an interview with EnVi, Stella Hong shared her artistic journey, inspirations, and advice for fellow creatives navigating the art scene.

Early Artistic Journey 

Stella Hong was always drawn to creative activities as a child. Growing up introverted, most of her earliest memories involved sitting alone with her nose glued to her sketchbook, keeping herself occupied through colors and imagination.

The mystical and serene art of Studio Ghibli films also drew Hong in as a young artist. She found that the creations had a magical quality that transported her to other worlds, be it during quiet moments or climactic points of the plot.

“I would like to draw people but they would look more like potatoes,” Hong said with a laugh. “I really liked drawing animals too, so I would be drawing a lot of those. When I got to illustrate look-and-find books with my bugs and creatures, I think that was probably a dream project for me as well because I did draw a lot of animals growing up. So things just aligned.” 

Despite her early interest in the arts, Hong focused on other subjects in high school to get higher marks, on top of her parents’ desire for her to focus on academics. It wasn’t until university that she decided to officially pursue a creative career with a Bachelor of Visual Communication at the University of Technology, Sydney.

“I think, compared to other Asian families, my mom does give me a lot of freedom with what I want to do. But I could sense that, even with graphic design, they weren’t exactly happy with my choice. And they had a lot of patience with me, because it did take a while to get to where I am now. It was only in the past couple of years, when they saw what I could do — like actually land a book deal — that they were like ‘Okay, maybe there’s some growth in this,’” Hong said.

Although not her exact goal, the degree was the closest she could get to illustration within the available courses in Sydney. The program primarily focused on commercial work and typesetting, pushing Hong to explore her love for drawing and illustration on her own time, and through efforts outside of college.

First Venture into Book Writing

In the past years, Hong has pursued illustration work, initially taking on freelance gigs through platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. Despite starting with less-than-ideal projects, these opportunities served as valuable stepping stones, helping her gain experience and shape her skills. As her experience and portfolio grew, Hong planned to apply to multiple agents that could potentially represent her work.

However, life took a turn as her current agent, Moe Ferrara from BookEnds Literary agency, discovered her on Instagram, captivated by her Lunar New Year illustration post for the Year of the Tiger.

With the agency, Hong was able to secure more remarkable illustration opportunities that aligned more with her interests, including her first book deal as an author-illustrator that eventually brought LunarTale to life.

“I hadn’t really written anything at all before [LunarTale]. When I illustrated for other books, I just received a script to guide the overall art, so I wasn’t too confident about writing. But it was such a good deal. And I did want to draw more illustrations relating to my culture, so I was like, ‘I really can’t pass on this,’” Hong said.

LunarTale

Hong’s breakout book, LunarTale (An Abrams Trail Tale): A New Year’s Adventure, combines her love for illustration with her cultural background, celebrating Lunar New Year through the eyes of two siblings. The story follows a brother and sister on their journey to grandma’s house as they travel through various landscapes in Asia, meeting the 12 zodiac sign animals along the way. At the end, they reach grandma’s house, have a huge feast with family, and finally enter Chinatown where they celebrate all the traditional festivities with their community.

Due to being new to writing, Hong brainstormed LunarTale by first mapping out designs she wanted to utilize for her story. Seeing it as a unique opportunity to draw what she enjoys, she first decided on whimsical landscapes she would love to include, highlighting her keen interest in horoscopes and zodiac signs that played a key role in shaping the story. The plot came together later on as she worked on the manuscript for three months, on top of tackling the challenge of fitting everything into a 52-page book. 

LunarTale also served as a representation of Hong’s growing appreciation for family. Hong revealed that the boy in the book is actually her brother and the girl is herself, and since she lives with her grandparents, she found a way to include her grandma and their New Year festivities.

Cultural Representation in Children’s Books

“I think, growing up, I saw Lunar New Year as more of a chore. But now, I feel really tied to it and it’s so exciting, so I wanted to share that in the book. I’d say [my] inspiration would probably be how I celebrate it with family — it’s a day to get together, a day to eat,” Hong said.

Because Hong finds that the Lunar New Year tends to be “chaotic” and overwhelming sometimes, she translated the feeling into illustrations by using huge pops of color and shapes across busy and detailed pages.

LunarTale started with calm, serene pages, but then transitioned to more exciting spreads. Even in the simpler scenes, Hong packed in lots of details so kids and their parents can find surprises and Easter eggs each time they flip through. The final spread of LunarTale also features a fold-out that, when flipped open, uncovers a huge Lunar New Year festival that features dragon dances, traditional clothing, cultural drum performances, food, and more. 

“There have been parents that contacted me on Instagram saying how enjoyable the book was for them. One comment did say she liked that every time she went through the book, there was something new that she found in it. And I think it’s nice to hear that people feel like they’re being represented,” Hong said. “Growing up, I don’t think I really had that many books that flipped out or, like, had holes in them. Much less ones on Asian culture. So it was nice to see that people were sharing the experience of reading together with your family, and just going through each page one by one. There were even kids who aren’t Asian enjoying it as well, which I thought was nice.”

Artists’ Online Presence and Experimentation

Hong acknowledged that her art style wasn’t always tailored for children’s books. However, a shift occurred as she noticed the influx of positive responses to her art on Instagram, particularly those in a children’s book style of simpler shapes and bright colors. Recognizing the resonance of this style with online audiences, Hong decided to lean into it, refining her craft to establish herself as a children’s book illustrator, which eventually paid off to reach her current agent and other book authors.

While Hong acknowledged the importance of online presence, she expressed frustration regarding the lack of balance between her creative expression with market demands, emphasizing the need to focus on personal artistic fulfillment.

“Right now, there’s like, Reels, and you sort of can’t predict what the algorithm wants. You just have to constantly put out content and I think because of that, I felt kind of stifled,” Hong mused. “I couldn’t really focus on my art as much, I feel like it sort of taints my creativity, like I am thinking about ‘What do the people want?’ instead of what I want to create. I think that’s why I’ve sort of taken a step back from Instagram. When I’m ready to share again, I’ll probably post a bit more.”

On top of working on more upcoming children’s books, Hong has recently instead found joy within art communities and markets across Sydney, as she plans to focus on booking conventions and selling her art at those spaces this year. 

As an artist, Hong is also constantly experimenting and trying new things that would bring her the most joy and profitable outcomes within art. She has recently dabbled in film and video game fan art through pop culture communities, her acrylic earring-making business and even experienced her first time painting a mural for Lunar New Year street decorations despite being less well-versed with traditional paints.

“I feel like in this career, you can’t just have one income because it’s so unstable. Focusing on different things keeps things interesting for me, so I’m not focusing on one thing, like, three months at a time. I’m juggling it all, which is pretty fun. And you can be creative, learn more about what you like in the process,” Hong noted. “Just keep experimenting, keep showing the work, and the right people will find you.”

Interested in learning about more creatives like Stella Hong? Check out our Brush by Vegalia feature here!

The post Creative Spotlight: Illustrator Stella Hong on Culture and Creative Experimentation appeared first on EnVi Media.

Stickers, dust jackets, foil prints. When you look through Oregon-based designer and illustrator Sheila Wong’s portfolio, you will find yourself looking at a plethora of works created through different mediums. A reflection of her curious and experimental mindset , learning and art have always been synonymous to Wong’s journey. Now, she owns a small business where she sells Asian and work culture-inspired stickers, prints, and more. She is also an active poster on TikTok, where she has gone viral a few times and has gained over 60,500 followers for her design tutorials  and her life as a self-employed artist. 

In this Creative Spotlight, EnVi talked with Sheila Wong over Zoom to discuss her culture and the community that is quintessential to her identity as an artist and business owner.

How Hard Can It Be?

Wong’s constant curiosity and just-do-it attitude are what makes her well-versed in multiple mediums and techniques.

“Any hobby that I take up, I’m just like ‘that actually doesn’t look hard.’ I think that mentality has helped me to work with a lot of different art styles,” said Wong. “I also just like learning new techniques and ideas.”

This traces back to Wong’s university years when the first iPad was just released. The event completely altered the world of graphic design, as well as Wong’s own expectations of what she originally thought she would be doing. 

“It really taught me to learn and adapt. When faced with technology, you can either run away or embrace it – this has definitely affected my own work ethic in my adult years,” said Wong.

Food, Art, and The Red Rice Cooker 

Growing up in an immigrant household in the Midwest, much of Wong’s works are rooted in her Cantonese culture and one of its important aspects: food. 

“My parents ran a small family-owned Chinese restaurant, so food was a really big part of our day to day life,” Wong explained. “Food is often where cultural immersion came through, whereas my life in school was more typically American.”

Her favorite piece of design currently in her store is a sticker of a red rice cooker — a direct homage to one that she bought 15 years ago from Target, when she first started living on her own in college. 

“I needed something to cook rice, and – oh, red’s a lucky color. My parents always told me that,” said Wong. After refilling tons and tons of bowls with steaming hot rice, the red rice cooker finally reached its retirement age two years ago when Wong and her husband bought a new house. 

“It was a sad, bittersweet moment for me because that rice cooker had traveled so far and had cooked tons of meals in the last decade,” said Wong. “I just love the thought of the journey it had taken, and the number of meals it had provided for.” 

This personal approach to design is also what makes Wong’s branding stand out as an Asian American artist that connects her to a community. 

“A lot of people have resonated with it as well. They often tell me their own stories with rice cookers and how they used it to boil water for ramen. It’s helped to bring a lot of amazing conversations,” said Wong. “I hope my pieces inspired by Chinese culture might inspire some childhood or food nostalgia.”

Transitioning from Corporate to Small Business

Another half of her work takes inspiration from (and a fun poke at) corporate culture, specifically in technology. Working for a number of years in Silicon Valley tech startups in mobile game design, Wong described the culture as one that is filled with “office drudgery” and “mandatory fun” events. 

“For me, it’s a very sarcastic and snarky view of it. I like to make designs that help other people who have experienced similar experiences working in similar workplaces,” said Wong. “It helps to poke fun and make long days at work a little bit easier.”

Eventually, Wong wanted to try something new. 

“It was a difficult time in my life. It was so mind numbing — they would have us do whole campaigns then scrap it,”  Wong recalled. 

Wong had already been drawing on her iPad during lunch breaks. After her contract expired in 2018, Wong bought a silhouette cutter and began making stickers with those designs she had managed to sneak between her then overwhelming schedule. From selling the stickers on Etsy to moving to local conventions as a freelance designer, Wong’s following started to grow when she hopped onto TikTok and Instagram with video content. 

Even after plenty of professional experiences and a confidence in her abilities to balance work with art, Wong was still surprised by the many challenges that came with running her own business. 

“You’re doing everything by yourself — taxes, advertising, marketing. There will be some days where you don’t get to do the funnest part of this job at all,” said Wong. “That’s one thing I miss about a corporate job. They do all of these things for you.”

Settling Down

Now, after years of freelancing and having a relatively stable small business, Sheila Wong credited much of the support she has received from fellow artists when first starting a Facebook group called “Artists Alley Network International.” 

She has also found a community called Jellycup Collective — Portland’s first Asian American entrepreneurial art collective — after moving to Oregon.

“We’re often an underrepresented demographic. I really enjoy helping promote and elevate other fellow creatives like me — I’m all for stuff like that,” said Wong. She had first met and become friends with them through markets in Oregon. 

Wong currently has an active social media presence on TikTok and Instagram where she uploads tutorials and small-business tips. Wong hopes to table at Legendary Maker’s Market — an Asian American Night Market — this November in Portland, Oregon.

Support Sheila Wong through her official website!

Interested in checking out more AAPI-owned small businesses? Read this article for Filipino-owned businesses perfect for gift giving.

The post Creative Spotlight: Putting Cultures Into Design with Sheila Wong appeared first on EnVi Media.

In a world where Black hairstyles in animation are often limited to straight or dollop-shaped ponytails, Brush by Vegalia provides the solution to a decades-old problem. Created in 2021, these brushes allow artists to boundlessly experiment with the versatility of Black hairstyles. Artists who specialize in creating using Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, and more can now test the limits of Black hair in fine detail. Brush by Vegalia not only provides artists with diverse hairstyles for their characters, but unique hair accessories as well, such as beads, bo-bos, and chains. As people are continuing to embrace their Black hair, acknowledging the depths to which we can see ourselves in popular media is of high importance. This Black History Month, Vegalia Jean-Pierre spoke to EnVi about her brushes, its importance among artists, and the multifaceted nature of Black hair!

A Brush with History

Brush by Vegalia was created by Vegalia Jean-Pierre after a long bout of painstakingly drawing braids for her own character. She faced difficulty adding the proper details in a time-effective manner. Feeling that there had to be a better way to go about doing this, Vegalia created a line of her own brushes to aid artists in drawing realistic and unique Black hairstyles. What started as a 12-brush pack on Etsy soon blossomed into a crucial tool in drawing Black hair for digital artists. “I like using my brushes to speed up my process of creating a character. I can be indecisive when it comes to developing a new art piece and the brushes allow me to make quick changes without having to spend too much time on it,” Vegalia says. 

As an artist myself, I can wholeheartedly attest to the difficulty of tackling hair as a whole, as the creation of braids, whether traditionally or digitally, can be an extremely time-consuming labor of love. Prior to familiarizing myself with the Brush by Vegalia company, I was used to drawing out each braid or twist one-by-one and using nature brushes for afros, as is a common practice among many digital artists. The process of creating braids, locs, or twists, in addition to the hair parting and accessories such as beads, was anything but simple for me. Now, not only have these brushes made the process of drawing Black hairstyles much easier, the mere activity of reimagining diversity in Black beauty has become all the more enjoyable.  

The brushes provide a stress-free way to tackle the outline and formation of Black hairstyles. There are individual brush packs for afros, braids, dreadlocks, baby hairs, cornrows, partings, and more. This allows artists to cut down on time devoted to the hairstyles of their characters while also providing them the ability to test out new styles and textures. In reference to the importance of proper Black hair representation, Vegalia notes, “I think it’s important for any artist to broaden their horizons. If you stick to drawing one thing, you are limiting yourself in any area so I believe that expanding your skills is a good thing. Whether that be Black hair, drawing different body types, skin tones, etc.”

Common Creations

These brushes accommodate artists who draw using Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint, and Adobe Fresco. Artists can purchase brushes catered to hair, jewelry, and eyelashes in a diverse set of packs for each art program or app. Conveying the beauty of the brushes across social media sites has had a positive effect on the company’s exposure as well. The brushes have a loyal following on both TikTok and Instagram, with the official tag hosting over 1,000 drawings from artists across the globe and the launch video garnering over a million views. The tag illustrates an abundance of artists finding unique ways to portray Black hair. 

“I love when people make a series with the brushes. Like when someone will draw a bunch of different hairstyles with the brushes for their character design. I love when people get experimental and create hairstyles that aren’t so common as well,” says Vegalia. This highlights the importance of the Brushes by Vegalia brand. From Afros to eyebrows to baby hairs, both new and experienced artists can further their understanding and experimentation of Black hair.

Why It’s Important

Recently, artists and fans alike have begun speaking out about a common yet troubling trend surrounding Black hair in animation. For instance, Lashawna from Total Drama Island, Jodie from Daria, and Monique from Kim Possible all have common Black hairstyles, but little to no variation of color, styling, or versatility. Similar sentiments are echoed in the case of Killmonger’s hairstyle being copied and pasted across a number of Black male characters since the release of Black Panther. Whether the style is big or small, animators express little detail in depicting Black hair, with many male and female characters sporting blob-like masses on their heads.

These cases help emphasize the importance of Brushes by Vegalia giving creators a chance to test and depict Black hair in art. Just as Black people can be multifaceted and unique, Black hair can be as well, with every style and curl deserving of its own chance to shine. On the importance of correctly representing Black hair in art, Vegalia says, “It’s important to me because I want to see people that look like me and I think the brushes get rid of the barrier of any complexities that Black hair may have. I don’t think Black hair is difficult to draw, but some styles can be tedious like braids or super kinky curls, so the brushes help make the process simpler.”

Hair for You

All varieties of Black hair deserve to be seen and experimented with. The many textures, colors, and styling possibilities are all parts of the appeal that makes Black hair so uniquely interesting. Brushes by Vegalia encourages artists to not only imagine new styles for their own characters, but also reimagine what Black hair can be for the characters (and protagonists) of the future. Natural Black hair is natural for all Black people, so we deserve to see ourselves naturally in art.

You can find the many Brush by Vegalia brush packs here. Don’t forget to check out Formation’s latest Artist Spotlight with Miu Haiti!

The post Creative Spotlight: Brush by Vegalia Brings the Beauty of Black Hair to the Forefront appeared first on EnVi Media.

As Sophia Chew entered the Zoom call, her dorm room in Southern California came into view. Behind her, was a wall of posters of movies and albums she loves, including Lorde’s Melodrama and Netflix’s Shadow & Bone. However, you don’t need to see her room to understand her admiration for different art forms. You only need to look at her portfolio. 

Sophia Chew is a Gen Z photographer, filmmaker, and content creator. Her portfolio is dotted with abstractly edited photography and short videos inspired by the books and movies she loves, like Everything Everywhere All At Once, Lockwood & Co, and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. From posting her photography on social media, she’s amassed over 100k followers on Instagram and 11.2 million likes on TikTok. In 2022, Chew created a three-part photo composition series in collaboration with Marvel for the theatrical release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Then in 2023, she hosted the red carpet premiere for the second season of Shadow & Bone. 

EnVi had the opportunity to chat with Sophia Chew to learn more about her creative process, and her views on fandom and storytelling. 

A Love Passed Through Generations

Chew remembers that her first camera belonged to her dad. “[He] had this camera that he didn’t really use. It wasn’t a great camera, but it was one at the end of the day,” she laughed. 

She hails from a family of avid photographers. Her late grandfather Ken was a marine biologist and photographer. He would bring his children on his research expeditions and take photos of them. He collected thousands of film slides over the years. Chew recalled her grandfather showing the family large photo albums with pictures from when her dad was a kid. Her dad shared the same love for photography as her grandfather, and referred to himself as the “camera man” in high school. “[This] is something that I started to resonate with […] at fifteen,” Sophia said fondly. “I like to think that my grandfather’s love for photography spread [to] my dad which was passed down to me.”

Artists in Fandoms

Chew didn’t always know she was going to go into film. Her high school was very STEM and business-oriented, so most of her classmates were aiming for degrees in those areas. However, she set her sights on a more creative field. When asked to pinpoint a moment that propelled her down the film career path, she recalled the pandemic being her most pivotal moment. Like many creatives stuck at home, Chew turned to what she had most of: time. She began to read more books, watch more movies, and take more self-portraits inspired by those media.

At first, Chew wanted to be the creator who only put out her own art, and while there is merit to that, she also wanted to create a space to share her thoughts on the books and films she’s consuming. Whether through writing about the process behind creating a shot, or why she enjoyed a particular theme in a novel, she was able to carve a space for herself within the creative industry as well as different fandoms. “[The account] is very much a reflection of me,” she said. “Being a fan is [also] so nice because you get this understanding of what people want to see and what’s working.”

Chew’s self-portraits soon became the representation she looked for in books and films. Fanart, fanfiction, and cosplays are oftentimes a means to self-insert in our favorite worlds. They are also ways for artists to express their interpretations and put their own spin on different stories. Chew believes that it’s important to have diverse spaces within fandoms. “It’s really special to allow artists to have [these] kinds of spaces to share their interpretations,” she said. “Whether it’s fanart, photography, or cosplays.” 

Chew also actively searches for books by Asian authors to gain inspiration from and create photography inspired by those worlds. She has created photo series inspired by Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights and Elizabeth Lim’s Six Crimson Cranes. 

The Fangirl to Industry Pipeline

Soon, production companies and creators took notice of Chew’s photography and genuine love for other forms of media. For the Shadow & Bone season 2 premiere, Chew met with the social media team to plan out engaging content and interview questions. She also took to Instagram to see what her followers — who were also fans of the book series — wanted to know about the cast. “I can talk for hours about how much I love Leigh Bardugo and how much I love the series and how many doors it’s opened for me,” Chew recalled fondly when asked about her experience hosting the premiere. She credited the opportunity to the content she created in her bedroom during the pandemic. “I refer to this as the fangirl to industry pipeline,” she said with a knowing smile. 

When asked about which book she would adapt to a movie, her excitement was palpable. “I think about this all the time,” she said. “I think… maybe The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue or The Inheritance Games. Actually, Addie LaRue works very well as a book, so maybe not that. […] There’s a lot about death and sabotage [in The Inheritance Games] which I think is so messy but so interesting. I think The Inheritance Games [adaptation] would be amazing,” she concluded. Her careful thought process shows her love for adaptations, and her deep understanding, as well as appreciation for what makes a book and a movie work. 

A Project Years in the Making

Chew is a Swiftie at heart. Our interview took place the day after Taylor Swift had announced her new album The Tortured Poets Department, so the first couple of minutes were spent gushing over the news. She expressed her love for folklore, and confessed that she’d had an idea for a film inspired by the album since its release. But it wouldn’t be until 2023 when she’d feel ready to realize her vision.

The summer before her freshman year of college, Chew gathered her sister and friends to shoot a short film inspired by Swift’s “august,” “betty,” and “cardigan,” which are all songs from folklore. Fans may recognize the trio as the love triangle story between James, Betty, and an unnamed person often referred to as August or Augustine. The film was shot within four days with Chew’s sister Madison Chew as August/Augustine, Abby Weiss as Betty, and Sidh Shroff as James. “I think the process of throwing [the film] together just came out of me wanting to create something that’s been on my mind for a long time and something that’s really close to my heart because folklore is one of my favorite albums.”

All Eyes on Sophia Chew

In the last four years, Chew has landed partnerships with Warner Bros and Adobe, as well as become the youngest Sigma ambassador. And she has no plans of stopping anytime soon. 

While creating photography based on books is something she still very much enjoys, Chew is also looking to explore more long form film projects. “I’ve gotten very comfortable in creating short form content, which doesn’t mean that I want to slow down or stray away from it, but I’m definitely curious about exploring more long form video [projects],” she said. 

Chew ended our conversation with a piece of advice for young creatives wanting to apply to film school: “Be so authentically yourself. [Schools] hear all the time about kids who know they want to go to film since they were born and kids who grew up going to the theaters. There is so much […] that makes a person unique outside of film. So if you can, speak to a super, super niche interest that you are excited about.” 

“I literally wrote on my application that I can give an hour long presentation on why Katniss could only win the Hunger Games with Peeta and nobody else — and I got accepted!” she said with a laugh. 

Check out Sophia Chew’s portfolio on her website, and follow her on Instagram and TikTok to keep up with her latest projects. 

Interested in learning about more creatives like Sophia Chew? Check out our interview with Shenuka Corea here!

The post Creative Spotlight: Sophia Chew on Fandom, Storytelling, and Authenticity appeared first on EnVi Media.

They say food is always a way to someone’s heart, a comfort blanket that complements our daily life. What we overlook the most is that food is actually a living culture, beyond the everyday staple we simply enjoy it as. In order to preserve gastronomic culture, food is researched, documented and, nowadays, even turned into illustrated artwork, such as the works of Masuki Takako of ASIAN_FOOD_DESIGN. Being able to see a fresh documentation of a culture’s gastronomic side can open us up to considering the deeper significance of food, such as the herbs, condiments, cooking method, and origins that make up a plate. Masuki Takako, founder of ASIAN_FOOD_DESIGN shared with EnVi her profound love for Asian cuisine and how she expresses it through illustrations. 

The Soul Behind ASIAN_FOOD_DESIGN

ASIAN_FOOD_DESIGN is a creative project established by Masuki Takako, a Tokyo-based graphic designer and illustrator. Her drawings are focused on Asian cuisine. “I’m delighted to share my love of food by illustrating the dishes I’ve enjoyed throughout my travels to different Asian countries, as well as those I hope to try in the future,” Takako shared, in an email interview with EnVi. 

Takako believes in the saying “Cultural exchange is the first step towards peace,” and her goal is to pique people’s curiosity about different cultures through her artwork. 

The attention to detail in Takako’s works is eye-catching. Right off the bat, one can tell that she’s conducted a deep research on each dish due to the insightful yet simple inspiration that she channels. Color is the standout characteristic of her drawings. She uses bright hues that evoke excitement, which is natural given that color in dishes stimulates the appetite.

Seeking Visual Inspirations

“It always motivates me to learn about foods and cultures that I am unaware of,” Takako stated. She disclosed that she loves Asian food but she’s not good at cooking, hence why she began drawing. For ASIAN_FOOD_DESIGN, Takako’s goal is to express the kawaii (cute and lovely) essense of Asian food in her artworks. “Drawing these foods gave me a sense of satisfaction as if I ate them!” she said. 

Takako’s drawings are vibrant and often full of bright colors, which evoke peace and happiness. Her inspiration comes from the colors of food stalls, tables, tableware, and dishware that she comes across throughout her travels. 

Strokes of Happiness

For Takako, hand-drawing and painting is more enjoyable than computer drawing, as she finds the latter tiring to practice. She believes that because she has more color options and design control, hand-drawing is a happier experience. Prior to illustrating, she also enjoyed researching food because, as she put it: “It broadens my understanding of the cuisine and the culture.”. 

She finds it intriguing to create and discover designs that aren’t available in commercial design. In Takako’s case, producing books, zines, and posters allows her to express her creativity freely. Her frequently used technique in drawing is Risograph, a digital screen printing technique, and the artist likes blending two or three colors into her designs. 

Dive into Hong Kong’s Cuisine in Food & Drink: Hong Kong

In a proposed collaboration with Singaporean food writer Wee Ling Soh, Takako decided to create the Food & Drink: Hong Kong book. Takako’s husband is a Hong Kongese and has visited the city several times, while Wee Ling has lived in Hong Kong. Since they had similar experiences, they immediately hit it off . This project was completed via email and chat. 

Its complex combinations have earned Hong Kong cuisine the title of “Gourmet Paradise,” and discussing the topic is always a fascinating conversation. Given Hong Kong’s lengthy history as a port for trade, the city’s cuisine is mostly influenced by British and Chinese cuisines

The book’s creators both worked closely, with Takako in charge of illustrating and Wee Ling in charge of the food choice and writing. Initially, the book was made for children, with small characters appearing in it. As time went on, Takako and Wee Ling realized that the book could cater to adults as well. In the illustration process, Takako felt challenged as she explored how far she could go with only two colors in this book, used to featuring more than two colors in her drawings. 

What’s Inside the Asian Lunch Box?

Asian Lunch Box is Takako’s first ever self-created book. She looked for pictures across Instagram accounts and contacted the owners for permission to illustrate the food. After she drew them, she was reminded of a lunch box she had always wondered how to utilize. Takako originally loved bento lunch boxes, so she put the drawings inside the box and voilà! Asian Lunch Box was created.

Art Book Fairs all over Asia

ASIAN_FOOD_DESIGN has attended various book fairs in Asia including Tokyo, Seoul, Jakarta, and Singapore. These festivals are a means for book and zine designers to gather and showcase their brand. “It is very inspiring to meet new people and learn new things at every art book fair,” Takako shared.

One memorable moment of her attending a book fair took place at Jakarta art book fair, where she was the only Japanese participant and was grateful that the people there were very kind to her. One thing about Takako is that she uses the opportunity of joining book fairs to acquaint herself with local cuisine. “While attending art book fairs, I also enjoy the local food and do research,” she let EnVi know. 

Takako and Her Future Projects

In the future, Takako hopes to expand her works more, such as through collaborating with restaurants for their design needs. She is also planning to make more zines, posters, and have solo exhibitions. Takako will be having her first solo exhibition this June in Tokyo. For those residing in Tokyo or planning to visit, make sure to stop by! 

Looking for more articles that highlight visual arts and design? Check out our Shenuka Corea Creative Spotlight here ! 

The post Creative Spotlight: ASIAN_FOOD_DESIGN Celebrates the Diverse Asian Food Culture appeared first on EnVi Media.

For many people, emails are an integral part of daily life. We receive emails from our bosses and coworkers, and we skim over yet another marketing blast that has landed in our inboxes. Emails have also inspired countless TikToks about how these emails are actually finding me to the unique sign offs crafted by Gen Z coworkers.

Emails: they can reveal — and hide — a lot about a person. 

Enter Gen Z author Ann Liang and her newest romcom, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You. The world just about ends for highly competitive people pleaser Sadie Wen when she discovers her secret rant emails — mostly aimed at her annoyingly perfect academic rival, Julius Gong — have been sent out. To the entire student body. 

EnVi chatted with Liang about the hidden layers found in emails, the unexpected bond between rivals Sadie Wen and Julius Gong in I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, and finding your voice when you least expect it. 

The Making of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You 

Authors know the emotions that come with emails very well. Submissions and rejections; birds chirping or full requests; querying agents and pitching editors; communicating with publicists and marketers and everything in between — email. (In fact, this interview with Liang was organized via email!) Essentially, the global publishing industry runs on emails. 

“Publishing has really shaped my sense of time,” Liang, an Australia-based writer, revealed. It’s not unusual for it to take years for a manuscript to become a book. For Liang, and other writers, it can feel like a lot of time has passed because waiting also is an expected part of the publishing business.  

“It’s kind of like writing an email with everything that you want to say and sending it out and then not being able to get a response until two years later,” she added. 

As the author of three young adult novels, Liang knows how easy it is to get caught up in the tides of publishing. Liang was a 19-year-old university student when she started researching the publishing industry and how to get a literary agent. She is now 23 years old with her third novel, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, officially released into the world today (February 6). 

Liang touched on the creation and writing process of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, which differed from that of her first two books, If You Could See the Sun and This Time It’s Real. Her publisher actually chose the idea that would become Liang’s February 6 release, underscoring how “the business side of publishing shapes the writing sometimes.” She explained more, noting that she pitched five different ideas to Scholastic (her publisher) — “all with different dynamics” — because the company had bought a second, undecided novel alongside This Time It’s Real. As Liang joked, “the publisher has become a major character” in this stage of her writing career. 

“Technically, the idea for I Hope This Doesn’t Find You developed within the span of a day, and I had to know roughly what I was going to write,” she said. The pressure and quick turnaround ended on a high note though, the author continued. “The idea of it almost came to me on its own fully formed, which…is very rare for my books.” Set in a Melbourne private high school, Liang wanted to tackle an academic rivals to lovers storyline.

Yet, Liang understands she is “still learning about the industry every day.” There are so many parts of the business that are outside of an author’s control, and Liang admitted she will still try to control these things. 

At the end of the day, it’s all worth the wait. Time feels like it just stops — or moves at a lightning speed — in publishing, and too many parts of the business cannot be controlled by just one person. Still, Liang firmly emphasized, “That is my main motivator…I can’t wait for people to actually read these books.” 

Letting Out Your True Voice

But back to I Hope This Doesn’t Find You and Sadie Wen’s worst fear. From the moment her rivals-to-lovers romcom was officially announced, Liang summed up the novel with a compelling hook: “basically To All the Boys if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters,” she wrote in the caption of her cover reveal post. 

The 23-year-old author chose email as the channel for Sadie’s growing anger for a reason. Liang noted that she found this format “really interesting,” because when we send emails, “We always have to be very polished and professional…you’re meant to hold back in your emails.” She added, underscoring how “you’re not supposed to actually write exactly what you’re thinking.” 

For a soft-spoken perfectionist and a mild-tempered people pleaser like Sadie, letting out her true feelings in her email drafts contrasts with the more formal tone and careful use of exclamation points found in her everyday school correspondence. Sadie’s email drafts are a place where she can release all of her frustrations without having to confront the actual person — and potentially ruin her “perfect student” reputation. 

Yet, there’s a calculated reason behind why these drafts, which are full of rage and grammatical errors, get sent out in Liang’s story. “I think it’s something that maybe I do in all my stories where I come up with the character, and then I’m thinking about ‘What is their worst fear?’” Liang explained. “Then I make that worst fear come true. And I force them to deal with it.”

Sadie’s worst fear? Having all of her imperfections, all of her vulnerability and failures on display for everyone to see. Ann and I try our best to talk about Sadie’s failures while our mutual crummy WiFis drop and reconnect throughout the video call. Despite this struggle, we laugh a lot, particularly when Ann joked, “Maybe both of our WiFi[s] [are] just like, failing together.” 

But just as we soldiered on through our failing WiFis, Sadie eventually discovers that making mistakes and failing does not mean the end of the world. In fact, with the help of some good friends and, surprisingly, her academic rival, she learns being open with her emotions can bring so much more into her life. 

Sadie vs. Julius / Julius vs. Sadie

Some words to describe Sadie Wen: people pleaser, perfectionist, soft spoken, has a “reputation for being very nice and friendly,” mild tempered. She also has a knack for hiding her true feelings (including her burning hatred/frustration/rivalry with her co-captain Julius Gong), and “secretly” has anger issues, according to Liang. 

Sadie is the kind of person who stops a teacher in the hallway to let them know the textbook answer is incorrect. On an extra credit question. When this moment in I Hope This Doesn’t Find You came up in our conversation, Liang noted that she needed Sadie to be out of the classroom for this scene. But an important question arose: “Why would she go out of the classroom? What could possibly motivate her?” The answer? Sadie desperately needed to confirm that she was right and the textbook was wrong. 

Meanwhile, Sadie’s rival Julius Gong has some other choice words to describe her. Particularly: fake, not brave, and obsessed with him. 

On the other hand, there are many words to describe Julius Gong: extremely straightforward, could be considered rude or harsh, and definitely intimidating. Liang added, “He doesn’t care that much about whether other people like him” because there are only “a few select people that he pays attention to,” including Sadie. 

Speaking of Sadie, she has some words to capture her rival in a nutshell: co-captain (something Sadie says through gritted teeth), the “most prominent source of pain in [her] life,” self-obsessed, and vain to a fault.

In order to write a successful rivals-to-lovers dynamic, Liang started from the ground up. First, she “need[ed] to think about the ways that [Sadie and Julius] complement each other.” From there, she considered “how to create that chemistry between them.” So for Liang, the love interest’s personality contrasts and complements the protagonist’s.

As Liang emphasized, “I want them to clash on something.” And boy do Sadie and Julius clash. In fact, they are already arguing with each other in chapter one of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You (Sadie also reveals the made-up point system she has to keep track of who wins all of their big and trivial competitions). In the end, the push-and-pull of the characters’ rivals-to-lovers dynamic adds depth to the “I find you attractive, but I’m still going to beat you” tension. 

From Rivals to Lovers

Unsurprisingly, Liang very much so enjoys this academic rivals-to-lovers dynamic. “It’s a trope that I love writing and that I also love reading,” she said as the morning hours slipped into the afternoon. (Liang has made many a TikTok about this dynamic.) There’s just something about the perfect mixture of obsession, intimidation, and the deeply-rooted respect for that person you see as your equal. 

Liang also pointed out that fear exists in the mix too, because what if you grow feelings for that rival? What if those feelings “overwhelm your logic, the rational side of you, especially when academic rivals-to-lovers [are] meant to pride themselves on their intellect and on their logic,” mused Liang. In the end, a rivals-to-lovers romance is an emotional journey, one that is full of laughter, scary feelings, and feet-kicking moments of cuteness. 

“I love the tension. I love the fact that it’s always built on respect and admiration for each other,” Liang concluded.

However, the author revealed an important part of how she develops these relationships. While Sadie and Julius’ rivals-to-lovers journey is overflowing with emotions — both expressed and hidden — Liang “rarely map[s] out the emotional beats.” Her reasoning? “I kind of like to discover [these emotional beats] and discover the character while I’m writing.” 

She continued, diving deeper into her writing process for I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, “I feel like you understand the character through how they interact with other characters, like through their relationships, through their dialogue, through what other people are saying about them, their background, their environment.” These parts of a character sometimes appear when you just start writing, Liang noted. She added, “I couldn’t have mapped [all of these things] out perfectly before I had the story written.” Instead, Liang allows herself to “get emotional with the character.” 

When we talked about emotional beats, Liang pointed to the party clean-up scene as one of her favorites to write. Compared to the sharp-tongued back-and-forth of Julius and Sadie’s usual exchanges, the clean-up moment is soft. It’s “New Years Day” by Taylor Swift in a nutshell. 

It takes the party-that-didn’t-go-quite-right and the quiet, somewhat lonely, clean-up afterwards for Sadie to realize something critical about her academic rival. Besides her best friend, Abigail Ong, Julius Gong is the only person who actually sees Sadie Wen. 

He notices her dedication, her back-breaking hard work, her ambition. He pays attention to Sadie because she is worth paying attention to — she is his equal and a worthy opponent. Sadie and Julius may be strictly academic rivals, in their own books at least, but “he is still the person [who] will stay for her.” No matter what. 

A Different Kind of Love: Sadie Wen and Abigail Ong

The romance in I Hope This Doesn’t Find You might be a major selling point, but the friendships are just as significant. Unlike when she was writing the complementary (and contrasting) relationship between her main characters, Liang prefers the opposite for the friendships she adds to her novels. As Liang said, “I love writing friendships where it’s kind of opposites attract.”

And Sadie Wen and Abigail Ong (Sadie’s best friend) are definitely “opposites.” Case in point: platinum silver-haired Abigail. When readers meet her in I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, she’s already strutting into class late. Abigail shows up when she wants and how she wants regardless of what other people think of her — the complete opposite of punctual, always-on-the-teacher’s-good-side, queen of extracurriculars Sadie. Liang added on with a laugh that Abigail is the kind of person who goes, “I did not realize the school offered extracurriculars.” 

Sadie’s perfectionist people-pleaser personality doesn’t stem from a random place though. While she loves her mom and her brother, she can never forget the moment her father left them. It’s been seared into her memory, especially since Sadie believes her father abandoned them because of her. This trauma creates her “false belief about how she needs to always be good” and that “she’s to blame when things go wrong,” explained Liang.

So having a best friend like Abigail helps Sadie balance out a little bit. Liang noted that Abigail “help[s] her stay calm” when things get very overwhelming. Abigail also is someone who is “hyping [Sadie] up and who helps her feel more confident.” Sadie can be truly herself around her best friend, unlike how Sadie acts around the majority of the people in her life, including her mom. 

Abigail Ong wants “Sadie to find her voice and stand up for [her]self,” Liang reflected. Seeing Sadie get beaten down because she wants to please everyone does also impact Abigail. Liang continued, adding that Sadie’s best friend just wants her to “feel comfortable” and show her “real self to the world.” 

Thus, an important plot point in I Hope This Doesn’t Find You affects their friendship. However, because there is a strong foundation of trust and genuine love for each other, Sadie and Abigail are able to repair their friendship. This relationship is just as important as — if not more than — Sadie’s rivalry/romance with Julius. 

And like Liang emphasized, “I wanted Sadie to be in the position of someone who gets mad because her whole belief system is constructed around this idea that if someone is mad at you, then they no longer want you in their life.” But luckily, Sadie comes to understand that this is simply not true. 

Bet On Ann Liang and Her Voice 

When we chat about I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, it’s been almost two years since Liang’s debut novel, If You Could See The Sun, came out. In this span of time, Liang probably has received — and sent — many, many emails. 

Not only did I Hope This Doesn’t Find You just enter the world, but Liang has her adult debut coming this year, too. A historical fantasy novel inspired by the legend of Xishi, A Song To Drown Rivers will be published on October 1. 

The next two years also will be busy with more Liang-authored books: I Am Not Jessica Chen, a young adult speculative dark academic novel, is slated for publication in 2025. I Could Give You the Moon, a spin-off novel that follows Chanel Cao from If You Could See the Sun, will be released in 2026.

Despite being excited about writing and publishing so many books, Liang admitted that it’s tricky to balance it all. With a laugh, she joked, half-serious and half-not, “The answer is just don’t do it.” To say the least, “It’s been a learning process both as an author and just as a person in general” for Liang. 

She further mused on the happenings over the past few years, including about her writing. “I feel like my relationship with the writing itself hasn’t changed that much.” Liang continued to reflect, saying, “I still get really excited at the idea of writing more stories and even when something bad happens in my life or in publishing, my way of processing is still through writing.”

While these two years have been full of challenges (and a lot of emails), Liang also has had many moments of joy and affirmation. “It’s almost kind of proven to me that this is something that I really want to continue doing,” she said. 

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You now is available wherever books are found. Follow Ann Liang on Instagram, TikTok, and X to keep up with the latest news about her books. 

Want to read more about Gen Z authors? Check out EnVi’s interview with bestselling author Chloe Gong here!

The post Creative Spotlight: Ann Liang on Her New Romcom “I Hope This Doesn’t Find You” appeared first on EnVi Media.

Shenuka Corea is a Sri Lankan comic artist, animator, and illustrator who has most recently ventured into filmmaking. Her portfolio has expanded immensely from her initial start in fan art, which she has been regularly posting on her Instagram account @baka.moona since 2017. Nowadays, she also uses art to tell stories she is passionate about, dealing with topics ranging from mental health, to the effects of colonialism. Her portfolio is extensive, with her work even being featured in publications like Spectrum, a comic that portrays the discrimination faced by the LGBTQI community of Sri Lanka, published by Amnesty International. Some of her clients include Shortbox Comic, Think Equal, and Motion Miracles. EnVi chatted with Corea to learn more about her origins, and her views on art and storytelling.

For Fans by a Fan

Corea traces the start of her journey as a graphic artist back to when she was at the age when young children are encouraged to draw and express themselves through art. Like most artists, she never stopped drawing. She took art classes until she was 16 and studied art for her A Levels, and bachelor’s degree,  Currently, Corea is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Narratives at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Growing up, art was a medium of expression that allowed her to develop her skills and create something of her own. Inspired by the media she consumed as a child and seeing the work of other artists on sites like Tumblr, Deviant Art, and YouTube, Corea gradually ventured into the fan art space. She recalled having multiple sketchbooks a year, in which she would first interpret the books she read as art. Gradually, shows like Game of Thrones and Doctor Who would inspire her to expand her art into other fandom spaces.

Corea told us that being a fan made her want to create her own fan art, emphasizing that it is more than copying; Art has been reinterpreted throughout history and people have always been inspired by the art that came before them. “As long as you’re doing something transformative, then fan art is more compelling. At least to me, it is,” she said.

Indeed, it is, and a scroll through of her Instagram account makes that very apparent. Her fan art covers different areas of pop culture, from anime like Haikyuu!, to Chinese donghua’s like The Untamed and Heaven Official’s Blessing. Corea also posts original artwork of characters on her Instagram account, much of which represents aspects of her culture captured in her unique style.

The Aesthetic Issue

When asked how she would describe her aesthetic, she shared that it was a struggle to define her art. She once used the term “whimsy gothic” during one of her classes, a term that she is not truly satisfied with. We learned that she’s not keen on giving it a label either as she believes that all artists evolve and grow. She told us, “I’m worried that if I define it too much, it can affect the way I see my art. Sometimes choosing labels can define how you see yourself.”

Corea stressed that people should make art without worrying too much about the artistic landscape, which she, however, understands given the current state of marketing and social media. As she aptly said, aesthetics can be fun, but also too constricting.

The Power of Visual Narratives

Shenuka Corea was one of four artists to contribute a comic for Spectrum published by Amnesty International based on real accounts from the LGBTQI community in Sri Lanka. Her portfolio contains a number of projects that similarly use art as a medium to spotlight social issues through visual narratives, combining art and text to create a story.

To Corea, storytelling and art are ways of sharing your perspective, especially when one might not see the world as you do. However, she also thinks that at times, looking solely at the “usefulness” of one’s art can harm its process — referring to discussions of diversity almost becoming a commodity in the film industry, where representation seems to only be seen on screen and not in the story that is being told. Corea believes that while there is value in reflecting society with one’s art, artists should be conscious of the stories or messages they undertake in their work. “People should be empowered to tell their own stories,” she said, stressing the importance of uplifting voices, and providing a platform for their narratives to be shared with the world.

Alternative Storytelling

After  getting her start as a fan artist, Corea is keen to explore her own stories and characters, and shares much of it on her social media as well. Despite many of her early influences being Western, she is inspired to create fantasy worlds that are closer to home and incorporate non-Western mythologies, beliefs and values.

This is quite prevalent in her bachelor’s thesis, Manthiram (a Tamil word that refers to magic spells or rituals). Described as a graphic history, it is based on the pearl fisheries that existed during Sri Lanka’s colonial period in the town of Mannar. Corea’s fascination with the topic came from her travels with her mother around Sri Lanka and a chapter from a book titled Handbook for the Ceylon Traveller.

According to her website, Manthiram “explores humanity’s enchantment with the sea and its treasures, and the charms and rituals with which we attempt to commune with it.” The title is derived from the existence of shark charmers, who were historically responsible for ensuring the safety of the divers by chanting to the sharks. The documents that were Corea’s source material for this project were narrated from the point of view of colonial officers at the time, who appeared to see the ocean as an endless resource. Perspective from the divers themselves was absent, but these documents mentioned the attitudes and traditions of the pearl fishery community, such as the shark chanting that had persisted long before colonialism. This motivated her to dig deeper and explore an alternative narrative, focusing on the relationship between the divers, their beliefs, and the ocean as a living entity.

What’s to Come

While Corea looks into possibilities of publishing Manthiram, she is currently working on her master’s thesis, another graphic comic project titled A Field Guide to Paradise. Unlike Manthiram, this work is entirely fictional, based on her interests in travel and nature. Guided by her interest in capturing simple stories against a backdrop of a world entirely removed from reality, she hopes to tell a story that is original and entirely her own.

Check out Shenuka Corea’s website for her portfolio, and her Instagram for more of her art and upcoming projects.

Interested in learning more about emerging talent across the Asian diaspora and beyond? Check out our interview with photographer Haneul Lee, here!

The post Creative Spotlight: Shenuka Corea on Fan Art and the Power of Visual Narratives appeared first on EnVi Media.

*Writer’s Note: this interview contains some spoilers for Our Violent Ends and Foul Lady Fortune

2023 has been the year of Taylor Swift — and of author Chloe Gong. Just like Taylor Swift, whose “Eras Tour” film is currently in theaters in the U.S. and soon heading to international screens, Gong and her characters are going through their “Eras” era.

Foul Heart Huntsman, Gong’s sixth published book, concludes the Secret Shanghai series and marks the end of this era that started in 2020. Released on September 26, the 560-page Foul Heart Huntsman is now a New York Times bestseller, shooting to number two on the competitive list in its first week. 

The Secret Shanghai storyline began with the These Violent Delights duology. In 2020, Gong’s Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai took the young adult reader’s world by storm. The mafia rival families and star-crossed lovers of These Violent Delights achieved a place on the New York Times bestseller list, won Best Youth Novel at the New Zealand Sir Julius Vogel Awards in 2021, and accomplished TikTok virality status. Meanwhile, the second book of this duology, Our Violent Ends, left readers in anguish a year later, jokingly calling Gong to pay for their therapy bills because of the — hmmm — explosive ending. 

The spinoff duology starts with Rosalind’s story in Foul Lady Fortune, in which Juliette’s cousin must face her mistakes, her newfound immortality, and her unexpected chance at love in the growing turbulence of 1930s China. Before Foul Heart Huntsman wrapped up these characters’ stories, Gong published Last Violent Call. This bundle of short novellas, featuring the Secret Shanghai characters, brought a wholesome intermission to the adventure and peril the gang usually faces. 

EnVi caught up with Chloe Gong over Zoom ahead of Foul Heart Huntsman’s September 26 release date to chat about deadlines, plot twists, and growing up with her characters. 

The Foul Heart Huntsman Era

Just before we joined the Zoom call, Gong posted a photo on Instagram. To commemorate the arrival of her UK editions of Foul Heart Huntsman, she featured them alongside a stack of the U.S. versions. Gong’s signature humor appeared in the caption, writing, “…the set is complete. the prophecy is fulfilled. the family photo has been taken…,” the last sentence referring to the final slide with the entire Secret Shanghai series together. 

Later in the day, afternoon fall sunlight streamed into Gong’s New York City apartment. Like you might expect from a fellow reader, my eye was drawn to the overflowing bookshelf peeking out in the corner of our video call frame. Throw pillows and blankets on her gray L-shaped couch, along with Gong’s UPenn quarter zip, added even more coziness. 

A Taylor Swift-related question kicked off our conversation, a topic Chloe Gong is all but happy to discuss. “[Rosalind] is going through her Speak Now era because she’s in such pain, right?” Gong replied, starting with her leading lady and which Taylor Swift album era she would be. “But I think a lot of [Foul Heart Huntsman] is also her Lover era because she’s trying to…trust and everything,” the young author added.

“I always said that Foul Lady Fortune is basically ‘right where you left me’ in song form. So that was Rosalind in the first book,” Gong summed up. Readers literally found Rosalind right where they left her after Our Violent Ends because of her immortality. Gong continued, “I think in the second one [Foul Heart Huntsman], she kind of phases a bit into ‘Last Kiss’ in the beginning, and she’s like ‘I can’t believe I got left behind.’” This shift happens because Orion no longer remembers her after the events that went down in Foul Lady Fortune. Rosalind’s trust issues heighten by tenfold as a result, leaving “The Archer” kind of flavor throughout the conclusion of her duology. 

As for the others in the main cast, Gong had her answers ready. “Orion is in his 1989 era because he’s kind of just off doing his thing and discovering himself,” something you might do when you wake up with amnesia and a mother who is using you for her immortality experiments (small things, you know). Despite these hurdles Orion and Rosalind face together in “Foul Heart Huntsman, the two of them are the “1989 bonus track, ‘You Are In Love,’” Gong firmly stated. 

Orion’s younger sister Phoebe and her sort-of-kind-of lover Silas are both in their Reputation era as they “circl[e] around each other.” On the other hand, Gong couldn’t decide whether Rosalind’s younger sister Celia was in her Red era or folklore era — both definitely fit the steadfast Celia. Evermore is reserved for Oliver, Orion’s older brother and Celia’s espionage partner, who just “angst[s] and keeps secrets,” to the annoyance of the majority of the cast. 

Growing Up and Saying Goodbye

Yet conclusions mean goodbyes. And Gong has been with her Secret Shanghai gang — starting with Roma, Juliette, Alisa, Celia, and Rosalind — since she was a teenager. “It’s so bittersweet,” Gong reflected, her arms crossed over her knees. “I’m very, very sad to end it because I have spent so long with these characters. They feel so familiar with me. They’ve essentially grown up with me,” she emphasized. “I have gone through my own coming-of-age experience while writing theirs, and it is a very sad thought that I’m never gonna experience that again.” 

Luckily, Gong has a much longer path in front of her. “I’m obviously gonna write more YA in the future,” she noted with a small laugh. But the bittersweet taste is still there: “I’m never gonna be growing up with these characters in the exact same way.” The going-on-25 author wrapped up her thoughts saying, “That can only happen once.” 

Despite the sadness, though, Gong understands this is where the Secret Shanghai needs to end. “I am a big believer that stories need an end,” she began. The seasoned author elaborated further, stating she would need to put her characters through more “peril” if she wanted to ensure there was still plot available to create another story.  

This is why Rosalind’s spin-off duology came to be. Foul Lady Fortune — and eventually, Foul Heart Huntsman — was written to resolve Rosalind’s character arc. The prickly and secretive Rosalind Lang had more growing to do, especially given where Our Violent Ends left off. 

As Gong explained, almost as if she was speaking to her femme fatale character face-to-face, “This is what I wanted to do for you. This is the story that I needed to see you through for me to feel happy with what we’re doing here. And now that we’re here, I want to give you your resolution.” Gong continued looking directly into the camera with a solemn expression, adding, “She deserves some peace.” 

For now, this is where readers will leave these characters. Foul Heart Huntsman is out in the world; the Secret Shanghai series is complete. This final book is “the culmination of everything I wanted to do in this world,” emphasized Gong. 

Again, But Better (But Different)

However, in order to reach the end, Gong first had to put her beloved characters through just a little more pain and angst — particularly the main leads, Rosalind Lang and Orion Hong. With Orion’s memory wiped, their relationship has to start from square one once again. Somehow they need to relearn each other while also knowing that they used to know each other “so well,” as both the spy duo High Tide and as romantic partners. “They’re doing it again, but better, but differently,” Gong said with a wry smile and a hint of laughter in her voice. 

This “role reversal” Gong plays with in the Foul Lady Fortune duology is intentional. However, the unique story structure posed some challenges. It was a bit “stressful” to ensure that she was not just saying the same thing that was found in the first book. “It needs to be saying something new. The reflection has to be then using that compare and contrast to actually do something different,” noted Gong. “But it has to feel very seamless where you’re like, ‘Oh, this is a parallel, but I don’t feel like I’m reading it again.’”

Fortunately (pun unintended), Foul Heart Huntsman as a book “came together a lot more smoothly” than its predecessor. Unlike with Foul Lady Fortune, where Gong had initially struggled to find its voice, she knew the direction she needed to take with Foul Heart Huntsman. “I went in very clearly knowing which plot points I wanted to get in there,” the author said. There was no major rewrite this time around because “I’ve set up so many of the threads in both the first book of the duology and in the original duology,” Gong continued, as she had the “questions and and themes…[she] want[ed] answered.” 

However, the actual process of writing the last Secret Shanghai novel proved to be an obstacle. Not because Gong had to figure out the heart of the story, but rather, the young author also was writing her adult debut — Immortal Longings — and the novella collection, Last Violent Call. (The latter was a “surprise project,” which originally was going to be published after Foul Heart Huntsman. However, Gong and her publishing team agreed it would fit in best before the series conclusion.) 

With “so many things to juggle simultaneously,” Gong realized she is not a multi-project person. Looking back on this experience caused her to say while laughing, “Which, by the way, I’m never doing that again. I will be taking my time from now on.” She added, “I’ve learned my lesson.” 

“I found that I couldn’t switch projects day-by-day. It was very, very hard,” Gong emphasized, even when these book deadlines were close together. Besides the vast genre differences between the three books — including an espionage thriller, dystopian-tinged epic romantic fantasy, and wholesome slice-of-life love stories — Gong’s brain just “doesn’t work like that.” 

“I need time to fully sink into a world and to be planted there with the characters,” she revealed honestly.  

A Character Study

Speaking of characters, the history Gong built off of to create her Secret Shanghai world was also crucial to forming her leads. Foul Lady Fortune, historically, “worked off of the existing lead-up to this time” — which included the turn of the new decade, the Chinese Civil War in the 1930s, and the looming Japanese invasion. Foul Heart Huntsman follows the lines set up by Gong’s research while also ensuring “it serves to recreate the historical atmosphere as closely as it can” despite both books being “work[s] of fiction.” 

“Everything I invent — fiction and plot wise — serves to compound and complement what is going on rather than defy it,” Gong underscored as we discussed researching for this duology. The Foul Heart Huntsman author shifted gears, noting how her understanding of the various viewpoints of the times helped inform the beliefs of her characters. Gong brought in a contemporary parallel: Just like if you stopped people on the street in 2023, you would find many perspectives, and the same goes for the past. 

But Gong needed to investigate further to create the well-known depth and relatability of her characters. “So while the characters are allowed to believe different things, I still need to know what exactly is it that causes these beliefs,” she said, alluding to the political divides found in Foul Lady Fortune and its sequel. 1930s China was fraught with tension, even within the same family, in part because of the Communist and Nationalist split. Gong added, “What has happened? Why would they hold certain opinions?”  

Plus, the opinions a character holds at the beginning of her books may not be that perspective they have by the end. Gong was firm when she stated, “If I moved a character through their world correctly, they should never start a book believing the same things they do when they end the book.” Rosalind, Orion, Celia, Phoebe, Oliver, and Alisa (among others) have gone through too much not to have grown and changed in some way. 

Our conversation eventually turned to the unexpected star of Foul Heart Huntsman: Phoebe Hong, Orion’s younger sister who hides something more behind her “ditzy” personality. Gong revealed she dedicated an entire revision cycle to honing in on Phoebe, specifically her “mommy issues.” 

“I think Phoebe was the most surprising one in this whole book. I really didn’t think she would steal the show as much as she did,” Gong exclaimed, a bit of laughter escaping as we focused on this unpredictable character. However, the now-dubbed “mommy issues” of the youngest Hong child was “actually the interesting crux of her character,” so Gong just “went from there” in terms of Phoebe’s character arc. 

If Phoebe was a surprise while writing Foul Heart Huntsman, then the reunion scenes were one of Gong’s favorite parts. Since these scenes are spoilers for events that happen before this duology, Gong kept her responses a little bit cryptic, only sharing, “There are reunion scenes that you have been waiting to see for a very long time.” 

She did continue, but in vague terms, “It was just the best to get to write those conversations, write those encounters in a way that still made sense for new readers.” While Foul Heart Huntsman concludes the second, but connected, duology, this series still makes sense if readers have not taken a dive into These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends. “I always say, if someone has started with Foul Lady Fortune, they shouldn’t be lost at any point,” Gong explained. However, for those readers who have been with the Secret Shanghai characters since day one, there are some special “treats.”

Plot Twists and Happy Endings

Gong is famous for her plot twists — just take a look around TikTok, and you’ll see countless readers and their shocked reactions. Yet, the young author is very intentional about how she approaches twists. “I never want to do a twist just for the sake of shock factor,” she noted. Gong needs to think about where the twist comes from, and how she can “justify” the twist in terms of the character, the plot, and the circumstances that have brought the story to where it is at that time. 

She also has a few other questions she thinks about: “What does it say about this character if we are surprised by the fact that this has happened? How do we interrogate our idea of them? And how does that change the way we see them now?” And Gong has even more questions to consider, including, “What does it take to lead up to something like this? What would push a character to do this?” In addition, she views the twist as a catalyst for some sort of change in the character. “After the plot twist, how would a character work past this? How would a character reflect on this, and then change who they are from that?” Gong concluded. At the end of the day, “It should feel like a turning point instead of swerving off the road” — unlike the highway meme. 

During our interview, Gong brought up a major plot twist in Foul Heart Huntsman (no spoilers here, though!). “Yes, maybe in that moment you should feel ‘Oh my goodness, how did that happen?’” Yet, Gong emphasized: “But upon reflecting on it, if it has been set up correctly, it should not be unexpected.” 

The ending of Foul Heart Huntsman, too, should not come as too much of a surprise. While These Violent Delights is inspired by one of Shakespeare’s famous tragedies — Romeo and Juliet — the Foul Lady Fortune duology is adapted from As You Like It, one of the Bard’s comedies. As Gong noted with a glimmer in her eye, “It is in the Shakespearan spirit to end on a jovial note.” (And she knew this would be the tone of the ending before the duology was even completed.)

In her author’s note in Foul Heart Huntsman, Gong takes a quote from the Norton introduction of As You Like It, which applies to her newest book and its world. “The play ends on a utopian note that doesn’t necessarily serve to say all of society’s ills are gone,” Gong began. “But in this moment, we can choose to live life in bliss instead of whatever is to come,” she continued. “It felt incredibly fitting for this time period that these characters are living in,” added Gong. By the end of Foul Heart Huntsman, an unstable peace has been reached, but more is on the horizon, including the imminent outbreak of World War II.  

 Gong wrapped up her thoughts on a more positive foot: “You always get this feeling something is still about to go wrong, but at least right now, it is okay.” 

Long Live

There is a lyric in Taylor Swift’s song “Long Live” that fits Foul Heart Huntsman to a tee: “It was the end of a decade but the start of an age.” Not only are the Secret Shanghai characters moving towards rounding out the 1930s, but Gong — and her readers — are closing one chapter and beginning a new one in the current age. 

After Gong concluded her U.S. tour for Immortal Longings, she jumped straight into online and in-person promotions for Foul Heart Huntsman. This included another two week book tour that consisted of a New York Comic Con stop in October and some Canada dates, which was a first for the bestselling Gong. 

Currently, the never-stopping-author is “slowly picking” at the sequel to Immortal Longings, her third duology. Coming out of two back-to-back tours and needing to write at the same time has proven to be challenging for the seasoned writer. “It’s been hard because I’m also revising it while it’s release season,” Gong admitted. But the Immortal Longings sequel era is not here quite yet. 

For now, the spotlight is on Rosalind Lang and her Secret Shanghai gang. If Rosalind’s Taylor Swift era is Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), then the soundtrack for the conclusion of her story is “Long Live.” And there’s another lyric in this track that is very applicable to the present feelings swirling around, “‘Long live all the magic made’…One day, we will be remembered.”

Even though it is time to say goodbye to the Secret Shanghai world and its beloved characters, indeed we know, magic was made. 

Keep up with Chloe Gong on TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). Foul Heart Huntsman (along with the rest of the Secret Shanghai series) is available to purchase wherever books are sold.  

Want to dig deeper into your new favorite read? Check out EnVi’s interview with YA author Susan Lee here!

The post Creative Spotlight: Growing Up With Chloe Gong, Author of “Foul Heart Huntsman” appeared first on EnVi Media.

Three letters — “KNJ” — follow the dedication in author Susan Lee’s sophomore novel, The Name Drop. If you are part of the BTS A.R.M.Y like Susan, then maybe you hear wailing guitars when you read these five words. Maybe you pause to think “Kim Namjoon” (also known as RM, the leader of BTS) when you see “KNJ.”   

And you wouldn’t be wrong. Susan’s dedication takes inspiration from BTS’ 2022 track “Run BTS.” Specifically, the last lines where RM makes a subtle change to the original post-chorus with “Run beautiful, run, yeah, you gotta run.”

“That song was constantly playing in my head,” Susan said during our late night/early morning chat. “I don’t listen to music when I write,” she added. “But it was playing in my head because it’s all about this journey that BTS had to take about not being taken seriously and having to believe in themselves. And then they hit fame and… suddenly they’re wondering, ‘What’s next?’ and they just kept saying, ‘You gotta keep running.’”

Just as “You gotta run” pushed the seven musicians forward, these words fueled Susan despite her own doubts while writing The Name Drop. To celebrate the release of The Name Drop, EnVi chatted with Susan Lee over Zoom about her book two, her sources of inspiration, and the hopefulness in her latest young adult novel.

Introducing The Name Drop

It’s around 8 a.m. in California when Susan joined the video call. As soon as we connected across continents and time zones, I could tell the interview was going to be a relaxed one, like catching up with a good friend. Susan wore a cozy blue shirt that matches The Name Drop’s cover and round, tortoiseshell glasses, while my outfit of choice was also a soft blue T-shirt.

This is the vibe that sets the tone for our hour-long chat centered around The Name Drop (along with some unsurprising BTS mentions). Susan’s newest novel, which was released on Sept. 12, follows Jessica Lee and Elijah Ri as they navigate love, life, and some K-drama-worthy plot twists during their internships at Haneul Corporation, a Korean tech company headed by Elijah’s father in New York City. A case of mistaken identity — caused by their unexpectedly shared Korean name — leaves Haneul heir Elijah among the unpaid interns and Jessica suddenly in charge of them as the executive-in-training intern. While the two characters are searching for different things in the City That Never Sleeps, maybe what they also needed to find was each other. 

Just as I asked Susan and her author friends about their BTS biases, The Name Drop author paired her main characters with who she believes would be their favorite BTS member. Leader RM is the bias of Jessica Lee, who is sure-footed yet rambly-when-anxious (a frequent occurrence). “She’s super practical and by the rules, but if it makes sense, she’s going to take a chance on something,” Susan explained. The similarities are uncanny between the two natural leaders, like how Jessica drives forward the hackathon project executed by her internship cohort. And she does so despite the higher-ups of the company not even giving a chance or sparing a glance at the group’s hard work. 

Meanwhile, born-and-raised in Korea, Elijah is the Jungkook to Jessica’s RM. As Susan said, “Elijah just wants to have fun.” His wealthy upbringing does influence his laid back personality, where his every need and want — for the most part — was met above and beyond. Yet, Elijah is most similar to Jungkook because of their willingness to just try, to just do it. “He sees things like, ‘Why not?’” Susan elaborated when pairing Elijah and Jungkook together. “And I think Jungkook kind of has that free spirit, being the maknae, the youngest in BTS.”  

The Inspiration Behind the Book

The Name Drop started out as a simple question: “What would it be like if you shared the same name with someone?” “Korean names oftentimes are [unisex], like you can use [them] for girls or guys, so, I thought, wouldn’t that be funny?” Susan noted. 

While Elijah and Jessica have their fair share of (fictional) same-Korean-name frustrations, Susan knows firsthand what it’s like to have the same name as someone else. While the experiences she shared during our conversation were not quite as extreme as the mistaken-identity shenanigans Jessica and Elijah went through, there still was a touch of bemusement curling her words. 

Sephora was the setting for Susan’s personal anecdote about similar names. As salespeople do, they always ask her for her first and last name to look up her membership. But Susan knew better. “Oh, you’ll never find it that way,” she relayed with a small laugh. Susan continued, gesturing to add emphasis to the story, “There’s always this moment where the salesperson stops. And she’s like ‘Oh.’ Because there are hundreds and hundreds [of Susan Lees].”

“And I was like, it’s just kind of this funny pain point of when you share a very common name,” Susan reflected with a tinge of humor. “But what if you actually shared a legal name with someone and what would happen?” 

The Name Drop became more than just a mixed-up names situation. The intense Korean drama series Sky Castle and the “world of the very uber rich in Korea and the demands on the kids in this world,” alongside Susan’s personal experience working in the corporate world at a Korean-owned company, also informed her sophomore novel. She emphasized that this background “definitely informed some of the elements of the book, but with a more creative bend.”

From the get-go, readers notice how toxic and misogynistic the office culture is at Haneul Corporation. “It happens in startups a lot… the misogynistic culture where men try to shoot down women in meetings happens all the time, including things like your handwriting should be much more feminine-looking and things like that,” Susan noted. 

When we spoke about these scenes in The Name Drop (especially the “feminine handwriting” one), she admitted, “Some of the more outrageous things in [The Name Drop] are actually very true.” Memories from her time in the corporate world, such as working in a “very, very conservative Korean technology company” early on, included the rules in the handbook. “In the handbook, it would tell us how many inches the skirt is allowed to be above your knee,” Susan remembered. “Or women could only wear navy or black or gray — like [the handbook] said this back in the day,” she added, drawing parallels to how Haneul required Jessica to change into company-approved clothing at the start of her internship. 

Writing Book Twos

Writing and publishing the second book is notoriously difficult. Not only is there often just a contract before a polished story, authors have a team now and a tighter deadline to get everything written, revised, and ready for publication. 

“Especially in YA [young adult], there is so much emphasis put on the debut, and there [are] a lot of resources for debut authors to try to navigate the whole experience,” Susan said, alluding to the group chats, the mentorship programs, and the social media support for first-time published authors. “But the moment you debut on a Tuesday, nobody tells you what happens on the Wednesday.” Honesty colored her words as she chuckled, adding, “I don’t think we talk enough about what happens next.” 

Having Seoulmates, her debut novel, and her just-released second book under her belt now, Susan has a unique perspective carved from newness but also from experience. She elaborated on her book-two thoughts: “I think that the difference is also with your first book, you have the luxury of time.” A writers’ debut may have had years of crafting, revising, and editing behind it to ensure that the story is at the best that it can be. But there is a time crunch with an author’s second book that does not necessarily exist when polishing and promoting their debut. 

Susan elaborated with more insight from her own experience, saying in a matter-of-fact way, “I sent my first draft [of The Name Drop], no beta readers, no CPs [critique partners], nothing, straight to my editor, and she read it messy. In fact, I didn’t even have the last five chapters,” she admitted as the sun began to brighten in her California home. “I’m like, ‘Something happens here.’ I haven’t figured it out yet.” 

“It also just feels like you’ve got a lot of support, and you also now built a readership,” Susan continued, as she spoke about some more external differences in this experience. “So that is both terrifying, because you don’t want to disappoint them, but also really exciting that you’ve got people who you already know have loved your writing from the beginning.” 

Yet, even among this nervousness/excitement, Susan experienced “overwhelming imposter syndrome.” This admirable honesty and vulnerability came in response to a question inspired by BTS V’s interview with W Korea ahead of his solo debut. “Like how many times I asked myself, ‘Well, maybe I’m a one-and-done,” she added. 

“I thought I was a hack,” Susan said, taking us into the not-so-fun parts of her writing thoughts. “I really kept believing that I can’t do this.” It didn’t help that there were many times where she “got stuck in the writing.” Unfortunately, because of the time-limit pressure, Susan couldn’t fall back on the solutions that worked with Seoulmates. Options like stepping away from her writing for a little bit or going on writing retreats with friends to figure things out weren’t as feasible with The Name Drop. 

Luckily, as the book’s dedication hints at, BTS and their inspiration were there to push her through some of the particularly tough parts of the journey. And as if he were by us right-then-and-there, Jungkook went live while we were chatting about these difficult moments. “I don’t know if you saw, but Weverse just gave a notification that JK is live!” Susan exclaimed, laughing at the perfect timing.

Hopefulness in New York City

Since The Name Drop is a young adult romantic comedy, hopefulness underlines Elijah and Jessica’s story. Part of this hopefulness is embedded in the characters’ perception of New York City. Susan lived in New York for 11 years before moving to California; however, teenaged Jessica and Elijah are totally new to the greatest city in the world. 

“I had to include a lot of tourist places that people [who] are there for the first time would want to go [to], when in actuality, these are places I haven’t been to since I first came to New York 11 years ago,” Susan explained, referring the locations she selected for The Name Drop. This is why New York City tourist staples like a boat tour around the Statue of Liberty and even the New York Public Library are the settings for pivotal moments in The Name Drop. 

“The first things I remember seeing [are], ‘Ooh, this place is gross and ugly. It smells bad. And why do they put their garbage on the sidewalk?” she remembered with a small relatable laugh. But Susan had to look at New York City through Jessica and Elijah’s perspective. And this lens was underscored by newness and newfound independence. 

“I had to write it looking through the eyes of not only people new to New York, but new to being on their own in New York,” she continued, understanding that capturing the distinct energy of the city was important to the book. Susan took me through her thought process, emphasizing a shift in physical perspective. “The best way to appreciate New York is to stop looking down and start looking up.”

She cited taking note of colors, the many air conditioning units, and the bright lights of the buildings in New York to help round out this new view. “When we’re in New York, you walk with your head down or we’ll look at your phone or you’re on a mission, you know where you’re going,” Susan added. Yet, as The Name Drop author pointed out, “Very rarely do we lift our eyes and look up.” 

Happily Ever Afters

Rom-coms are not complete without a happily ever after, and The Name Drop delivers much-needed serotonin with kicking-and-screaming moments of happiness. But what does Elijah and Jessica’s ideal date look like? 

After pondering the question, Susan answered, “Now that they’re together, it’s less about the grind of proving themselves and more about living fully as themselves.” She continued, noting that the epilogue of The Name Drop touches on this ideal date vibe, “They’re just going to eat at their favorite place. They’re having conversations about their family. I think [their ideal date is] when the two of them are together, walking, holding hands, having inside jokes with each other.” 

Susan also had a dream cast ready for The Name Drop main leads. The sunshine smile of Choi Woosik — who stars in Oscar-winning film Parasite, popular drama series Our Beloved Summer, and more — is Elijah Ri to a tee. “I just think he could be such an adorable Elijah,” she said, leading us to have a little fangirl moment about Woosik and his acting versatility.

As for Jessica, another notable K-drama actor was Susan’s choice: Park Bo-young, the leading lady in popular Korean shows such as Strong Girl Bong-soon and Doom at Your Service. “She’s that perfect vibe for Jessica,” Susan explained, adding that both are “this wide-eyed, doe-eyed person who looks at things with such wonder, but also skepticism.” While we began wrapping up the question and the interview, we both agreed that the chemistry between Jessica and Elijah — playful and trusting — could be perfectly captured by Choi Woosik and Park Bo-young.

Next Up From Susan Lee

As the sun grew brighter in California and the nighttime grew deeper on the other side of the world, we came across a question Susan wishes she was asked more often. “I don’t think we talk about writing and being an author enough as people’s careers,” began Susan. “So I do wish that people were like, ‘Hey, what do you want to be doing in this whole scheme of things?’” 

The “whole scheme of things” being a writing and publishing career. What do you see writing and releasing in the next five, the next 10, maybe the next 15 years? Susan put it best, saying, “Not just like, what are you working on next? But what do you hope for, for this career as an author for yourself?” As one might expect, writing books can take a lot of time, energy, and commitment. So it makes sense that many just take it one step at a time. 

However, Susan is in the boat where “we kind of want to see where this thing will take us.” Then, what does this author career path look for Susan? “For me, my number one goal as a writer is I want to build a backlist,” she replied firmly. “I want to build a significant enough backlist that at any point in time when readers find me, they have other books that they can read from me.”

Writing an adult romance novel is one goal, Susan revealed (although it’s not too much of a surprise given how much she loves romance books). But otherwise, “I just want there to be books for readers to find,” she admitted. “Secondly, my other goal is to not forget the type of reader that I am and the type of reader that I want to reach that are often forgotten. And that’s the reluctant reader,” Susan continued, concluding her response with a broader goal. “I hope that my books always remain accessible to reluctant readers.” 

The Name Drop was released on Sept. 12 from Inkyard Press, and Susan announced her upcoming rom-com, The Romance Rivalry, the day after. Talk about building a backlist! “I just want to thank everyone who’s taking the chance on me, reading my books, and supporting me,” expressed Susan when I asked her if she wanted to add anything else. “I hope that I will continue to write books that readers find and that they enjoy.” 

With that, we reached the end of our video call. But one important message, among many, from our conversation lingered: Don’t cast your eyes down on the ground. Rather, keep looking up. You never know what you’ll find. And Susan embodies that positivity too: “I’m very thankful that I’m done with the Book Two. I’m ready to see what Book Threes are like now.”

The Name Drop is now out where books are available. Keep up with Susan Lee and her upcoming stories on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. 

Want more book recommendations and author interviews? Check out EnVi’s chat with Ann Liang, author of the young adult rom-com This Time It’s Real here!

The post Creative Spotlight: Susan Lee on The Name Drop, Book Twos, and Keeping Your Head Up appeared first on EnVi Media.