98: AXIE OH: Books for fans of KPop Demon Hunters and Final Fantasy

This week on LiteraryHype Podcast, Axie Oh is joining me to talk all about her latest duology. Both books released this year, so fans do not have to wait to find out how it all ends. The Floating World and The Demon and The Light are giving KPop Demon Hunters vibes, so count on us to talk about the movie, the music, and a few other shenanigans too.

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The Floating World
The Demon and The Light
XOXO
ASAP
The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea

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The Floating World
The Demon and The Light
XOXO
ASAP
The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea

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The Floating World
The Demon and The Light
XOXO
ASAP
The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea

Transcript

00;00;03;12 - 00;00;25;15
Speaker 1
Hi. I'm Stephanie, the literary hypomanic. Welcome to Literary Hype, where I chat with authors and ask very oddball questions and we go off on tangents. And today's author conversation is perfect for all those K-pop to even Hunter fans. Not only is actually our good buddy from doing panels and talking on the Internet, but she's also the perfect author to recommend for people who are looking for books with vibes like K-pop Demon Hunters.

00;00;25;20 - 00;00;50;28
Speaker 1
While she does write K-pop romances like XO, Exo and ASAP, which I loved and are absolutely fabulous and you should check out actually also has books that fit the demon vibes of K-pop Demon Hunters. And so we're talking about the floating world and the sequel slash end of the dual ages, the demon and the Light. So we got the chance to talk at San Diego Comic-Con after doing a couple of panels together, and we kind of go off on some K-pop charges and it's OK.

00;00;51;17 - 00;00;55;05
Speaker 1
We're talking all about the books and we're talking all about K-pop. So check out this conversation.

00;01;00;10 - 00;01;01;12
Speaker 2
Welcome to Literary Hype.

00;01;02;08 - 00;01;07;08
Speaker 1
You want to talk about your most recent release and upcoming release all at the same time.

00;01;07;08 - 00;01;08;23
Speaker 3
Yes. Oh, this.

00;01;08;23 - 00;01;10;08
Speaker 1
Year you're very busy.

00;01;10;14 - 00;01;22;06
Speaker 3
Yes, this year. And then I took a break that like, what a break? I don't know yet. You wouldn't know. But it involves sleeping and not traveling all over the country all the time.

00;01;23;12 - 00;01;31;07
Speaker 1
I mean, involves subway with dogs. You did tell me know to going to a convention because you're like, I've already got a trip in the summer. And I was like, hey, trip.

00;01;31;22 - 00;01;34;03
Speaker 3
A trip. I'm going to be tired.

00;01;34;22 - 00;01;40;26
Speaker 1
What do you mean you just sick of? In which case I'm doing. Yeah. Yeah.

00;01;41;04 - 00;01;46;19
Speaker 3
Did you also do that? Is that even like you don't do that? You also watch Hundreds, but on the road.

00;01;47;01 - 00;01;54;00
Speaker 1
I watched it twice the weekend it came out, and because I watched it, it was like, this is really good. And I start talking about it. And then I made my husband watch it and.

00;01;54;13 - 00;01;57;27
Speaker 3
Because he had to watch it. So you got to watch it a third time through him. Yes. Yes.

00;01;58;00 - 00;01;59;24
Speaker 1
So I need to watch it again.

00;02;00;19 - 00;02;02;23
Speaker 3
You can watch also watch it and like multiple favorites.

00;02;03;02 - 00;02;04;24
Speaker 1
I would. That's a good idea.

00;02;05;01 - 00;02;07;29
Speaker 3
I haven't done that yet, but I've seen people do that. And I'm like, maybe I should do that.

00;02;08;00 - 00;02;10;00
Speaker 1
Is it different in some? Well, it's it.

00;02;10;00 - 00;02;15;14
Speaker 3
Is tough to watch it in Korean. He did. Right. I don't know. I don't know. I think I don't know.

00;02;15;28 - 00;02;17;07
Speaker 1
All I know is that he went.

00;02;17;07 - 00;02;18;05
Speaker 3
He did. You did? Yeah.

00;02;18;07 - 00;02;26;27
Speaker 1
OK, he did think that he didn't want to was watching music videos and, like, singing along. And I'm like, bro, it is 2 a.m.. What are you.

00;02;26;27 - 00;02;29;29
Speaker 3
Doing? You were telling him to, like, go to sleep because we had to go to sleep. But that work.

00;02;30;19 - 00;02;43;26
Speaker 1
OK. Which I'm like, OK, let them live. Like, if you have to work and you have to go to sleep, you go do that. Do not make it like, I'll tell you to do that. Like your life doesn't revolve around this simple concept.

00;02;44;13 - 00;02;45;17
Speaker 3
OK, but yeah. Yeah.

00;02;46;02 - 00;02;46;24
Speaker 1
Well, I don't know.

00;02;46;24 - 00;02;47;23
Speaker 3
I don't know. Who knows?

00;02;48;03 - 00;02;49;20
Speaker 1
Yeah. Some people say some unhinged.

00;02;49;26 - 00;02;58;23
Speaker 3
I didn't watch it live. I just watched like, clips, and I was like, so charmed. What? He cried for Virginia. I don't want to spoil it. We're not doing spoiler.

00;02;58;24 - 00;03;01;11
Speaker 1
No, no. But if you have a much. Keep up.

00;03;02;01 - 00;03;03;06
Speaker 3
Already. What are you doing?

00;03;03;09 - 00;03;11;08
Speaker 1
What are you doing? Climb out from underneath a rock and watch it. Which we've talked about that movie a lot this weekend that's coming online on multiple.

00;03;13;08 - 00;03;17;09
Speaker 1
What is it about that movie that you think has captured everyone's attention?

00;03;17;18 - 00;03;39;26
Speaker 3
Definitely the music. Every song is a hit. Every song is so good. Like what other musicals besides, like, woolen? I mean, there are some that are also a reason for it. But when it's like, every song is a flop, it's like, wow, that's that song was good. That song was good. Of a other place of literally someone's. Yeah, well, there you go.

00;03;40;04 - 00;03;59;18
Speaker 3
Like, they're just so catchy. Like, soda pop is so catchy. Like, I I will sing it, and it got stuck in my head and we'll sing it over and over again. And so I think that for for me, I think that the reason it's so popular is the reason why K-pop is so popular and because they have this really catchy songs have really great visuals.

00;03;59;26 - 00;04;22;11
Speaker 3
The whole movie is like so cinematically, so cool. I think I watched an interview with like the director saying one of the hardest parts is matching, like the dance moves to like the music, like the animation to the music. And I like that would be really hard. And just like the visuals, the story, the characters, I think it all resonates on a personal level.

00;04;22;11 - 00;04;38;24
Speaker 3
I think it's a great Korean story, and I really, really love that. I love seeing my culture represented in such a wonderful way that's so observable and so like wonderful where you discover something and you want to go learn more about it. That's been really exciting for me too.

00;04;38;29 - 00;04;48;02
Speaker 1
Also turning into your books with this movie, you've been tagged in, how many posts of book recommendations for people who was she knew in Ruby Babies?

00;04;48;16 - 00;05;08;06
Speaker 3
I know. So like I watched the movie just saying it was so exciting. And then like a flood of like people, my book, The Post being like, Oh, if you love countries, you should read my books like and I was so flattered. But also like as a fan I was so like, Yeah, I'm so happy. And I was like, OK, how, how do they connect?

00;05;08;06 - 00;05;28;16
Speaker 3
Because I do have K-pop, so there is a connection there but my fantasies also have created this little simple picture. So you'll see some tie ins there. And then, yeah, my I guess in terms of, I mean, my boy, he's like a demon boy, but he's not like she needs you just want like suave might even boy is more like sweet.

00;05;29;09 - 00;05;30;16
Speaker 3
He's the sweet part of China.

00;05;31;06 - 00;05;35;08
Speaker 1
He's he's not full dark side. Yeah. He's not your idol. Yeah.

00;05;35;20 - 00;05;38;20
Speaker 3
He might get there in the sequel, but he's not there yet.

00;05;39;04 - 00;05;39;19
Speaker 1
I mean.

00;05;42;05 - 00;05;43;18
Speaker 3
You said I said it.

00;05;44;15 - 00;06;03;03
Speaker 1
But it's so fun to watch all of this blow up, especially since your cousin Cacho also has K-pop, but. Yes. And Korean fantasy. Yes. And so see all of your books between the two. You're getting so much love. It's been so cool to watch. Yes. Are there any other books that you would recommend for someone who was kidnaped even more crimes?

00;06;03;08 - 00;06;22;07
Speaker 3
Oh, yes. I mean, at this con, we had a feeling it was here who wrote Nine Tales which is that could be a whole story. I don't think we didn't feature Gumiho and K-pop didn't. Hundreds of Gumiho are women who or are Dean are Fox Divas who represent people who are beautiful women who eat the letters of men.

00;06;22;07 - 00;06;47;19
Speaker 3
So, you know, those are your bites. But yeah, I like the idea of crew with the block creatures. The idea of a grim reaper, says Prometheus in her book. Also another author, Marine Girl, whose husband is one half of the keep up demon hunters director collaboration. She wrote a ton of K drama K-pop. OK, so Summer Only We Know is a K-pop book that takes place in Hong Kong.

00;06;47;19 - 00;07;08;14
Speaker 3
Where the idol, K-pop, idol, she like leaves her hotel for a night because I think it's fun that show with this guy she meets, I think Marine pictures like American Holiday but like K-pop fine. But she also wrote, I believe in a thing called Love, which is like a K drama book. It's so much fun. Who else am I seeing?

00;07;08;14 - 00;07;23;06
Speaker 3
And these awesome. But this is fun because like, I also see other people recommended with our books. Like, I see a lot of Sophie Kim recommended Susan Lee wonderful contemporary romance author. If You Want The Romance Lives I place, it's in LA and she's a San Diego native, so.

00;07;23;10 - 00;07;24;06
Speaker 1
She's so much fun.

00;07;24;09 - 00;07;24;25
Speaker 3
She so much.

00;07;24;25 - 00;07;34;04
Speaker 1
Fun. I finally got her on the show and I was like, the happiest. Yes. Since I met her before her first book came out. And she's just been so delightful.

00;07;34;09 - 00;08;00;13
Speaker 3
Her, like, critique group, they call himself a Kim Chingos, and they can debut it before then. So we call ourselves the Kim Impose. It's like on the can me most of the kimchi. It's a really big E, most of the arts of the kitchen girls are just friends, so it's like kimchi plus chingos. So Kim Chingos and Kim, she like kimchi we don't title ourselves.

00;08;00;16 - 00;08;04;04
Speaker 1
Evan Jess is like Azuma Kim Archibald.

00;08;04;13 - 00;08;05;26
Speaker 3
I love it.

00;08;06;21 - 00;08;23;26
Speaker 1
But so that doesn't give us obviously because you do have some Cyndi many vibes and the trim told you about. See so for anyone who has not seen the floating world and or the demon in the light, give us an overview of this. Do all the jade.

00;08;24;01 - 00;08;52;27
Speaker 3
It's based on the myth of Korean celestial natives, which who are. It's like the legend is that these maidens from the sky come down from the heavens and bathe in waterfall pools. In order to bathe they have to take off their wings and hang them on the bow of a pine tree. And then in the folktale, a woodcutter comes and steals the wings of the beat of the third in the third maiden, which traps her on earth, and then like to be his bride.

00;08;53;04 - 00;09;20;23
Speaker 3
So it's very like swan maidens, legends of the legends. So that was like the legend I was working off of in my story. My main character, Ren, she's descendant of celestial maidens, and she has like powers and she's an acrobat. And one day her caravan of acrobats is attacked and she releases a silver light that's seen in the sky far and far, far away in a place called the Underworld.

00;09;21;02 - 00;09;42;25
Speaker 3
Hello and a sword for her and amnesiacs are for higher. It's harder to find the girl with the silver light. And inside him he harbors a dark secret. There's a demon within him that's trying to come out. And so he's on this journey to find her. She's on this journey after her village is attacked to find the demons that attacked her village.

00;09;42;25 - 00;09;47;27
Speaker 3
And so she's the kind of colliding and journey. And, yeah, things happen.

00;09;48;15 - 00;09;49;24
Speaker 1
You just said the silver light.

00;09;49;27 - 00;09;50;03
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00;09;50;04 - 00;09;56;08
Speaker 1
I'm not going to lie when I was reading that. Oh, yeah, silver light. And was like.

00;09;56;20 - 00;09;58;14
Speaker 3
It's a subtle reference.

00;09;58;27 - 00;10;07;25
Speaker 1
That's always something else that I was like, Is she toying with me and putting subtle look, pop references in here? I don't remember what the other one was, but Silver Light was like, all I could think of was.

00;10;08;09 - 00;10;11;08
Speaker 3
You're not the only person to ask me. That was just so funny.

00;10;12;09 - 00;10;16;04
Speaker 1
I mean, I wouldn't put it past you to put an atheist reference in there. Like it could have.

00;10;16;04 - 00;10;23;11
Speaker 3
Been a white light. I mean, I, if I did, it was not on purpose, but I'm also like so attuned to K-pop, anything could happen at this point.

00;10;23;27 - 00;10;25;24
Speaker 1
I was like, if you could have picked any color.

00;10;25;24 - 00;10;27;10
Speaker 3
Like, yeah, this is true.

00;10;27;11 - 00;10;28;06
Speaker 1
But silver.

00;10;28;06 - 00;10;29;01
Speaker 3
If it's true.

00;10;29;07 - 00;10;30;26
Speaker 1
It's like my little 18.

00;10;31;12 - 00;10;33;06
Speaker 3
For you and so on.

00;10;33;20 - 00;10;46;13
Speaker 1
And so on. Yes, yes. Our favorite flavor of Doritos. Yes. Are there any other K-pop references or pop culture references that were very subtle that you weren't into either of these guys?

00;10;46;20 - 00;11;09;29
Speaker 3
Ooh, not, not like, again, not consciously that I can think of. In my other book, The Girl Fell Beneath the Sea. I have references, but more in terms of like the story, the growth of it. This is based on a story called The Teller Some Time, and there's another month that's really popular for the giveaway. They gave Bright, Bright of the waterfall.

00;11;09;29 - 00;11;28;25
Speaker 3
But right at the second you don't talk about not. Yeah, it became a K drama. I don't probably not saying the title. Right. But the main character in that story, her name is Sara. So when my main character in my book goes dark. So in that book, a bunch of brides are sacrificed to see God, right? So she's like the hundredth, right?

00;11;29;00 - 00;11;49;02
Speaker 3
So she's like naming the previous brides. And one of them is Sara, who's the main character this other like series based on the same legend. So I did things like that. We're like, well, if you read that and you were afraid because I'm very old, it's like an older man. I got older, like Korean comic, that people will be like, Oh, yeah, that girl, you know, things like that.

00;11;49;02 - 00;12;02;24
Speaker 3
But in terms of like pop culture, into the fantasy, not consciously. I do that more. If I keep up books, I like putting I'm putting like Subway in there and, and I'm putting like, you know, play on words for like TV shows. I do that all the time. I just think it's fun.

00;12;03;06 - 00;12;16;24
Speaker 1
So with the demon in the light coming out very soon, probably around the time that this will be posted, because that's just how it works sometimes what is the most important thing for people who have read book one to remember when they start losing?

00;12;17;05 - 00;12;33;00
Speaker 3
Oh, I mean, I remember the ending you remember where the characters ended up and what they have to solve, right. Is on a journey. And so it's I know, and they have to be reunited and together and happy. And so how are they going to get there?

00;12;35;03 - 00;12;51;04
Speaker 3
And yes, some fun set up. There are some stuff happening at the end science wise. If you remember some scary stuff happening at the end, those get those become bigger elements in the sequel book two.

00;12;51;12 - 00;13;07;28
Speaker 1
It's dedicated to your brother in which we were on panel. The song in her book two and her two ology is also dedicated to her brother. So I thought that was really cool and I was going to bring it up in the panel and we did not get very much of the questions that we can land to my thing.

00;13;08;00 - 00;13;10;07
Speaker 1
It was so important for you to dedicate this book to your book.

00;13;10;15 - 00;13;34;07
Speaker 3
Yeah, so a little faster. Brother passed on when I was younger when I was 13, who was 16 from leukemia. And so actually my other book, the girl called me to see she's trying to save her brother, and it was very based off that. But this book is that I he's my brother because he is the one who introduced me to Final Fantasy, which is a huge influence for this book in particular because it's a very video game inspired book.

00;13;34;28 - 00;13;59;01
Speaker 3
I watch the first Final Fantasy experience I ever had was watching him play Final Fantasy Ten, and it was like so much fun. So Fantasy Fantasy Ten had the really epic scenes that were like movies and they were like beautiful. And so I'm actually my first book ever Proposal, which came out to trust 2017 of book dedicated to him and then less than two is like, what a video game book?

00;13;59;13 - 00;14;05;29
Speaker 3
Yeah, he can have it both got it, you can have it. And he can also blessed with his good, good fortune, you know.

00;14;06;04 - 00;14;07;05
Speaker 1
It's good to just get.

00;14;07;05 - 00;14;26;02
Speaker 3
To do all around. Yeah. So and he also introduced me to see that K-pop. He listen to a lot of K-pop and I guess it wasn't even K-pop at the time. It was like because like he listened to first generation K-pop and I don't even know if they called it hip hop at the time. I don't know maybe they did.

00;14;26;02 - 00;14;44;25
Speaker 3
I don't know when K-pop was terms Korean. Yeah, it was just like Korean music at the time. And he listened to a lot of really cool music that I don't like know their names right now because they all have like hard names. But like if I heard the music where they kind of bring me back to that time.

00;14;46;06 - 00;15;03;00
Speaker 1
With The Final Fantasy, let's talk a little bit about crafting the world, knowing that you were pulling in some Final Fantasy vibes, and I mean, I've also seen this compared to try with Bone about building your fantasy world where it is floating and how the magic works.

00;15;03;00 - 00;15;39;07
Speaker 3
Oh yeah. Basically it's like not far is like the subway Maputo, where it's like so high in the sky that hidden by clouds, it's actually pretty close to the ground and it's a fixed island. So it's so fixed that it's covering an entire city. So the entire city, which is the underworld, is in darkness. And I thought and I love that the idea of like a world in the sky that covers and others, the other ones in the shadows, and it's sort of like the world in the sky is the one that has all the rich people like all this beautiful prosperity and then like the underworld sort of it's like industrial steampunk kind of

00;15;39;07 - 00;16;04;21
Speaker 3
city where there's like people make out for each other, like out to get each other and it's just like the life they've always known. And that's a very like the idea of like a steampunk world. Very Final Fantasy seven as the world in the sky. And that sort of like, beauty was very like Final Fantasy ten ask especially like, you know, from five to ten is very redcoat it.

00;16;04;22 - 00;16;29;19
Speaker 3
I feel like she's like the priestess character because there's a lot of like the idea of like heavenly beads and what that the characters who like war, like the characters in the underworld, who worship the characters from the floating world not all characters, just the heavenly maidens, the ones just powers, super powers. And yeah, just for the floating world itself.

00;16;29;19 - 00;16;36;11
Speaker 3
I was like, Wow, the fly in the sky. Oh, because there's an or and the OR actually is inspired by this game called Harvest Moon.

00;16;36;20 - 00;16;38;14
Speaker 1
Have you seen Harvest Moon Safavid game?

00;16;39;03 - 00;17;16;02
Speaker 3
It's a farming game. And I spent a whole like a during the pandemic. I just played this Barbie game like, like for a whole year. And it's, it's like so much fun. It's called Story of Seasons. It was Harvest. I've been trying to story the seasons and you basically have a farm and you like that's really cute but you also mine during the winter so all you can have for seasons and a new mine during the winter and one of the stones you mine is called the throw that's this beautiful like blue or and so that's where I got it from it's not from token it's actually from sorry this season it's buffalo seasons is

00;17;16;02 - 00;17;34;10
Speaker 3
a Japanese game that's probably there they probably got the tokens that's like probably from talking originally, but I got it for the story of seasons. But anyway, the order is what keeps the world afloat because it's the match for so I was like and then all this kind of stuff or factors in because what if you do liquify it?

00;17;34;10 - 00;17;42;13
Speaker 3
What do you do if it's gaseous, maybe it's poisonous. It could give you power things like that. I wanted to play with that too.

00;17;42;17 - 00;18;03;05
Speaker 1
So between the rain and snow, they have this like kind of hunter hunter vibe but they don't fully understand it for the first book. And so talk a little bit about crafting there, the romance side of things between them when they have all these other different vibes and don't really know what's going on.

00;18;03;12 - 00;18;32;06
Speaker 3
I wanted that story to be one that where two strangers meet and they are like soul mates without being romantic. So it's like they become really close good friends. They start to trust each other really well. And which was interesting because when they meet run by me in character, she's actually wearing a mask. So for a majority of or for a good chunk of time between their meeting and for a while, she's masks and she's supposed to be the person he's looking for and he knows what she looks like.

00;18;32;09 - 00;18;53;28
Speaker 3
He's seen a sketch of her mother. And anyway, she's, she's, he did a sketch of someone who would look like her but he would recognize her if you saw her face. But she's wearing a mask and he is they go on this journey together where she is kind of hiding herself. From him. But at the same time, they're sort of getting to know each other like their inner, you know, their inner self.

00;18;55;01 - 00;19;14;25
Speaker 3
I mean, she thinks he's really good looking because he is but that was like a funny, fun, fun thing to write. But also, like, that's going to be a fun reveal that what happens when he realizes that she's the one he's been looking for this whole time? And what does it mean that after she becomes close to him that she's lying when she's lying to him?

00;19;14;28 - 00;19;31;09
Speaker 3
Right. But just he needs to find her in order to save some of the heat that she cares about. So she's basically being like, if he doesn't turn me in, then he'll lose the person he loves the most. And so that was like a fire a sort of dynamic to work with.

00;19;31;28 - 00;19;39;04
Speaker 1
Did you know the ending before the soul do ology before you started it, or were you discovering it along the way?

00;19;39;11 - 00;20;00;27
Speaker 3
I did know that ending and being like I knew how the characters where they would end up, but I didn't know. I guess the part right before the Epilog. I didn't know how that would go. So but I did know how the three were well planned. So I didn't know how the funny world would end I didn't necessarily know how to deepen it without, except for the very concept of the epilog.

00;20;02;20 - 00;20;18;23
Speaker 3
And so it was sort of like as I was writing, Oh, this happened and this has to happen. There was a scene, though, in the different light that I wanted to write the book for. Yeah, like the entire series. There's like a scene that happens, but I wanted to write the entire series for.

00;20;19;00 - 00;20;25;16
Speaker 1
Which scene without spoiler too much. Is there a keyword that would help us figure out which one.

00;20;25;26 - 00;20;31;07
Speaker 3
It has to do with the original legend of the left Sumatran and the right color? Yeah.

00;20;31;16 - 00;20;51;20
Speaker 1
OK, now I need to go to research. Yeah. So we're seeing a lot more geologists these days, and for a while it was a and now it's shift into, oh, I don't do allergies. What do you think is the reason we're shifting to do allergies and how does that shape your writing process in general?

00;20;51;20 - 00;20;53;00
Speaker 3
I wonder if it's just attention span.

00;20;53;26 - 00;20;54;12
Speaker 1
You know, that's.

00;20;54;12 - 00;21;15;03
Speaker 3
Actually a very good point. It could be just like, you know, people are just tired of waiting for trilogies. I love trilogies, so I'm not against trilogies that I love them so much. This I could this book was like conceptualized as entomology from the beginning. We saw it as a tool. I knew it could be a dog. It felt like it was you didn't feel like it had to be three books.

00;21;15;25 - 00;21;49;24
Speaker 3
They're like, they're ideas. I have that like this has to be three books, but not this one, this one, but like a clue box to books in terms of popularity. Yeah. I wonder if that has to do with just something that's like different because we've been doing trilogies for a while. So maybe the more like wanted something different where it's like, you know, just two seasons of a show you know, and then you're done instead of like three to eight seasons, like a cage drama either has one season or two and like that's all you get so maybe it's like kind of just you want that satisfied feeling where it's not just one book, you

00;21;49;24 - 00;21;55;10
Speaker 3
want a little bit more, you don't want it to present and you might feel like too much waiting.

00;21;55;16 - 00;22;05;04
Speaker 1
How do you focus on sticking the ending when you were working on it to ology and making sure it's satisfying to end the whole thing for the reader?

00;22;06;04 - 00;22;24;04
Speaker 3
I don't think about that. I don't think about that. I'll be like, Oh yeah, I'm stressed out. I'm kind of just like writing and hoping, you know, I'll skip the ending a lot of the times when I'm writing, like, I'll surprise myself. And I think that was really fun and I feel like just having read a lot of stories or seen a lot of stories consumed a lot of stories.

00;22;24;13 - 00;22;47;21
Speaker 3
I'm like, OK, what would I really like? It's sort of like and I sort of have an intuitive feeling when you're writing a story and trying to land it and being, it's like, OK, all this stuff is happening. And then if there are, what if I ever lose? Like I'm trying to like basically draw the reader through my story, like as like they're following like a line or a string.

00;22;47;21 - 00;22;48;12
Speaker 3
Everybody saying a fate.

00;22;48;14 - 00;22;53;18
Speaker 1
Oh, I get that. Yeah. So check out any reference.

00;22;53;28 - 00;23;18;26
Speaker 3
But if it's ever cut, you know, I'll try to let you know. I'll try to read, bring it back, try to grab you again. So it's sort of and that happens in the revision process. So I was always trying to lead the reader through the story and trying to connect all the pieces as I like. I give you all the pieces, the start, connect connect to them more and more and more until they reach the end where it's like the full, like big thing at the end that I hope is satisfying.

00;23;19;06 - 00;23;23;12
Speaker 3
Yeah. And then the Epilog is fun and lovely. I really love the Epilog.

00;23;23;18 - 00;23;28;14
Speaker 1
If you were to cast Remnants as two, sorry.

00;23;28;16 - 00;23;29;06
Speaker 3
OK, pop.

00;23;29;06 - 00;23;30;07
Speaker 1
Stars who is.

00;23;31;04 - 00;23;40;20
Speaker 3
Well, ok, because my original like face casting for them were were actors. They weren't idols OK?

00;23;40;20 - 00;23;45;18
Speaker 1
So which I had, I had a feeling that that was the case, so I wanted to switch it up a bit.

00;23;45;20 - 00;24;05;16
Speaker 3
Yeah, let me think. I don't know, idols maybe for I don't know. So sometimes someone who like people when they see him, they react like you're so good looking like, like that's really like when they see him. So he'd have to be someone who's like that. And there's so many adults who are like, that's.

00;24;05;28 - 00;24;06;24
Speaker 1
So that's how they.

00;24;06;24 - 00;24;28;05
Speaker 3
Become that's how they become idols. I mean, this is like kind of not fair because he's also an actor, that channel. But he might be too pretty like Santos pretty. But he's also like Gruff. He's like a circus so my, my Korean actor was on time. So I'm trying to think of something like sometimes what I'm trying to do right now with an idol.

00;24;28;14 - 00;24;52;08
Speaker 3
But when she's an acrobat, so it would be someone who's maybe, like, really athletic, maybe like a lead dancer in a group, maybe I mean, she's not really dancer, but I'm seeing joy from red velvet. I like her face. I got it. This I'm basically just, like, saying who I like and not necessarily like who I actually think might be a good fit.

00;24;52;08 - 00;24;54;05
Speaker 3
It's more like like joy, you know?

00;24;54;19 - 00;24;57;10
Speaker 1
Oh, Joy, Yuri. Oh, so you.

00;24;57;15 - 00;24;58;26
Speaker 3
Yeah, she's cute.

00;24;59;25 - 00;25;03;16
Speaker 1
But she's also Jillian. She is an actor. I had all that stuff this weekend.

00;25;03;27 - 00;25;04;19
Speaker 3
She was pregnant.

00;25;05;13 - 00;25;08;15
Speaker 1
I mean, some of that stuff is pretending to be pregnant.

00;25;08;15 - 00;25;09;16
Speaker 3
That's true. It's hard.

00;25;09;24 - 00;25;10;06
Speaker 1
That any.

00;25;11;14 - 00;25;11;26
Speaker 3
Of.

00;25;12;01 - 00;25;12;26
Speaker 1
That stuff people.

00;25;13;03 - 00;25;33;16
Speaker 3
This is true. And she was like, from speaking to he was also an idol, but he would be good to his kids. OK, I don't want to spoil it. That's quite games. But now I think of the characters where games, I guess like if he's playing totally, he could be a sweetheart. But it's like if he's not, he's he's not.

00;25;33;25 - 00;25;34;22
Speaker 1
I wanted to punch him.

00;25;34;22 - 00;25;34;28
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00;25;35;20 - 00;25;36;13
Speaker 1
Repeatedly.

00;25;36;25 - 00;25;38;19
Speaker 3
Oh, I feel this question.

00;25;40;05 - 00;25;44;17
Speaker 1
There's no such thing as failing in this. In this. You get to talk sports.

00;25;44;22 - 00;25;49;03
Speaker 3
Which like one of those things where it's like, who do you want to cast for anything? I know all of us always are you for everything.

00;25;49;10 - 00;25;49;25
Speaker 1
That would be fine.

00;25;49;26 - 00;25;50;27
Speaker 3
Because I just love her.

00;25;51;03 - 00;25;56;05
Speaker 1
And she's going to have you guys are so good. Yeah, but the one with big actually Veena, it.

00;25;56;06 - 00;26;02;03
Speaker 3
Would be fun. I actually wish that I want to see this video as a film. You asked this question earlier, and that's.

00;26;02;03 - 00;26;03;04
Speaker 1
That's the one. There's you.

00;26;03;08 - 00;26;03;22
Speaker 3
There you go.

00;26;03;22 - 00;26;07;02
Speaker 1
That's you watch the panel. There is a question about music videos.

00;26;07;17 - 00;26;11;01
Speaker 3
Love Wins All. I want to see that as a dystopian romance.

00;26;11;12 - 00;26;13;11
Speaker 1
Somebody do this movie slash book.

00;26;13;11 - 00;26;14;20
Speaker 3
I want to read that as a book. Yeah.

00;26;14;21 - 00;26;22;27
Speaker 1
I want to know all the backstory of the robots chasing them. Yes. What about me? I think it's such a good music video.

00;26;22;27 - 00;26;24;05
Speaker 3
Why don't you get married?

00;26;24;10 - 00;26;28;12
Speaker 1
Yes, yes. Trash world. Oh, yeah. Just try not to die.

00;26;28;12 - 00;26;29;23
Speaker 3
It's got so many questions.

00;26;30;03 - 00;26;37;24
Speaker 1
We have questions. And and it all comes back together. Everything comes back to paper. So what's next for you?

00;26;38;03 - 00;26;49;02
Speaker 3
I am taking a break, actually, because that's my last contract. So sky's the limit. So I'm working on different stuff. I'm working on different genre, different age.

00;26;49;02 - 00;26;49;16
Speaker 1
Group.

00;26;50;11 - 00;27;10;21
Speaker 3
Yeah. I'm playing with some stuff that's been contracted but I'm just having fun because I've been contracting with books since 20, 19. And so I've been like on deadline since then. So I kind of wanted to write something that didn't, I didn't have to, oh, I could just write what I wanted to write because I feel like that's how I wrote the growth.

00;27;10;21 - 00;27;28;20
Speaker 3
I'll be busy. It was like, not under contract or anything, and I feel like the freedom to write that really let me be like, so it was such a joyous experience. Well, besides it being rejected for a lot of a lot of people later, the actual writing of it was very joyful experience.

00;27;28;29 - 00;27;35;25
Speaker 1
I mean, and you wrote that one in a moment because I knew your publisher your books. And so now you kind of get to live that bubble a little bit again.

00;27;35;26 - 00;27;36;18
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah.

00;27;37;00 - 00;27;42;19
Speaker 1
Not without the expectations and pressures of this is what you're doing. And everybody knowing what you're working on.

00;27;42;19 - 00;27;47;07
Speaker 3
Yes. Yeah. So I just got to create my little push and be like, boom, here you go.

00;27;51;25 - 00;27;57;23
Speaker 1
We're here. I like this. What? Is there anything else? Oh.

00;27;58;12 - 00;27;59;07
Speaker 3
And dogs.

00;28;00;10 - 00;28;01;13
Speaker 1
Tell me about your dogs.

00;28;02;05 - 00;28;06;12
Speaker 3
Toro is named after Totoro, and Lila is Lila.

00;28;08;00 - 00;28;08;19
Speaker 1
What kind of talk.

00;28;09;06 - 00;28;27;19
Speaker 3
They're having? It's Taurus, my anxious white large dog, and they live like a third his size. My, like, very cute. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's short for my sister's dogs, so I'm her aunt. When I talk to her, I'm like, oh, you're both here. And let's see.

00;28;27;19 - 00;28;32;15
Speaker 1
I'm not the last question I always ask. Yes, because this is literary. Are you hyped about.

00;28;32;27 - 00;28;48;28
Speaker 3
Ooh, there's so many. I'm so excited when I read it already. But for cold Wire by Chloe Gone, I'm so excited for Cats. New guys are comics she just announced comes out next year. So excited for Susan's adult books isn't these adult books.

00;28;49;02 - 00;28;50;01
Speaker 1
Julia Song is on.

00;28;50;05 - 00;28;50;28
Speaker 3
Last.

00;28;51;28 - 00;28;54;04
Speaker 1
Which main character's name is Kim Tahoe?

00;28;54;17 - 00;28;57;18
Speaker 3
Yes. The main purchase is the S.A how is this? Hey.

00;28;57;27 - 00;29;05;02
Speaker 1
It's. Oh, my God. That's so funny. He, like, goes by the table. His name is fully conveyed. Oh, my gosh. That's amazing.

00;29;05;14 - 00;29;13;02
Speaker 3
I'm really excited for a sale herman. Amanda, foodies. But I think so cold and yeah.

00;29;13;11 - 00;29;34;14
Speaker 1
It's all of us. All the book. Yeah. We love to talk to literary thanks again to actually for hanging out with me at San Diego Comic-Con, not just for doing this interview, but also as a panelist and being part of all the shenanigans that I put together. It means a lot to me when authors are like, Yes, I will do things with you.

00;29;34;25 - 00;29;50;17
Speaker 1
If you'd like to check out the floating world or the sequel, The Demon in the Light, or her caper books as well. The links to do so are down in the description for you. If you enjoyed this conversation, don't forget to subscribe to the literary podcast. Give us some stories and leave a comment. Thanks so much for listening I'll see you next time.