On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn’t know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can’t seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building.
Then there’s gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school’s kendo team. How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn’t prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there’s no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they’ll both be targets.
Katie never wanted to move to Japan – now she may not make it out of the country alive.
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YOUNG ADULT: What do you love about writing?
Amanda Sun: What I love most about writing is that moment when you connect with the reader. You spend so long writing your novel in solitude. For me, it’s a long, timid letter to the world whispering, “Hello, this is who I am. This is what I’ve experienced, and this is what I’m wondering about.” And there’s that moment, when you’re reading, when you notice a sentence or an idea that you had once thought only belonged to you. You have that sudden feeling that you’re not alone in the world, that there are others like you, that we are all connected in deep and meaningful ways. So as an author, when readers approach me because they’ve had that moment in my work, I can’t think of anything more rewarding or validating.
YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest work. What is different about INK and The Paper Gods series?
AS: The Paper Gods is a YA Paranormal series set in Japan, and inspired by Japanese mythology. INK is about American teenager Katie Greene moving to Shizuoka to live with her English-teaching aunt. While there, she crosses paths with the kendo star at her school, Tomohiro. His drawings come to life in dangerous ways, putting them on the run when the wrong people notice.
I’ve tried to combine Japanese history with the paranormal and blur the lines so you can’t tell where the truth begins and ends–maybe it’s all true! I also wanted to make Japan accessible to everyone, and so the books are full of Japanese culture, food, and day-to-day life that I hope will immerse the reader in a mini-vacation. I’ve been told INK has made some readers very nostalgic for Japan–and they haven’t even visited before! So that’s a great feeling to know that my love for Japan is coming across in my work.
YA: How did the idea for this book arise? What are your major inspirations (TV, film, other literature/stories)?
AS: When I was in high school, I lived in Osaka on exchange. I kept a daily journal of all my experiences, and even long after leaving Japan it kept showing up in my stories. I finally sat down a few years ago to combine my love of YA and my love of Japanese mythology and culture.
It may also surprise you to hear this book was influenced by ancient Egypt. I majored in Archaeology in university, and I learned that the ancient scribes would paint or chisel lines through any snake hieroglyphs used in the writing on tomb walls. This ensured the snakes didn’t come alive and pose a threat in the After Life to those entombed. I liked the idea that drawings could come to life in such a sinister way, and so that idea worked its way into INK.
I’m also a big fan of Japanese dramas. I like the idea that a story may not go the way you expect, and you aren’t promised a happy ending, but you will be moved. I hope you will find that’s the case with The Paper Gods.
YA: This book has a very international feel. Was that an important element that you wanted to impart to your readers?
AS: It definitely was! I love that we’re seeing more diversity in YA these days, and wanted to contribute to that with INK. The cast is predominantly Japanese, and it was really important to me to try and portray very real Japanese teens without stereotypes. They think in different ways than North American teens might, but what we have in common is far more important. I also really wanted to see more Asian love interests and main character roles, and I guess you write what you want to read! 🙂
YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you.
AS: Well, I have a few silly writing hang-ups. 🙂 I write best at night, and have to be alone. Having Japanese snacks and milk tea on hand is a must, because they are so strongly associated with my memories of living in Japan that they help me conjure up all the sounds and sights of my time there. I also like to listen to music as I’m writing, but it has to be instrumental–anything with lyrics is too distracting. I have a few different playlists depending on what type of scene I’m writing. For example, if I’m writing a fight scene, I’ll have some good fight music on. But on a really good writing day, I’ll suddenly realize that I’ve had no clue what kind of music has been going on in the background for the last hour. I could be writing a sweet, romantic scene and have the fight music on, and not notice! I love those times–it’s a good sign that things are going well.
Mornings are usually spent on “real life” stuff. You know, getting my daughter ready for school, throwing laundry in the machine, dozing off on the couch. 🙂 Afternoons I spend on edits, guests posts, convention planning, social media, promotion, sending info to the art team, etc. It’s a great time to try and organize my messy to-do list of anything surrounding the books!
And then in the evenings, into the wee hours of the morning, that’s when I settle into the delicious silence of the night and write. Some nights the words cooperate more than others, and sometimes I have research that suddenly needs to get done for a scene, etc. but I try to keep to a word count every day.
YA: Beside the classic ‘never give up’, what advice would you give to aspiring young writers today?
AS: Finish what you write! This held me back for so long. Writing a novel is like wandering in a forest, and after a while you get tired and bruised. Your feet are hurting, and the trees around you look spooky and dark, and you have no idea how you’re going to get to the other edge of the forest. But the thing is, if you sit down and stop, you’ll be in there forever. You’ll never get out.
Here’s the reality. The middle of a novel hurts. It hurts so much. Maybe I’m too dramatic, but I find it even hurts me physically–it can make me feel depressed, short on breath, tired, and overwhelmed. But you have to claw your way forward through those vines. Get out of that forest, even if you’re crawling on the ground with twigs in your hair. Even if you have nothing to show for a day of writing but one sentence and a hundred games of solitaire. Each step forward is still a step. One sentence is more than none.
Don’t be too critical of your crawl-marks in the dirt when you reach the edge of the forest, either. You can go back and clear a better trail later. The main thing is you need to make that whole journey so you can reach out to readers and connect. If you never get out, you’ll never be able to share your journey with others.
And it’s sharing that moment with others that makes it all worth it.