Read to Know Basis: Yulin Kuang
The author of How to End a Love Story shares the adaptation she wants to make that no one asked for.
Read to Know Basis is a weekly interview series with authors. It features debut authors and established writers talking about reading, writing, and of course snacks. This series is free to all. If you like what you read considering subscribing to support the work of Unstacked, and of course go out and buy the book!
What are five words to describe your book?
Angsty, romantic, sexy, adult, meta.
What is the strangest thing you googled while researching/writing this book?
To be honest, I don’t think there was anything particularly strange that I googled. Most of my research was done from mining personal experiences with adaptation and complicated grief. I did read some good books on surviving suicide loss – Anderson Cooper and Gloria Vanderbilt’s The Rainbow Comes and Goes and Anna Akana’s Surviving Suicide were immensely helpful to me. I also enjoyed Anderson Cooper’s podcast exploring grief in-depth, All There Is.
How did you celebrate the completion of this book?
I’ve been celebrating milestones along the way, because ‘completion’ feels a little nebulous to me after the many rounds of copy edits and proof reads! I celebrated getting my first official edit letter by going to New Orleans and staying at the Hotel Monteleone to tackle my revisions; it was part of a deal I made with a friend years ago, to take part in the literary history of the hotel.
Describe your ideal reader?
My ideal reader is a romance reader, first and foremost. I wanted to write a contemporary romance that felt like a historical romance in terms of the high stakes and big sweeping emotions.
Beyond that, I think the ideal Yulin Kuang reader is someone who is drawn to the behind the scenes, someone who identifies as part of the ‘creator track’ side of fandom – you might be an avid reader, but you probably also have a book inside you that you’re going to write someday, or a movie you want to make, or you’re an artist of some kind. Are you drawn to some sort of meta layer, do you feel a burning fire to create within you? Those are the bat signals I’m trying to send out into the world.
What is a piece of writing advice that you’ve received that you think is really bad? What is a piece of writing advice that you think is really good?
Write what you know is both good and terrible advice, because you can take it so literally that you never give yourself license to write beyond the completely autobiographical.
As far as good advice goes… I remember the day I was inducted into the Writers Guild of America, and this very senior TV writer (who had written on all these shows I’d grown up obsessed with) told us all, “Every morning, I get up and I write from 9am to 5pm and from today onwards, I am your competition.” That was very motivating.
What do you do when you hit a wall or have writer’s block?
Cry! And then once I get over myself:
I like walking away and turning to other art forms for a while, both as a consumer and a creator. I love going to art museums and taking pictures of the art that I find myself drawn to, so I can reflect back later on what I “took.” I like watching movies and reading books outside of my chosen genre; that can help shake things loose in my mind. I also find it’s helpful to go out into the world and spend time amongst friends, it’s the social equivalent of touching grass and reminding myself of what it’s like to be a person in the world.
What are you reading right now? And what book are you desperate to read next?
I’m currently juggling my bedside pile: The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery: Volume II: 1910-1921, Shirlene Obuobi’s Between Friends & Lovers, and Kate Elizabeth Russell’s My Dark Vanessa. I just finished Tia Williams’ A Love Song for Ricki Wilde and Natalie Sue’s I Hope This Finds You Well.
I’m desperate to get started on Ali Hazelwood’s Not in Love and Kristy Greenwood’s The Love of My Afterlife.
What is the book everyone else hates that you’re obsessed with?
The present-day sections of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. Cathy/Hareton gets shafted in every book-to-screen adaptation and it is my dream to one day bring into the world the adaptation that absolutely no one else wants, which focuses on the present day generation of Wuthering Heights and the Cathy/Hareton/Linton storyline.
What’s a book you wish you could read again for the first time?
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.
Who is your literary crush?
Elizabeth Gaskell and Tia Williams.
If you could not be a writer what would you do?
I’m already also a director, so I’ll say production designer. It’s my favorite department to collaborate with during pre-production, I love telling a story through interior design.
You’re invited to a literary potluck, what are you bringing?
Chilled fresh lychee and a carton of Olipop soda for a non-alcoholic option (though I will be sampling all the scotch everyone else brings), and probably Bin Bin rice cracker snacks for something savory.
Connect with Yulin:
| Instagram | WebsiteRead to Know Basis is a weekly interview series with authors talking about reading, writing, and of course snacks. This series is free to all. If you like what you read considering upgrading to a paid subscription to support the work of Unstacked, and of course go out and buy the book!
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Elizabeth Gaskell and Tia Williams is the most intriguing author pairing! I LOVE these interviews. Getting this book!
Elizabeth Gaskell!!! Kindred spirit!!!