SATA
ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: I HOPE THIS DOESN’T FIND YOU
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://www.annliang.com
CITY: Melbourne
STATE:
COUNTRY: Australia
NATIONALITY:
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Beijing, China.
EDUCATION:University of Melbourne, B.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Ann Liang is a young adult novelist. Born in Beijing, she grew up in both China and Australia. In an interview in the Scholastic website, Liang admitted that “connecting with readers” was her favorite part about becoming an author. She suggested to aspiring writers that “pursuing writing as a career can be incredibly daunting and discouraging at times, and it can be scary to put your work out there, but if it’s something you love with your whole heart, then you owe it to yourself to try.”
In If You Could See the Sun, Alice Sun is a top student at her international boarding school in Beijing. She needs to maintain top grades to keep her scholarship. She also does so to stay ahead of her rival, the seemingly perfect Henry Li. After her parents admit that they cannot afford to pay the remainder of her tuition, Alice learns that she has the ability to become invisible. This brings her into an ethical dilemma as to how far she will use her newfound abilities to maintain the life she craves.
In an interview in the Honey Pop, Liang talked about the range of topics she covers in her debut novel and how readers may perceive them. She confessed: “I don’t necessarily think there is one key message I want readers to take away because everyone is going to have a different experience with it, and that’s one of the best parts of reading, right? So my main hope is that readers can find what they need in these pages—whether it’s regarding the class privilege at elite institutions, what it means to be truly seen, or perhaps the cost of unchecked ambition.”
A Kirkus Reviews contributor labeled it “an intriguing genre-crossing debut.” In a review in School Library Journal, Elisha Sheffer mentioned that readers who have struggled to fit into social circles “will see their struggles reflected in Alice. However, they will also find an ending that doesn’t fully hit the mark.”
With This Time It’s Real, Eliza writes an essay about her boyfriend that goes viral. It garners her a lot of attention and even an opportunity for her to become a professional writer. Craneswift offers her a six-month paid internship to continue writing about her relationship with her boyfriend. She jumps at the opportunity even though she made up the entire scenario. She doesn’t even have a boyfriend, much less very many friends after all the moving around she has done. She makes a deal with classmate Caz Song to pretend to be her boyfriend in exchange for help writing his school essays and rehabilitating his reputation. When Eliza starts falling in love with Caz, the situation becomes more complicated.
Booklist contributor Marija Lukic suggested that the novel “will appeal to readers who enjoy fake-dating and celebrity tropes … and a sweet and emotional love story.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor noticed that the novel offers “an angst-y, heartstring-tugging romance between two sympathetic leads.” The same reviewer called it “irresistible fun with unexpected sincerity.”
In I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, Sadie Wen has achieved the pinnacle of success at her prestigious high school in Melbourne, Australia. She is an excellent student, school co-captain, and participates in many extracurricular activities. To burn off stress, she drafts bold emails to people she has problems with. When those emails get sent and her personal reputation is ruined. The school’s principal makes Sadie and school co-captain, Julius Gong, her longtime enemy, to jointly work on a number of projects to help the school. While she despises him, she realizes that they share more in common than she had realized.
Booklist contributor Lukic claimed that the novel “will greatly appeal to readers who love the trope of academic rivals who are actually in love.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor observed that the “emotions are engaging and relatable.” The same critic found the novel to be “full of giggles, snark, and sweetness,” adding: “Rom-com lovers, I hope this does find you.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, February 15, 2023, Marija Lukic, review of This Time It’s Real, p. 54; February 15, 2024, Marija Lukic, review of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, p. 52.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2022, review of If You Could See the Sun; December 15, 2022, review of This Time It’s Real; January 15, 2024, review of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You.
School Library Journal, January 1, 2023, Elisha Sheffer, review of If You Could See the Sun, p. 76.
ONLINE
Ann Liang website, https://www.annliang.com (August 16, 2024).
Honey Pop, https://thehoneypop.com/ (October 7, 2022), Paige Lobianco, author interview.
Medium, https://sinethetamag.medium.com/ (October 11, 2022), Yue Chen and Joanne Zou, author interview.
Penguin Australia website, https://www.penguin.com.au/ (January 18, 2023), author interview.
United by Pop, https://www.unitedbypop.com/ (February 15, 2024), Kate Oldfield, author interview.
About Ann
Ann Liang is the New York Times and Indie bestselling author of the critically acclaimed YA novels This Time It’s Real, If You Could See the Sun, and I Hope This Doesn't Find You. Her books have sold into over twenty foreign territories. Born in Beijing, she grew up traveling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. She now lives in Melbourne, where she can be found making overambitious to‑do lists and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Ann Liang On If You Could See The Sun, Invisibility, Upcoming Projects, And More!
Paige LobiancoBY PAIGE LOBIANCOOCTOBER 7, 20221 COMMENT10 MINS READ
SHARE
We had such a great time reading If You Could See the Sun, we couldn’t wait to talk to Ann Liang all about it. This debut has something for everyone, it even includes one of our favorite tropes, academic rivals to lovers! If You Could See the Sun is Ann Liang’s debut book, and she’s starting her writing career off with a bang! You won’t want to miss this fast-paced read!
The cover of If You Could See the Sun by Ann Laing.
Image Source: Courtesy of Penguin Random House
Summary: Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.
When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.
But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.
Content Warnings: violence, classism, blackmail, kidnapping
Ezoic
Hello and welcome to The Honey POP! We’re so excited to chat with you today. To start things off, we’d love to get to know you a little better. Could you give us three fun facts about yourself?
Hi! Thank you for having me! A few things that people might not know about me: before I started writing, I used to draw a lot (specifically, horses and very little else); I recently graduated from college; and though I live in Melbourne, I spent half a year studying abroad in California—that’s also where I wrote most of If You Could See the Sun!
A gif of a city skyline with lights with the word California.
Image Source: GIPHY
Congratulations on your book If You Could See the Sun! What was your experience like publishing your debut novel? Was it how you had imagined?
It’s been absolutely surreal, especially since I’ve dreamed of this for years! In a way, it has been different from how I imagined it—I think I expected that the very instant I got a book deal, I would instantly feel like an Author. But in reality, it’s more like when it’s your birthday, and everyone asks you whether you feel older, and for the most part, you feel the same. It’s only when a lot of time passes and you kind of step back that you realize how much has changed. Thinking back to the person I was when I was querying in early 2020, for example, I’m so thankful for and stunned by everything that has happened, from seeing my debut novel take shape to receive such lovely early reader responses.
You address so many important topics in If You Could See the Sun, such as the discrimination between classes. What is the main message that you want readers to take away from this book?
I don’t necessarily think there is one key message I want readers to take away because everyone is going to have a different experience with it, and that’s one of the best parts of reading, right? So my main hope is that readers can find what they need in these pages—whether it’s regarding the class privilege at elite institutions, what it means to be truly seen, or perhaps the cost of unchecked ambition.
Ezoic
We loved reading about Alice’s invisibility powers, and it made us wonder what we’d do if we had them. If you were invisible for a day, what would you do?
Honestly, I’d be happy just to go to the beach or a park or somewhere nice and hang around by myself. Unlike some of the characters in the book, I think I’d actually go out of my way to avoid overhearing anything other people might be saying about me; knowledge is power and all, but sometimes the less you know, the better.
The academic vibes in your book were on point. We felt like we were going to school with Alice and Henry. What was your favorite subject in school?
History! I’m really lucky to have been taught by some of the most incredible history teachers, who’ve inspired me and encouraged me in more ways than I can express. I just find the subject so fascinating, and I’m very much drawn to the narrative aspect of it; so much of history is studying stories that have already taken place in real life, and so many historical figures are just as—if not more—compelling than the fictional ones you see in books.
Image Source: GIPHY
We couldn’t get enough of Alice, Henry, and the rest of the characters. We found them super relatable! With that in mind, which character would you say is most like your teenage self?
Definitely Alice. I’m not as brave or as resilient as she is—I’m pretty sure that if I were in her position, I’d just have a breakdown and stay in my room forever. Plus, she makes plenty of questionable choices I wouldn’t necessarily agree with. But I do relate to her ambition and her somewhat unhealthy need for academic validation.
Ezoic
Along with If You Could See the Sun, so many amazing books are released this year! Are there any other 2022 releases that you’d recommend?
There are so many incredible books coming out this year I couldn’t possibly list them all! But just off the top of my head, a few releases that I absolutely adore and would recommend to anyone include: Only a Monster by Vanessa Len, Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li, See You Yesterday by Rachel Lynn Solomon, Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong, and As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh.
We always love hearing about how books go from an idea to an actual product in stores and libraries. What is your writing process like? Are there any authors that you look up to?
My writing process has actually been pretty consistent for all my books so far! Once I have a story idea, I like to let it simmer in the back of my mind, and I’ll think up lines, character dynamics, or certain scenes whenever and wherever—like while I’m chopping potatoes or washing my hair. I’ll just hold all of this in my head until it gets to a point where I feel like I physically can’t keep track of everything anymore, and that’s when I’ll jot it all down in an outline. Then I’ll dive straight into drafting, which tends to take me around 2-3 months. For If You Could See the Sun, I did one round of revisions with my agent before we submitted it to publishers, and then another round of developmental edits with my editor. Something that keeps me motivated during the writing process is reading great books and really focusing on the craft, so I’m constantly inspired by authors like R. F. Kuang.
Ezoic
If You Could See the Sun
Image Source: GIPHY
The concept of Alice having the power of invisibility and using it to find out the secrets of her classmates is so intriguing! How did you come up with the concept?
It’s hard to pinpoint an exact moment when the concept was formed. I do know that I was interested in writing about a scholarship student at an elite international school in Beijing like the one I went to, who used their superpowers for personal gain or survival instead of saving the world. But since it takes place in this contemporary setting, there were practical considerations, like: if the superpower was flying, it would be very difficult to keep that hidden from other people. So I think I arrived at the idea of invisibility because it fit well into the story I was interested in telling, it was more subtle, and it also worked as a metaphor for Alice’s emotional journey.
Here at The Honey POP, we love all things music related. We were wondering what kinds of songs would be on Alice and Henry’s go-to playlists. Are there any specific artists that they’d be fans of?
This is mentioned in the book, but Henry is definitely a huge Swiftie, and I think a number of Taylor Swift’s songs—like ‘mirrorball’—suit Alice as well! Other artists who might belong on their playlist include Gracie Abrams, JAWS (Bai Sha Jaws), and Conan Gray.
If You Could See the Sun
Image Source: GIPHY
If You Could See the Sun features some of our favorite tropes, like academic rivals to lovers, heists, and boarding schools! What are some of your favorite tropes to read about?
Oh, there are so many! I find that I’ll naturally include the tropes I adore in the books I write, so although I wasn’t consciously mapping the romantic subplot around this trope, it’s no surprise that If You Could See the Sun features academic rivals-to-lovers. I’m a fan of rivals-to-lovers in general—there’s something so compelling about the inherent tension there, about having two equals who intimidate and respect and obsess over each other. I also have a soft spot for antiheroines; morally gray characters are so much fun to write and read about.
Thank you so much for your time and for chatting with us about If You Could See the Sun! We’re so excited to read your upcoming books This Time It’s Real, and I Am Not Jessica Chen. Could you tell us more about them? How has the process of creating these books been different from If You Could See the Sun?
Thank you so much! Tonally speaking, This Time It’s Real, and I Am Not Jessica Chen both share similarities with If You Could See the Sun but are very different from each other. The first is a wildly self-indulgent rom-com that follows a teen writer who fake-dates a famous actor in Beijing, and it’s about learning to let yourself hope and falling in love for the first time. The latter is a speculative dark academia novel in which a girl who feels like a failure in every way wakes up in the body of her ‘model student’ cousin, Jessica Chen, and it focuses more on the pursuit and pressures of perfection, imposter syndrome, envy, and burn-out—you know, all that fun stuff.
It’s really interesting to think about the process compared to If You Could See the Sun. When I was drafting my debut, it was very quiet—it was only me and the Word document in my tiny dorm room and my unsubstantiated hope that it would one day become a book; nobody else even knew I was working on it. With my next two books, everything’s much louder. Now, people have actually read my words, and I’m a bit more familiar with the industry, and while there are more expectations, there’s also more support. Ultimately, I’m really just so grateful I get to keep doing what I love and tell the stories I want to tell.
Ezoic
If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang is out October 11th and is available for pre-order here!
We loved talking to Ann Liang all about If You Could See the Sun! Have you pre-ordered If You Could See the Sun yet? Let us know in the comments below or by tweeting us @TheHoneyPOP! You can also visit us on Facebook and Instagram!
Looking for more bookish interviews? We got you!
Meet Ann Liang, author of This Time It’s Real!
Posted on 3 February 2023
Celebrate Valentine’s Day and the release of This Time It’s Real with Ann Liang! We chat with Ann about writing, romance, fake dating and, of course, her brand-new novel.
this time its real a+ banner.jpg
Tell us about This Time It’s Real
This Time It’s Real is a YA fake-dating rom-com set at an international school. It’s really fun and self-indulgent and has all the things I love: C-dramas and Beijing street food and dramatic scenes in the rain.
How would you summarise the story in a couple of sentences?
The plot basically follows Eliza Lin, who’s moved around her whole life and has just started at a new school in Beijing. For one of her assignments, she makes up an essay about falling in love—despite having never been in a relationship before—but then that essay ends up going viral, and suddenly everyone’s invested in her fictional love life. So to cover up her lie, she begins fake-dating the popular C-drama actor in her class, Caz Song, but things get messy as their fake romance feels increasingly real.
What inspired you to write this book?
My earliest form of inspiration for This Time It’s Real actually stems from this bad habit of mine in high school. I’d sometimes exaggerate details in my essays to make things sound more interesting, and then the teacher would share it with the class, and I’d find myself having to continue the lie when my classmates asked about it afterwards. I quickly learned my lesson there, but years later, I found myself wondering what would happen if someone didn’t just exaggerate, but completely made up a story for an assignment, and it received attention on a much bigger scale. That’s kind of how the initial premise for This Time It’s Real took shape.
The C-drama/celebrity part of it was inspired by an internship I did for this entertainment news source focused on the Chinese film industry. I’d do a lot of research and write up articles every day on things like trending variety shows, the most anticipated C-dramas and the latest celebrity scandals.
The ‘Fake Dating Trope’ is hugely popular in the BookTok community. What made you want to write about ‘fake dating’, and why do you think people love storylines like this so much?
I feel like fake dating is so fun to read about because we all know roughly where the story is going—that at one point, the fake relationship becomes real—so it’s really about the process of getting there, the uncertainty and second-guessing of ‘did they do that because it’s for show? Or did they really mean it?’, the way two people who might never cross paths under normal circumstances are forced to spend time together and understand each other on a deeper level.
For me, when I started writing This Time It’s Real, I didn’t necessarily think to myself: oh, I’m going to write the fake-dating trope. I just had this premise of a girl who’s lied about having a boyfriend, and so finding a fake boyfriend seemed like the natural solution to that. But once I had the general plot mapped out and started filling in the details and planning the scenes, I was able to ask myself what I would want to see, as a reader, in a fake-dating book, which then helped shape the romance in the later stages.
The story speaks a lot about Eliza’s desire to be a writer. Do you identify with Eliza in any way, and do you have any tips for aspiring writers who might be reading this book?
I definitely do identify with many aspects of Eliza’s love for writing—but even beyond that, I just love characters who are really determined to go after what they want. I guess that would be one of my tips for aspiring writers, too. Pursuing writing as a career can be incredibly daunting and discouraging at times, and it can be scary to put your work out there, but if it’s something you love with your whole heart, then you owe it to yourself to try.
What’s your favourite thing about being a published author?
Connecting with readers! I’ll get these incredibly sweet messages from readers telling me that my book made them feel seen, but the reverse is also true—I feel so seen when readers connect with my characters or tell me their favorite lines or understand the heart of the story.
With Valentine’s Day coming up, we’d love to know what are your top three romantic books of all time?
I’ve read so many incredible romantic books in the past year alone that it’s impossible to narrow it down! But three books that instantly come to mind are Beach Read by Emily Henry, Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon, and—this isn’t a romance, but it’s very romantic—Last Violent Call by Chloe Gong.
Ann Liang, author of This Time It's Real
Q&A • 18 JANUARY 2023
Ann Liang shares how she managed to publish two YA books before age 23
We asked Ann Liang about her writing process, her views on the publishing process, and how she came up with the idea for ‘This Time It’s Real.’
What was your writing process like for This Time It’s Real? Did you have a writing routine or any regular rituals?
I wrote This Time It’s Real while I was a full-time university student, so although I tried to be as consistent as possible with my writing schedule, much of it was dictated by how heavy the coursework was or when my assignments were due.
Weekends and holidays were crucial writing times for me. I found that I always worked best in the mornings, so I would plan my schedule around that. Overall, it took around 2 months for me to complete the first draft.
How did you first come up with the idea for the book?
For me, book ideas never seem to come from just one place. A while ago, I had this very vague idea about a girl who makes something up in a journal entry or essay or something only to have it go public, but I kind of let it simmer.
Then I did an internship for a publication that reported on Chinese entertainment, which is how the elements of China’s idol culture and Eliza’s internship took shape (paired with the fact that I’ve always loved C-dramas).
The Beijing international school setting was inspired by my own school, and that helped tie all those other aspects together.
Ultimately, it wasn’t a linear process or a sudden lightning bolt of inspiration. It was more like fitting together pieces of a puzzle that you’ve been collecting over the years.
What was the publishing process like?
I’m really lucky in that the publishing process happened quite quickly for me, though at the time, it felt like it was taking forever. I found my current agent through my first book in 2020, and it took less than a week before I was offered representation by multiple agents.
Shortly after we sold my debut novel If You Could See The Sun, I started working on This Time It’s Real, and then I sent the completed draft to my agent.
My agent gives incredible editorial feedback and I trust her wholly with all my projects, so we were able to polish it up together quite quickly. She then came up with a list of editors to submit the manuscript to and sent it out into the world. I tried to be all cool and calm about it, but honestly, I was very nervous — you simply never know what’s going to happen and there are so many factors outside your control.
We got our first offer in a week, and then more editors expressed interest, and it wasn’t long before we were heading to a seven-house auction, which was absolutely surreal and beyond anything I’d dared to hope for. I’m based in Melbourne, Australia which means all of this was happening in the dead of night, and I just remember waking up to this massive adrenaline rush because there’d be updates waiting for me in my inbox.
I still can’t believe it worked out in this way. The timing was perfect too because, by the time the auction happened, I was set to be graduating soon. Knowing that I’d sold my next two books helped (somewhat) ease the panic of job-hunting and mapping out my entire future as an adult.
What most excites you about your book being published in 2023?
I’ll be turning 23 in 2023, which I feel is both such an exciting and scary age because you have more life experience but there’s also still so much you aren’t really certain of.
Also, since this is my first rom-com, and it’s something I’ve been working on for the past two years, I’m super excited for people to finally read it.
Do you have a favourite book or author?
It’s truly impossible for me to pick one favourite book or author, but just off the top of my head, a few I really love include
Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
and of course, the books that shaped my childhood, like The Hunger Games and the Shatter Me series.
What inspired you to become a writer?
I’ve always loved reading and writing, and I’ve even had people tell me from a pretty young age that I could be an author. But for some reason, I didn’t process it until Year Eleven.
My history teacher had asked us to write a paragraph introducing ourselves and our passions and what we wanted to do in life. I wrote an unnecessarily long and in-depth essay about how I didn’t know what I was meant to do. She replied, very simply, that it was clear I was a writer.
What surprised you most about the publishing process?
The publishing process has been filled with surprises, but what’s really blown me away is how incredibly kind and supportive people have been about my book! I always try to keep my expectations as low as possible, so this was a very happy surprise.
What did you want to be when you grew up and why?
I have, at various points in my life, wanted to be: a professional equestrian, a stable hand (so I could be around horses in case the horse-riding part didn’t work out), a vet, a teacher, a data analyst, and – very specifically – a human resource manager (I believe this was because I did one of those career quizzes and this came up as one of the options).
I would be dead-serious about pursuing these career paths for a few months because I was inspired by a show or someone's advice, and then my interest would wane and I’d consider something different. My interest in writing has remained consistent, though, which I feel says a lot.
Do you have any tips for aspiring authors?
Honestly, most days I still feel like an aspiring author, so I guess this is as much for myself as everyone else, but I’d say this: try not to let the writing totally consume you.
This isn’t a job where you can log off at the end of the day and not think about it again, so a lot of writers I know write throughout the weekends, after work or school, and through the holidays. It’s easy to let writing become the number one focus in your life at the expense of other things, but it’s okay to take a break or spend time on other hobbies or go on trips or watch a show.
If you could go back in time and give your past self one piece of advice, what would it be and why?
Be patient. It’s so hard to predict when things are going to happen in publishing, and you don’t want to be stuck in waiting mode all the time.
What is the best writing lesson/ tip you ever received?
Reading widely is obviously really important, but you can find inspiration from things outside books as well. Short stories, movies, shows, poetry, art, songs etc. All of it helps.
Ann Liang On Her New Rivals-To-Lovers YA Rom-Com, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You
"None of my protagonists are exactly like me, but I think there’s definitely a small part of me in every protagonist I write."
By Kate Oldfield Last updated Feb 15, 2024
0
Share
Ann Liang’s newest YA rom-com, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is a love letter to people pleasers everywhere. It’s for everyone who’s ever tried to mould themselves into who and what they think they should be. It’s for the perfectionists who desperately crave a sense of belonging. It’s for all those out there who long to feel appreciated; to be seen. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is relatable and authentic, whilst also having all the fun and drama of a perfect rivals-to-lovers rom-com. To celebrate the release of this delightful new addition to the world of YA rom-coms, we had the chance to chat to Ann Liang all about it.
Hi Ann! I’m thrilled to have the chance to talk to you today about your gorgeous new YA contemporary, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You. I have no doubt I Hope This Doesn’t Find You will end up being one of my favourites of the year but for readers who haven’t had the joy of reading it yet, what five words would you use to describe it to them?
Thank you so much! I’d probably describe it with the words pathological people pleaser and hate emails.
Can you tell us a little about how the inspiration for the book came about?
This was one of those instances where the plot came together pretty quickly, but I believe it started with Sadie’s personality—I was drawn to the idea of this people pleaser who everyone thinks is really quiet and smart and nice, the kind of student who does all the work in group projects but is secretly resentful about it, and the contrast between her perfect image and the side of her she keeps hidden from everybody. As with most of my books, I like to just ask myself: okay, what’s the worst possible thing that could happen for my main character, specifically? And I figured that having her angry, private emails accidentally get sent out to the whole school would be Sadie’s worst nightmare, so I went from there.
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You features one of the best rivals-to-lovers romances I’ve had the joy of reading for a while. Are there any other classic romance tropes you’d like to explore in future novels?
That’s so kind! I’m actually really itching to write a friends-to-lovers book. I feel like I’ve started to truly appreciate the angst and yearning that comes with that particular dynamic, and after writing my rivals-to-lovers romances, it’d be interesting to write about two people who openly enjoy each other’s company from the very beginning.
All three of your books feature beautifully developed and genuine, yet very different protagonists. Between Sadie, Eliza and Alice; is there one girl you see more of yourself in and who do you think you’d get on the best with in real life?
None of my protagonists are exactly like me, but I think there’s definitely a small part of me in every protagonist I write. When I really want something, I can be a little impulsive and make terrible decisions like Alice; in my more optimistic moods, I’m a hopeless romantic like Eliza; and there have been times in my life where I’ve shied away from conflict like Sadie. I do think I’d get along best with Eliza in real life, in part because I’d be a bit intimidated by Alice and Sadie.
I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is your third YA novel. Has your approach to writing changed at all in the three years since the release of your debut?
Oh, that’s such an interesting question! My writing process hasn’t changed drastically, but something I’ve been noticing is that I have to give more thought to how a new project would fit alongside my existing and future books. Practically speaking, I’ve also had to be somewhat more flexible in how I draft my books. Before, I would like to write a book from start to finish, and turn in the completed draft once I was happy with it. But now that I’m working under contract, I might have to write three chapters first, wait for approval, and then pick up where I left off, or I might have to pause halfway through writing a book because my edits for another book just came in.
Considering we’ve just welcomed in the new year; are there any upcoming 2024 titles you can’t wait to get your hands on?
Yes, absolutely! There are so many incredible books coming out this year that I’d honestly need to write up a whole list, but just off the top of my head, I’m really looking forward to Maya’s Laws of Love by Alina Khawaja, Vilest Things by Chloe Gong, To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang, A Crane Among Wolves by June Hur, Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, and Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen.
Finally, for those of us already desperate for more Ann Liang stories; are you currently working on anything and if so, is there anything you can share with us?
I can’t talk about it too much yet, but I recently turned in the first draft of my next rom-com. I’m also very excited to start drafting the standalone spin-off for If You Could See the Sun, titled I Could Give You the Moon, which follows Beijing’s darling socialite Chanel Cao.
Get your copy of I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang from Amazon.
Student Spotlight: Ann Liang
Sine Theta Magazine
Sine Theta Magazine
·
Follow
9 min read
·
Oct 11, 2022
By Yue Chen and Joanne Zou
This interview was originally published in sinθ #24 “EMBER 炎”. Get it now on BLURB.
Chinese-Australian Young Adult novelist Ann Liang recently graduated from the University of Melbourne with a BA, majoring in history and media/communications. Born in Beijing, she has spent her life traveling and living between China and Australia. Liang is the author of If You Could See the Sun, to be published by Inkyard Press in October 2022. Her upcoming releases also include This Time It’s Real (Scholastic, 2023) and I Am Not Jessica Chen (Inkyard Press, 2024). Liang’s three forthcoming novels wrangle with the pressures of coming-of-age in complex, competitive academic settings and span genres including magical realism, romantic comedy, and thriller.
We caught up with Liang in July over Zoom; this interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Yue Chen: You’re in Melbourne right now — how long have you been in Australia?
Ann Liang: I’ve been moving back and forth my whole life. I was born in Beijing. I moved to Melbourne when I was five. We actually moved back to Beijing when I was ten, and we came back again when I was 15. So that’s seven years.
Joanne Zou: If You Could See the Sun sits at the intersection of a few ideas like class dynamics, displacement and coming of age in Beijing, the boarding school environment, and magical realism. What was the initial inspiration behind these ideas, and how did you go about putting all the pieces together?
AL: My inspiration came from many different sources; that’s probably why the end result is all of that [variety]. I was inspired by Crazy Rich Asians; for a lot of people, it was really cool to see that kind of representation on screen. The C-dramas that I’ve watched were also a major source of inspiration. I’ve had people say, “This particular scene in the book gives me such C-drama vibes, I can visualize it as a scene.” That always makes me really happy. Also things like Gossip Girl, which I binged when I was, like, thirteen…
When I was writing [If You Could See the Sun], it was just what I was feeling most inspired to write at the moment. I didn’t even think about the genre thing until we were trying to sell the book, find agents. Right now, we’ve defined it as contemporary with a speculative twist.
YC: There’s this overarching theme of invisibility, which is particularly important, even to the double meaning of the title referencing both sunlight and the protagonist, whose surname is ‘Sun’. Could you speak to the intention that you had behind this parallel and what led you to that?
AL: Part of the fun is when readers come in with their own interpretations. When I thought of the invisibility element, I didn’t want to turn it into too much of an obvious learning moment for the reader. I wanted [it] to be a bit more woven in, in terms of [the theme of] invisibility. Invisibility is obviously a really good metaphor for Alice because she doesn’t feel seen, and yet at the same time, she desperately wants to be seen and recognised. I wanted to make her worst fears come true. Her biggest fear was: even after hard work, despite all her ambition, nobody else in that school really sees [her]. The obvious solution to that would be to make her literally invisible. And it’s also interesting how her idea of what it means to be seen also changes. At the beginning, it’s very much about how others see you — and then I don’t want to spoil too much, but towards the end, it’s about how you see yourself.
JZ: Alice is motivated by academic success in an elite environment, where she lacks the class privileges of her peers, and instead faces significant economic pressures. What were some challenges about metaphorizing and depicting these realities?
AL: I wanted the invisibility to feel very natural. So it was almost like you don’t really notice a difference between when she’s feeling invisible on the inside… it’s something that you see on the outside. As for the class differences, that feeling of not measuring up to privileged peers, that was just something that naturally came with the setting, because I went to that sort of elite international school when I was in Beijing. I remember it was a shock. Some of my classmates’ lifestyles were very different; they were going to these villas, going shopping and [coming] back with bags of designer [items], stuff like that — I didn’t even know that people had these lifestyles.
YC: At the beginning, Henry calls Alice’s invisibility a “power” and claims that “everything’s a form of power.” Alice argues that “power implies some level of control.” Do you think that her invisibility does become a ‘power’ by the end of the novel?
AL: [Alice] is this very power-hungry kind of person. That whole idea of power also lends itself to ambition. And so the realization that she comes to at the end is that ambition isn’t always good; it’s not everything that it’s cracked up to be. Similarly, in terms of power, she sees that power isn’t just about accessing secrets and stuff. There’s also power — and this sounds really cheesy — in your relationships and developments with other people and how you see yourself.
JZ: If You Could See the Sun has such a specific Beijing setting. How much do you think your own experience in Beijing shapes your storytelling? Did you have an audience in mind?
AL: It’s definitely a huge part of how I shaped the book. I wasn’t really writing it with the intention of, “This is definitely going to sell, this is definitely going to be a book.” When I was writing it, it was just for myself, so I wanted to be as specific as possible. From a craft perspective, that’s what really brings a setting, an environment, or a world to life — the world-building is really in the details. So even if someone isn’t familiar with the setting, I want [them] to feel completely immersed. I also just wanted to write about Beijing the way that I know, the way that I’ve lived it. I didn’t really want to approach it from the angle of a tourist — I didn’t want it to be about the Great Wall and pandas. I wanted it to feel a bit like home. Obviously, you can’t do that with a single book, which is part of the reason I’ve returned to the Beijing setting for my second book.
From a craft perspective, that’s what really brings a setting, an environment, or a world to life – the world-building is really in the details.
Quote from Ann Liang
During the editing process, I would always have the choice of how many explanations [to include]. I know there are a lot of words that some people might not be familiar with, and there are certain terms that are hard to translate. There are things where I’m like, “If it’s really impossible to tell what it is, I might provide a bit of contextualization.” As a whole, the audience that I had in mind was people like me, even as specific as people who went to international schools. The really cool thing is with early readers, I’m surprised by how many people have actually also gone to international schools or have lived in Beijing and who’ve messaged to say, like, “I’ve never seen so many of these references, or mentions of popular Chinese stuff.” That makes it worth it, and it’s why I chose to include those details.
YC: Who are some authors you look up to, and from whom do you draw inspiration?
AL: There are literally way too many for me to name. I guess there’s earlier inspiration — when I just got into writing, the author that I was reading the most was RL Stine, which I would say [is] pretty different [from] the books I ended up writing. The suspense, the tension, that really got me hooked — and just the way that he described different emotions, mostly fear.
I grew up with YA — when there was that The Hunger Games boom and everything; I was that target market. Suzanne Collins was a huge influence. I went through a dystopian phase: there was also the Shatter Me series, which was really influential because those books had such a strong voice. Nowadays, there are so many amazing authors that I’m debuting with that I really look up to. I was reading As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh — her book is so beautifully written.
YC: A lot of the members of our Sine Theta community are creators themselves. Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists, especially those around our age?
AL: The first one that is pretty broad, that has helped me most, is: draw inspiration from different mediums. Read widely, I think that’s a very common piece of advice, but is very true. Outside different genres of novels, also [read] poetry, or short stories, [because] the prose might be different and you can get a feel of that. But also, like I was saying earlier, I was so inspired by movies and dramas — even a particular song or piece of art are valid forms of inspiration, and those can really help you shape your voice or help you discover what you’re passionate about.
You don’t have to feel pressure to know exactly what kind of book you want to write, or what kind of writer you want to be.
Quote from Ann Liang
If you’re younger, in your 20s, I would say don’t be afraid to play around with different things. Because it’s very early: you have so many years left to write. You don’t have to feel pressure to know exactly what kind of book you want to write, or what kind of writer you want to be. In general, you don’t have to feel rushed. [For] a lot of people — a pressure I also kind of felt — -–you really want to get published, or you feel like you have to achieve so and so as soon as possible. But it’s okay. There isn’t a timeline; [it’s] whatever timeline suits you.
JZ: Could you tell us more about your next books, This Time It’s Real and I Am Not Jessica Chen, and the stages they’re currently at?
AL: [This Time It’s Real] is very romcom, and [Jessica Chen] is a lot darker and more about impostor syndrome and burnout and academic validation. This Time It’s Real is about motorcycle rides around Beijing and falling in love for the first time. I realized that I didn’t want to stay in a single genre — I wanted to keep experimenting, I wanted to write all kinds of books. You know that often-quoted, ‘We contain multitudes, blah blah blah’? With writing, there are many different types of books that you have in you, and you want to explore them all. This Time It’s Real is coming out pretty soon, which is very exciting and also nerve-wracking. Especially because it is a bit differentof a difference from my first book, but there are many elements that these books both share so I’m excited to see readers’ response.
JZ: You mentioned music earlier — what did you listen to for this book?
AL: There was a lot of Taylor Swift — just her whole discography in the background. Taylor Swift and also this OST for this Chinese donghua that actually came out after this book was written, but I felt like parts of it aligned really well. It’s called Link Click, or 时光代理人. It’s so good. They have songs in there by this band called Jaws, so that OST was playing later on when I was editing and when I wanted to get back into the scenes, and later when I was writing bonus content that is yet to be released.
YC: What are you reading right now?
AL: I’ve developed this really bad habit of reading, like, ten books at the same time. I’m not exaggerating; if you look at my Kindle, it just has ten books open and they’re all at, like, 40%. A book that I’m almost done [reading is] Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer. It’s angsty in the best way: it’s got that YA yearning and angst, and I’m very much enjoying it.
LIANG, Ann. If You Could See the Sun. 352p. Inkyard. Oct. 2022. Tr $18.99. ISBN 9781335915849.
Gr 9 Up--Alice Sun has worked harder than any other student at her international boarding school in Beijing. Her peers may be the elite of the elite, but for Alice to keep her partial scholarship, not to mention compete with irritatingly perfect Henry Li, she has become the "Study Machine." When her struggling parents announce they can no longer afford tuition, the pressure makes Alice go invisible. Literally. Can she use this new talent to hire herself out to her peers as an invisible detective, avenger, possible criminal? How far is she willing to go to pay for a future her rich peers were born with? This story dives headfirst into exploring the spectrum between what is right, and what is fair. When do the ends stop justifying the means? Add to it an enemies-to-lovers subplot and a setting rich with Chinese culture, and you have a perfect, character-driven page turner. However, while the stakes are heart-poundingly high, the miniscule repercussions when Alice's actions inevitably come to light damages the greater narrative. The romance, while enjoyably tense, also suffers from a somewhat flat love interest. VERDICT Readers who have felt they never quite fit in, be it socially, culturally, or economically, will see their struggles reflected in Alice. However, they will also find an ending that doesn't fully hit the mark. --Elisha Sheffer
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Sheffer, Elisha. "LIANG, Ann. If You Could See the Sun." School Library Journal, vol. 69, no. 1, Jan. 2023, p. 76. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A732326553/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=cdb5dac4. Accessed 14 June 2024.
Liang, Ann IF YOU COULD SEE THE SUN Inkyard Press (Teen None) $18.99 10, 11 ISBN: 978-1-335-91584-9
Will an unexpected power become a gift or a curse?
Alice Sun is the recipient of an academic scholarship from Airington International Boarding School in vibrant Beijing and an overall high achiever with serious perfectionist issues. One day, as she stresses about family funds and the possibility of dropping out of this elite institution, she discovers she has the curious ability to become invisible. Who does she turn to for help? Rich, charismatic, and aggravatingly handsome Henry Li, her academic rival and the only person she knows well enough to take her seriously. They both quickly move past the freak-out stage, looking instead to the opportunities this power might bring. As they set up a business, charging classmates for ferreting out secrets, things quickly escalate from discovering who is cheating on whom to requests that have them questioning their moral grounds. Contemporary cultural references may quickly date the novel, but it is certainly reflective of its time. The story, in which events sometimes take a comedic turn, focuses less on Alice's supernatural ability and more on her building relationships, including a growing romance with Henry, and the truths behind the facades people put up. Most featured characters are assumed ethnically Chinese, though this international school caters to many elite East Asians.
An intriguing genre-crossing debut. (Fiction. 12-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Liang, Ann: IF YOU COULD SEE THE SUN." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A715352946/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0115d50a. Accessed 14 June 2024.
Liang, Ann THIS TIME IT'S REAL Scholastic (Teen None) $18.99 2, 7 ISBN: 9781338827118
High school senior Eliza Lin, who recently returned to Beijing with her family, is stunned when her school assignment goes viral.
Eliza's English essay, published on the school blog, describes her relationship with her devoted boyfriend in vivid prose--and turns out to resonate with lovelorn readers worldwide. It even catches the attention of a staff member at Craneswift, a website known for jump-starting the careers of acclaimed writers. Craneswift offers Eliza a six-month paid internship during which she'll write weekly blog posts about her relationship and offer advice on romance. The internship is everything an aspiring writer could dream of, but its success rests upon a lie. Having grown up moving from country to country due to her mother's career, Eliza has difficulties forming friendships, much less romantic relationships. Her boyfriend might be imaginary, but the opportunity is too good to pass up. Eliza strikes a bargain with Chinese American classmate Caz Song, a television heartthrob, to participate in a fake dating scheme in return for her help with his college application essays. The relationship can also rehabilitate his reputation, battered after a recent scandal. Pragmatism soon gives way to soul-searching as Eliza finds herself falling for Caz, whose smooth public persona hides unexpected vulnerabilities. This compulsively readable story comments on identity, social pressures, and the demands of the entertainment industry while developing an angst-y, heartstring-tugging romance between two sympathetic leads.
Irresistible fun with unexpected sincerity. (Romance. 13-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Liang, Ann: THIS TIME IT'S REAL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Dec. 2022, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729727515/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=483689ec. Accessed 14 June 2024.
This Time It's Real. By Ann Liang. Feb. 2023. 352p. Scholastic, $18.99 (9781338827118); e-book, $18.99 (9781338827132). Gr. 9-12.
In Liang's contemporary YA romance, a viral essay leads to fake dating, leads to real love. When Eliza's essay about her boyfriend unexpectedly goes viral, there's just one problem: none of it happened. Not only is the whole story the essay is based on made up but she doesn't even have a boyfriend. When Eliza gets both popularity and a once-in-a-lifetime internship offer based on her essay, she comes up with a solution: a mutually beneficial fake-dating arrangement with Chinese drama celebrity Caz Song, who also happens to go to her school. Caz agrees to go along with her story in exchange for help with his college applications, and so begins a fake romance that increasingly starts to become real. Eliza's family has moved around a lot, and she struggles with finding her place in her international school in Beijing. She also has difficulty trusting people enough to truly engage in a real relationship, especially with a teen idol like Caz. This book will appeal to readers who enjoy fake-dating and celebrity tropes, themes of belonging and identity, and a sweet and emotional love story. --Marija Lukic
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2023 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Lukic, Marija. "This Time It's Real." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2023, p. 54. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A738954414/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=3aaa53b1. Accessed 14 June 2024.
Liang, Ann I HOPE THIS DOESN'T FIND YOU Scholastic (Teen None) $19.99 2, 6 ISBN: 9781338827156
When her cathartic hate-email drafts are accidentally sent out, a teen girl tries to smooth things over with the guy who infuriates her most.
After her father left years ago, Sadie Wen vowed to be a good daughter for her mother's sake. Now in her final year at her prestigious high school in Melbourne, Australia, Sadie has proven her perfection--she's school co-captain, gets good grades, and excels in extracurriculars--all while helping at their family bakery. Being perfect is tough, but she copes by unleashing her frustration in email drafts she never intends to send. When they accidentally go out, Sadie's perfect image crumbles. While some were written to people who had wronged her, Sadie addressed the most ruthless emails--some dating back nine years--to her longtime nemesis and school co-captain, Julius Gong. When someone posts a video of their subsequent public altercation, damaging the school's reputation, the principal forces Sadie and Julius to work together on school projects as punishment. At first, it seems like they'll never get along, but as the Chinese Australian teens get to know each other, Sadie realizes that there might be more than pure loathing between them. This sweet, cozy story is full of charming dialogue and laugh-out-loud scenes. Alongside the romance storyline, Sadie learns about going beyond just pleasing others. The emotional angst and awkwardness, adolescent pressures, and other emotions are engaging and relatable.
Full of giggles, snark, and sweetness: Rom-com lovers, I hope this does find you. (Romance. 12-18)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
"Liang, Ann: I HOPE THIS DOESN'T FIND YOU." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Jan. 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A779191105/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=e216b446. Accessed 14 June 2024.
I Hope This Doesn't Find You. By Ann Liang. Feb. 2024. 320p. Scholastic, $19.99 (9781338827156). Gr. 9-12.
Sadie Wen is a perfect student, school captain, and the ultimate people pleaser--who also must win and achieve at all costs. Julius Gong, her fellow captain at their exclusive private school, has, ever since an ill-fated dodgeball game in elementary school, been her opponent in everything. Sadie bottles up her feelings while venting her frustrations through a collection of unsent emails. When those drafts are accidentally sent, everyone, including Julius, sees what she has left unsaid. As she and Julius work together on a principal-mandated mission to overcome the school's damaged reputation, they learn that their enmity might be hiding something deeper. Sadie also discovers that people might actually like her as her real self--and that being liked isn't everything. With relatable characters and a rivals-to-lovers romance that is everything, this book's only flaw is a few slightly predictable twists that veer into cliche. But Sadie's journey away from people-pleasing is enjoyable to watch, and this will greatly appeal to readers who love the trope of academic rivals who are actually in love.--Marija Lukic
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
Source Citation
Source Citation
MLA 9th Edition APA 7th Edition Chicago 17th Edition Harvard
Lukic, Marija. "I Hope This Doesn't Find You." Booklist, vol. 120, no. 12, 15 Feb. 2024, p. 52. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A783436456/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a78860d1. Accessed 14 June 2024.