Monthly Wrap

Work in Progress

My debut, When Sleeping Women Wake, has now reached the copyediting stage! I'm waiting to receive both US and UK version to review so I'm a little stressed but in a good way.

Tip of the Month

I took my own advice from last month and have taken time away from work. It has helped immensely. I feel more refreshed than usual and I think that making time—even if scheduled—increases my happy-levels too. My tip this month would be to slow things down. Often, I find myself rushing to get things completed but that's just not sustainable. When clients email me on the weekends, the first thing I want to do is reply but it's not the right thing to do. So, as a business owner, what I'm going to be doing is making sure I automate emails when I'm away so that my clients know I'm away—that I care about them—but will reply later.

Author Feature

The first time I came across a Shirley Marr book, I was having a rough day. I remember sitting on a cushion in front of the middle-grade shelves at the bookstore, browsing the new releases, when A Glasshouse of Stars caught my eye. The illustration immediately drew me in—was that a girl who looked like me as a child? Intrigued, I picked up the book and started flipping through the pages. Then I saw Shirley’s author bio and photo. I bought the book on the spot, read it that night, and returned to work the next day with a renewed sense of purpose as a bookseller. Finally, I had a book I was genuinely passionate about sharing again.

People often assume that booksellers love all books, but the truth is, we don’t. Like anyone else, we have our favourites, the genres and stories that speak to us, and others that simply don’t connect. Finding a book like A Glasshouse of Stars reminded me of why I love what I do (or did, because I’m not a bookseller anymore). It’s not just about selling books; it’s about finding those rare gems that make you feel seen, understood, and inspired. Shirley Marr’s work is one of those gems, and I’m so insanely honoured that she agreed to do this Q+A with me for my blog this month. *Insert crying face emoji here*

To celebrate this connection, I’ve decided to ask Shirley some fun, out-of-the-box questions. Here’s our conversation:

Photo Credit: Jessica Wyld

If you could have a magical object from any of the folktales or fairy tales you grew up hearing, what would it be and how would you use it in your daily life?

It would definitely be the Universe Ring that belongs to Nezha! I was going through a rebellious stage as a nine-year-old, so this all-powerful child deity was my spirit animal back then. I also took to wearing a yellow plastic bangle around my wrist (as fashionable in the 80s!) and would daydream about what I would do if it were the real thing. I wish I still had that bangle. I would use it these days as I would back then - defeat my enemies, save people, be a hero, get out of social situations conveniently, and look really cool while in a pose!

Your books often weave together elements of your Chinese heritage with contemporary Australian life. Can you share with us a tradition or cultural practice from your childhood that you still continue to practise in your life today?

I find superstition and folk religion still lingering inside of me, which is surprising since I thought that my intensely Western education would have beaten those thoughts out of me. And maybe for a while it did, mostly when I was in university and coming into my own person. I would look down at what I believed were my parent’s false beliefs and limited outlook on the world. But now I embrace it. I’ve realised as an adult that I don’t understand how the world works and whether everything is random or it isn’t. My mum still keeps a paper Chinese calendar with recommendations of prosperous and unprosperous things to do on any day. I’m about to submit a new children’s book to my agent and I could have done it already, but I am waiting for Wednesday which is a good day to “do business” (between the hours of 7:20 am and 1 pm). I pray at the temple that I may keep writing. I look at my lunar horoscope at the beginning of the year to gauge if I will keep writing. I feel I am still part of a belief system of everyone before me. Sometimes I feel I am actually only an ancestor’s dream!

Your novels often strike me as having a ‘Western mind and an Eastern heart.’ How do these two aspects of your identity influence your writing process, especially when you’re creating characters or settings?

There were times I absolutely hated being Chinese Australian growing up, you might have felt the same way Emma! I wished I was white so I’d fit in properly or I’d wish that we could go home to Malaysia and I could resume the life I was supposed to have. But when we did go on holidays back home to Malaysia I found that I no longer fit in there either. That sinking realisation of every migrant, including my parents.

So I guess I’ve spent my whole life trying to reconcile this to myself and I found that by writing it out, I could find beauty and peace in who I am and the unique outlook that I have been given. That I’m not a misfit. I’m someone who is able to move between worlds and find enrichment in the experience. So I find all the settings in my books are the two authentic worlds I know, the one of tradition and mythology and an unabashed Australian side that I’ve never tried to “universalise” for anyone. I leave it up to my American publisher to create a dictionary of what a “zucchini slice” and a “demountable” really are! And I guess children’s books really are my sweet spot because my characters are all coming of age and trying to find their place in the world just like I did. Slowly becoming more confident and moving into their own by the end.

Christmas Island played a unique role in your childhood. If you could go back and give your younger self one piece of advice about life, what would it be?

I was dealing with so much change at that age, to go from the hustle and bustle of Malaysia to suddenly being on an extremely isolated island with a thousand people, where during the typhoon season you literally had to stock up food and bunker down inside for months on end (like a yearly recurring lockdown). It took a huge mental health toll on my parent’s which lasts to this day. And just as I was getting used to that, we have to go to mainland Australia. I was only eight. I was a quiet and naturally anxious child. If I could go back, I would give my younger self the advice that change is impermanent. That things are going to keep changing and after that change again, so what you are going through now is only temporary. Be resilient upon your journey and don’t give up. There will be long patches of calm and stability where you will be allowed to be content.

Your characters often navigate complex family dynamics. If one of your book characters could join you for a family dinner, who would it be, and why?

I would love to invite all of them, but I think I would invite Yan from my latest book Countdown to Yesterday. She’s eleven, loves science and is progressing very fast academically. Suddenly she’s feeling existential about where she fits in her Chinese parent’s old world. Although she understands why she’s friendless, she’s also lonely. Maybe I can help her talk about some things. We can sit at the dinner table as peers and I can help her better understand why her mum won’t let her get a bike, join the school baking competition based on a beloved cake book all the Western parents confusingly seem to consider a tradition, or why her parent’s front yard is a veggie garden instead of a lawn. She’s a little bit like me, but I feel she will do much better in life than me! I’d want to tell her that!

For more on Shirley, please visit: https://www.shirleymarr.net/

Quote of the Month

“When you walk into your memories, you are opening a door to the past; the road within has many branches, and the route is different every time” ― Xinran, The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices

This will be my last monthly wrap for 2024!

Thank you for joining me on this adventure. Until next time.

Emma, x