As the next of my series featuring fantastic female fantasy authors (see disclaimer) I’ve invited the talented Kylie Chan to drop by.
Watch out for the give-away question at the end of the interview.
Q: Your first book White Tiger came out in 2006. Your books have been on the best seller lists consistently since then. Why do you think they appeal so much to your readers?
Mainly, I think, because of the novelty. The Chinese mythology is a completely new set of stories to explore, with wonderful – and truly weird – characters. Many people have heard of the Monkey King but the overall philosophy and the way it fits together is fascinating. I’ve also tried to make the books a simple, straightforward and action-packed read, always fresh and never boring. It seems to have worked!
Q: There were three books in the Dark Heavens series, White Tiger
Red Phoenix, Blue Dragon’, and another three in the Journey to Wudang sequel series, Earth to Hell, Hell to Heaven, Heaven to Wudang. When do you sleep?
What is this ‘sleep’ that you speak of? I am a mother. We learn the minute our first child is born that sleep is something that is precious and fleeting and truly wonderful. It doesn’t help my quest for sleep that I work best between midnight and three am – I tried to force-write book four, ‘Earth To Hell’, during the day and failed miserably – and that I have to get up at seven to get my daughter off to school. Unsurprisingly I’m ferociously productive during school holidays, when I can stay up as late as I like and sleep the morning away. This is a good thing, as I detest mornings anyway.
Q: The second series open 8 years after the first series finishes. You’ve been writing these characters since 2004 (?) now. Do they become like old friends?
Yes, they have become like old friends. Is there a line you cross? From where the characters are talking to each other, to where they are talking to you, and the men in white coats come to take you away? Maybe to be successful as an author you have to pass that line anyway. I know many of my family and friends suffer me with bemused tolerance and believe that I should have been carted off to the madhouse a long time ago. But then they all show up at my house and it’s a madhouse anyway.
Q: In a post on the ROR site you talked about living in a different culture (you married a Chinese national and lived in Hong Kong for ten years) and how this gave you insight for your writing. Was it a bit of a culture shock to come back to Australia?
I can remember the first time I came back after being a while in Hong Kong – I was delighted at the signs. They were all in English! I was so accustomed to seeing signs in Chinese, or both languages, it was a cultural jolt.
Coming back for good has had some difficulties. There are a few really authentic provincial Chinese dishes that are simply not available here. I have an arrangement with the local Chinese restaurant to do one for me (steamed scallops on bean curd with black bean) but there’s no Chiu Chow Goose or Pepper Chicken here that’s really authentically well done. I miss the food!
Q: I was prompted to start this series of interviews because there seems to be a perception in the US and the UK that fantasy is a bit of a boy’s club. Do you think there’s a difference in the way males and females write fantasy?
I’d really love to say no but that would be lying. Male-written fantasy, particularly when done by those who are new to the craft, tends to include female characters that are two-dimensional cardboard cut outs. After a while the writer becomes aware that all his women are depicted as round smiling cooks, graceful noblewomen or buxom peasants, and he’ll add a kick-ass man-hating Amazon in a chain-mail bikini – for the hero to win over.
Women writers do the same thing when they’re starting out, but in my opinion they tend to write more rounded characters – both male and female. For them, the female characters are depicted as more realistic people. It doesn’t stop novice women from writing characters that are just as two-dimensional.
When a writer is at the peak of their craft, however, gender makes no difference whatsoever. It’s impossible to tell the difference between truly great prose written by men or women, and the characters have made the transition from being sock puppets to being real people.
Q: Following on from that, does the gender of the writer change your expectations when you pick up their book?
I’m ashamed to say that it does. I expect a book written by a man to be more plot-driven, and a book written by a woman to be more character-driven. This is a distressing revelation for me, I like to think I don’t pre-judge at all based on gender. Of course, since I like both types of novel, that’s the only expectation that I have; and whether it’s good or not is completely unrelated.
Q: And here’s the fun question. If you could book a trip on a time machine, where and when would you go, and why?
Only one trip? That is cruel beyond belief. The Roman Empire at its height – no wait, the Byzantine Empire at its height – no, classical Athens, when the Acropolis is being built – no, hold on, Renaissance Florence, can I go to Renaissance Venice at the same time? Renaissance Rome? China during the Qing! No, during the Tang. The Ming! Angkor Wat, when the city held a million people. No! The Incan civilization. Hold on, there’s all the future, too – Brisbane, a hundred years from now. Brisbane, a thousand years from now, and throw in the rest of the world while you’re at it. Oh, I give up, that question is way too hard. Just lend me the time machine, and I promise to bring it back in five minutes.
Give-away Question:
If you could be a Shen, would you be a human, a dragon, a stone, or some other sort of spirit, and why?
Follow Kylie on Twitter: @kyliecchan
Catch up with Kylie on her blog.
First: Kylie I love your books. As an avid Fantasy reader, and lover of Eastern Cultures, I am always delighted to pick up your books and get a dose of both.
Second: Even if this isn’t avail to USA residents, I’m still answering XD
Third: If I could be a Shen, I’d want to be a human I think. There are limitations to other forms that I wouldn’t enjoy (though there are limitations to the human form as well) and there are advantages (being able to walk down a street freely, holding a conversation with a cute guy or lingering in a bookstore–I couldn’t do these things if I wasn’t at least human in form).
Thanks so much, Lexie! Don’t panic if you’re a US resident, the books will be released by Voyager US in August of this year – but if you win I’ll send you a signed one anyway.
Can I first say that promising to bring the time machine back in 5 minutes is one of the funniest lines I have read in a long time 🙂 Sounds like something Douglas Adams would say.
I don’t know what a Shen is, sorry to say, but I do know what a dragon is 🙂 I’d hop down off my mountain top every now and again for the odd lost sheep … what dragon doesn’t like roast mutton every now and again 😉
I’m sure dragons like mutton that they’ve roasted themselves, as well!
I wish I knew more about being a Shen. I could not decide. I think embracing the spirit within as a human would best suit me though.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
That’s the essence of the Taoi of Taoism, actually – being what you are.
A stone. I’m too much of a nerd not to love the idea of basically being a computer. Who wouldn’t want to be able to interface better when gaming for example – pesky fingers just get in the way… ^_^
I feel your pain, Wally, my fingers always get in the way when I play adventure games. Or maybe I’m just old? Turn-based RPG ftw!
I would so be a stone Shen… A diamond if I could be more exact.
Harder than glass, tougher than nails, precious, desirable and beautiful all at the same time.
*k need to exit this library before I start clapping along with ‘if ya happy and ya know it’ being sung in the kiddies corner*
Great Interview!
You should have sung along! One of my characters is a diamond Shen – and she uses a most interesting way to destroy things.
I haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading your books Kylie, but no that I know a bit more about them I will seek them out(didn’t know you were an Aussie either).
I was reading Joanna Russ’, “How to suppress women’s writing” in the library (only one copy available in entire state and it’s reference only) and it started a discussion with the librarian – she informed me that they had women readers who refused to read work by other women. My jaw is still dropped.
Gah, Sean. I had heard of men who refused to read books written by women, but this is even worse!
Fiction divided into male and female writers? Not even into things males and females might want to read?
What if a male author wrote romance???
I’ve been told by an older lady at a signing that she was ‘far too intelligent’ to read ‘any sort of fiction’. When I described the depth of research I’d done for my novels she was impressed – and headed for non-fiction.
I walked into a Salvo’s thrift shop today and they had the fiction split into men and women authors as opposed to alphabetical/genre.
well i don’t care if the book is written by a male or female author, prejudice whether female, male, the color of your skin or any other kind of it is just plain wrong, people should not be judged based on that. but on real experience and knowledge of the person you are judging.
i my self face prejudice almost daily thanks to the fact i am in a wheel chair and heavy, people think that i am lazy because of that but its just the opposite. Before i got in to the chair i was doing martial arts daily and had a job in EMS. right now i am studying to become a computer specialist only so i can still do my part.
i also read and love kylie’s books a lot and as you can see by my name i am male. also i am from Holland where right now prejudice is on a all time high
Wow, Maro, Sounds like you are really battling against the odds. I did martial arts, too. Loved it.
Good luck with your computer studies!
I agree with you on prejudice, Marco. I think I may have phrased myself badly – I don’t refuse to read books because of the author’s gender, that would be just wrong! And as you know from reading my books, being in a wheelchair doesn’t make anybody any less. One of our best practitioners at my Wing Chun classes was in a wheelchair, and he fought off a home invasion single-handed.
As being an avid reader, but still in a younger generation i find i go through fazes where i read only one genre of book. Right now i seem to be in a fantasy genre faze and thanks to you kylie i think i might be stuck in it. Haha
Oh and about the whole male/ female authors, hogwash. The only thing important to me is the mind that created the book that im about to read
Patrick, I have to agree. It’s the story that’s important to me, not the gender of the author. But I’ve come across commenters who say they would never read a book by a woman, which is bizarre.