China Dolls – A Novel

“China Dolls,” the much-anticipated first novel for co-authors Michelle Yu and Blossom Kan hits bookstores February 8th. This is a dream come true for the collaborating cousins Yu and Kan. As they both hold busy full-time jobs, Michelle a sports newscaster and Blossom an attorney, this two-year project was truly a labor of love. With plenty “chick lit” books on the market already (and more to come), you may wonder what makes “China Dolls” worth the read. The general “chick lit” equation typically features stylish modern urban women in their twenties and thirties dealing with the trials and tribulations of relationships, finding love while balancing (or searching for) a successful career with, of course, a touch of humor. “China Dolls” is different as the three main characters, Alex, M.J. and Lin are Chinese-American. Yu and Kan subtly and smartly weave in “typical” Chinese cultural experiences into each woman’s journey of self-discovery, which is a rare find in the “chick lit” genre right now. However, every woman, regardless of race or ethnicity, is able to relate to Alex, M.J. and Lin. Continue to read about this dynamic duo of Yu and Kan and how “China Dolls” came to life.

ASIANCE: What has been the most exciting moment of this adventure thus far?

Michelle: The most exciting moment was finally seeing the finished product. When I first saw the final copy of “China Dolls” in front of my face and in my hands, I had a moment with it. I looked into its eyes and it looked into mine. I couldn’t believe that all the hard work and time we had put in the past couple of years had paid off and the reward was staring at me. All the words we had written were no longer on a Microsoft Word document. It was the real deal and was pretty cool.

Blossom: The most exciting moment is when we got THE CALL from our agent. As an aspiring writer, you can’t help but dream about that moment when you pick up the phone and you’re told that after all the blood, sweat and tears that you’ve put into your work, it’s finally paid off. It’s a tremendous moment of validation because we all have our doubts and insecurities, and when something like this happens, you really do start to believe that dreams can come true.

ASIANCE: How have your lives changed with China Dolls, will you be ditching your full time jobs to pursue writing?

Author Michelle Yu

Michelle: As of now, it really hasn’t changed. I love my “other” full-time job as a television sports journalist and intend to continue my broadcasting career. However, I love writing books with Blossom as well, so as long as I am able to juggle the two, I’ll continue to do both.

Blossom: No, I’m still a lawyer. In fact, I just started a new legal position, so I would say that I won’t be ditching my day job anytime soon.

ASIANCE: What do you want readers to get out of China Dolls? What was the most challenging situation you faced writing/publishing your first book? As China Dolls is about dating and relationships, what is your current social status?

Michelle: We want readers to understand how strong females, particularly Asian American women, are. There is this misconception that Asian American women are docile and submissive. We wanted to show three women whose culture has affected both their personal and professional lives – successful, ambitious women who not only deal with the pressures of their traditionally success-oriented Asian families but also the trials and tribulations of dating in modern-day, melting-pot America. As if dating in and of itself isn’t hard enough, these girls have to contend with these false images perpetuated by both Asians and non-Asians alike.

The most challenging situation faced with writing and publishing our first book was to believe it would actually happen. Many writers have trouble getting through their first novel because they lose hope of being unable to finish their manuscript or because they can’t find an agent, or they lose faith in hearing back from an editor. Blossom and I never lost sight of that. We always believed that it would happen and were willing to make changes, etc. Patience really is a virtue because if you work hard at it and really want it, it’ll happen. In our case, it’s a true story.

I am currently single right now.

Author Blosson Kan

Blossom: We want readers to see what it’s like to be an Asian woman in America today. There are a lot of stereotypes out there, and oftentimes, Asian-American women are seen as being exotic and strangely foreign. We wanted to show how these women are products of their cultural heritage but yet, at the same time, 100% American.

Like any other woman, they’re trying to succeed in their careers, find Mr. Right and not let their mothers drive them crazy. These are universal themes, and we wanted to examine them from as Asian-American perspective. Hopefully, we can dispel some of the myths out there and give a voice to these women, who have been both often underrepresented and misrepresented in the media and popular culture.

The most challenging thing is to keep the faith. Writing is not an easy pursuit. What most people don’t realize is how slowly everything moves in publishing. It takes tremendous patience to get through every single phase of the process: writing the book, getting an agent, getting a publisher, editing the book, and promoting the book. A lot of people either give up hope or decide that it’s not worth it. We had our moments of doubt too, but we hung in there, and it really paid off.

I am currently single right now as well.

ASIANCE: Did you learn anything new about relationships/dating through doing the research for China Dolls? Have your parents read the book and what do you they think? Were they supportive of this endeavor?

Michelle: I learn something new about dating/relationships all the time. With some of the experiences I have encountered, I often ask myself, Is this real? Am I in a movie?. It’s crazy but that’s life, it’s a learning experience.

My parents haven’t read the book yet but they are proud of my accomplishments.

Blossom: While the book is not autobiographical, many of the events especially those revolving around relationships/dating, were based on experiences that we had had and our friends have had. Listening to our friend’s stories and working them into our book really taught us how universal relationship and dating issues are. Each culture may have its own permutation, but we’re all dealing with the same kinds of problems making relationships work, finding someone compatible, juggling personal and professional demands, etc.

My parents haven’t read the book yet, but they’re tremendously excited. They know this has been a lifelong dream of mine, so they’re really happy that this has come to fruition. They were 100% supportive. As I mentioned before, they know how big this is for me, so they’ve been my biggest fans for as long as I can remember.

ASIANCE: We understand there will be a second novel, is it a continuation of China Dolls or completely different? If completely different, can you please give Asiance readers a sneak peek?

Michelle: There will be a second novel. One of the minor characters in China Dolls will be a main character in book two. The sister of Lin is an aspiring soap opera actress and dreams of being the next Asian Susan Lucci (but with more Emmy’s). It will be fun to explore how an Asian American female tries to make it in Hollywood.

Blossom: The second novel is a bit of a spin-off, featuring the sister of one of the three China Dolls. While the China Dolls characters will have cameos, we’re looking to explore the soap opera world something, which really hasn’t been examined, especially through the eyes of a young, aspiring Asian-American actress.

ASIANCE: What are your chick lit favorites that our readers should check out?

Michelle: I am a huge fan of Emily Giffin’s books. I read “Something Borrowed” in a day and couldn’t put it down. Of course, I like other women’s fiction classics like the “Nanny Diaries” and “The Devil Wears Prada.” Beth Kendrick is also another author who writes stuff that I like to read.

Blossom: “The Nanny Diaries” is definitely the book that first got me hooked on chick lit. It was funny, witty, and sharp, everything that good chick lit should be. Emily Giffin is also a big favorite. She has a way of making you root for some of the most unlikely heroines out there which is really amazing.

ASIANCE: For those that have a full-time job, like yourselves, and want to pursue writing, what advice do you have for those who want to take it one step further?

Michelle: I would say it’s all in reach and to just go for it. Blossom and I lead really busy lives with our own respective full time jobs but we find time to do what we love. Nothing should stop you from doing what you love.

Blossom: Don’t keep putting off what you can do today. It’s always easy to fall back on excuses and say that you’re too busy or you’re too tired from your full-time job to write. Believe me, as a lawyer at a law firm for the past few years, I was working 60 hour weeks oftentimes. The last thing I wanted to do when I got home was write, but I forced myself to do it. Even if what I was writing was complete crap, I still made sure I wrote a page a day. Once you get yourself past the “excuse” hurdle, you’ll start to find that anything’s possible, even when it seems like you have no time at all.

The launch of China Dolls will be February 8, 2007.

For more details about Michelle and Blossom or “China Dolls,” please visit www.chinadollsnovel.com