Our interview for you today is with the author of Night Flowers Shirking from the Light of the Sun, Lí Xīng. If you haven’t read that (and it’s free to read, so what are you doing, go go go), and you like that Grandmaster of the Demons show (I don’t know the name, please don’t tell me the name, I’m fine not knowing), this is a sapphic version of that. So, get yourself a cuppa, have a read of this interview, and then a read of Night Flowers. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
And don’t forget to follow her on Twitter!
Let’s start at the beginning. How did you first get into writing?
I can’t say for sure, but the earliest memory I have is—and I’m completely serious—writing Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town fanfiction in 4th grade. For some reason (ha) 10-year-old me was very unsatisfied by the idea of Karen getting together with Rick. Only one other person has ever read it. The story is, thankfully, lost to time.
Something else that sticks out is an elementary school writing assignment. There was a story about a girl on another planet who misses the sun—All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury, just looked it up—and we were instructed to write either an extension of the ending or an alternate ending. Of course, being an idealistic elementary schooler, I wrote about the main character having a friend (who was a self-insert in everything but name) to stand up for her. So, still fanfiction, but school-sanctioned this time.
Looking back, it’s kind of funny how my main motivation for writing hasn’t really changed: it’s always been about feeling dissatisfaction and writing stories that appeal more to my tastes.
What are your favourite genres to read and write, and are there any genres or tropes you wouldn’t write?
Stepping outside genres for a second, I definitely know what a story needs to grab me: 1) humor, 2) heated drama.
In regard to humor… it doesn’t necessarily have to be slapstick central, but I find that stories which lack any amount of humor usually don’t have enough tonal contrast to compel me. As long as there’s one (1) single instance of an absurdly framed situation, or a sarcastic narrator, or a couple characters joking around, even just a one-liner, there’s the potential for some compelling contrast.
Heated drama is a term I picked up from a translated interview about Kamen Rider, so there’s not really a strict definition of it (that I know of), but what it means to me is: 1) emotional intimacy, 2) emotional intensity, and 3) emotional conflict. I wouldn’t consider it exclusive to romance, but romance is definitely where it pops up the most. Give me a second to be excruciatingly niche—there’s an exchange from the Kamen Rider Blade drama CD that has the line, “You are kinder than anyone else and crueler than anyone else,” and that is exactly the kind of stuff that makes me lose my mind.
With that said. I don’t know how to convey in words the sheer volume of romantic media I consume every month. Every day. Every minute. Rest assured, it’s a lamentable amount. And—probably to no one’s surprise—it’s most of what I write, too.
For genres I wouldn’t write… never say never, but probably pure tragedy. I do enjoy the occasional tragedy, but as a writer my instinct will always skew towards. What if the power of love and friendship saved the day. What if characters struggled and suffered and worked their way towards a happy ending.
For tropes I wouldn’t write… I try to avoid heteronormativity. Not that an m/f couple is necessarily off the table, but there certainly wouldn’t be any wife-hating or incompetent husband jokes.
How do you get inspiration for your books and what’s your writing process? At what point do you let other people read your drafts and who are they?
As said before, I’m usually motivated by spite and self-indulgence; I’ll get inspiration from reading something I don’t like, then thinking about what would make me like it. Sometimes, though, a random vibe will hit me out of nowhere and I’ll go into a month-long frenzy figuring out how to justify enough context for it to exist.
For anything with multiple chapters, my writing process is usually to have a planning doc where I bullet point important events for plot and relationship development, sometimes drafting out snippets of scenes or exchanges I don’t want to lose track of. After I have the major beats down (which usually takes a month or so), I’ll start from the beginning-ish but will usually jump around different chapters and scenes in roughly the same area.
Usually around halfway through the story I’ll realize that I need to do some kind of major overhaul or work through some backstory details that weren’t relevant (until they were). Sometimes this requires making a new second-half planning doc. When I hit blocks, I’ll either let it sit for as long as it takes to hit inspiration, or I start changing mediums (e.g. writing in a notebook, typing on my phone, typing on a laptop, writing on some random scrap paper, and cycling through those).
During the entire process I’m usually bouncing ideas with friends. I’ve got some pals I’ll show the outline to and some pals I’ll show the chapter drafts to, depending on the story and who I know would be interested in it. This is usually where I get all my validation from as I’m a relatively unknown writer who exclusively writes self-indulgence.
Which three authors would you say influenced your writing the most?
Terry Pratchett for sure. I don’t quite know how to articulate this, but reading him in high school gave me somewhat of a linguistic revelation. He really captures the potential that exists within the use of language—I’m thinking specifically of a passage in Lords and Ladies—and his work had the strongest voice in prose I’d ever read. Plus, it really shines through his writing that he was an angry and compassionate man, which was a comfort to read. I really do consider him the foundation of my writing.
Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù is another big influence. Reading her work was the first time I felt so directly pandered to! She’s also an absolute master at emotional contrast—Tiān Guān Cì Fú is one of the most humorous and heartbreaking stories I’ve ever read. And her work always has a lot of complex interpersonal relationships! Friendships! Familial bonds! Alliances! Betrayals! Just talking about it is making me want to reread her novels.
This is going out of book authors, but I’ve recently realized that Stephen Sondheim seems to be a major influence. I love Into the Woods and Follies, both of which have interesting approaches to narratives and interpersonal dynamics. This might be a matryoshka doll of an answer since the respective book-writers of each are James Lapine and James Goldman, but there’s something about the music in particular that really ties it all together.
And for something that is also very important to us & what we put a lot of emphasis on when blogging. What does ownvoices LGBT representation mean to you?
I don’t think I have anything new to say about this, but a couple years ago I went to a talk with Gene Yuen Liang. He introduced the concept of mirror stories and window stories (originally posited by Emily Style). It’s basically what it sounds like—in mirror stories you see yourself and your experiences, in window stories you see other people and what they experience.
I believe we exist by referencing and creating stories. Through window stories we humanize other people. Through mirror stories we humanize ourselves.
Of course, we’re human whether or not we have stories that say so; that’s a given. Still, even when we don’t have stories that purposefully center us, that’s usually when interpretation comes in (and sometimes fanfiction).
Stories told by people representing themselves is an important point of reference for others, but above that, for people to find themselves—either by reading or writing those stories.
Anyway one time I was so desperate for Chinese wlw that I read someone’s master thesis on a Qing dynasty play.
Summarise your most recent/next book in up to 5 words and a meme.
I’ve already used ‘idiots to lovers’ to exhaustion… this is more of an inside joke than a meme, but ‘hot wife tax’.
If (when!) your book(s) were to be made into movies, who would you like to direct them?
These are all incredibly unrealistic answers, but for live-action I’d say Kazuya Kamihoriuchi, or Wong Kar-Wai, or Mag Hsu and Chih-Yen Hsu. I don’t think any of them have done romcom xianxia but they all have really good staging, use of color, and atmosphere. Phenomenal visuals.
Animated… this is obviously impossible, but Satoshi Kon remains the most technically arresting animated director I’ve ever seen (followed closely by the team behind Into the Spider-verse). And while I find Makoto Shinkai’s movies excruciatingly heterosexual as of late, I have to admit his films are gorgeous.
If you could have dinner with one member of the LGBT community, dead or alive, who would it be?
I’d like to talk to someone old and aromantic. Like, old old. Aromanticism is such a solitary experience that, while present in the past, has only been recently defined; it’s hard to find something in history that’s explicit, unambiguous, and celebrated. I know we have existed, that have lived full and meaningful and worthwhile lives, that we will continue to live full and meaningful and worthwhile lives, but I’d like to hear it from someone else, too. Maybe someone from the Golden Orchard Society.
Which of your characters would you most want to fight a zombie apocalypse with?
I can count on Liú Jiānghuá to carry me to safety with her strong buff arms.
Is there a famous franchise or simply a movie/TV show you’d like to be able to write for?
I wouldn’t necessarily want to write for them, but my wildest fantasy is to hold the writers for ATLUS’ Persona series hostage while I monologue about major flaws and potential fixes going forward. I have extensive notes.
Do you have any secret non canon ships in your books you wish people would write fics for?
Being motivated by self-indulgence, I write every ship I wish would exist.
Rec us some great LGBT books you’ve read recently!
Once Ghosted, Twice Shy by Alyssa Cole was a very fun exes-to-lovers novella! I’ve also been reading Still Sick by Akashi and am eagerly waiting for volume 3 to be released in English—it’s perfect for yuri fans looking for adult protagonists. Right now I’m keeping up with Rùzhuì by Qǐng Jūn Mò Xiào, which is still in progress, but it’s got me hooked; the main characters are very sweet to each other and I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationship develops.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
she/her, mid-20s, aro/ace & loves women. number one kamen rider beast fan. I am always, ALWAYS, willing to talk about nfsftlots.
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