About the Author: Jennie Liu
What would you like readers to know about you?
My other job is as an Occupational Therapist in adult inpatient rehabilitation where I get to work with so many interesting people.
What music do you listen to (if any) when you write?
I like silence when I write so I often have to get up early before anyone is awake or wait until everyone is off to school and working. My husband works at home and my writing nook has no door. He loves to chat and forgets to leave me alone before and after his clients arrive.
What books or authors inspired you to become a writer?
When I was in college, Amy Tan came on the scene. I had just learned about my father’s history in wartimes China which felt so similar to The Kitchen’s God Wife. When I heard that Amy Tan was a speech pathologist which is closely related to Occupational Therapy, I thought perhaps I could actually write a novel too. ( I did write a novel based on my father’s life. It never got picked up, but it did earn me my agent).
About the Book: Enly and the Buskin' Blue
What is your book about for those who haven’t read it?
ENLY AND THE BUSKIN’ BLUES is a caper about a 12yo who yearns to go to a music camp, but his single-mother-working-two-jobs can’t afford it. So he decides to busk to earn the tuition. Antics ensue.
What has been your inspiration for writing it?
My son came home one day from 5th grade and told me he wanted to use his Chinese New Year money to buy an accordion so he could busk downtown (his Spanish teacher had played one for the class). Our town has a healthy busking life and I got excited because I always told my kids they should busk to start earning money for college. People just love tipping kids, even if they aren’t that good with the instruments. When my son asked his piano teacher where he could purchase a used one, his piano teacher pulled out a melodica as a more practical and affordable alternative. I got very excited then, because I just knew there was a story there.
What was your favorite scene or part of your book to write?
I loved writing this whole book because it's infused with so many bits from real life which gave me ideas for plot points and tickled me as I was typing away. My sense memory of writing the story was like the romanticized image of an author with fingers frolicking over the keyboard while the pages pile up effortlessly, and then suddenly they type THE END, yank the page out of the typewriter, and drink champagne. Of course that’s not really what happened, but looking back it was much more fun and went faster than my previous two novels. And both my kids helped me in so many ways with the story and also the promotion, so that’s brought a new dimension of fun to the book.
Where can your book be purchased?
To the Future Writer:
What advice would you give to aspiring authors who want to write a book?
So much advice! But I guess for aspiring authors I would say to learn about plot—read a book about it, watch some YouTube about story arc, then take a class, then another class and another . . If you haven’t studied writing in college (or even if you have, because I understand plot is often neglected in MFAs programs), it’s so crucial to have a strong plot. Literary style takes years and years of writing to develop and is much absorbed by tons of reading, but plot can be studied, and a well crafted one can carry a story and author a long way. It’s taken me many, many years to really get it. I’m sure I learned about it in the first writing class I took, but it wasn’t until the 6th or 7th class/book, that I started to really understood how significant it is and how much time I could save by having a clear focus on the story arc.
What’s next for you? Any events, upcoming pubs, etc.
Um, let’s see. I’m transitioning to not coloring my hair anymore, so at some point I’m going to have to get a new author photo. I think it’s pretty white now, but we’ll see.
I have a couple of school visits lined up and an educator night at Bookmarks Bookstore in Winston-Salem, NC. My son who inspired the story plays a part in these events so that makes it extra fun.
I’m just about to turn in my next novel which is a historical YA called RED CAR TO HOLLYWOOD. It’s due out in the spring of 2025.
Where can we find you:
Twitter- @starnesliu
Instagram- @jennieliuliu
Website- jennieliuwrites.com
What’s on your TBR list?
A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING by Dan Santat
TAKE MY HAND by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
BROKEN SUMMER by Chŏng-myŏng Yi.