Q&A With a Debut Author!

The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai: Li Jing grew up in Virginia, but departed for his parents' China when he was young. A
terrible accident eliminates his ability to speak Chinese, and he is restricted to his extremely limited English. Meanwhile, his wife Meiling, with
whom he can no longer communicate at all, attempts to keep his business
afloat. When the family travels to America for medical care, Li Jing
forms a relationship with his neurologist Roslyn that Meiling needs no
translator to understand.

Recently I got the chance to ask debut author Ruiyan Xu a few questions, and here are her answers! She's a tremendous fan of libraries, and has agreed to answer any questions that readers might have. Ask away!

Hi
Ruiyan! We met way back in the spring, at BEA. It probably seemed like forever
away at the time, but your book goes on sale in less than a month! What are your
plans for the on-sale date?

 

I'll be hanging out
with family and friends, and celebrating at Brooklyn
BookCourt!

Have
you started writing another book? Are there any things you’d like to try
differently with your next novel?

 

I have started
working on a new novel, though I rather feel like I'm in the "doodling" stage of
it at the moment. My first novel was in the third person. In this new novel, I'm
playing with first person narration (and possibly alternating first-person
narrators). Fingers crossed that it works!

What
aspect of your literary tastes would readers find most
surprising? 

I don't know if this
is surprising, but I'm very fond of 19th century novels and love the Brontes,
George Eliot, Henry James, etc. One library-related thing I always do is go to
the "school reading" section of the library and browse. It sounds dorky, but
it's such a great way to discover classics that I haven't read. Also, I love
magazines. At the end of a long day I find curling up with a magazine incredibly
relaxing.