Hello Asian Fiction Authors!

This month, we have picked "Cherry On Top" by AziaElga for Book of the Month. If you'd like to read this story, we encourage you to check it out in our My Heart Beats for You reading list .

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Logline:

A Singaporean Junior College student working illegally at a hostess bar must fight her growing attraction to a cute patron—her crush from school—or risk getting discovered and kicked out of school.

Excerpt from the Book:

As I inch closer, her dark eyes seem to bore right into my soul. I have never seen her so up close before and it's... captivating. I can see every outline of her pretty face, every bit of her light makeup, and every strand of her dyed brown hair. I can feel her every breath—warm, ticklish, and minty. I can even see my reflection in her eyes, and just how spellbound I look under my crimson mask.

I jolt out of my trance with a yelp when her hand reaches out to my arm. Oh crap, I'm way too close to her. Who let me get this close to her?

"Sorry—" I try to back away, but my foot trips over something on the ground.

RJ's hand tightens around mine, pulling me onto the couch as I fall. "Are you okay?" she asks. She props her body up next to mine, one hand on the leather and the other still on my arm.

"Y- Yes," I say, despite the fact that I am about to pass out.

About the Author:

Azia Elga is a scientist by day and a hobby writer by night. As a writer, she writes a jumbled mess of genres, but all her works contain heavy queer elements, with an emphasis on sapphic romance. Having immigrated from Singapore to the Northeast of the United States for work, Azia is passionate about including tons of Asian voices and perspectives in her works.

Interview:

1. What influenced your story? What inspired you to write it?

The original premise of the story came from a fan fiction I wrote more than ten years ago. I've always loved the premise but never happy with the execution and the way I rushed the ending. Therefore, I decided to redo this fanfiction into an original work, this time adding elements that I have grown to feel strongly about as a writer: making a sapphic love story and having the setting be in Singapore, the country I grew up in.

2. What were some challenges you faced while writing your story?

Because I wanted to have the story set in Singapore, I wrote all the dialogues to be in Singlish, an informal, colloquial form of English that is used in Singapore. At the same time, I don't want to alienate readers from the rest of the world. It was quite a headache balancing my desire to keep the dialogue authentic and my fear of not being understood. But after getting a bunch of club readers to go through the book as well as having the awesome Zoe_Blessing as my mentor in 2022, I am more confident in the dialogues now.

3. What message do you hope to convey with your story?

I wanted to convey the nostalgia as well as regret I have in my high school days through this book. Like Chloe and RJ before they met, I was too focused on school and other responsibilities that I completely neglected the other parts of my heart I wanted to explore. My characters are able to feel the love I never allowed myself to feel and consider the future I never allowed myself to consider. So I hope everyone reading this book can also feel the love and hope that I wanted to shine.

4. Do you have any advice for other authors who are interested in writing Asian Fiction?

Every culture is different and also similar in many ways, so I suggest finding highlighting both while writing your Asian Fiction story. The differences will be a learning opportunity for your readers as well as offer an unique perspectives into things, and the similarities will help readers from every part of the world relate and understand that we are not that different from each other.

5. If you could write another story to be featured on the profile, which of our reading lists would you write it for?

My Heart Beats For You! I am a sucker for romantic comedies and feel-good romances. I've written a few so far, and I aim to write a lot more of them!

6. If you are an author of Asian descent, what's one cool fact about your culture you can share with us?

Singapore is a country where almost everyone of us can trace an ancestry outside the country. Therefore, the food is pretty unique in my opinion. If you enjoy Chinese food and Southeast Asian food (e.g. Thailand, Indonesian etc.), Singaporean food will be a mix of all of these tastes together. It's wonderfully unique and even after years of searching, I can't find any other place that would hit the same spot for me as the food back in Singapore.

Also, if you ever go to Singapore and can't figure out what to eat, simply go to a Hawker Center (an open-air food centre that's everyone) and stand in line for the stall with the longest line. We are very willing to wait forever in line for good quality food. xD 

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Thank you AziaElga for giving us the opportunity to interview you and chat more about your book!

We'll see you all in the next Book of the Month.