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It may surprise you to realize that Grace Lin has written and illustrated ten picture books, has illustrated nine others,
has written two novels, and has five different books coming out soon. For such a prolific and accomplished
author/illustrator, she retains a low profile and humble spirit. It's part of her charm. In a way, she is reflected in her
art. Her work doesn't jump out with revolutionary, aggressive style. It's not showy or dramatic. Then stop to notice the
intricate patterns everywhere, but never clashing. Look for the detail in the leaves on the trees or the puddles on the
ground. Find more in the sum of the parts. There's joy in the beauty of the pictures. There's honesty in the simplicity of
the words. That's Grace Lin.
The Edge of the Forest: With writing at PacyForest and
The Blue Rose Girls, you are a blogging fiend. Why do you blog?
Grace: When I first began blogging, it was for personal reasons. As a freelancer working at home, sometimes I felt
as if the world was passing me by in isolation. Blogging was a way of helping me acknowledge my own existence. So my first
blog tended to be fairly personal. But the longer I blogged, the more I began to realize how much I was divulging, and how
many people I didn't know were reading, and it kind of freaked me out. I closed that blog and tried to start a new one that
was less personal, though that didn't really work either. For me, the reason why I blog is that it is another outlet for
self-expression; when I take away the personal stuff, the stuff that is most important to me, then I almost feel like
what's the point?
But I do know that I have to draw the line somewhere—having the The Blue Rose Girls
blog helps me separate the personal from the professional. Though, maybe I need another blog to separate the sort-of
personal from the very personal!
The Edge of the Forest: What's the Cliff Notes version of your relationship with The Blue Rose Girls?
Grace: Let's see, Alvina Ling and I are childhood friends (incidentally, we started our careers in the industry at
the same time—my first books were being published when she was an intern at the Horn Book and then
an Assistant at Little,Brown. So I had been around the block a number of times before she became my editor for The
Year of the Dog). Anna & Linda are illustrator friends from art school. Meghan I met online on a listserv and
Libby was introduced to me by Alvina. Elaine (our peripheral Blue Rose Girl) introduced herself! Geographically, we don't
live very close to each other, but we are all close friends.
We are all passionate about our work in children's books and we all sometimes feel like we have no idea what we are doing.
So as we have been forging our way through the jungle of the children's publishing industry, we have bonded and count on
each other for support and advice.
The Edge of the Forest: How is the upcoming publication of Lissy's Friends particularly special for you?
Grace: This book is special to me for many reasons:
First of all, sometimes certain images haunt me (most recently it's been fish:
Tormented by the Subconcious and
Go Fish); and these large
origami animals have been floating in my mind for over ten years. I've done images of them since I was in art school, they
made a brief appearance in Fortune Cookie Fortunes, but it's only now, finally, that they've finally come into
their own. So, in many ways I feel like I was meant to paint the images in this book and some sort of weird force—like
destiny has been fulfilled.
Secondly, the main character is named Lissy after my older sister, who deserves a nice book named after her since I
portrayed her so bratty in The Year of the Dog so it's also a bit of guilt relief.
Thirdly, this book has a doll! Merrymakers acquired the rights and made a Lissy doll to come out the same time as the
book. It's the first time any of my work has been licensed and it's a branching out that is quite thrilling.
And lastly, I dedicated this book to the Blue Rose Girls, my friends—who because of our cyber relationship sometimes
seem just as imaginary as Lissy's origami. However, just like Lissy's paper friends are to her, they are quite dear to me.
The Edge of the Forest: When will we see more Lissy books? More Pacy books?
Grace: I'm not sure about the Lissy books as it did take me ten years to get this one out...but there will be more
Pacy books. In fact, Year of the Rat will be coming out Jan. '08. It follows what happens to Pacy two years after
Year of the Dog.
The Edge of the Forest: In some of your books you show a struggle with heritage, in others you show a celebration.
How do you see your own relationship with your heritage?
Grace: I grew up in Upstate New York where there were very few Asian people. Most of the time, I would forget that
I was Asian. Sometimes I would see myself in the mirror and be surprised to see someone Asian looking back at me. And then
I would remember, feel my heritage as a burden, and try as fast as I could to forget it again.
It was only when I grew older that I realized that maybe I had missed something, that I was ignoring a part of myself that
was actually really interesting. So my books reflect these feelings. In some of my books I am celebrating the heritage that
I, myself, am just discovering. In my other books, I chronicle the struggle of blending two cultures, as that was the true
journey that I had with my own identity.
To be honest, I am still struggling with my culture and heritage. I'm probably one of the most Americanized Asian people
you'll ever meet. That's something I've had to come to terms with as well—not being ashamed of being too American.
Then you have the whole Chinese/Taiwanese thing and then we could be here for days! And because I continue to struggle,
I also continue to make the books that I do. When I finally come to complete peace with my heritage is probably when I
will stop making these Asian-culture type books!
The Edge of the Forest: Are there challenges to being an Asian-American author or writing on topics relevant to
Asian culture?
Grace: Being an Asian-American author has some challenges. I'm always afraid that people think I got through the
publishing "back door" or that I'm selling out my culture for a career. Yet, on the other hand I do feel a sense of
responsibility being Asian-American and knowing first-hand how few books there are that represent that part of melting
pot.
However, because many Asians have different views on how they want their heritage portrayed it can be tricky. For example,
I tend to paint my girl characters with the traditional bowl haircuts, because that is what my sisters and I had when
we were younger, yet I've been criticized for propounding that visual stereotype. In the end, I usually just try to do what
feels right for me personally.
The Edge of the Forest: Your family is clearly a source of inspiration—and names—for your books. No
question, really, but would you like to add anything to that statement?
Grace: Well, in my first book, The Ugly Vegetables, I didn't include my sisters in the story—it gave
the impression that I was an only child. So my sisters were quite mad at me! They made me promise that if I did any more
books in the first person, they would be in it. So far, I've kept my promise. Though now, Ki-Ki (my younger sister) is
pretty upset that there is a Lissy book and doll. She is tapping her foot expectedly.
The Edge of the Forest: Rumor has it that you are the sweetest person ever. (And I believe it.) What, if anything,
brings out your inner meanie?
Grace: Well, my husband wouldn't agree that I was the sweetest person! If people are mean to my friends, loved ones,
or my pet causes (like Robert's Snow) I tend to get a bit spit-fire. Though, a few years back, I got into an altercation
with a woman and after she left I was so angry I kept saying, "I hope she falls in a hole!" The next day, she came in with
a brace on her ankle, limping—she HAD fallen into a hole!!! Ever since then, I've tried to be a little more zen about
wishing bad things onto people.
The Edge of the Forest: If you had the complete attention of everyone in the United States, but only for thirty
seconds, what would you say?
Grace: Ooh, that's hard. Well, let's see, since it's very rare to get that much attention. For the first 10 seconds
I'd plug my books and the books of my friends (because an author's gotta eat), then for the next 15 seconds I'd plug
Robert's Snow and ask everyone to help the fight against cancer and then with the last 5 seconds
I would leave the country with this quote by Buddha: "Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart
give yourself to it."
And then I'd hope for something good to happen. Or at least for my Amazon rating to go down.
To learn more about Grace Lin and her books, check out her website.
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