Today we welcome Christina Li to Rich in Color. Christina is the author of the recently released book True Love and Other Impossible Odds. [Our review can be found here.]
Publisher summary: College freshman Grace Tang never meant to rewrite the rules of love. She came to college to move on from a grief-stricken senior year and to start anew. But when her roommate encounters dating woes and Grace takes an intriguing mathematics class, she develops an algorithm for a class project, the Match-Up, to find people’s perfect matches on campus.
The algorithm takes campus by storm and matches up half of the students in the process. Grace is paired up with a seemingly perfect guy, too. But just as she thinks she has everything figured out, she finds herself being challenged by the past that comes to meet her, by her own increasing doubt and self-questioning, and by Julia, the enigmatic girl on her ski team and the algorithm’s biggest skeptic. Grace must determine who she truly is, reconcile her past, and figure out what love and happiness truly means.
Crystal: Thank you so much for chatting with us about your newest book!
Christina: Thank you so much for having me!
Crystal: Can you tell us a little bit about Grace? What do you admire most about her?
Christina: Grace is a first-year college student at a liberal arts college, Leighton College, who is majoring in math. Upon taking an intriguing mathematics class and trying to solve for her roommate’s dating woes, she invents a campus-wide algorithm that puts students with their perfect romantic match. I admire how logical and clear-headed she is – she is someone who Is governed by these set rules and rationales in her life, and that is something I very much wish I had more of.
Crystal: What was the most fun part of writing her story?
Christina: I was in my last year of college when I first drafted this book, so I think the most fun part was reliving my own college memories as inspiration! College was such a fun and
precious time of my life, and it was great to recall certain traditions, or college-esque experiences as I was writing the story.
Crystal: Your previous books were for middle grade readers. Were there any different challenges when writing for a young adult audience instead?
Christina: I think there are unique attributes to each age group! With YA I definitely had to learn to shift my voice a little bit from Middle Grade – I have found that my MG books are more
observational, while my YA is more reflection. There is a learning curve for sure, but Grace’s voice came to me first and foremost, so I relied on that as a compass throughout this genre shift.
Crystal: The cover of the book is gorgeous. How did you feel when you got your first look at it?
Christina: The cover of my book is created by my incredibly, inimitably talented and visionary
cover artist, Christina Chung. I have been such a fan of her work for such a long time. I
remember getting the sketches and – it was jaw dropping. It was such a surreal moment
of my life, how many details in the book were brought to life in such a gorgeous way.
Crystal: How has your writing changed since your first NaNoWriMo experience way back in sixth grade?
Christina: I think I am much more intentional about the stories I write and the way I write my
stories. When I was first doing NaNoWriMo I was just writing stories for the sake of saying I wrote a book or could finish one. Now I know I am capable of finishing a book, so I am focusing on things like: what am I trying to say? How am I structuring this story? What motifs am I carrying throughout? These days, my books feel less like freewriting exercises and more like dissertations. But in many ways, I still get that wild silly joy of cracking open a new story. There is this very freeing delight that I associate with my NaNoWriMo past experiences, and I always try to recall parts of that when I start a new story these days.
Crystal: Are there specific books or authors that helped shape you as a reader and writer?
Christina: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin gave me the experience of seeing an Asian heroine in a story for the very first time. Reading Legend by Marie Lu changed
my life as a 13-year-old and made me want to become a children’s and YA author. Gail
Carson Levine wrote the types of books I wanted to write. There have been so many
other authors that have shaped me: Jesmyn Ward, Yaa Gyasi, Ocean Vuong, that have
made me believe in magic with their words.
Crystal: What would be a dream place for you to write?
Christina: I think I’ve always loved the idea of going on a writing retreat. I’ve never been to one! So, ideally, somewhere by the sea, in a little room, where all I get to focus on is my
books.
Crystal: Finally, are there any other young adult books you are excited about right now or that you would recommend?
Christina: Absolutely! Books that I have absolutely adored this past year are Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington (I’m so excited for her upcoming book, The Blonde Dies First)!,
This is Me Trying by Racquel Marie (very excited for her upcoming book If We Survive
This), Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong, Stay With My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan,
and Off With Their Heads by Zoe Hana Mikuta.
Crystal: Thanks again for your time and we wish you the best as your newest books makes it’s way to readers!
CHRISTINA LI is the award-winning author of children’s books Clues to the Universe, which was a Washington Post summer book club pick, and Ruby Lost and Found, which was an NPR and New York Public Library Best Book of the Year and recognized for the Asian Pacific American Librarians’ Award for Best Children’s Literature. She is also the author of the YA title True Love and Other Impossible Odds (from HarperCollins / Quill Tree Books), as well as an adult literary debut, The Manor of Dreams (from Simon and Schuster / Avid Reader Press). She graduated from Stanford University with degrees in Economics and Public Policy. She loves to daydream about characters and drink too much jasmine green tea. She grew up in the Midwest and California but now calls New York home.