{"id":43414,"date":"2018-01-30T10:22:08","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T15:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=43414"},"modified":"2018-01-30T10:29:10","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T15:29:10","slug":"everything-here-is-beautiful-mira-t-lee-author-interview-bloom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/everything-here-is-beautiful-mira-t-lee-author-interview-bloom\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee + Author Interview [in Bloom]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Until she found her agent in 2015, Mira T. Lee<\/a> thought of her writing as a \u201cdirty little secret.\u201d Although she started publishing short stories almost a decade ago, she didn\u2019t start writing \u201cseriously\u201d until 2012, buoyed by an\u00a0Artist Fellowship from Mass Cultural Council<\/a>: \u201cI gave myself permission to use the funds on only writing-related things, including a writing coach who helped me get through the first draft of my novel, as well as a one-week writing retreat, which was heavenly.\u201d Still, she didn\u2019t dare think of herself as a writer until she had outside confirmation \u2013 that agent, a book deal \u2013 in hand.<\/p>\n

Lee makes her fiction debut this month with\u00a0Everything Here Is Beautiful<\/em>, both a celebration and mourning of the bond between two Chinese American sisters \u2013 the younger afflicted with mental illness, the elder desperate to save her. When their mother succumbs to cancer, Lucia and Miranda Bok have only each other left to rely on.<\/p>\n

Lucia, who serves as the narrative core, is free-spirited and impulsive; she\u2019s traveled the world teaching English, writing stories, searching for meaning. Back in New York, she marries Yonah, \u201ca one-armed Russian Jew\u201d from Israel who owns an East Village health food store and gently adores his younger bride. But the relationship is short-lived, and Lucia eventually moves to a shared house in Westchester County, where she becomes involved with Manny, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador, with whom she has a daughter. Plagued with uncertainty and loss, the small family returns to Manny\u2019s small village in Ecuador where Lucia will try again (and again) to become whole. Throughout Lucia\u2019s joys, struggles, triumphs, breakdowns, Miranda will be both a comfort and threat. Despite Miranda\u2019s attempts to live her own life \u2013 in Providence, then Boston, then Switzerland \u2013 Lucia\u2019s troubles will propel her back to wherever her sister needs her.<\/p>\n

So I stumbled on your\u00a0\u201ceverything here is beautiful\u201d Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 \u201cpresenting 365 days of beautiful, amazing & wondrous things\u201d that you posted every day throughout 2017 \u201c[i]n anticipation of the release of [your] debut novel.\u201d What a gorgeous project! What were some of the highlights? What did you learn?<\/strong>
\nI loved that project! I often come across things that I read, or hear, or see, and think, \u201coh, I have to tell so-and-so about that,\u201d or \u201cI have to remember that\u201d \u2013 so the 365 Days of Everything Here Is Beautiful project was just a great way to archive lots of different things I love. And a really nice way of being able to share with others. I loved being more conscious of \u201camazing things\u201d as I was out in the world \u2013 I\u2019d take pictures on my walks, make note of a particularly great episode of a podcast, or rush home after seeing a great movie so I could add it to my list. Doing something every single day does affect you. Maybe I got in the habit of being a little bit more appreciative, or optimistic (not always easy in 2017!). And now I have this amazing archive!<\/p>\n

Your website reveals some of your past lives: \u201cgraphic designer, a pop-country drummer, a salsa dancing fanatic, and a biology grad school dropout.\u201d Now that you\u2019re a published author, which of those titles do you still claim? Do some of those past\/current jobs\/experiences inform your writing?<\/strong>
\nWell, I\u2019ll admit to being in the midst of a bit of a mid-life identity crisis! I\u2019ve always been very comfortable identifying as a graphic designer \u2013 I\u2019ve done it for over 15 years, mostly as a freelancer, and it feels like who I am, professionally. But the truth is, in the past few years I\u2019ve spent a lot more time on writing, and yes, now I can say I\u2019m a published author, but I find myself still uncomfortable with claiming that as my identity. As for how my past experiences have informed my writing, I\u2019ve often thought that my writing style has something to do with my background as a musician. I\u2019m obsessed with rhythm \u2013 the rhythms of words, sentences, paragraphs, as well as their sounds. I can\u2019t tell you how many times I\u2019ve chosen a word to fit the rhythm of my sentence, rather than for its actual meaning.<\/p>\n

Having spent 15 years as a graphic designer, do you also \u201csee\u201d your narrative?<\/strong>
\nYes, I guess I do. Funnily enough, the first thing I ever wrote was a screenplay. I saw that story in \u201cscenes,\u201d and I think I often still do think of writing as very scenic. When I\u2019m at a loss for ideas, I will often look for images that evoke a mood. I\u2019ll also use photos for settings I\u2019m trying to describe (e.g. a dirt road, snowy woods), or sometimes pictures of people who might look something like my characters. Or at least, [someone] who captures something of the \u201cessence\u201d of my characters.<\/p>\n

And what happened with that screenplay?<\/strong>
\nI turned it into a short story. And it was my very first published short story! In\u00a0The Southern Review\u00a0<\/em>in 2009. But I still often think of the screenplay \u2013 whether I should go back to it and try to work on it some more. I still think it would make a good movie!<\/p>\n

Well, how fitting then! So the music, the graphics, etc. make you an especially sensory writer \u2013 you see, hear, THEN write. And when and how did you choose that writerly route? How did you end up \u2018BLOOM\u2019-ing as a novelist in your 40s?<\/strong>
\nWell, I certainly never expected to become an author\u2026 pretty much, ever! And when I started writing, about ten years ago, I had no idea I\u2019d ever write a book. I started with that screenplay because I had one very specific story that I was burning to tell. It was right after my mother died, and I\u2019d just spent a few weeks back home with her, waiting. It was an intense period, but also one filled with a lot of unexpected highs, in addition to the lows. Stepping back from it, I found the contradictions fascinating, and I knew there was a good story in there. So I wanted to tell it. But while the screenplay was great, it wasn\u2019t a finished product, hence \u2026 short story. That\u2019s how I entered the world of writing. And after that short story I thought I was done, but then I thought, \u201cWell maybe I\u2019ll try to write another,\u201d and then another. I inched my way along this path.<\/p>\n

Speaking of contradictions, you\u2019ve chosen what some might consider a taboo subject for your novel, especially in the APA community \u2013 because there\u2019s no mental illness among us Asians, ahem! What was the inspiration there?<\/strong>
\nMental illness is a subject matter that\u2019s extremely close to my heart, since I\u2019ve seen members of my own family struggle with it. Schizophrenia, in particular, is still one of the most misunderstood and stigmatized illnesses out there, and I\u2019d rarely seen a well-rounded portrayal of it in literature \u2013 particularly one that addresses how it affects family members, in addition to the individual with the illness. I wanted to explore the conflicts that this illness can cause, and the ways it can wreak havoc on families. At some point early on, I did wonder if I should make my characters non-Asian (i.e. white), but that didn\u2019t feel true to me. These multicultural worlds are what I\u2019ve known in my own life, so it made sense that it should be reflected in my writing.<\/p>\n

All that \u201cwrite what you know\u201d certainly worked in your favor! But what made you consider making your characters white?<\/strong>
\nI started writing this novel several years ago, before the whole \u201cdiverse books movement\u201d was as strong as it is now, and certainly well before our current political climate. I wondered if my cast of characters might feel off-putting to publishers, too bizarre or unconventional, and if it\u2019d be easier if their cultural backgrounds were removed from the equation. I\u2019d heard stories about Asian American writers being expected to write certain kinds of \u201cAsian\u201d stories, and here I had a Chinese American with a mental illness, a one-armed Russian Jew, a Swiss guy, and an Ecuadorian. But to be honest, it was a fleeting consideration. And both my agent and editor have been amazingly supportive \u2013 they never once saw my characters\u2019 backgrounds as anything but enriching to the story.<\/p>\n

Beyond personal experience, how did you approach the additional research?<\/strong>
\nI pulled a lot from my own family experiences with mental illness, but I also read a lot of memoirs, as well as online blogs, particularly firsthand accounts of psychosis. And I spoke with medical professionals about the more technical aspects. I\u2019d also attended a lot of family support groups, so I had a strong sense of the issues and frustrations experienced by loved ones.<\/p>\n

For other aspects of the book \u2013 for example, living abroad \u2013 I\u2019d visited those places, but I also read a lot of travel blogs by expats and backpackers, as well as local news sites. It was challenging to create these worlds in places overseas, though. I was initially a bit daunted by the prospect, but after a while, I had them pictured in my head \u2013 the small house in Ecuador, the countryside, the paths my characters would take to get from one place to the other.<\/p>\n

You write from various perspectives \u2013 the two sisters, older Yonah, younger Manny \u2013 that vary greatly in age, background, cultural identity, life experiences. How did you prepare for writing these rotating, diverse viewpoints? Did you find more affinity with certain characters than others?<\/strong>
\nI really enjoyed writing from different perspectives because it meant I got to experiment a lot with voice, and how you play with words and structure sentences to produce different voices. It was interesting, because you might think it would\u2019ve been easier for me to write the women than the men, but it was actually the other way around. I found a real affinity with Manny because I connected with his anxiety of being a parent of a newborn, in addition to his fear and confusion around dealing with a loved one\u2019s psychosis. Yonah came pretty naturally because I\u2019d spent a lot of time around Israelis, and that voice is just so strong and distinctive. But Lucia was tough because I\u2019d always envisioned her as far more brilliant and perceptive than I am, and finding that right amount of quirkiness and wonder was a real challenge. I kept feeling like I was holding her back! And Miranda wasn\u2019t easy either, probably because she and I share more similarities, so maybe I assumed the reader knew more about her than they actually did.<\/p>\n

And Ecuador and Switzerland. I think I got the expected parallels \u2013 the colorful richness of South America, the order and straitlaced-ness of Switzerland. But other than that, why those countries specifically?<\/strong>
\nYou\u2019re right, that those places fit with the sisters\u2019 personalities, but to be honest, I didn\u2019t spend a long time consciously choosing those countries. It all came about pretty organically. Like I had Miranda meet this Swiss guy, and then I thought, \u201cOk, I\u2019d better figure out this town where they\u2019re moving to in Switzerland!\u201d<\/p>\n

Screenplay first, then short stories, then some of those you wove into your novel. Do you have a preference for form? Might your non-Bok Sisters short stories end up in a collection?<\/strong>
\nI do love the short story form. I\u2019d stopped reading them for a while, but recently picked up a copy of\u00a0Best American Short Stories<\/a><\/em>, and was reminded of how perfect a short story can feel \u2013 unlike a novel, which to me is just big and messy and always has some flaw or other. But I did channel so many of my short stories into this novel; I don\u2019t think I have too many left for a collection! Also, now that I\u2019ve entered into the world of publishing, I\u2019m more mindful about what a publisher might want. It does feel different, knowing that what you write has to get marketed and sold! I think the purity of that first book is something really special.<\/p>\n

From your website, I see you\u2019re very much a reader \u2013 as a writer, does that extensive reading hinder or enlighten? What might be your three favorites from this past year?<\/strong>
\nI think it both hinders and enlightens. For example, I\u2019ll find great ideas when I\u2019m reading other people\u2019s books, but also the writing style can influence my own. Which isn\u2019t something I want when I\u2019m actively writing (because I\u2019m highly suggestible, and may subconsciously mimic other styles).<\/p>\n

Last year I loved\u00a0Exit West<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Mohsin Hamid,\u00a0Home Fire<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Kamila Shamsie, and I just finished\u00a0Min Jin Lee<\/a>\u2019s\u00a0Pachinko<\/em><\/a>, which was epic and awesome. One non-fiction book that stood out was\u00a0Ron Powers\u2019\u00a0No One Cares About Crazy People<\/em>, which is part memoir and part history of our country\u2019s mental health system. And I also read some YA, which was new to me.\u00a0Angie Thomas\u2019\u00a0The Hate U Give<\/em>,\u00a0R.J. Palacio\u2019s\u00a0Wonder<\/em><\/a>, and I just started\u00a0John Green\u2019s new one,\u00a0Turtles All the Way Down<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Is YA a form you might consider writing in the future?<\/strong>
\nWell, as I mentioned before, I can be highly suggestible, so it\u2019s not out of the question!<\/p>\n

Your first book tour is coming up! What are you hoping to accomplish? Any reservations or fears?<\/strong>
\nUm, well \u2026. I hope some people show up! (Isn\u2019t it every author\u2019s nightmare, to show up to a room of empty seats? Though, I used to play in bands and I can\u2019t tell you how many gigs I had where we played for the bartender \u2026) But seriously, I think it will be a really nice way to connect with people, and I\u2019m looking forward to that. And I\u2019m thankful for the opportunities to talk about some of the things that are meaningful to me, like mental illness, and writing cross-culturally, and empathy, and the role of fiction in today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n

And always the final question that has to be asked \u2026 what are you working on now?<\/strong>
\nI have a couple of ideas for a possible next novel, and bits and pieces of a few different things. Still not sure if\/how these will come together. I\u2019ve also been working on a couple of children\u2019s picture books \u2013 that\u2019s been kind of fun, just because it\u2019s so completely different!<\/p>\n

Interview:<\/strong> “Everything Here is Beautiful: Q & A with Mira T. Lee,”\u00a0Bloom<\/em>, January 30, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until she found her agent in 2015, Mira T. 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