We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Judy Liu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Judy, thanks for joining us today. Can you take us back in time to the first dollar you earned as a creative – how did it happen? What’s the story?

I’m not sure exactly when I earned my first dollar from my creative endeavors, but I can say that I have had the thought to for years. In elementary years, inspired by trading card games, I drew my own trading cards to play with my sister. Then we had a phase where we got very into sock animals? That’s right. You take socks, cut them up, sew them closed, stuff them, and sew on faces. Our parents found themselves missing many a sock those days. We even made a blogspot website and posted pictures. Did we ever sell? No, but I want to think the thought counts – we were definitely hoping it could take off, but didn’t understand marketing back then!

When I saw the first order on Amazon for my book, I didn’t know what to think. I was grateful someone would want to purchase it, and couldn’t believe I could earn something from putting my thoughts and soul into an item. I haven’t made a profit off of my book, but every time I get a few dollars, I get this warm and fuzzy feeling and hope the reader finds joy in the book.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am Taiwanese-Chinese-American. My experiences growing up as a hyphenated identity, visiting Taiwan and China over the years for family, and living in Japan for a year while working were huge inspirations for my debut book, The Vending Portal.

I’ve always loved creative writing, and I regularly journal to help me organize my thoughts. I think one of my favorite pieces that I wrote was back in middle school, when I wrote a poem about a blade of grass. Or a short story I wrote in high school – we were given this painted image of a large house in the meadows. I remember looking at the painting and sensing the loneliness in the massive plains and the dark windows of the house and the colors used; I wrote from the house’s point of view; how a new family was moving in and bringing light, but it was scared of its own darkness and history of its stains (did I say I love murder mysteries?), and so it silently urged the family to leave because it would rather be alone than see history repeat itself. I recall my teacher giving me excellent feedback and comments on it, and thinking, “Wow, maybe I CAN do this.”

In college, I majored in history, which is almost like reading and interpreting stories – stories of the past. I think this is what drew me to the concentration.

As for my book, I’m passionate about putting forward our experiences as Asian Americans. It’s an interesting space where we sometimes feel we aren’t solely claimed by each culture. Instead, we’re a niche. Our parents or grandparents are a facsimile of the culture of the country they left at that moment in time, while that country continued shifting and evolving its culture. They immigrate and incorporate the new culture. Then we have the second, third, fourth generations. I wanted to write a book that wasn’t just Asian culture or inspired by Asian culture, but clearly Asian Western because the diaspora is large and the culture is its own. Examples of other media/works that I think do this well are Everything Everywhere All at Once and Elemental.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative for me is seeing others pick up my work. My creative works are manifestations of my thoughts, and to think someone else outside of me would be interested in knowing what’s going on in my head makes me so happy.

When people tell me that my story resonated with them, or certain characters reminded them of themselves and their own relationships, it makes my day because it means the reader connected with my story, meaning I was able to put myself out there in writing to connect with people.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Frankly, I still don’t know how they work! Given the internet and how easy it is to Google search images, and now with AI art, I don’t understand how one could purchase a digital art for sole or partial ownership? This is just based off my limited understanding. I suppose I’m still caught in time and struggling with art that I can’t tangibly feel or hold.

Contact Info:

• Website: judyliuauthor.com
• Instagram: @judyliu_author
• Other: You can find my author page and book on Goodreads as well