We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Linda Kao. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Linda below.
Linda, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Yes, and thank you so much for having me! A project that’s important to me is my debut young adult novel, A Crooked Mark, that just came out in June. It grew out of the briefest encounter: On my way to pick up my children one day, I drove past a person walking along with the most sour expression on their face. It was clear something terrible had happened, and I wondered what could have gone so wrong in their day. My mind ran through the obvious culprits—a fight with a loved one, bad news from the doctor, a broken-down car—and kept on going to the impossible, since I’ve found that if I don’t censor my ideas, I can end up somewhere interesting. This time, I wound up at “perhaps the Devil reached out and toyed with this person’s morning.” That led to the question of how the Devil got into our world, and since I’ve always loved the idea of the supernatural bleeding into reality, I decided that perhaps accidents create cracks in our world that allow Lucifer to slip in. This idea stayed with me, and I finally sat down and began to write. The story became A Crooked Mark, which features a seventeen-year-old boy charged with hunting down those touched by Lucifer—including the girl he has fallen for. I hope readers enjoy it!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?
Growing up, I never planned to be a writer. Somewhere in elementary school, I decided I wasn’t a creative person, and that idea just stuck with me. It wasn’t until I was in graduate school and became a parent that I had the idea of writing fiction. I read to my daughter daily, and being surrounded by books sparked something in me. I sat down at my computer and started writing, and I just fell in love with the process. There’s such freedom and joy in creating worlds and characters, and the challenge of crafting a story became enthralling. My first writings were short stories and poems for children, but I started reading more young adult novels, and that age group appealed to me. I wanted to write something fresh and different that explored that precious time in life, where a person is standing right on the cusp of independence and adulthood, questioning so much and ready to leap on their own. There’s such possibility at this age, and I love creating characters who are smart, complex, and ready to make their own way in this world.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I wrote my very first story, “Freddy’s Superpower,” in 2009 and began submitting it to publishers, and thus began my collection of rejections. In those days, many companies still sent letters, so trips to the mailbox often ended in disappointment. Some companies also had a policy that no response after a certain amount of time meant “No,” which led to me shelving one submission after the allotted six months, only to receive an official notice… two years later. Double rejection! Eventually, however, one of those rejection letters had an editor’s personal note in the margin that read, “Your writing is nice. Try us again!” I did, and one of my poems soon got published! I kept writing, and along with more rejections, I started getting some short stories accepted in children’s magazines. Throughout it all, I continued working on “Freddy,” because I truly loved that story and believed in it. It took seven years, but “Freddy’s Superpower” was published in Highlights for Children as an illustrated story (like a short comic). I was so proud!
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
I think the most important resource is the community you build around yourself. Writing is often seen as a solitary endeavor, where you’re shut alone in a room with just your laptop, but it can be so much more. I didn’t see this in the beginning, and I missed some early opportunities to find that community and connect with other writers. I was lucky to find a wonderful writing group and even participated in an excellent mentorship program, but I wish I had done more to reach out and form relationships. There are so many ways to connect: writing groups, classes, social media, and more. It can be hard to take that first step, but one thing I’ve learned is that most writers are very nice people! As long as you’re authentic and genuinely interested in people’s work and what they have to say, don’t be afraid to reach out.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.LindaKao.com
- Instagram: @lindakaowrites
Image Credits
Keris Binder (Author Photo)