For Day 5 of Taiwanese American Heritage Week, I interviewed Gloria Chao, whose third YA novel, Rent a Boyfriend, releases November 10th, 2020! This is her second time being interviewed on my blog. If you’d like to read the old interview about her debut novel, American Panda, click here.

Synopsis:

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.

Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.

Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.

When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.

But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?

Interview:

Q: How does it feel to have your second novel published? What lessons have you learned since your debut?

It’s such an honor to have two books out in the world. When I started this journey, I barely allowed myself to dream of having one book published, let alone two, and I’m thankful every day that I get to do this job. Thank you to all my readers for helping to make this happen!

Since my debut, I’ve learned to (and am still learning to) focus on the writing. A lot of the publishing journey is out of the author’s control, but the one thing I can control is the work I produce and how I feel about it.

Q: Now that you’re on your way to publishing your third novel, has your writing process changed at all since you were writing your first? If so, how?

My writing process has changed a lot over the years. While my debut required years of rewriting and restructuring, I drafted my third book in two months and the final stayed fairly close to the original. Part of it was because I had to—deadlines—but experience and working with my editor on multiple books also helped me be able to see my story better before I begin writing. Plus, I’ve learned (and again, am still learning) to trust my process more. Before, I used to feel like I had to put words on the page every day, but I actually work best when I spend a lot of time planning, then writing in big spurts. One thing that hasn’t changed is that when I start a new project, I still have that moment of, What’s a book? How have I done this before? And sometimes that can last weeks!

Q: Our Wayward Fate balances the humorous with the serious very well. How did you achieve that balance? Did you have to cut any scenes that felt wrong for the mood you needed?

Thank you so much! With American Panda, I had to do a lot more editing to balance the humorous and serious, and much of my rewriting was figuring out what to cut and what to rework. After putting a lot of time in during the first book, it came easier for Our Wayward Fate. I didn’t end up cutting scenes because of mood, but line edits did consist of amping up certain emotions and tamping down others.

Q: Our Wayward Fate contains quite a bit of funny dialogue and banter. Do you have tips for writing dialogue?

Thank you! I absolutely loved writing the banter between Ali and Chase in Our Wayward Fate. My tip for writing dialogue is to try to imagine the conversation being spoken aloud. I tend to draft dialogue without any tags so that the flow feels a little more natural, and then I go back later and add in who’s talking and what they’re doing. Another tip: even if an idea seems too wacky, write it down anyway and try to find a way to make it work. Sometimes it won’t work and you’ll end up cutting it, but other times it’ll lead to an unexpected and funny joke!

Q: Rent a Boyfriend features fake dating, which is one of many beloved romance tropes. What’s your favorite romance trope?

I love fake dating as well! That’s my favorite trope, and why I was so excited to write Rent a Boyfriend! I am also a fan of forbidden love, which has been an aspect in all three of my books (and, spoiler alert: I like for it to work out in the end!). And I am a huge fan of slow-burn romances. With lots of banter!

Also, I’m thrilled to be a part of an upcoming anthology, FOOLS IN LOVE, which will offer fresh takes on classic romance tropes. It’s edited by the fabulous Ashley Herring Blake and Rebecca Podos, and I’ll be writing the oblivious-to-lovers trope. I can’t wait to share that story with you all in 2021!

Q: If Chloe from Rent a Boyfriend had an Instagram account, what would her handle be and what kinds of photos/videos would she post?

Chloe’s Instagram handle would be @SnowyChloe. Even though she’s from Palo Alto (and a large chunk of the book takes place there), she’s a sophomore at the University of Chicago, and Chicago is where she feels most like herself.

She would post photos of herself around the gorgeous UChicago campus: studying at the stunning Mansueto Library (which was the Erudite headquarters in the Divergent movie!); getting boba tea and Kimchi nachos; walking through the Quad full of Gothic architecture resembling Hogwarts; and of course, taking classes at the economics building (Saieh Hall) that resembles a church, which, according to Chloe’s, is “fitting” because of how everyone in the department worships Becker and Friedman.

Q: According to your previous interview with me, like Chloe, you’ve had some experience with being set up with boys by your parents. Do you have any funny/memorable/awkward stories from those experiences to share?

In Rent a Boyfriend, Chloe’s parents want to set her up with their Asian community’s flagship bachelor, and, well, let’s just say I didn’t have to reach far for that storyline. The reasons weren’t exactly the same as in the book, but there is (unfortunately) a lot of truth to what’s written! In real life, my mother hadn’t met the guy she was trying to set me up with, but she knew his parents, and “since they were good, he must be good, too.” I had no interest because I was already dating my now-husband, but even if I wasn’t dating him, I have to say that her endorsement was not the most convincing. 😉

About the Author:

Gloria Chao is the critically acclaimed author of American Panda, Our Wayward Fate, and Rent a Boyfriend.

Her wayward journey to fiction included studying business at MIT, then becoming a dentist. Gloria was once a black belt in kung-fu and an avid dancer, but nowadays you can find her teaming up with her husband on the curling ice.

AMERICAN PANDA received four starred trade reviews, is a Junior Library Guild Selection and Indie’s Next Pick, and is a Seventeen Magazine, Bustle, PopSugar, Chicago Public Library, and Paste Magazine Best YA Book of 2018.

Author Links:

Website – https://gloriachao.wordpress.com/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/gloriacchao