Episode 59: Lyn Liao Butler, author of The Tiger Mom’s Tale
Lyn Liao Butler shares the inspiration behind her debut novel THE TIGER MOM’s TALE, a book that takes you to Taiwan as Lexa, the main character, looks to reclaim her heritage.
Interview Notes:
I congratulate Lyn on achieving a coveted starred review from Publishers Weekly, who call the novel “riveting” and “breathes new zesty life into women’s fiction” – and I couldn’t agree more!
We chat about the concept of “own voices” and cultural representation (and Lyn wouldn’t necessarily apply that “own voices” description to this book). Also, the burden in representing an entire country or culture in all its diversity that can sometimes applied to “own voices” writers.
Lyn shares her journey in editing to humanize the antagonist (the “tiger mom” of the novel). Some scenes were added to give her backstory.
Why Lyn chose to set the novel in Taichung, a big city many of us have heard little about.
This novel had a long route to market – and Lyn’s second novel (RED THREAD OF FATE) is already releasing just 7 months from now in 2022. She shares what the editing part of that journey looked like, and some mistakes she’d recommend to avoid! One is querying without having a single reader. Also some of her cringe-worthy initial agent queries J
Writing advice? Get critique partners and beta readers, and if you really love to write, keep writing! Everyone finds their path when the time is right.
We wrap up by chatting about Lyn’s reels on Instagram that are an absolute blast. Their genesis was the blooper reels of the real videos that Lyn was trying to create- but the bloopers are hysterical!