Interview with June CL Tan, Author of Jade Fire Gold

Today’s tea party guest is June CL Tan, author of Jade Fire Gold, and we’re so excited to have her at our tea party! I was so lucky to read an eARC of Jade Fire Gold, and absolutely loved it — it comes out on October 12th in the US and November 4th in the UK, and it’s one that you won’t want to miss! We’ve also got a special something going on over on our Twitter, which I’ll elaborate more on at the very end! 

In an empire on the brink of war . . .

Ahn is no one, with no past and no family.

Altan is a lost heir, his future stolen away as a child.

When they meet, Altan sees in Ahn a path to reclaiming the throne. Ahn sees a way to finally unlock her past and understand her arcane magical abilities.

But they may have to pay a far deadlier price than either could have imagined.

Links for Jade Fire Gold:  Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Hi June! Thank you so much for joining our tea party today! We’re so happy you’re here 🤍  For our tea party guests who are meeting you for the first time, can you tell us a little about yourself, and Jade Fire Gold?

Thanks for having me, Cossette, so happy to be at this tea party 🙂 Hi everyone! I’m June —I love cats and coffee, and I grew up in Singapore but now reside in New York. My debut YA fantasy, JADE FIRE GOLD, will be out on October 12 (US, Australia, New Zealand) and November 4 (UK). It follows two main characters: a vengeful exiled prince and a peasant girl borned with a cursed power to steal souls. He wants to avenge his family and usurp the throne; she wants to save her grandmother from certain death (and to be left alone! haha). To get what they want, the pair become reluctant allies and…maybe something more? Think slow burn romance, danger at every corner, a magical road trip, and shadowy court intrigue with a few twists and turns!

If Jade Fire Gold was a tea party, what would be the theme of the tea party? What flavor of tea would your main characters be? What tea party treat do you think your characters would bring? 

Not gonna lie, this question stumped me for a while because I couldn’t decide! I was torn between having a traditionally themed Chinese tea party that matches JADE FIRE GOLD’s world and a modern alternate universal themed bubble tea gathering. I’m going to go with a modern-au bubble tea party because I think it might be fun! 

Altan would be a classic oolong tea with extra ice and no sugar but with extra bubbles. Kind of like his personality – a little bitter but actually soft inside. As for Ahn, she’d be something of a hidden surprise like a milk black tea with a milk cap/foam that’s a little salty and the bubbles are a mix of the usual tapioca ones and the popping kind but the occasional burst of extra flavor. Ahn would definitely bring Taiwanese popcorn chicken to the party, it’s not a sweet treat but it goes well with bubble tea and anything fried appeals to her haha. Altan would probably go the more traditional route and bring egg tarts.

Speaking of tea, here’s a fun fact: in earlier drafts of the book, it was canon that both characters disliked jasmine green tea LOL. Can’t tell you why because it might be a bit of a spoiler for those who haven’t read the book yet. But I tweaked it and it’s less obvious that they dislike it.

Jade Fire Gold is told in dual POV, following Ahn and Altan, but also has an incredible ensemble cast — I’m personally most fond of Linxi! Which character was most/least like you? Which character was the easiest/hardest to write?  

Thank you for your kind words! I’m so glad you like the cast and that you’re fond of Linxi – she’s the sweetest mom friend! It’s hard to say which character is most or least like me since they each encompass various personality traits. 

However, I can tell you who I’d like to be like the most – Tang Wei, a Lotus Clan assassin who happens to be Altan’s best friend (he will never admit it to her face though!). She’s a badass, supremely confident, a loyal friend, pragmatic when needed, and direct. She’ll say it like it is. She was also the easiest to write in the sense that her character is quite distinct, and what you see is what you get. There’s no subterfuge about her, and I was very clear about who she was going to be and what she was going to be like. 

Xima Leiye, the secretive bastard son of the Marquis of Qin, evolved through early drafts of JADE FIRE GOLD into my favorite character in the book. It was fun to write him, but also difficult in the sense that I had to figure out how to maintain a mysterious, shady and somewhat unlikeable aura about him while implying that there was more to his words and actions. I’m not sure if readers will notice it, but some of the things he says have a double-meaning and that’s intentional 🙂

One of my favorite things about Jade Fire Gold is the complex world-building. How does your identity shape the story and world-building of Jade Fire Gold?

Worldbuilding wise, I was mainly inspired by many of the wuxia films and TV shows I watched as a kid in Singapore. Most of them were adaptations of Jin Yong novels like Shediao Yingxiong Zhuan (The Legend of the Condor Heroes). Many classic scenes like a secret rooftop meeting in the dead of the night or a bustling street market with food stalls or beautiful robes flying in the wind as a martial arts battle takes place atop a bamboo forest — they’ve long been staples in all sorts of East Asian media and they also appear in JADE FIRE GOLD. There are also references to Tomb Sweeping Day, the Spring Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival, and a shadow puppet scene, and all these have been practiced for millennia. 

Tropes like the Chosen One, childhood friends turned enemies because of a blood feud, one bed, tending to an injured love interest (and other more spoilery ones I shall not say) — these are all tropes that Western audiences are familiar with in different context and some readers may be surprised to find that they also occur in the wuxia/xianxia/c-drama context. So while the tropes in JADE FIRE GOLD may be familiar to most, I wrote them from a non-Western perspective and to me, there are different embedded meanings and nuances. I also weaved in bits and pieces of myths and legends from Chinese culture like the legend of Chang’e the Moon Goddess, creatures like the dragon and the phoenix, and celestials like the Jade Emperor, and so on. 

Thematically, at the core of this story is the concept of family and all its joys and burdens and expectations. Many, if not all, of the teen characters bear the weight of familial legacy and expectations in one way or another, and each has to grapple with it, striking a balance between their own individual sense of self and the desire to fulfil what they think others and their families expect of them. And this particular theme, while universal in a general way, is also specific to Chinese/Confucian culture where filial piety is lauded and deemed to be vital. There’s also a thread of loyalty to one’s nation where the sacrifice of oneself and one’s family is seen as honorable. Once again, while the themes may come across as universal, they’re anchored in my personal experience and culture. Another thing that the story touches upon is the balance between light and darkness, which is embodied in the two main characters, but is also something prevalent in Daoism (yin vs yang). You’ll also find this particular light vs dark element in many, if not all, xianxia stories.

Without giving too much away, what scene — or quote — was your favorite to write? 

Scene: so hard to choose!!! I think the second halves/endings of Chapter 25 and Chapter 26 are in a tie as my favorite scene to write.

What’s an album or song that describes your book?

Maybe the feels of Zhang Bichen’s Direction of Light? It’s the opening song to The Long Ballad (c-drama), and if you’re curious, here’s a fanmade MV – I love the vibes because it’s just characters gazing into the distance or at each other, looking angry/sad/confused/angsty and hot! 😀

Looking forward to the future a little: what’s your wildest pie-in-the-sky writing dream?

A visual adaptation of JADE FIRE GOLD or any other book I’m lucky enough to write and publish – anything from an animated series or graphic novel or Webtoon or film, etc.

Finally, what kind of message do you want readers to take away from Jade Fire Gold?

There are two phrases that two characters in JADE FIRE GOLD say, “You must find a way to live…Find your peace.” and “It’s time to forgive yourself…Move on and live well.” I was thinking about the phrase “好好的活着” which often pops up in c-dramas. The literal translation is “live well”; the deeper interpretation could be that to live in the present and face your future, you need to let go of your past. And similarly that’s another theme in the book. I guess the message would be to learn from the challenges and experiences of the past, but to also let go of beating yourself up for your mistakes, so that you enjoy the present and focus on building a better future for yourself.

Is there anything you’d like us to know? 

Thanks for inviting me to teatimelit! I had fun answering all your questions 😀 I’d love to end by sharing the link to my pre-order campaign. Pre-orders are important to authors (especially debut authors) and your support would mean the world to me. As a thank you, I’ve created some exclusive swag and the details as in the link 🙂

We’re also incredibly excited to be giving away an advanced reader’s copy of Jade Fire Gold! You can find out more information, and enter via our Twitter!