Last month, we announced our Writers Mastermind Short Story Contest winners. In this series, I interview each of them to discover the soul behind their story.
Today we talk to Yong Takahashi, author of The Elements. You’ll learn about her struggles as a Korean immigrant and how she writes all her drafts in longhand on pink legal pads.
Meet Yong Takahashi – The Elements (FINALIST)
Yong Takahashi is the author of Observations Through Yellow Glasses: A Memoir Through Poems, Rising, Sometimes We Fall, and The Escape to Candyland. She was a finalist in The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Southern Fried Karma Novel Contest, Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest, The Writers’ Mastermind Short Story Contest, and The Sexton Prize for Poetry.
Yong’s YA novel, Camp Detroit, will be published in 2023. To learn more about Yong, visit: linktr.ee/yongtakahashi
OBSERVATIONS THROUGH YELLOW GLASSES
Yong Takahashi moved to The United States with her parents when she was three years old. She grew up in a traditional household where her Korean and American worlds pulled her in opposite directions. Shortlisted for The Sexton Prize for Poetry, OBSERVATIONS THROUGH YELLOW GLASSES invites you to follow her journey as she learns life’s bitter lessons, longs for love, and attempts to heal the wounds she collects along the way.
1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you from? Where are you now? What has your life been like?
I was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in Detroit, Michigan. Currently, I live in Atlanta, Georgia. I was the only Asian student in a newly desegregated school. The white students lived on one side of the highway and the black students lived on the other. I remember the landlord telling my parents we could choose which side because we were yellow. Trying to fit in was difficult and a lot of the pain in my writing comes from surviving childhood. Some of my experiences are in my memoir, Observations Through Yellow Glasses: A Memoir Through Poems.
2. What kind of stories do you like to write? I write poetry, songs, short stories, and novels.
I tend to lean towards darker storytelling. Many of my protagonists don’t have happy endings or struggle to find them. I find this is more realistic as life is not wrapped up in a bow.
3. What sets you apart from other writers in your space?
I blend my Korean and American experiences into my work. It tends to be a tightrope walk between the two cultures.
4. What drives your writing? What do you mean to accomplish with your stories?
I want the reader to see a perspective other than their own. I want them to say: Could that really happen? Well, maybe it could. Let me read it again.
5. Who are you favorite writers and books? What are your other creative influences?
My favorite book is The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. It is the only book I’ve read more than twice. The Inspector Gamache books by Louise Penny are the only ones I wait for each year. I don’t really read mystery but her words are just magical.
6. Tell us about your writing space. When and where do you write? Do you work in silence? Or music?
I usually listen to music while I make my to do lists and drink coffee. Then, I start writing or editing. It needs to be completely silent for my editing or writing sessions. If I’m at a coffee shop, I wear noise cancellation headphones. Prior to the pandemic, I wrote at Starbucks for three to five hours a day. Then, I’d come home to type my notes. Now, I write in my backyard or in bed.
7. What is your favorite thing to do when you are not writing?
I binge watch all my recorded shows. I just finished the 23rd season of Law & Order: SVU. I’m on season eight of the original Law & Order.
8. Who is your current artistic muse?
I study songwriters. I also watch cover artists on YouTube before my writing sessions.
9. Why do you think it’s important to write fiction?
I think every form of writing is important: poetry, fiction, nonfiction. However, fiction allows me to create worlds I could never live in. It lets me insert myself into situations that would never happen in real life.
10. Who would be the best writer, alive or dead, to tell the story of your life?
I absolutely love Louise Penny’s way of drawing the reader into her stories. It would be an honor if she’d write about me or just join me for coffee.
11. What are you working on right now?
I’m editing a YA novel. I hope to complete it next month. It will be published in 2023.
Groundbreaking YA Fantasy from The Writing Collective
We at the Writers’ mastermind are celebrating the release of the first in what is sure to be an unforgettable series, Hecctrossipy Book One: The Legend of the Land. This genre-bending YA Fantasy is by Writers’ Mastermind founding member, Bia Bella Baker, and our community will agree that it has been inspiring to watch this culmination of her publication journey. Here’s a bit about this epic tale!
HECCTROSSIPY: BOOK ONE: THE LEGEND OF THE LAND
The alignment of the three moons is a sign of positive changes to come… But the moons never promised that such changes will happen to everybody…
On the pre-industrial planet of Velva Leena, two sisters eagerly anticipate the Hecctrossipy Festival, Continent 15’s yearly tradition that celebrates the victory over a legendary evil monster who had the power to manipulate the elements and create chaos.
Artheena is smart, talented, beautiful, and blessed with multiple gifted abilities. Mell May, on the other hand, is simple and average. Both are in love with Leeandro Paul, a celebrity heart-throb who has an intriguing way of turning the leaders of the land into his followers.
Artheena has a premonition of marrying him during the alignment of the three moons. While on her quest for true love, she gets caught up in unexpected adventures, embarrassing situations, and experiences beyond her wildest dreams, including an outrageous contest that challenges Continent 15’s strict, conservative social standards.
Through it all, Artheena and Mell May’s close bond is also challenged. When the festival comes, the sisters have the time of their lives… Until Leeandro Paul makes an announcement that shocks his fans, an unimaginable secret that might tear the two sisters apart for good.
What readers are saying…
‘Hecctrossipy marks the debut of a bold and distinctive new voice in YA fantasy. The fantastic adventures of Artheena and Mell, and their battle for the affections of the charismatic Leeandro Paul, will thrill fans of The Hunger Games and teen fantasy romance. This is all set within the impressive feat of world-building that is the planet Velva Leena and Continent 15, amid the feverish anticipation of the Hecctrossipy Festival, commemorating victory over a fabled monster who had the power to manipulate the elements and create chaos… I for one certainly look forward to the next instalment!’
Andrew Murray author of Shroom Raider
‘A bountiful feast for the senses, a stunning world building debut from a very promising talent – if you like your science fiction with a huge slice of teenage angst, and a cast of terrifically realised characters… look no further than Hecctrossipy – this is that start to what I can only imagine being a fabulous series!’
