Tiller, a college student, joins Pong Lou on a seemingly never-ending trip across Asia.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What is the first thing ever that you remember writing?
CHANGE-RAE LEE:To be honest, I can’t remember.
Credit: Michelle Branca Lee
What is the last book that made you cry?
ProbablyThe Island of the Blue Dolphins, when I was 7 or 8 years old.
Which book is at the top of your current to-read list?
Riverhead Books
Susan is a brilliantly incisive writer, her sentences laser-cut.
I’ve been riveted by all her novels, and am just now getting to this latest one.
Where do you write?
All I really need is a decent chair and complete privacy.
I’ve never been one of those people who can write in a coffee shop.
Which book made you a forever reader?
Probably Hemingway’s collectionIn Our Time.
After that, it’s possible for you to’t help but search for that feeling again and again.
What is a snack you couldn’t write without?
Maybe I’ll have an espresso, if anything, but mostly just water.
Writing can be strenuous, whether it’s going well or badly.
If you could change one thing about any of your books, what would it be?
I’ve been wanting to write a more humorous book, which I suppose this new one is.
What is your favorite part ofMy Year Abroad?
What was the hardest plot point or character to write?
