Interview With Cindy Pon

Don’t forget to check Cindy’s website and my review of Silver Phoenix!

AUTHOR BIO
Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in March. A children’s picture book with her Chinese brush art is also in the works.

INTERVIEW
Questions about The Kingdom of Xia.
Ashlyn Rae: Describe your series in three words!
Cindy Pon: Growth, adventure, forgiveness.

Ashlyn: Did you purposely describe the food dishes in Silver Phoenix so vividly just to make your reader’s stomachs growl? I was craving Chinese food the whole time I was reading your book.
Cindy: I didn’t plan on it! It just happened. Ai Ling shares a few traits with me, and one of them is her love for food.
I get teased about it a lot from my writing friends, and readers send me angry tweets if they’re reading at midnight and can’t have a steamed bun or noodles right away. =)

Ashlyn: How much research did you have to do for your series? How much did you already know about The Kingdom of Xia?
Cindy: Xia was inspired by ancient China, and I knew very little about it. I had the leisure of two years to write Silver Phoenix, and did my research by buying tons of books on China: the architecture, the clothes, the scenery. I also read up on Chinese folklore, religions, the imperial palace, and a girl’s place within Chinese society hundreds of years ago. I’d never visited China in person, and hope to visit one day.

Ashlyn: How many books are you planning to add to The Kingdom of Xia series?
Cindy: Ai Ling’s story is done with Fury of the Phoenix. I’m currently writing a third (unsold) fantasy that also takes place in Xia but with completely different characters.

Questions about you
Ashlyn: Are you anything like Ai Ling?
Cindy: A little! As I said, we both love to eat, and we are also both students of brush art. She is stubborn like me, too.

Ashlyn: Your culture is so different from the U.S. Are you still practicing some of your culture today?
Cindy: I definitely think my books are from an Asian-American perspective, since that’s who I am. I came to the US when I was six years old. So I did grow up with some of the language and traditions. The most that I practice from the Chinese culture would definitely be the food. I start feeling funny if I don’t have some Asian rice after three days. Ha!

Ashlyn: I absolutely love your Chinese brush art paintings. Can you tell us more about them?
Cindy: Thank you! I’ve been a student of Chinese brush art for ten years. I tend to do the free style paintings more (versus the fine line detailed paintings) and love to use bright colors and paint cute animals. Spring definitely inspires me. I have a picture book contract with my publisher and hope to have a picture book coming out in the future!

Ashlyn: If you weren’t writing about The Kingdom of Xia, Ai Ling, and even Chen Yong, what would you be writing about now? Do you have another series or novel planned yet to come?
Cindy: Since Ai Ling’s story is finished, my current project is about a girl who discovers she’s a shape shifting snake demon soon after she turns sixteen. And she falls for a cute demon slaying wannabe monk.

Ashlyn: How do you feel about where you are now as a writer? If you weren’t writing, what would you be doing?
Cindy: I feel happy with where I am in my writing career. It’s very personal for me. And I want to always challenge myself. I hope I get to publish more books in the future. I’m still fascinated by Xia and its stories, but would love to explore other genres in the years to come. If I weren’t writing, I’d be
reading. I also love to travel, but that has slowed a bit since I had my two bubs. =) Of course, I continue to learn as a brush painting student too. I call it art therapy and enjoy it very much.
Thank so much for having me, Ashlyn!

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