Interview with fantasy author Ryu Zhong

Today’s special guest is Ryu Zhong to chat about their new fantasy adventure, Prince of Blue Flowers.

During their virtual book tour, Ryu will be giving away a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for your chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit their other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
‘Ryū’ means ‘dragon’ in Japanese, and ‘Zhong’ can be translated from Chinese as ‘flute’. This amalgam of languages represents the fusion of cultures that characterises the writings of Ryū Zhong.

In their books, Ryū Zhong explore challenges that humanity might face as our technology gets more and more complicated to the level where it becomes magic. Such a shift would force people to look towards religion and reinterpret realities that today, we call fairy tales.

Ryū Zhong were lucky to be born and grow in Asia. Now they live in Amsterdam, study Dutch, and adapt their writings to English.

Welcome, Ryu. Please tell us a bit about your new release.
Young boy Hatsukoi leaves his village to become a monk, only to find monastic life incredibly boring. With a new-found name and a new-found friend, Hatsukoi travels the countryside and plays tricks at the expense of corrupt, irate, greedy, and ignorant people. Nobles of all ranks—from petty governors to crown princes—fall victim to the boy’s wit and cunning.

As his tricks evolve from childhood frolics to elaborate cons, Hatsukoi grows as well. He learns not only the craft of his trade, but also its higher purpose.

Join Hatsukoi’s journey, laugh at his exploits, and learn with him.

Tell us about your main character and who inspired him/her.
Hatsukoi is a teenage boy who is easily bored and has a mind that is quick enough and smart enough to get ahead of others. This combination often gets him into trouble as he resolves to play tricks, even on his relatives. Most of the time, it works out, but sometimes, he has to pay for his recklessness.

Creating Hatsukoi, I was inspired by classic trickster heroes such as Till Eulenspiegel, Nasreddin Hodja, Brer Rabbit, and—to a lesser extent—Sun Wukong from the classic Chinese epic ‘Journey to the West.’ All these tricksters share a lightheaded approach to the challenges with which life presents them. They also get themselves into trouble but always find their way out of it. What’s more important, they act not only from sheer joy but aim their tricks at those who deserve it.

Excerpt from Prince of Blue Flowers:
Governor Tu Fang was the first to notice Hatsukoi, who was lying on the roof of the well with his head hanging down.

“What are you doing there?” he asked.

Hatsukoi shrugged his shoulders. “I’m looking to see if the well has a bottom.”

Tu Fang frowned at the boy’s response. Why would someone need to look for the bottom of a well? It sounded very suspicious to him.

“Well, get down!” he barked.

“No,” Hatsukoi answered.

“Get down by your own will, or my hunters will shoot you with their arrows.”

Hatsukoi slowly climbed down. Tu Fang waved to one of his hunters, who immediately grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck.

“Ai! What are you doing?!” yelled Hatsukoi, struggling, but the hunter held him tightly.

“Tell me at once,” demanded Tu Fang, “what is in this well, and then perhaps I’ll let you go.”

Hatsukoi trembled like bamboo in a strong wind. He began, “I have seen—”

“What did you see?” Tu Fang interrupted impatiently.

“I saw a thief hide his bounty here.”

“Bounty?” Tu Fang exchanged glances with his brother.

It must be said that unselfish people rarely went on to become governors. Tu Fang was no exception. He thought only of ways to feed his insatiable greed. And Tu Liwei, being his half-brother, was a pea from the same pod. So, at that moment, the brothers came up with the same thought.

And Hatsukoi was counting on it.

“A whole bag filled with all kinds of stuff,” he said confidently. “Gold, jewels, pearls… If you look from the roof, you can see how it glitters at the bottom.”

Do you ever read your stories out loud?
It’s always a necessary part of the first revision of my drafts. It’s the only way I can catch failing rhythm, repetitions, and alliterations that I didn’t put in. But this reading never has any listeners besides me.

For other people, I read only a couple of times and found out that I prefer to read someone else’s work: it keeps me immersed as well, as I don’t know what’s going to happen next. It’s a service I gladly provide to my fellow authors.

Do you listen to music when you’re writing?
I usually write in the early mornings and always set up a soundtrack that matches the kinds of scenes I write. When I was working on a set of noir stories, I bought a turntable and a dozen jazz LPs. As I finished, I never touched them. When I write action scenes, I prefer techno and electro-swing. But when I had to write a romantic episode, none of my usual music fit. In the end, I went with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Have you ever had an imaginary friend?
Once in my childhood, I locked myself in at home for several days while my parents went away for their business. We didn’t have mobile phones yet; even landlines were rare (and we didn’t have one). It was summer, and the school was out for the holidays. My best friends went to a summer camp. I was stuck. Really stuck.

On the second day of my confinement, one of my toys spoke to me. It must have been an escape from the uncertainty of the reality I’d captured myself in. We spent a couple of days together. I told him about my parents—that was the way I coped with their absence; he told me about his life as an eight-handed creature made of polystyrene plastics.

When my parents got back, my friend had gone silent and never talked again.

Do you have any phobias?
I have a kind of fear that I don’t think is up to the level of a phobia. As I mentioned, my imaginary friend helped me to escape a reality in which I was entrapped. So, I’m afraid of another imaginary friend visiting me all of a sudden. Because it’d mean I’m somehow entrapped while not giving myself a conscious account of it.