GLORIA CHAO: Exploring Cultural Identity Through Storytelling

In today’s episode, we discuss the traditional roles of women and the family values ingrained in the Taiwanese culture. Gloria walks us through the details of her revision process and the most important thing she learned about revisions. We also talk about crafting the main character’s voice, the most exciting thing that’s happened during her debut year, and the difficulties she faced trying to market a YA book set in college. We touch on the inspiration for American Panda’s cover design, how much input Gloria had with the design process, and how one of the details inspired Gloria to tweak a part of her story. We’ve got some exciting things for you below, like an exclusive excerpt from "American Panda" just for our 88 Cups of Tea community and an adorable cartoon to go along with the excerpt. For our writers, look out for Gloria’s writing prompt at the bottom of this page– Also exclusive for our listeners! If you’re particularly stuck with writer’s block, you’ll want to grab your copy of the prompt. Gloria is also launching our very first Instagram story takeover today, on February 1st. You’ll get a sneak peek of her life as a writer and one lucky winner will receive a signed copy of “American Panda”. To enter for a chance to win, be sure to look out for Gloria’s announcement of her giveaway on her Instagram story takeover and reply to that story by tapping the heart button. You have exactly 24 hours to enter from the time that story is first posted so you’ll want to act fast.  Say 'Hi' to Gloria on Twitter and check out an exclusive excerpt from "American Panda" along with an adorable cartoon that ties in with the excerpt over at her shownotes page by clicking here! For writers, be sure to scroll down to the bottom of Gloria's shownotes page to download her writing prompt for our storytellers! I couldn’t be more ecstatic to kick off 2018 with Gloria’s episode, happy listening! Xo, Yin PS. Do you know anyone who would love our conversation? Please share this episode to help spread the word! --- If you enjoyed this episode, I’d really love your support in growing our community by subscribing to us on iTunes, and leaving a rating and review. These specific steps help to increase our visibility on iTunes which really helps new listeners discover us. A huge heartfelt thank you for your time and support! You can click here to go directly to our iTunes page! --- Meet fellow members in our community and check in about your work-in-progress, and join in on other bookish talks and 88 Cups of Tea related things, join our private Facebook group! You can really feel the love and support in our community. You also get the opportunity to submit your questions for upcoming guests on the show. Click here to join our private Facebook group! --- Warm welcome to our new listeners, be sure to check out our archive of episodes by clicking here! ---  “I knew that this would take a lot longer to get an agent and a book deal if it ever did and I was still ok with going for it because I felt it was important enough to the story to give it a shot.”  -Gloria Chao (Click to tweet!) “With plotting and drafting, every book is different. You have to re-learn how the process is going to work for that specific book.” -Gloria Chao (Click to tweet!) “A lot of revision went into making sure that it [American Panda] was readable for everyone but at the same time it was very honest and it portrayed everything accurately.” -Gloria Chao (Click to tweet!)  --- WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN TODAY'S EPISODE:  Traditional roles of women and men ingrained in the Taiwanese culture Family values in Taiwanese culture The inspiration for the book cover design, how much input Gloria had with the design process, and how one of the details inspired Gloria to tweak a part of her story Tools and methods Gloria used to help with revising and plotting How she crafted the main character’s voice Gloria shares one of the most important things she learned about revisions She walks us through the most exciting and challenging things about debut year We discuss the difficulties she faced trying to market a YA book set in college The details of Gloria’s revision process