Mia Tsai

Mia Tsai is a Taiwanese American author and editor of speculative fiction. Her debut novel is a xianxia-inspired adult contemporary fantasy titled Bitter Medicine, which is published by Tachyon Publications. She lives in Atlanta with her family, pets, and orchids. Her favorite things include music of all kinds and taking long trips with nothing but the open road and a saucy rhythm section.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

On a scale of "says what it is exactly on the tin" to "metaphor several layers deep," Bitter Medicine scores in the middle. "Bitter medicine" describes the main theme of the book--the hard-to-swallow lessons you have to learn in life, whatever they may be--but it is also literal, as the title appears within the text. It's also a bit of editorializing about the taste of Chinese medicine, most of which has disagreed with my taste buds. More to the point, Elle, one of my main characters, is a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine and a pretty good doctor in her own right, so the title is relevant in multiple ways.

Prior to a big rewrite that pushed the novel more into the realm of fantasy, it was titled A Brush with Love, which worked for me because Elle is a calligrapher and a lot of what she values revolves around her art. But it could also be misconstrued as a romance about dentists. Bitter Medicine is definitely the better title, and that has stuck, from querying all the way to the finished product.

What's in a name?

Oh, names. I struggle a lot with names, so when I do have to name someone, it takes me quite a while to pin something down. Names have a huge role in Bitter Medicine, from the true name trope found in Western European mythologies to the various names and nicknames Chinese people have and the relationships that can be determined from their usage. I wish it were as easy as saying that Elle and Luc both just appeared the way they are, but the truth is that both characters, and by extension, their families and colleagues, had a lot of time and care put into their names.

To name someone is to recognize them and have power over them, and that's why names are so important in the world of Bitter Medicine. No one ever goes by their real name, so each character has multiple names. For Elle, who starts the story in hiding, her name is a part of an older name she used to go by. I thought a lot about the most common English names that Chinese women take, plus I looked at some lists of popular names, and went from there. Elle doesn't want to be found, so a nondescript name worked out best for her. The surname she uses, Mei, is a little joke and maybe a dig at how often Chinese women are named Mei in Western literature. Thus, Elle Mei: a very forgettable name.

Of course, Elle couldn't just have one or two English names. She needed a Chinese name as well, and this is where things got difficult, because naming children can be a complicated and involved process in Chinese. My family, for example, went a traditional route and consulted a fortune-teller, and then I was given my name by the patriarch of the family. For Elle, and by extension her brothers Tony and Will, I needed to consult friends in Taiwan for an accurate surname to give her, then find a generational name she could share with her siblings, then decide on her actual given name. This is a pretty common process for Chinese-speakers who give their characters Chinese names, and--I'm just putting this out there--if someone decided to start a side hustle to help authors find Chinese names that could pass the Chinese mom sniff test, that person would have constant business.

Luc wasn't that much easier, as I needed something that was sort of historically accurate. And he has multiple names too, in addition to needing a name that would be suitable for a romance hero. Hours of poring over late eighteenth-century baptismal records later (the Bas-Rhin website is such a great resource!), I made my decision to use a saint name for a given name, then attach place-name surnames.

How surprised would your teenage reader self be by your novel?

Probably not that surprised about the romance part, as I've always loved romance and wrote romance fanfics when I was a teen. But I hadn't considered myself someone who could write a novel, only short fiction, so teenage me would probably be pretty impressed by adult me. Teenage me was a regular fixture at the Barnes and Noble, loading up on mass market paperbacks, and it never gets old seeing a cool book on the shelf.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

Oh, beginnings are harder, for sure. They're like overtures, especially in romance. The audience doesn't know it yet, but you have to introduce basically everything that's important and noteworthy in the beginning, and when you're writing the beginning, you don't even know what's noteworthy yet, even if you've outlined everything! Endings are far easier, and they're also my favorite because I will have spent the entire book writing toward that ending and not letting myself have the reward of the ending until I finally get there. And then I just enjoy myself. Like saving the best bite of the plate for last.

My endings don't change, but my beginnings always do. I usually fiddle with a couple of different starting points before settling on the one I think is right. I've learned not to be too fussed by beginnings.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

There's a little bit of myself in every character I write, but I do my very best not to put too much of myself into my characters since I'm curious about who they are and would like to find that out during the writing process. The characters who are the most different from me are my favorites. Elle's brother, Tony, is self-centered and very vain and has a very high opinion of himself--and he lets everyone know it. It's such a blast to write him because he could say or do something ridiculous and because he's so self-assured, it works. Tony is aspirational for me, though I know I'd never be like him!

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

I'm always listening to music, so I do find inspiration in it. In one of my other lives, I'm a classical musician, so structure is what holds my writing together. Two-act operas and musicals were hugely important for Bitter Medicine's structure, as I was struggling with how to organize the information and the emotional beats before realizing the story was not going to fit a three-act. I also find inspiration just by being alive and going through daily life. Any interaction could spark the imagination, and it's conversations with other people that have given me the majority of my ideas.

Visit Mia Tsai's website.

--Marshal Zeringue