1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE TELLER OF SMALL FORTUNES
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Legends & Lattes with Ghibli vibes and diaspora feelings. It’s a cozy fantasy about an immigrant fortune teller who tells only small and inconsequential fortunes that nonetheless always come true. But she’s on the run from secrets of her past, and when she finds herself recruited into searching for a mercenary’s lost daughter, she’ll have to decide whether confronting that past is worth reuniting a family.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
The world came together organically as I wrote the story. I knew I wanted a familiar sort of villages-and-castles fantasy setting, but told from the point of view of an immigrant to that kingdom.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Absolutely; I’d want her to tell my fortune. (Or would I?)
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Wary, brave, and kind.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned that it’s historically inaccurate to have potatoes in Western Europe during medieval times, as they weren’t brought there by traders from the New World until the late 16th century. Luckily, I’m not writing historical fiction–I’m writing fantasy, and I want potatoes in my adventurers’ stewpots, thank you very much!
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I edit as I go. I’ve tried to just sprint through a very rough first draft, but I always find myself rereading what I’ve already written and then can’t resist fixing it first.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
I am helpless before the sight of a good, thick waffle, piled high with berries and maple syrup and just a little whipped cream. Mmf. (I also recently got back from a trip to Belgium, so this question may be rather top of mind…)
9--Describe your writing space/office!
I live in the sunniest part of San Francisco, California, and am very lucky to have tons of natural light in my house! (I’m like a houseplant–I need lots of sun to thrive.) So my favorite writing space is wherever in my house is sunniest at a given time of day.
Often I find myself starting in a nook of my living room in the morning, then following the sun to the office on the opposite side of my house for those afternoon rays. I write on my laptop, and always have a mug of some kind of beverage with me–most often tea (French Earl Grey or jasmine).
10--Who is an author you admire?
My goodness, there are just so many that it feels impossible to pick one… but if I must, then I’ll say Ursula LeGuin. She’s so foundational to the fantasy genre and reading her books always fills me with a sense of wonder and magic. Not only that, but I think she was one of the finest masters of the craft of writing–her essays on writing are also both inspiring and illuminating, and make me want to be better.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Not a single book, but reading the collected works of Terry Pratchett when I was a teenager had a massive impact on my worldview. I think his books shaped my sense of morality and justice a great deal, and made me a better person in the process. Plus, they’re just brilliantly funny! He had such an incisive view of what it is to be human, as well as this deep-seated anger about injustice simmering underneath, and yet somehow managed to blend profound philosophy and heavy topics with humor and heart.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Oh my goodness. Well, I suppose I had two “the call” moments–one, when six days after going on submission, I learned from my agent that an acquiring editor loved the book and wanted to schedule a call. Then, about two weeks later, when we went to auction and all of the rest of the offers rolled in, and my agent and I agreed on which offer to accept!
The first call caught me at home where I was free to shriek and yell and jump around with my husband. The second call came while I was at work–and I’d just started a new job, so in my effort to be professional, I ran to the bathroom to take the call from my agent. Let me tell you–it was a struggle to stay focused through the next several meetings that afternoon.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Fantasy, of course! But sci-fi is a close second, and I also do love a good mystery.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Oh, this question is hard. There are so many good ones! A more recent favorite was Everything Everywhere All at Once, which was brilliantly offbeat, poignant (especially to an Asian American immigrant kid like me), and starred Michelle Yeoh, the absolute queen.
15--What is your favorite season?
I’m very fond of autumn. There’s just something about the crispness in the air, apples and pumpkin spice, and getting the long coats and thicker jackets out of the closet. Definitely the coziest of all the seasons, in my opinion.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
In as low-key a way as possible. A nice dinner, some cake or ice cream, and absolutely zero put-upon waiters and waitresses awkwardly singing me ‘happy birthday’, please.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
I’ll give you two! I recently binge-watched all of Hacks, a TV show on HBO Max, and loved it. It’s a comedy about a sort-of washed-up stand-up comedian who becomes a mentor to a young comedy writer. They’re both damaged, brilliant women who encourage both the best and worst tendencies in each other, and it’s also an incisive look at sexism and ageism in Hollywood. Super fun!
And for books, I very recently finished Laini Taylor’s Strange the Dreamer duology, and was kicking myself for having waited this long to read it. It’s fantasy at its absolute best–magical, beautifully written, full of pathos… just so, so good.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Malaysian, but it’s so hard to get good Malaysian food in San Francisco, for some reason. (Will someone please come open a char kway teow food truck?)
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I spend a great deal of my spare time reading, mostly, but I also do some portrait photography on the side. I’ve done maternity and engagement shoots, professional headshots, dating profile photos, even a few proposals. The irony is that I’m terrible at being photographed myself, but somehow it feels so much more natural when I’m behind the lens and making other people look good.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
I’m editing another standalone novel right now which will likely be released next year! It’s a sapphic cozy fantasy set in the same world as The Teller of Small Fortunes, but featuring different characters: two mages tasked with a seemingly dull assignment in a middle-of-nowhere village, who end up having to handle more magical shenanigans than they bargained for, as well as some unexpected and inconvenient feelings for each other.
A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna.
Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells "small" fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…
Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.
Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have.
Fantasy | Humor [Ace, On Sale: November 5, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593815915 / eISBN: 9780593815908]
Julie Leong is a Malaysian Chinese American fantasy author. Her debut novel, The Teller of Small Fortunes, will be published by Ace/Berkley (US), Hodderscape (UK), and Heyne (Germany) in November 2024.Julie graduated from Yale University with degrees in Economics and Political Science. She lives in San Francisco, California with her husband and their spoiled rescue pup, Kaya. When she’s not writing, she enjoys making unnecessary spreadsheets and flambéing things.
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