Q&A with Lisa Lin – The Year of Cecily

By Lucy Shardlow.

We are thrilled to welcome Lisa Lin to The Reading Corner to discuss her upcoming release The Year of Cecily, out January 17th!  

Hi Lisa! Let me start by saying that I loved reading The Year of Cecily! It is such a heartwarming and uplifting story but also has so many powerful messages hidden under the surface. The perfect read for this time of year…  

As The Year of Cecily is your debut novel, I would love to discover more about your journey as a writer. Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer or was there another path that you were guided to follow at a young age?  

First of all, thank you so much for your kind words about the book! So glad you enjoyed it. To answer your question-Actually, no I didn’t always know I wanted to be a writer. As a matter of fact, growing up, I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to be. But ever since I was little, I was told I should become a lawyer because I loved to talk and argue. Hence how I ended up at law school, and why Cecily is a lawyer. Hey, write what you know!! It wasn’t until 2011, when I attended romance writers literacy signing that I finally decided to take the plunge. However, I should have known that writing was what I was meant to do because I always had story ideas in my head and thought that was normal. In fact, I specifically remember watching a TV movie and being incensed that the two main characters didn’t end up together. I rewrote the ending in my head so they got their HEA. So I ended up taking a longer route, but I do believe I’m finally where I belong. 

Let’s start with your leading lady: Cecily Chang. As an attorney, Cecily is headstrong, determined and knows exactly what she wants in life. She is also a character who every woman can relate to in her journey for love and very quickly became one of my favourite heroines! Was it important for you to create an independent female character like Cecily? Where did your inspiration for her character stem from? 

One of the things I love most about romance is that this is a genre where women’s stories are centred. Her thoughts, feelings and wants MATTER. In romance, the heroine always has power or agency, or if she doesn’t start off that way, she sure as hell discovers her power and agency by the end of the story. This isn’t always the case in other genres where female characters can end up very surface and two dimensional, written from the male gaze, and exist to merely serve the needs of the male characters. That is, if there are even enough female characters to pass the Bechdel test. So yes, it was important to me that Cecily as a character was independent, had her own goals and motivations, and set out to crush them. 

My inspiration for Cecily came from lots of places. My female attorney friends who conquer and hold their own at major law firms like Cecily. My fellow romance writers who are the smartest, toughest, kindest, and most generous people you will ever meet who I’m lucky enough to call friends. Cecily’s loyalty to her friends comes straight from them. Her penchant for snark and sarcasm? That is all me. I guess it is true that authors always put a bit of themselves into their characters!  

I am particularly intrigued about your character development of Jeffrey Lee. He is a character with so much potential, but also has hints of doubt and regret – he never seems quite certain about his next steps. Whilst reading your book, there were times when I wanted to step into the narrative and give him a little shake myself! Why was it important for Jeffrey to juxtapose the strong, assertive romantic interest typically portrayed in romance fiction?  

I think for me, there had to be a good reason for Jeffrey to do what he did ten years ago. It had to be because he didn’t see any other way out, or even thought he was doing what was best for all involved. So, it all stemmed from how to make what happened believable, but still have the reader root for him and for him and Cecily to get back together. It made sense for it to be because he had reached a sort of breaking point and decided running away was the only option. That is not the sign of someone who is sure of who he is, what he wants in life, etc. Therefore it would take time for him to get his mojo back, as it were.  Also it was important that he felt genuine regret for what happened and wanted to make amends. So he had to be repentant and a bit unsure of his footing. It wouldn’t have worked if he had come swaggering back to town as if nothing had happened! 

Whilst some readers may be confused by the pairing of Jeffrey and Cecily as their personalities clash so often, I think what makes them so compatible is the realisation that their differences make them stronger. They are proof that opposites really do attract. Is there a character that you identify with more? Do you consider yourself to be more like Cecily or more like Jeffrey?  

Would it be taking the easy way out to say that in real life I am probably a mix between the two of them? 

I relate to Cecily in having great ambitions for her career, and her tricky relationship with her family but I definitely don’t possess her organisational skills and tick things off a to-do list like she does. But I like to think I am also a loyal and caring friend like her. And like I said, she is also sarcastic and snarky like me, lol.  

I relate to Jeffrey in that there are times I experience self doubt and lack confidence in myself. As a writer, I also totally understand what it’s like to work in a creative field and experience the fears and doubts of putting your work out in the world for them to dissect and critique and possibly eviscerate.  

Your book contains one of the most popular romance tropes: second-chance love. This is very quickly becoming one of my favourite tropes to read and I absolutely loved the journey of how Cecily and Jeffrey reignite their lost love. If you could only read one trope, which one would you choose and why? 

I love reading a good enemies to Iovers/battle of the sexes romance. It may help explain why Julies James is one of my all time favourite authors-her characters always have a great push-pull dynamic while they spar. Julia Quinn’s The Viscount Who Loved Me is also a favourite for this reason. I loved the way Kate and Anthony went toe to toe and that Kate showed she was Anthony’s equal in every way right from the start. Also a good enemies to lovers romance has an aspect of iron sharpening iron-by competing with each other, they actually spur each other on and bring out the best in each other. And besides, there is an underlying element of respect because you wouldn’t go to the trouble of making someone your mortal enemy unless they were a worthy opponent and could keep up.  

One of my favourite parts of your book was seeing Cecily tick off each one of her resolutions and make the Year of Cecily a huge success! What do you think life has in store for the Year of Cecily and Jeffrey? 

The Year of Cecily and Jeffrey is them juggling two busy careers, wedding planning, figuring out their living situation (let’s be real, Jeffrey is totally going to end up moving to San Francisco), managing their parents’ expectations for more grandkids and preventing them from hijacking the wedding. Movie club will still continue-it would be their version of Date Nights (Jeffrey is still determined to make her watch Raise the Red Lantern at some point). Cecily will continue to nag Jeffrey about meeting Daniel Henney until it finally happens. And if Jeffrey has his way, Resolution 5 will be making a repeat appearance. 😉  Finally, there will still be plenty of bickering and making up. These two just can’t seem to stop bantering.  

The Year of Cecily can be described as unapologetically Asian. The plot contains endless amounts of culture, exquisite food and even disputes regarding familial expectations. But, the main aspect that we cannot forget is the celebration of Lunar New Year. I was wondering if you could tell us more about the Year of the Pig – what messages lie in this Chinese zodiac? 

The Chinese Zodiac is not that dissimilar to the western zodiac that most people in the UK are familiar with.The Chinese zodiac is broken up into twelve animals/signs and like the western zodiac, there are certain personality traits associated with each of the  animals. But the major difference is that the western zodiac breaks up each year into twelve signs, while the Chinese zodiac runs through twelve year cycles, not months, and is based on the lunar calendar, not Gregorian calendar. The last sign of the zodiac, the year of the pig is considered very lucky because in China pigs are considered a symbol of wealth, fortune, and prosperity. People born in the year of the pig are said to be compassionate, caring, loyal, loving, nurturing, and generous. But also emotional, temperamental, and a little indecisive. Sound familiar? 

I believe that The Year of Cecily is the first book in your debut series From Sunset Park, With Love. Can you give us a sneak glimpse into what we can expect in your second book?  

Absolutely! Book 2 features Rachel Bai, who you met in Cecily. I loved Rachel right off the bat and when she showed up on the page, I knew immediately that she was going to need her own book at some point. The Rachel Experiment comes out 16th May, 2023. This is an opposites attract book where the main characters meet at a semi-seedy honky tonk bar and have a one night stand. But they meet up again and decide they could be the answer to each other’s problems. They make a deal to help each other career wise. The only rule is it’s all going to stay platonic; they are just friends. All clothes are staying ON. (We’ll see how long that lasts lol) 

And last but not least, where will readers be able to access The Year of Cecily? 

You can check out all the buy links here!https://tulepublishing.com/books/the-year-of-cecily/#order 

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