Q&A with Gloria L. Huang

 

 

 

Gloria L. Huang is the author of the new middle grade novel Kaya of the Ocean. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

Q: What inspired you to write Kaya of the Ocean, and how did you create your character Kaya?

 

A: There were a couple of things that led to the creation of Kaya, both the character and the book. I wanted to create a story that centered a young girl who was torn between what she sees as her weaknesses and a mysterious newfound power that’s forced on her, not discovering until the end that they’re inextricably linked.

 

The inspiration for this was really seeing what young girls close to me were going through, especially as they entered that hazy no-man’s land (no pun intended!) between being a kid and becoming a teen. It’s a time that’s full of so many different emotions and experiences—there’s promise and excitement, but there’s also so much doubt and insecurity.

 

I wanted to show a character struggling with something she viewed as a flaw, but that I viewed as part of the whole beautiful portrait of who she was.

 

I also wanted to set Kaya’s journey in a very specific cultural context. Part of it was paying homage to my own family’s journey (there are moments in the story that were inspired by things that happened in my family history), and part of it was wanting to incorporate this fascinating Chinese mythology I hadn’t seen represented much in children’s literature.

 

Mazu’s life story, from regular girl to woman to goddess, is so intriguing and inspiring, and I wanted to explore how her powers would translate to a young girl struggling with anxiety in modern times.

 

The setting of Hawaii was really inspired by Hawaii itself—I came up with the idea for Kaya of the Ocean while I was on a Hawaiian beach at night, listening to the powerful waves crash to the shore.

 

A lot of the book was written in Hawaii, and I wanted to honor the beauty of those islands. It’s my happy place, and I’m always grateful for how welcome I feel there.

Q: Did you know how the novel would end before you started writing it, or did you make many changes along the way?

 

A: I did plan the ending of the novel before I started writing the book! Part of my process is to create full outlines, and then diverge from those outlines as I’m writing. This time, the ending didn’t change too much from what I imagined, because it was a pretty integral part of the overall message I wanted to send.

 

That’s not to say there weren’t plenty of other aspects of the story that changed along the way!

 

Kaya’s mom, especially, evolved a lot from when I first wrote her character. As anyone with an Asian immigrant mother knows, their love can really straddle the line between affectionate and critical, and my earliest beta readers interpreted early versions of Kaya’s mom as almost cruel. I really had to soften her character to ensure her love for Kaya shone through.

 

The innocent flirtation between Kaya and Taiyo was another piece of the story that went through several alterations—I ended up reducing it from a stronger romance to something lighter and more innocent. The promise of romance, rather than romance itself.

 

Q: Why did you decide to include anxiety as a theme in the book?

 

A: This was a pretty big part of the inspiration to create this book in the first place! When I first started writing Kaya, the world was sort of emerging from the worst of the pandemic, and I watched some kids really close to me (being deliberately vague to protect their identity) struggle with some pretty powerful feelings of anxiety for the first time.

 

I felt so helpless, especially since I’m no stranger to those feelings either, but that’s part of what drove me to write this book. I wanted to create a story in which the main character goes through similar struggles, and I wanted to send the message that their “flaws” or “weaknesses” are part of what makes them the complicated, strong, sensitive, powerful people they are.

 

Q: What do you hope readers take away from the story?

 

A: I really hope they take away the message that it can be a beautiful thing to accept all parts of themselves, and the ability to do that is powerful.

 

In the book, Kaya’s dad shares a Chinese expression that my own grandfather used to say: quexian mei. It means that things are even more beautiful when they’re imperfect or broken, and that’s the message I hope readers take away.

 

Q: What are you working on now?

 

A: I’m working on two other middle grade novels, both of them unrelated to Kaya of the Ocean. They’re both contemporary fiction with speculative and historical elements, though—not unlike Kaya. So I guess I have a favorite genre!

 

Q: Anything else we should know?

 

A: Just that I want to thank you for this Q&A opportunity, and I want to thank everyone who’s read or supported Kaya! It means the world to me!

 

--Interview with Deborah Kalb