Friends, it’s been too long. I’ve come out of my writing cave and the world is bright. And HOT.
After an arduous year-and-a-half of working on my third book, revisions were turned in on May 31.
As in three weeks ago.
For a recovering overachiever and perfectionist, I felt so much shame in asking for extension after extension. No one shamed me for needing more time (except for one friend).
My agent and editors were very understanding. It’s me. I was the problem.
I hate being late with assignments (Type Asian rearing its head), and this was not different. I hated needing extensions. First it was multiple ones for the first draft. Then one for revisions back to my editor. THEN I was hit with back-to-back covid and flu so I needed yet another extension.
My publisher pushed back my release date because there was no way I’d have it ready for its original November 2024 date. (Due to the traditional publishing process, there’s a long lead time in between completed revisions and publication date.)
This was the never ending book. At least that’s how I felt as I forced myself to stare at my screen even though the words wouldn’t come.
Something Cheeky is my favorite book of the three I’ve written. But it I was so fucking tired of looking at it.
Writing this book was &^%! hard.
I struggled more with this book than I did with Happy Endings and Full Exposure. It was a combination of burnout, closing Bawdy Bookworms, major health issues in my immediate family (everyone is ok), and fear of fucking up the story of my heart.
That last part was the biggest obstacle for me.
Something Cheeky is my first romance with two Vietnamese American main characters. (My other two have Black and Vietnamese American pairings.) I infused so much of current and former selves into Zoe Tran and Derek Bui.
Derek is an actor and director. He’s living my former dream of being a theatre director. It was a dream I gave up long ago when I realized I valued financial stability over trying to change the world via theatre. Like me, Derek also grew up in a small rural-ish town with almost no other Asian American families. He never quite feels Vietnamese enough.
Zoe is a plus-size lingerie designer with a successful boutique. She’s also demisexual like me. I’m also a plus size woman who worked professionally as a theatre costumer. She also struggles with how mainstream musical theatre only allows Asian women to exist in very specific boxes—like in Miss Saigon. Unlike me, Zoe has a family who supported her artistic endeavors. She also grew up in the large Vietnamese community of Falls Church, Virgínia.
It’s funny how these fictional characters become so real in my head and on the page. They were me but not me. They represent the stories I want to tell about my Vietnamese community. Ones that aren’t centered on war and immigrant drama.
I’m proud of Something Cheeky
When I turned in my revisions, I knew my book was good. Really good. This isn’t always true. When I turned in Full Exposure for the first time I knew it needed work. In fact, I ended up rewriting half of it. Nor did I feel great about Something Cheeky when I first turned it initially.
I’m an intuitive writer so I knew that it wasn’t working, but I’d been so deep into my writing that I couldn’t see what it needed. That’s why I’m grateful for my editors who pointed out my books’ issues and offered solutions.
While I was proud of the revisions I’d made for Something Cheeky, I wasn’t sure how my editor would like the changes I made. It’s always like that for me. The self-doubt is always waiting to pounce on my confidence.
On Monday, my editor emailed me with this:
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe04f93f9-b12c-4030-af8e-4eacc5e8ac91_1048x234.jpeg)
I’m still riding on that high! All my hard work not to mention hours of angst had produced something great. I hope you’ll love the book as much as we do.
Shame is normal, but...
I’ve come to learn that shame is a normal thing for me, but I can’t allow it to take charge of my life. What’s more important is surrounding yourself with friends and family who remind me that shame doesn’t get a say in how I produce my art.
The extensions I asked for due to health and family reasons are valid.
The extensions I needed because creativity doesn’t appear on demand are valid.
The extensions I needed because this book need more time to simmer are valid.
Romance publishing is such a hungry little beast. Readers are voracious so publishers (trad and indie) want to release books faster. I’ve never been a “fast” writer. Fast is relative. Other fiction genres don’t release a book every six months or a year. It can be longer.
I’ve learned to trust my process. To trust myself and my writing. This is not a one-time lesson but one I’ll have to realize over and over again.
And that’s ok.
New release date for Something Cheeky
I hope to share the cover with you soon—there’s a cat on it! In the meantime, I can finally share that Something Cheeky will release March 4, 2025. Yes, that feels like a long ways, but it’ll be here in the blink of an eye.
If you’re so inclined, I appreciate any pre-orders. You can also request that your public library order copies of Happy Endings and Full Exposure.
For now, I’m taking it easy until I get copyedits back in a few weeks. New story ideas have been simmering and it feels good to write for the sake of it.
Your turn. How has shame affected your creativity?
I am so proud of you. For so many reasons, but the tenacity to see this book through when things were so difficult and the growth you have seen in yourself.
I cannot wait to read it and am getting my preorder in today.
Celebrating you will always be one of my favorite things in this world.
Xx