The first post of 2026! Exciting.

When I was younger, I daydreamed about becoming a published author. I remember gazing longingly at the library shelves, imagining what it would feel like to see one of my books there. Of course, I had no idea what I was going to write. I think back then, I was more obsessed with the idea of having written rather than writing. Which is a whole ‘nother blog post in itself, haha.

But interestingly enough, in all those daydreams, I never imagined that it would be my name on the cover. I spent more time thinking up different pseudonyms - all incredibly white-washed, mind you - than actually writing.

Now, why would I do something silly like that?

The answer was simple: I simply didn’t see any Asian names on the library shelves. As such, my ten-year-old brain leapt to an interesting conclusion: that there wasn’t a place for someone like me on the shelves.

Now that we’re 15+ years later, I’m extremely happy that there are so many more varied authors that are being published. Books in non-European settings are everywhere now. I think my first foray into them was Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim, a gripping Mulan meets Project Runway mashup set in an absolutely gorgeous Asian setting. More recently, I’ve read books like Leanne Yong’s “Two Can Play That Game and Gene Luen Yang’s Lunar New Year Love Story that showcase Asian cultures so well and make me feel so seen. I only wish that there had been more books like those while I was growing up.

Anyways, all that to say - representation and diverse role models are so important in the world of creativity. I’m so glad that we’re getting more of it!