Congratulations on your YA novel, This Time It’s Real. Please tell us what it’s about.
Thank you so much! This Time It’s Real is about an aspiring writer who’s just started at a Beijing international school, and has to fake-date the popular actor in her class after her essay about her non-existent boyfriend accidentally goes viral.
Where did the idea for this book come from?
I think I’ve always been quite intrigued by this idea of writing as lying, and how the lines between fiction and reality can blur. So the initial premise began with a girl who makes something up and writes about it in such a detailed, beautiful way that everyone believes it to be true. Then I wondered what the consequences of that would be on a bigger scale, and how she would go about covering up the lie—the fake dating plot took shape quickly from there.
Who is your favourite character in the book? Who are you most similar to?
My favourite character is probably the little sister, Emily—I really loved writing about her dynamic with Eliza and how protective they are of each other. In terms of who I’m most similar to, I think Eliza and I have certain shared life experiences, such as moving around often and being known as the ‘new kid’ everywhere you go.
Did you always plan to be an author? What led you where you are today?
I’ve always loved reading and writing, and I’m so lucky in that from a fairly young age, I’ve had a lot of people tell me that I could be an author, even when I didn’t really believe it myself. It wasn’t until I started at university, though, that I actually started to consider it as a possible career path and began to work toward that goal—whether it meant researching how to query agents or brainstorming book ideas between lectures.
What advice would you give aspiring YA authors?
To lean into what you love. As a reader, I feel like you can always tell when someone’s truly passionate about the story they’re writing—and, as the author, it makes the process that much more fun.
Buy a copy of This Time It’s Real here.
Ann Liang is a recent graduate of the University of Melbourne. Born in Beijing, she grew up travelling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. When she isn’t stressing out over her college assignments or writing, she can be found making over-ambitious to-do lists, binge-watching dramas, and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog.
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