Writing a Debut Best-Selling Novel with Yangsze Choo

Crystal-Lee Quibell speaks with author, Yangsze Choo on how her debut novel, The Ghost Bride, became a NYT best seller.

Malaysian author Yangsze Choo’s 2013 debut novel, The Ghost Bride, was Oprah.com’s Book of the Week and a New York Times bestseller. Set in 1890s colonial Malaya and the elaborate Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities and burned paper offerings, it’s about a young Chinese woman who receives a marriage proposal from a dead man. After graduating from Harvard University, she worked in various corporate jobs and carried a briefcase before writing her first novel. Yangsze eats and reads too much and can often be found doing both on her blog.

Crystal-Lee Quibell is the host of Literary Speaking, a weekly podcast dedicated to helping writers learn from best-selling authors, literary agents, and publishers. Founder of The Magical Writers Group, a private teaching forum for writers specifically focused on memoir. She is a champion for the written word, student of publishing and an obsessive book collector with a serious case of wanderlust. A self-described mermaid and witchy woman for life, she believes that life is better with books, chocolate, and the occasional cheese board. Her upcoming essay is to be featured in the forthcoming book, The Magic Of Memoir: Inspiration for the Writer's Journey.