Qin Sun Stubis is a Chinese-American author of the book Once Our Lives: A Memoir of Shanghai, Teahouses, and Three Generations of Family, which tells the story of four generations of Chinese women in Shanghai, China during the Great Famine, navigating war and revolution.
In the latest episode of the Make Meaning Podcast, host Lynne Golodner interviews Qin about her early life, China’s Cultural Revolution and her love of words and storytelling. Qin explains how the loss of her parents inspired her to write a memoir that brings to life her family’s stories and a fascinating part of China’s history. She also discusses her writing process and the challenges she faced as a first-time author. Qin has received awards for this beautiful book and continues to write essays and short stories.
In this episode, Lynne and Qin discuss:
Growing up in poverty and how that influenced her writing
A mother's influence on her love of words
Early memories of writing – quoting Mao Zedong’s quotations
Attending the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Languages
Being a late-blooming writer
A mission to preserve family stories and reputation
Why history and humanity is the same around the world
First-time author challenges along the publishing journey
The importance of the first sentence and first chapter
Forming a support group for older women writers
Her column for the Santa Monica Star
Links and Resources:
Chinese Cultural Revolution
Thomas Hardy
Shakespeare’s Sonnets
Louisa May Alcott
Bessie Streeter Aldrich
Tess of the d’Urbervilles
F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby
Nonfiction Author Association
Miami Book Fair
PenCraft Book Awards
Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes
Find Qin Sun Stubis:
Website
If you enjoyed this episode, you’ll like these other Make Meaning Podcast episodes:
Episode 156 – Blair Fell – Original Storylines & Unique Characters
Episode 149 – Anne-Marie Oomen – Writing through Family
Episode 146 – Barbara Stark-Nemon – Tracing the Path of Historical Fiction
Episode 139 – Desiree Cooper – Being “Genre Agnostic”
Episode 131 – Weina Dai Randel – The Last Rose of Shanghai
Episode 165 - Brenda Meller - Capturing a Piece of the Publishing Pie
Episode 164 - Patrick Hicks - Writing Hard Stories Beautifully
Episode 162 - Elizabeth Conte - Doing Well as an Indie Author
Episode 161 - Ana Veciana-Suarez - Historical Literary Fiction
Episode 160 - Jonathan Whitelaw - Cozy Crime & Escaping into Writing
Episode 159 – April Davila - Meditation & Writing
Episode 158 - Suzanne Nugent - On Character Development
Episode 157 - Blake Kimzey - Creating a Writing Community
Episode 156 - Blair Fell - Original Storylines & Unique Characters
Episode 155 - Martha Anne Toll - Finely Crafted, Award-Winning Fiction
Episode 154 - Dawn Chalker - Writing What You Know
Episode 153 – Jewish Books, Jewish Authors
Episode 152 - Ami Irmen - Character-Driven Narratives
Episode 151 - Rochelle Weinstein - Writing Best-Selling Novels
Episode 150 - Lisa Peers - First Novels & Writing Friendships
Episode 149 – Anne-Marie Oomen - Writing through Family
Episode 148 – Woman of Valor - Katie Scott interviews Lynne about her debut novel!
Episode 147 – Diane Gottlieb - Writing Short & Writing Well
Episode 146 – Barbara Stark-Nemon - Tracing the Path of Historical Fiction
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