So You Want To Be A Writer With Valerie Khoo And Allison Tait: Australian Writers' Centre Podcast

War stories are often famously told by the victors. But what of the stories of civilians caught up in the conflict? These themes intersect in World-War-II-era Hong Kong in AWC graduate Emma Pei Yin’s debut historical novel, When Sleeping Women Wake – and in this episode she shares her inspirations, the book’s themes and the publishing process, including a fascinating connection with the cover designer. 00:00 Welcome03:41 Writing tip: Avoiding info dumping07:05 WIN!: The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave08:39 Word of the week: ‘Gimcrack’12:03 Writer in residence: Emma Pei Yin13:05 Emma explains When Sleeping Women Wake13:53 Why this story?16:20 Influences and inspirations for the book17:35 Balancing historical fiction and fact19:10 The research process21:20 The note collection process22:27 Telling the authentic voices of Chinese people23:39 Character development and their unique resistance25:55 Class structure and historical contexts27:35 Language and authenticity in this story29