Q&A With Se-Ah Jang

I’m delighted to be doing this Q&A with Se-ah Jang whose debut novel A Twist Of Fate is available to read now wherever books are sold! I can’t wait to read it, and the cover looks gorgeous! 

Q: Welcome to Book Notions Se-Ah! For those who haven’t read the book, would you like to tell the readers a little bit about A Twist Of Fate & where the idea for the story came from? 

A: A Twist of Fate is the story of Jae-young, who disguises herself as the mother of a baby she meets by chance while running away from her abusive boyfriend.

(The Korean title of this book is “Runaway.”)

This baby’s mother is on her way to visit her wealthy in-laws, whom she’s never met before, after her husband left home for another woman.

But when Jae-young returns from the bathroom, the woman has disappeared, leaving behind only the newborn baby. She leaves behind a note: “Please take this baby to my in-laws’ house for me.” Naturally, Jae-young hesitates at first, but soon realizes that the perfect way to disappear without a trace is to become someone else.

That’s how the story begins.

As I said in the author’s note in the novel, the idea of A Twist of Fate started with an image that suddenly came to me before bed: a woman staring at her pale face in the train mirror, then splashing water on her face.

I paired her with the most terrifying villain I know (I think people, especially those in a state of madness, more frightening than any ghost or spirit), and added elements of my favorite genre, Gothic fiction (a grand, eerie mansion, a family with secrets).

Therefore, this could be described as a K-Gothic thriller that reinterprets the feel of a classic Gothic novel with a Korean sensibility.

Q: How long did it take you to write A Twist Of Fate & without spoiling too much, which scenes were your favorite to create? 

A: It took about a year and a half.

The scene I was most attached to is the ending of one character, but to avoid spoilers, I’ll choose another scene I really loved.

It is a scene where Jae-young, who became a daughter-in-law of a rich family instead of a baby mother, shops freely with her father-in-law’s black VVIP credit card.

I wrote that scene with excitement, drawing on my experience as a publicist for a fashion brand, but it may feel a little light to readers of a thriller novel.

However, I was intrigued by the flow of thought that unfolds in Jae-young’s head in the department store fitting room.

At first, she thinks this is her chance to escape from her burdensome fake role and run away. But as she tries on the luxurious clothes, her perspective gradually changes. In that brief moment, Jae-young’s future life, a miserable wife of an abusive man, flashes through her mind like a movie. When the shop assistant handed her a crocodile-skin shoe to try on, the moment she saw that shoe, she made her decision to stay in the mansion instead of running away.

Jae-young, who left the fitting room, was no longer her old self; she had become bolder, greedier, and also braver.

 What fascinated me was that her fate is ultimately determined by that one pair of beautiful shoes. It might seem reckless and foolish at first, but our lives can change so drastically with such small, insignificant elements.

Q: What are any messages and emotions you hope readers learn and feel once they finish reading A Twist Of Fate? 

A: I believe every emotion a reader feels from this story is meaningful.  I am particularly impressed by the review of a reader who majored in psychology and studied at law school. 

She said she deeply resonated with the insights I’d provided in the author’s note about the characters’ psychology. She seemed particularly to be agreed by the message: no one is purely good or purely bad, that everyone can be both a perpetrator and a victim, that anyone can “squirm” when trampled, and that we must be careful not to traumatize others. (There’s a Korean proverb that goes, “Even a worm will turn. if you step on it.”)

In addition, I personally believe this novel is a story about desire. Through this novel, I wanted to show the complex and multi-faceted outcomes that desire brings into our lives.

I think all human problems stem from longing for something. At least that was the case for me. However, desire is not always a bad thing. It gives us the energy and strength to live, and the courage to fight for it. We often live more diligently and go through more difficult times precisely because of our desire to have and achieve something.

In the novel, Jae-young lived a life of black and white, yearning for nothing, when she was with her ex-boyfriend, Hyun-wook. Gaslighted by him, under his control, she felt hopeless in life, so she simply wanted to settle for the safety of love. But when she began to desire to “live,” everything changed.

After entering the mansion, that “damned” desire leads her to make foolish choices at every critical moment. However, JaeYoung never gives up and fights until the very end, ultimately striving to win her own paradise.

We, too, may face danger or be hurt like Jae-young in the process of fighting for and achieving our desires. However, we can learn and gain something from the experiences we have fought for. That’s why I believe the desires that make our lives vibrant are precious.

Of course, as long as we don’t cross the line.

Q: I saw on your Amazon page that A Twist Of Fate was selected by South Korea’s largest bookstore chain & publishing company Kyobo & was optioned for film two weeks after it was published! Congratulations! How does it feel that your book has already been optioned for an adaptation and have they begun casting and filming A Twist Of Fate? 

A: The script adaptation is still in progress. However perhaps because the scenes are easily visualized, it’s been a lot of fun to see so many Korean readers and friends suggest their own dream casts. I sometimes create my own dream cast list for an American version.

Q: In the past you worked as a publicist for a luxury brand and you now run a book audio channel Love-or-Hate book Prescriptions for Readers. You write under multiple pseudonyms and cover a variety of genres, from thrillers to fashion styling books. What was it like being a publicist for a luxury brand? What’s it like running a book audio channel for readers and writing under several pseudonyms? Would you please provide a link for the book audio channel Love-or-Hate Book Prescriptions for Readers? 

A: For many years, I worked in the PR industry, experiencing a wide range of brands, from luxury goods to fashion and cosmetics. All the while, I was writing novels in different genres under various pen names. I even authored a fashion book for a famous stylist.

However, I always wanted to write in my favorite genre, so I decided to write a thriller novel. Now I’m living a different life as a writer. Still, my experience as a publicist—working with a diverse group of people from celebrities and brand managers to stylists, journalists, and influencers—has been a tremendous help in my writing.  The world may seem glamorous, but it also offered a glimpse into a variety of human natures.

Maybe one day I could write a thriller novel with a PR industry backdrop. And the book review audio channel I run is a Korean broadcast. This is a program that introduces the books I recommend and reads the text for a few pages. 

I started it as an ordinary reader long before I became an author, so it’s a bit clumsy and embarrassing.  While some books are sent by publishers, most are just ones I personally found interesting. As a reader, I’ve been frustrated that most Korean book review channels only focus on the typical bestsellers, economics books, healing books, and self-help books.

Personally, I think it is difficult to know the true joy of reading just by listening to a summary. Just as a broadcast that summarizes a movie’s plot twists and reveals key spoilers can never convey the film’s true enjoyment. As a huge fan of plot-twist novels, I hope others will enjoy the thrill of reading a book from the beginning, like a roller coaster ride, and then discover the surprising twist. That’s why I made a channel with reading a few pages from the books I love—mainly thrillers, mysteries, romance, and travel essays—to get you hooked.

My reading skill isn’t perfect, but I think readers who share my tastes will enjoy it.  This channel might be a fun way to practice Korean!

https://audioclip.naver.com/channels/2441

Q: Will book 2 be a sequel to A Twist Of Fate? Or will it be a different story entirely with new characters? 

A: My second thriller novel (which I just finished first draft) isn’t a sequel to A Twist of Fate. However, A Twist of Fate inspired the premise of this new story. (I won’t give away any spoilers, but)

I imagined, “What would a woman who once suffered from violence want to do after she gets enormous wealth?” If I were that woman, with painful past trauma, but now rich and no longer needed to work for a living, I’d wonder what I’d do with all that money, and a very interesting premise came to mind. It’s also a thriller full of surprises, so please look forward to it.