I don't know what it's like to have a baby, so you'll have to ask a writer who is a mother to compare the process. What I do know is that it has been such a long, arduous journey from the seed of an idea all the way to publication. Yes, y'all: now I can proudly say, I am a published author.
The Kaedin Secret has been published 10 October on Amazon and will be available in ebook formats next week. I will be giving a promo code for ebook purchases when that is available. My husband is secretly hoping the book will make me the JK Rowling of Singapore. I'd rather it make me the AK Lee of the world. But being a billionaire writer from one single book would be fucking awesome! (A girl can dream.)
Okay, on a slightly more serious note, I'd like to share a little about why I wrote the book.
The Kaedin Secret was borne from a desire to see a bisexual lead character in a fantasy setting. I am a bisexual woman who reads fantasy and science fiction, yet I have come across few characters who are demonstrably queer in these books. It mattered little when I was young and still exploring the worlds of the Discworld or Middle-Earth or Pern or Arrakis; the worlds and universes spun by these authors were enough to keep my imagination engaged.
But after I started reading and writing fanfiction, I began to wonder: why do I have to turn to fanfiction to read about queer characters? Characters who are like me, who desire relationships with both men and women - are they only allowed to exist outside of canon? Is gay love and gay sex so taboo that we cannot have them in stories? (Keep in mind that I grew up in conservative Singapore.)
Like so many others, I decided to write my own stories. For me, it was a considered decision to have a non-heterosexual lead character. I could have kept the queer or, as termed in my book, "bent" characters as minor characters. It'd have been easier to sell in Singapore, for sure.
But here is my simple truth: I would rather not be able to sell a single copy in Singapore than to start my writing career denying people like me - non-heterosexual readers - yet another chance to read about people like them.
Two roads diverged in a wood and I --
I took the one less traveled by
And I hope I will make a difference.