Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I was born in Thailand in the refugee camp, so I grew up without knowing a single word of English until I was six years old and we got sponsored to come to New Zealand. I fell in love with romance books when my family went fruit picking every summer. During one visit to the Red Cross shop, I picked up a mills and boon romance book. That was when I discovered I love reading romance. It was something about a sheik capturing this female lead. After reading hundreds of romance books, I wanted to create my own love story, and that's how I became a self published romance author.
Another major influence to my books would be music. My family loves listening to music and when YouTube first came out, I discovered Kpop. And from then on, I always have my headphone on, thinking of scenes that I can write in my next story.
What's the story behind your latest book?
My series, Maid to the Mafia, which I'm currently writing book three right now, titled Maid to the Mafia: Totally Intoxicated, is a romantic comedy mafia romance. I guess I'm a bit different when it comes to tackling genre in the romance field. Mafia romance is usually depicted as dark, with longs of blood and sacrifices. I wanted to write something light and funny but still want to capture the lifestyle of a mafia. I guess it's my way of creating something from the norm.
In this series, the character Giovanni, is still depicted as being raw and vicious, but he's also a very vulnerable man. And that's the kind of message I like to write about in my story. There's never a black and white image of someone. There's always two sides to a person. And with Giovanni, the mafia boss, he may seems like he's the ultimate bad boy who curse like anything, but when it came to Jenny, his lover, he's like a little puppy asking for attention. Which I find is quite sweet.
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