Featured Interview With Liwen Y. Ho
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan when I was a child. I’ve lived in California since then, and my hubby and I are raising our family here.
We had a sweet cocker spaniel for ten years and after he passed we got two guinea pigs that our kids named Cutie (because she’s cute) and Roundo (because she’s round).
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always loved words and used to read up to three books a day as a child. I wrote my first work of fiction, a children’s story called A Rainbow of Nine Colors, when I was in elementary school for an assignment. I happened to find this story a few years back when I was cleaning out a closet and submitted it to a writing contest. It is now a published picture e-book with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (formerly Meegenius.com)!
I began writing books for grown-ups about two years ago. I never imagined myself as a fiction writer, but as life has taught me, never say never! I actually really enjoy it. So far I have two romance series out, one called Taking Chances and the other Seasons of Love.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My favorite genre to read is of course romance (I’m a romance writer!). I also enjoy memoir type books, too. My favorite fun and clean romance author is Susan Hatler. Francine Rivers is also another of my favorites for her poetic writing style.
I’m honestly inspired by real life. They (the proverbial they) say to write what you know, so I write characters based on myself or people I know (though it’s all fictionalized, don’t worry!).
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest release is a Christmas-themed short story titled The More the Merrier. I named the male character after one of my favorite superheroes (The Flash) as well as my maternal grandfather. The female character is a little bit (okay, a lot) like myself; she’s perfectionistic and proper and likes to play it safe. It’s a friends-turned-something more kind of story of unexpected love – I just love those! It took me about a month to write. The most challenging part of the process was remembering to add Christmas elements to it because I wrote it in the middle of an August heat wave!
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