South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Jessica Jung imagines her own experiences
Before becoming an author and the creator of the fashion line Blanc& Eclare, Jessica Jungwas a member of theK-pop group Girls’ Generation. Born in San Francisco, Jung’s young adult novel “Shine” (Simon& Schuster Books for Young Readers, $18.99) tells the story of Rachel, a young girl who dreams of becoming a singing sensation. Jung’s debut book is being released in 17 countries this fall. ACE Entertainment - the team behind theNetflix adaptation of the YA novel “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”— is developing “Shine” for film and television.
Q: Many peoplemay think you’re writing about your own experiences. Howmuch is fact versus your imagination?
A: It’s a mix, really. “Shine” is focused on Rachel’s training days, and I took a lot of inspiration from what itwas like for me aswell. Likeme, Rachel doesn’t live in the trainee house, she lives at home. Likeme, she is juggling a lot of different pressures from school, home and competitive training. Like me, she has some close friends and some rivals. Unlikeme, she gets a whirlwind romance with a successful idol along the way. Obviously, Iwanted it to be entertaining and authentic at the same time, so there’s a balance of real details and escapist fictional elements.
Q: If you and Rachel were travel mates…
A: Wewould certainly have to pay significant excess baggage fees! Not sure if that’s a dealbreaker, but itwould make traveling a bit cumbersome. Other than that, Rachelwould be a superb travel mate.
Q: Howmuch of your book did you write on the road?
A: When I can find time to reread drafts by the hotel pool, or gain inspiration bywalking around a new city, it’s great. It’s definitely time consuming, but I’m so used to living my life on the road that the travel aspect didn’t change this much. If anything, the flights giveme time to read and write. And reread. And rewrite.
Q: Do you have a sequel in theworks?
A: I can’t say too much about it yet, but I’mworking on the sequel. Readers will get to see a lot more of Rachel and what her life was like as part of amajor girls’ group. It’s very personal to me, actually! But it should also deliver the same wish fulfillment and fun of the first book.
Q: Whatwas the first trip you took as a child?
A: As far as I can remember, itwas toKorea. However, Iwas so young that the most memorable part of that tripwas running around a plane thinking Iwas flying. I guess it was destiny that Iwould gravitate to spending a lot of time on planes.
Q: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned fromyour travels?
A: To learn as much as possible, whether it’s food, cultural or geographical. It’s really shaped who I am today.
Q: What is your guilty pleasure when you’re on the road?
A: Ramen noodles on a long-haul flight. Guilty as charged.
Q: What kind of research do you do before you go away on a trip?
A: When it comes to visiting a new city, my priorities are finding the best restaurants and the best shopping.
Q: Do you speak any foreign languages? And in the same train of thought, do you pick up newlanguages easily?
A: I speakKorean and English fluently, and I’m a student ofMandarin. I wouldn’t say I’m good at picking up languages, but I’ve been told thatmy pronunciation is rather accurate.