We chat with debut middle grade author Aimee Lim about The Spindle of Fate, which peers into the dark and gritty underworld, while showcasing the unbreakable bond between a family and the lengths we’ll go to save them.
Hi, Aimee! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi, readers! I’m a public library worker who just finished my degree in library and information science, a Jeopardy! champion, and romance novel proofreader. THE SPINDLE OF FATE is my first novel, though I am a two-time finalist in a “write the worst opening line(s) to a novel” contest.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
My love of stories comes from my dad. He always took me to the library and Borders (RIP), but he also introduced my brother and me to a lot of older movies and was constantly telling us stories he heard as a kid in Myanmar or read in Reader’s Digest. He used to tell us stories serially to entertain us on the weekly drive to swim class, and they were things like an article about the theft of the Mona Lisa, the plot of the 1974 film Juggernaut, and Stephen King’s The Dead Zone. I watched the Dead Zone movie a few years ago and that choice looks absolutely bizarre to me now, but I remember I really enjoyed it!
I genuinely don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer. In elementary school I dressed up as “an author” for Career Day. I remember I went to school in my pajamas because I figured that’s what writers wear when they “go” to work, which held up pretty well.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: Colors, Colors, Everywhere! It was about Mickey Mouse’s nephews running around while he’s painting the house and accidentally knocking cans of paint over, causing the colors to mix. This was how I learned that red + yellow = orange, blue + yellow = green etc. and I have a distinct memory of my mind being blown
- The one that made you want to become an author: Cinder by Marissa Meyer. I’d loved writing stories since childhood, but by the time I was in high school I’d abandoned this as an impractical career choice. Finding Marissa’s website, where she wrote extensively about author life and the process of getting published, made me realize my dream had never really gone away and inspired me to seriously commit to writing.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: An Immense World by Ed Yong. It’s a nonfiction book about animal senses and even if you don’t usually read science books, his writing is filled with so much wonder and empathy, and I recommend it to all humans
Your debut novel, The Spindle of Fate, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A review described it as “If Pixar made a horror” and I don’t think I can top that, so there you go!
What can readers expect?
THE SPINDLE OF FATE is a Chinese mythology-inspired middle grade adventure set in the Ten Courts of Dìyù, or Chinese hell. Expect fast-paced action and a terrifying netherworld, but also a lot of humor and an emotional mother-daughter story about family, grief, and love.
Where did the inspiration for The Spindle of Fate come from?
The idea for SPINDLE came from Dhonielle Clayton (author of THE BELLES and THE MARVELLERS, but also the founder of Cake Creative Kitchen). Dhonielle is a huge advocate for diversifying children’s literature, and we talked about wanting to see a fun contemporary #ownvoices fantasy steeped in Chinese mythology. I grew up on series like Percy Jackson and The Sisters Grimm, so that immediately resonated with me.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I had so much fun writing all the different levels of Dìyù. The Chinese afterlife is such a distinctive mix of horrific torture and mundane bureaucracy, and I wanted to preserve the spirit of that while making it fun for kids. I also really enjoyed Kevin, who accompanies Evie into the netherworld. He’s very sweet and goofy and completely inept at fighting, but also more resourceful than he looks.
What a stunning cover! Can you tell us a bit about how it came to life?
I know, right?? The incredible artist is Kiuyan Ran. I’m very fortunate to have been included in the cover design process, which was so exciting. Cake sent me a questionnaire asking about ideas, covers I love, references, etc. I sent along pictures of Haw Par Villa, which is a theme park in Singapore with dioramas of the Ten Courts of Dìyù. They’re infamous for being very graphic and bizarre, but they’re also very colorful, almost garishly so. I thought a dark but colorful underworld could be an interesting aesthetic, but I was stunned by just how rich and beautiful the colors are on the final cover! I also want to mention the striking red flowers, which also appear inside the book on the first pages of each chapter. Some of my anime-watching friends recognized them as red spider lilies, which grow in the underworld in Chinese and Japanese mythology. They’re only mentioned very briefly in the book, but I think they make such a cool design element!
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
I started seriously writing with the goal of publication in college. I spent three years writing and revising a middle grade superhero book and queried it after graduation. That manuscript didn’t get a book deal or an agent, but the first chapter was the writing sample that caught the attention of Cake Creative Kitchen, which is what led to THE SPINDLE OF FATE!
What’s next for you?
The sequel to THE SPINDLE OF FATE!
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed so far this year and are there any that you can’t wait to get your hands on?
Some 2024 releases I’ve really enjoyed: THE CURSE OF EELGRASS BOG by Mary Averling, A GAME OF NOCTIS by Deva Fagan, THE SECRET LIBRARY by Kekla Magoon, THE WRONG WAY HOME by Kate O’Shaughnessy
New and upcoming releases I’m excited for: THROUGH A CLOUDED MIRROR by Miya T. Beck, KILL HER TWICE by Stacey Lee, AMIR AND THE JINN PRINCESS by MT Khan, THE DARK BECOMES HER by Judy I. Lin
