We chat with debut author Talia Tucker about Rules For Rule Breaking, which is a YA rom-com about two Korean American teens forced into a shared college visit road trip where they discover that the reasons they’ve been rivals their entire lives might actually be signs they’re a perfect pair.
Hi, Talia! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hi friends! I’m Talia Tucker, a 32-year-old Jamaican/Korean American author based in New Jersey. You can usually find me propped up in bed by my five hundred pillows, watching either a true crime documentary on YouTube or a K-pop idol variety show. I love eating at restaurants with mismatched silverware, and I’ve never met a noodle I didn’t like. Though I love to travel, I don’t do it very often anymore because I can’t stand to leave my two cats, Min-ju and Lady, for more than a few hours.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
It’s hard to say. I’d be lying if I said that I always wanted to be a writer. As far as stories, I’ve always been more interested in television and film rather than books. I wrote one or two fanfictions as a teenager but didn’t write again until I was in my mid-twenties. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what the catalyst was. I’ve always been a creative person in some form or another and knew that I wanted to work in a creative field, but I was always a jack of all trades and a master of none. I knew that I just needed to pick something and stick with it, and writing seemed like something I could do. It doesn’t take a lot of resources, only a computer and patience, and you can do it pretty much anywhere. So, I started writing one day, and it just felt like it made sense. I thought it would be another of my interests that I obsess over for a few weeks before abandoning, but I kept at it for a long while. I must have fallen in love with it at some point during that time. Since then, writing has felt like more of a compulsion than anything else. I truly haven’t been able to stop.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
- The one that made you want to become an author: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Your debut novel, Rules for Rule Breaking, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Campy, unhinged, nostalgic, unserious, lively.
What can readers expect?
Younger readers can expect to see two kids coping with change and working through their fears of what comes next in a lighthearted way, but hopefully in a way that makes them feel as though their anxieties and uncertainties are valid. Older readers can expect to be reminded of how friendship as a teenager felt, how their first crush felt, and how awkward, messy, cringe-inducing, yet exciting the newness of everything was. Readers of any age can expect to shut their brains off for a few hours, laugh, and hopefully have Winter and Bobby become their comfort characters as they’ve become mine.
Where did the inspiration for Rules for Rule Breaking come from?
The initial idea for Rules for Rule Breaking started with a comment made by my best friend. She said she wanted to read a story about the two most boring people imaginable. That’s how I ended up with Bobby and Winter, who start out as painfully school-focused rule followers. Though I personally wouldn’t have described them as boring but perhaps unconventionally interesting (which is just a nicer way to say weird.) But I love weird, and I loved the idea of two characters who want to break out of their comfort zones yet do it in a way that might seem minor to others but is huge for them. I don’t think every character has to be a hero who saves the day. It’s perfectly fine if the battle you overcame today was driving somewhere you’re not familiar with or making your own doctor’s appointment. I wanted to show two regular teens just trying to figure things out on a scale that suits their personalities, so the idea of them breaking silly antiquated state laws like not driving with one shoe in Virginia or not eating on the beach in Maryland arose very naturally.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Although I’m not in the same life stage as Winter Park and Bobby Bae—I graduated high school years ago—I do feel that even at this point in my life, I am in this liminal space where I’m still unsure of a lot of things, and my life isn’t completely set. There’s this certain feeling of flailing at life junctures like these, and it can be lonely, which is something I wanted to explore. I approached Bobby and Winter’s romance by positioning them as friends first and foremost, who could be there for each other during this awkward, uncomfortable, transitory moment in their lives. I really enjoyed writing them and exploring their fears and motivations separately, as well as their shared dynamic.
This is your debut published novel! What was the road to becoming a published author like for you?
It’s been a relatively painless process, and I attribute that mostly to my entering publishing with minimal knowledge and few expectations because I didn’t have a career as a writer in mind at all. I think everyone, at some point in time, has thought that they want to write a book, and I was no different. However, the thing about me is that if I have an idea, I have to follow through with it. And I did. I started querying in 2021 just to see if what I’d written was any good. Had all the feedback I’d gotten been negative, I would have taken that as a sign to give up, and I would have done so without a single regret. Yet, because I got so close so many times, I grew increasingly frustrated. That manuscript, which has since been shelved indefinitely, featured a romance subplot, and most of the feedback suggested I scrap basically everything but the romance. Following that advice, I wrote Rules for Rule Breaking, at which point I found myself pursuing publishing relentlessly. I was like a dog chasing cars without knowing what I’d do once I caught one. Reviving my dormant Twitter account solely for pitch contests led me to acquire my agent in about three months. Since then, things have been falling into place, and I credit my incredible team entirely. That’s not to say that there weren’t moments when I wanted to give up. There were plenty of devastating rejections, a few tears, and a lot of me asking myself why I was even doing this. However, compared to a lot of other road-to-publication stories I’ve heard, mine has been ideal. When I started on this journey, I never dreamed I’d get this far.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on my second young adult novel, which will also be published by Kokila. It should be coming out sometime in 2025.
Lastly, are there any book releases that you’re looking forward to picking up this year?
Daughters of Shandong by Eve J. Chung, Starry Field: A Memoir of Lost History by Margaret Juhae Lee, Docile: Memoirs of a Not-So-Perfect Asian Girl by Hyeseung Song, The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim, So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole, The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony by Annabelle Tometich, The Partner Plot by Kristina Forest, The Girl With No Reflection by Keshe Chow, I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea, Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury, Midnights With You by Clare Osongco, Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao, Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
Yes, most of these people are my friends. But I will say that I keep amazing company.
