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A six-year-old lands in a new country without knowing the alphabet and discovers, by third grade, that reading feels like magic. That spark became Cindy Pon’s compass as she wrote underdogs who straddle worlds, crafting YA stories that welcome readers who’ve never seen themselves on a cover. We sit down with Cindy to trace that path—from Silver Phoenix, a Chinese-inspired fantasy that arrived when the market offered few comps by Asian American authors, to Want, a near-future thriller where Taipei is as vivid as any hero.
Cindy walks us through her creative engine: why she favors duologies, how she breaks rules in service of story, and what it took to write a teen boy’s voice that didn’t sound like her own. We explore the mechanics behind Want’s cyberpunk edge—slang that mirrors power, squads built for heists, and the way tech headlines caught up to her pages. More than set dressing, near-future Taipei becomes a sensory world: traditional temples next to neon-filled, night markets. The conversation moves through gatekeeping and marketing realities, the burden of being first, and the quiet forms of resistance available to any storyteller who insists on centering their community.
Along the way, Cindy shares practical tactics for writer’s block, why food belongs at the heart of worldbuilding, and a first look at her new YA fantasy that travels from London to Mexico City with a Chinese contortionist at a magical circus. The throughline is hope. Even inside dystopia, she believes in found family, small acts that tip the scales, and stories that leave you braver than they found you. If you care about YA fantasy, representation, sensory worldbuilding, or just need the reminder that your voice matters, this conversation will bring you joy.
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Chapters
1. Host Intro And Mission (00:00:00)
2. Meet Cindy Pon (00:00:27)
3. Learning English And Becoming A Reader (00:01:20)
4. Writing Silver Phoenix For Young Cindy (00:04:25)
5. Duologies, Process, And Breaking Rules (00:08:35)
6. Gatekeeping, Marketing, And Being First (00:12:02)
7. Taipei As A Character In Want (00:15:12)
8. Language, Slang, And YAO To YOU (00:19:58)
9. Near Future, Cyberpunk, And Wealth Gaps (00:22:18)
10. Found Family And Character Voice (00:26:04)
11. Resistance, Identity, And Hope (00:30:05)
12. Adaptation Hopes And Constraints (00:33:25)
13. Environmental Themes And Stories Without Borders Service Project (00:36:05)
14. New Fantasy: Circus, London, Mexico City (00:40:00)
15. Writer’s Block Tactics And Process (00:42:45)
16. Sensory Worldbuilding And Food (00:46:02)
17. Diversity In YA And Representation (00:50:07)
18. Lightning Round Favorites (00:53:25)
6 episodes
