Frequently asked questions
basic info about me
What are your pronouns?
She/her!
How do you pronounce your surname?
In Mandarin, it’s pronounced zhào. For English speakers, say “joust” without the “st” or “zounds” without the “nds.” If you know IPA, there’s a transcription in my media kit.
Are you the girl I saw on TikTok?
You may have seen me from two TikTok accounts: my personal one, where I mostly talk about books, and my college newspaper’s TikTok, where I used to post videos about being a Wellesley student or being a student journalist.
business stuff
Are you available for blurbs?
Blurb requests should go through my agent. Thank you for thinking of me!
Are you available for interviews?
Interview requests for school projects should go through my contact form. Interview requests for publications, podcasts, etc. should go through my publicist.
Are you available for events?
The majority of event requests, including conferences, book clubs, and library or bookstore talks, should go through my publicist. If you are inquiring about a school visit, please contact me directly.
Dear Wendy
Will Dear Wendy be available in my country?
Dear Wendy is published in the U.S. and Canada. If you’re able to get U.S. and Canadian books where you live, you’ll be able to purchase it. Amazon frequently imports books to other countries. Blackwell’s, a store in the UK, ships internationally, and the shipping fee is included in the cost of the book.
I am also excited to share that Dear Wendy is going to be translated into Polish and published by Publicat’s Time4YA imprint! When I get word of a release date, I’ll update my website with details.
I will be sure to announce whenever foreign publication rights are secured in other countries. I majored in linguistics in undergrad, so I’m particularly eager for my work to be available in other languages!
How did you get Dear Wendy published?
In short, after I wrote it, I found a literary agent, who then submitted the book to publishers. Check out my blog post on how I got a literary agent if you want to learn more.
When is Dear Wendy coming out? When can I buy it?
Dear Wendy is out now!
Is Dear Wendy a Peter Pan retelling?
Nope! In fact, there are no characters actually named Wendy. Wendy is an online pseudonym that one of the protagonists goes by. But another one of my agent’s clients has written one, if you’re interested!
How much of Dear Wendy’s setting is real?
The physical locations are all real. None of the characters are real except celebrities who are mentioned on the side. The class Sophie and Jo meet in is fictional, but any other classes that are named are real. None of the Instagram accounts are real; in real life, we do have similar accounts. The newspaper, theater, and radio clubs are real, but the geese-watching club is made-up. There’s a real a-spec discussion group, but it doesn’t have the same name as the one Sophie and Jo start.
Is Dear Wendy sapphic? Is it a romance?
No. Sophie and Jo both solely identify as aromantic and asexual, and neither of them experience any romantic or sexual attraction in the course of this book (or in general). There are sapphic side characters in this book (in fact, most of the side characters are WLW). I would love to write a-spec, sapphic protagonists, as well as romances, in the future, but Dear Wendy is not that.