young adult fiction

Text reads: Closure & exposure. Background contains a person hiding their face with a book.

Closure and exposure

My debut novel is coming out… really bloody soon and I’m getting pretty nervous. Not in a bad way, but nervous nonetheless.

As the release date draws nearer, a question that’s come up a few times is whether or not Black and Blue is autobiographical.

And the answer to that is: yes and no. I took the “write what you know” adage and twisted it into something I hope people will connect with.

As a Chinese Australian kid, I felt a lot of confusion about my cultural identity growing up. I think that’s a pretty common thing for migrant kids — the feeling of being stuck between two cultures and not quite fitting in anywhere — and I revisited those feelings in Black and Blue.

Like my main character, Jade, I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression, which I try to be honest about — though she and I deal with it in different ways. Writing this book was actually one of the ways I tried to deal with it, so there’s a certain finality to seeing it released.

I also didn’t know if I was ever going to write another book — and to be fair, I still don’t, but I intend to — so I kind of wanted an excuse to pay tribute to some of the things that spark joy in my life. Which is why Jade is into Star Trek and Bon Jovi. But she hates coffee whereas I’m quite fond of a good mocha and will still drink a bad one. 😉

Another character in the book, Alex, has my aversion to germs and is something of a hand sanitiser enthusiast. Which has been me since long before COVID… I think I’ve been gunning for a hand sanitiser sponsorship for at least 10 years (no luck yet!).

In summary, I guess you could say Black and Blue is semi-autobiographical, but it is a work of fiction, not my premature memoir. Still, I do feel quite exposed thinking about people reading my book and… peering into my soul? So much so that I was considering never letting this book see the light of day. I mean, you can’t really fail if you never try and no one knows you write. But I also realised I’d never be satisfied with myself if I didn’t at least try.

So here I am — trying, potentially failing, but being okay. More or less. 🙂

Text reads: Pre-order. An arrow points to Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh book cover.

Pre-order Black and Blue

So, I said in my previous post that my novel, Black and Blue, will be released on November 1. Well, it’s now officially available for pre-order. Huzzah!

You can find the eBook on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, Booktopia, Angus & Robertson, Barnes & Noble, Indigo and more.

Choose your preferred eBook retailer to pre-order Black and Blue.

The paperback listing has also popped up in a few places and I plan to offer direct sales of paperbacks soon. Anyone got any e-commerce tips? I mean, I could always go with some variation of “oi, message me and I’ll send you bank deets” but it would be nice to make it a little more formal. 😉

I also made a rough and ready book trailer, which might be a bit naff but whatevs.

Unfortunately, there’s no actual speech in the trailer, nor is it audio described — both of which would have required me to record some audio for it or find a super convincing synthetic voice — but in the interests of accessibility, here’s a text description of the video, presented as a list:

  • Trailer consists of black and white video and text with sad piano music playing in the background.
  • Scene: A young woman sits alone on stairs. 3 people can be seen chatting in the background.
  • Intertitle: ‘Jade wants to give up on life…’
  • Scene: Cuts back to woman on stairs. She looks off into the distance, then down to the floor.
  • Intertitle: ‘until she meets Rory…’
  • Scene: A man strums and tunes his acoustic guitar.
  • Intertitle: ‘but will Jade get what she needs?’
  • Scene: The woman clings to a net, looking out from behind.
  • Intertitle: A contemporary coming-of-age story about mental health, the power of music, and trying to find a place in the world.
  • Scene: The woman continues to look through the net at the camera, before looking off into the distance.
  • Video ends with an image of the front cover of Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh.

Well… not long to go now. I’m excited but also really nervous.

Text reads: Why I chose indie publishing. Background contains open book pages.

Why I chose indie publishing

There are basically two main reasons why I decided to go down the indie route for my debut novel, Black and Blue:

  1. My book
  2. Me

Let me explain.

First of all, Black and Blue kind of sits in the wilderness between young adult and adult fiction. Years ago, new adult fiction promised to bridge that gap but it didn’t really work out that way, and “new adult” ended up becoming shorthand for erotic college romance. Happy to be proven wrong though — in fact, book recommendations (new adult or otherwise) are always welcome.

Also, I’m not judging you if you dig erotic college romances. Okay, I am, but not in a “you’re a bad person” kind of way — more like a “you might not be my target audience” kind of way.

Anyway, the only traditionally published author I could think of in Australia who was focusing on characters in that post-high school to mid-20s age bracket was Rebecca James, whose books can be found in both the YA and adult fiction sections of the library. So I was already leaning away from traditional publishing after looking into what was and wasn’t happening in that space.

I was also advised by someone with a lot of industry experience that, for the best chance of success in the traditional market, my main character (who is 18 and has recently finished school) should either be around 15 years old (so the book can be promoted in schools), or aged up to around 25 (so it’s firmly in the adult fiction territory). Obviously both of those things would’ve made it a very different story. But I agreed with the assessment, which brings us to now.

The second reason relates to me as an author/person. And my desire for creative control. What can I say? Beneath this dowdy little librarian body is a raging control freak who just wants to shush the whole world. Just kidding. But on a more serious note, there are plenty of anxiety-inducing things in life that I know are out of my hands. The publication of my book, however, didn’t need to be one of them.

Having said that, I also appreciate good guidance and I’m open to feedback — so I didn’t completely go it alone. I’m really enjoying working with independent/hybrid publisher Leschenault Press on Black and Blue and I hope you’ll like what we’ve been doing.

There are things that would be easier if I had a traditional book deal (visibility, distribution, marketing reach, etc.) and I wouldn’t have upfront costs. But I’m confident I’ve made the right decision for myself and my book. 🙂

Text reads: Coming soon. Arrow points to book cover for Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh.

Coming soon… Black and Blue

Remember that book I was telling you about?

Well, it’s humming along. I’m publishing it through Leschenault Press and their Book Reality imprint, and it now has a kickarse cover designed by Luke Buxton that looks like this.

Book mockup of Black and Blue by Lee-Ann Khoh

Black and Blue will be my debut novel. I’m describing it as a work of young adult fiction with crossover appeal. Some years ago, I might have classified it as new adult fiction but that category kind of got overrun by erotic romance, which my book is not.

I actually wrote the first draft way back in 2015 but put it away for long periods at a time. Then a global pandemic happened. Some people baked bread, which is cool, but I’m very aware of my limitations in the kitchen so I thought I’d turn my attention to other things.

Like getting my book out. As some wise fellas once said, “It’s now or never, I ain’t gonna live forever.” 😉

Find out more about Black and Blue on the Book Reality website.

And get excited! Or don’t, that’s fine, because I’m plenty excited for all of us. 😛

P.S. In case you missed the blatant Bon Jovi reference…

“It’s My Life” – Bon Jovi