So if I pop some words here or there, people might look it up or take interest in it.

I thought, now that the world is embracing not only K-pop but K-beauty, K-dramas etc., people might want to learn Korean. What made you decide to keep some of the Korean untranslated, featuring it either romanized or in Hangul? I think it’s part of my personality as well. It’s funny but I do things before others do it. How does that feel?Īs an American, I was raised to be independent, take action, have a voice, be responsible, not to be afraid to speak up for myself. You’re the first K-pop star, to my knowledge, that has written a novel based on your life and career. The revising and proofreading process… It was fun, but I didn’t want to let go. One thing I learned was that it’s really hard to let go of the copy. The entertainment industry is very quick, but the book world seemed very relaxed. How did you writing a book compare with other aspects of your diverse career? I want them to find clues along the way, figure out who’s who, what’s what, have fun with it and enjoy it. But I hope it will be an Easter egg hunt for people. Rachel and I are very similar, but I did fictionalize everything. I want to speak to younger audiences, because these days a lot of people want to be K-pop stars, or pop stars, or YouTubers. Rachel’s a reflection of me, but I don’t want it to be like, “Oh, it’s an autobiography.” I’m actually a fan of YA novels. I’m from San Francisco, so I thought that part of the story would be interesting for the readers to read, especially in the Western world. Because you can see the career and how it goes, but you never really know what happened before that. Take them step by step through the process, behind the scenes, things they don’t know. I wanted to show the readers how it began, where it all started. I felt it was time for me to tell the story. As much as it can be very glamorous and pretty on the outside, there can be a lot of drama, a lot of sacrifices. Writing a book is the latest turn for you in your multifaceted career.

Jessica jung novel