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By: AJ Eversole
Excited to speak to Sher Lee today about her YA fantasy debut! A queer retelling of a classic Chinese folktale, Legend of the White Snake (Quill Tree, 2024), is full of romance, suspense, and just enough thrill to keep your grip tight on the pages. I’ve previously spoken to Sher about her contemporary YA novel, Fake Dates and Mooncakes (Underlined, 2023).
How did you think about the retelling of a classic story aspect when planning out this novel? What liberties were you comfortable taking?
In the original folktale of the Legend of the White Snake, a boy called Xu Xian buys dumplings from an immortal in disguise, not knowing that they are actually immortality pills. At the West Lake, he accidentally drops the immortality pills into the water. A white snake eats them and instantly gains spirit powers worth five hundred years’ of cultivation (a Taoist concept in which supernatural abilities are developed through many years of practice, meditation, and mystical arts). Thus, the boy and the white snake’s fates become intertwined.
The white snake uses the newfound power to transform into a woman named Bai Suzhen. She encounters a beggar who has caught a green snake and wants to dig out its gallbladder. Suzhen buys the green snake from the beggar and saves its life. The green snake, named Xiaoqing, is grateful to Suzhen and regards her as an elder sister.
Xiaoqing takes on human form as well, and the two snake spirits roam the mortal world together. In a twist of fate, Suzhen meets Xu Xian again, and they fall in love. Xu Xian has no idea that Suzhen is a snake spirit, much less that their paths crossed before. Unbeknownst to Suzhen, an old foe from the West Lake, who knows about the immortality pills that gave her magical powers, plots to expose her true identity. The old foe warns Xu Xian that his lover is actually a snake, but Xu Xian refuses to believe him. During the Duanwu Festival, the old foe arranges for Suzhen to drink realgar wine, which contains sulfur that snakes cannot tolerate. Suzhen unsuspectingly drinks the wine and reveals her true form as a large white snake. Xu Xian is horrified to discover that his true love is not human—and for what happens next, you’ll have to read the book!
In this retelling, the white snake is now a boy named Zhen (a homage to the original Suzhen) and Xu Xian is a prince who, in a new twist, is hunting for a white snake to cure his mother, who was bitten by one. Xiaoqing (known in this story as Qing) remains the same as Zhen’s sworn sister, and the old foe doesn’t just want to expose Zhen’s identity as a snake . . . he wants the magical power that Zhen has for himself, and he will stop at nothing to achieve his nefarious ends.
What lessons did you learn from your debut experience and what are you doing the same and different?
When I was a debut, experienced author friends advised staying away from reading reviews, and I heeded that advice and continue to do so. It really is true that reviews are for readers, not authors. So far, readers and reviewers have only tagged me in positive reviews, not negative ones, and I’m grateful for the etiquette.
You’ve written both a contemporary and a fantasy romance, do you have a favorite between the two?
Fake Dates and Mooncakes was my first attempt at writing in first person point of view (POV), and I really had fun with that.
For Legend of the White Snake, I’ve reverted back to my default third person POV, but it’s the first time I’ve written a dual POV romance. Telling the story through the eyes of both main characters really enriched this story, and I’m glad that I’ve been able to experiment with different kinds of writing styles.
What do you want readers to take away from this story?
A major theme that inspired me while writing this story is the beloved Chinese ideal of 知己 (zhī jǐ)—literally translated “to know oneself,” this term is often rendered “soulmates.” Some people see this as a spiritual meeting of two minds or a platonic friendship between confidantes. To me, it’s a profound bond between kindred spirits that transcends friendship and even romantic love.
Someone you can see yourself being with forever, and for whom you would give up eternity to be with. At its heart, Legend of the White Snake—both the original folktale and my retelling—is a story of love, grand and sweeping as well as intimate and unspoken: love against the odds, love making us better versions of ourselves, love that surpasses all obstacles, even time and fate.
What does it mean to you to tell queer stories?
I’ve always been a fan of queer romance, and reading Captive Prince by C. S. Pacat (Berkley, 2014) was a gamechanger for me because it showed that such deftly written, intricately plotted, and unapologetically queer stories had an enthusiastic worldwide audience. I wanted to tell similar stories inspired by my Asian heritage, and that has been my author brand since.
What research did you do before writing LotWS? Did you travel? Did you read/watch previous retellings of the story?
I watched lots of Chinese fantasy and historical dramas, which really helped me ground the story and fact-check some elements of the plot. My favorites with a queer angle are Word of Honor (the Netflix adaption of danmei novel Tiān Yá Kè / Faraway Wanderers), The Yin-Yang Master: Dream of Eternity, and Killer and Healer. I also enjoyed The Legend of Anle and Love Between Fairy and Devil.
Being a purveyor of Chinese fantasy and historical dramas really helped me ground the story and fact-check some elements of the plot as well as the tropes. I also enjoyed adding little easter eggs into the story that C-drama fans would immediately pick up on, such as a certain white fan that can be used as a martial arts weapon!
While the world of Legend Of The White Snake is not strictly historical, I also spent a good deal of time researching the general historical time period which I based the story on, that is, the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era of Chinese history. I also studied many topographical maps of the West Lake, which is a major setting of the original folktale and this story, as well as iconic architectural elements such as Leifeng Pagoda, a significant location in the folktale as well as my retelling.
What have you been reading lately? Any recommendations?
The Dark Rise series by C. S. Pacat (Quill Tree, 2021) is phenomenal, and I also love the YA fantasy titles by Vanessa Len, F.T. Lukens, and Aiden Thomas. On the adult side, I love Sarah Rees Brennan’s Long Live Evil (Orbit, 2024) and Ehigbor Okosun’s Forged By Blood (HarperVoyager, 2023), and I cannot wait for the next instalments in these series.
What are you working on next?
I have a second YA fantasy in the works, scheduled for publication in 2026 from Quill Tree/HarperCollins.
Find me on social media:
Instagram: @sherleeauthor
Preorder links: https://sherleeauthor.carrd.co/
Website: https://sherleeauthor.com
Cynsational Notes:
Sher Lee writes young adult novels with Asian characters. She lives in Singapore and has an abiding love for local street food (including an incredible weakness for xiao long bao). She has two adorable corgis, Clover and Spade.
AJ Eversole grew up in rural Oklahoma, a place removed from city life and full of opportunities to grow the imagination, which she did through intense games of make believe. She graduated from Oklahoma State University. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and hopes to be traditionally published in the near future. She currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas with her husband and son. Visit her on Threads & Instagram: @ajeversole