Cynsations

Author Interview: Jenna Lee-Yun on the Intersection of her Work as a Clinical Psychologist & her Writing Life

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By Suma Subramaniam

I’m thrilled to welcome MG author Jenna Lee-Yun to Cynsations! I met Jenna at several SCBWI events in the Seattle area a few years ago, and we’ve been friends since then. If you haven’t read her work, it’s a good time to catch up now. The Last Rhee Witch (Disney Hyperion, 2024) combines magic, mystery, suspense, and humor into a ghostly action-packed contemporary fantasy. It made the list among such incredible books on School Library Journal’s Best Middle Grade Books of 2024.

You are not only an author but also a clinical psychologist. Tell us about your life wearing multiple hats. Can you also tell us what brought you to write for children and young adults?

Like many authors, I was a voracious reader as a child, but unlike many authors I know, I was not a young writer. Moreover, I stopped reading novels by high school and didn’t rediscover my love for reading until I was in my twenties and in graduate school. And it wasn’t until I was in my thirties that I decided to write and pursue publication. But when I found my way back to books, I was reminded of the ones that made me a reader. And those were middle grade stories. So it feels right to have debuted with a novel in that age category.

From the start, I knew I wanted to write a story that was fun and magical—the kind of book I have always enjoyed reading. Aside from that, I was inspired to write a Korean American protagonist who struggles with identity due to not feeling Korean enough, which is something I know a lot of children in the diaspora community can relate to. And I think not feeling enough in many different ways is something readers (of any age but particularly pre-teens) can relate to. Also, being able to publish books about characters that look like me with stories that are an amalgamation of Korean and American myth, culture, and identity is something I had not imagined when I was young. It’s a dream I didn’t know I could have, but I’m so grateful for the privilege of realizing that dream now.

As a clinical psychologist, I have worked with children, teens, and adults providing therapy, psychological assessments, and diagnostic evaluations in both inpatient and outpatient settings. I like to think that the characters I write benefit from my professional experiences, learning from a diverse population of teachers and clients who truly care about mental health. This is probably why I most enjoy stories that strike a balance between being plot-driven and character-driven. They go hand-in-hand!

Could you tell us about your books?

The Last Rhee Witch (Disney Hyperion, 2024) is my debut middle grade novel. It’s a contemporary fantasy with a huge dose of Korean lore that’s set at a sleep away summer camp in Central Washington.

Ronnie, the protagonist in the story, struggles with feeling like she isn’t “enough,” whether it’s being Korean, a best friend, or just a “normal kid.” This is especially hard on Ronnie, who really likes to be in control. That’s why she limits her social circle to her dad and her best friend Jack, why she never takes chances, and why she embraces practicality and predictability as much as she does. But then her dad makes her go to sleep away camp where she’s faced with the most impossible and unpredictable challenge: to stop a murderous dokkaebi (a Korean goblin) by teaming up with a gwishin (a Korean ghost) who was a witch when she was living. Now Ronnie must fight for her life while everything in it seems to be spinning out of control.

The Last Rhee Witch and the Nine-Tailed Fox (Disney Hyperion, May 2025) is the sequel to The Last Rhee Witch. Several months after the conclusion of the first book, Ronnie and her friends return to Camp Foster for winter camp.

Ronnie has a lot of expectations for how great camp will be now that she has a new group of friends she can count on. But nothing is turning out the way she expected. Not only is everyone too busy to get together, but they’re all keeping secrets from one another. To make matters worse, when campers begin inexplicably falling ill, Ronnie’s suspects a gumiho—a nine-tailed fox—is stalking the grounds at Camp Foster and feeding on people’s life energy. And the gumiho is hungry.

What was your path to publication?

This is such a fun question for me because I get to say that The Last Rhee Witch really was the first book I ever wrote! In fact, it was the very first book I had ever even thought to write. When I wrote the very first draft of TLRW on a whim while in grad school, I knew nothing of publishing or writing craft. As you can imagine that book would never have been published and I didn’t pursue that route. I wrote it, set it aside, and began my doctoral program, during which I wrote only academic papers.

Then I finished school, got married, had my two children, and started my career before I decided to try writing novels with the goal of being published, which was around 2016. While learning everything I could about publishing children’s books, I wrote a young adult fantasy novel. I queried that novel and signed with an agent in 2020. However, that agent left agenting a few months later, and rather than being assigned to a different agent within that agency, I decided to seek another agent on my own with a different book altogether.

I dusted off the middle grade I had written so long ago and then promptly tossed it out, save for a couple of names and the general idea of a story set at a summer camp. I rewrote that book, changing at least 95% of it and submitted it to Author Mentor Match by the end of 2020. I was so lucky to be selected as a mentee by Shana Targosz, who taught me so much about craft and helped me revise the book.

I queried that revised book with agents in 2021 and signed with my current agent, Emily Forney at BookEnds Literary Agency, in October of that year. I revised the book again with Emily and we went out on submission with publishers at the end of March 2022. I received an offer for a two-book deal from Disney Hyperion at the end of June 2022 and that brings us to today! My debut middle grade novel is available wherever you buy books, and the sequel is scheduled to release on May 6, 2025!

Could you share your revision process for both the novels?

I believe I’m in the majority when I say I’d much rather revise a novel than draft it. That said, how easily or quickly I draft is different for every book. The Last Rhee Witch took me about a month to draft, but my revisions with my Author Mentor Match mentor and literary agent were pretty massive and took a couple of months each. I’ve learned that I like to dig really deep when I revise and I’m a happy cutter! I really enjoy taking the story apart and putting it together in an entirely new way with fresh ideas—ones I wouldn’t have been able to come up with if the first draft didn’t exist. And try as I might, I’m just not satisfied with a story until it has gone through those two heavy revisions, during which at least fifty percent of the book changes each round.

Drafting The Last Rhee Witch and the Nine-Tailed Fox took longer, but after that initial draft, it also went through the two rounds of heavy revisions. Unlike the first book, this second book had very few eyes on the pages other than my editor. Because this book was written under contract, I didn’t want to lose sight of the shared vision between my editor and me, so when I did ask a couple of author friends to read the early draft, I asked for minimal and large-scale feedback only. Three revisions seems to be the magic number, because after that, the story was ready for line edits!

Jenna’s dog

How would you describe your writing process these days? Has it evolved over time?

You know, I really hope to be able to provide a clear and succinct answer to this question one day! As of yet, I’m still unclear on my writing process because what works for me changes with each book. One large-scale thing I have noticed about my own writing tendencies is that my creative brain commits to one story at a time. I don’t have many shiny new ideas popping up to mind to distract me from whatever I’m working on at any given time. I become singularly obsessed with my WIP!

What do you think is the most difficult part of being an author?

There are many joys and challenges with being an author, and different ones seem to crop up at various stages of the writing! For me, personally, I find managing time to be the most challenging aspect. First of all, it just takes so long to write an entire novel and I’m an impatient person! Secondly, and very much related to my first point, there never seems to be enough time to write. Not only because I have a day job and a family that I want to be present for and with, but when I’m deep into project, I develop that book villain single-minded focus, and I would like nothing more than to go into a writing cave and remain until I am finished. But that’s not possible as an adult with a job and children. I also have to do human things like eat and sleep (ugh).

There is truly never enough time to do it all. But, challenging as it may be, I feel so lucky to have all of this in my life and I would haven’t have it any other way!

What advice do you have for up-and-coming writers?

I’m sure everyone is sick of hearing the same advice, but there’s a reason it is one of the most popular answers! So here it is (again): Keep going! I firmly believe publishing is 60% persistence and 20% luck and 20% timing (which is also a kind of luck).

What’s next for Jenna?

I’m in uncharted territory right now. I have one book out and another on the way, but after that, I don’t have anything under contract! For the first time in a couple of years, there are no restrictions or deadlines. I’m taking advantage of the position I’m in at the moment and taking a shot at going out on submission with publishers based on proposals, which are partial manuscript samples of story ideas rather than completed manuscripts. I also have a couple of other stories in progress aside from the proposal projects that I’m very excited about. I hope I’ll have news to share soon!

Cynsational Notes

Jenna Lee-Yun is a Clinical Psychologist residing in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, son, daughter, and mini-goldendoodle. A voracious reader as a child, Jenna found there were few books featuring characters who looked like her. Now, she is overjoyed to not only see so much more diversity in children’s books, but to contribute her own stories with a Korean American protagonist in her middle-grade series, The Last Rhee Witch.

Suma Subramaniam‘s interests and passions in writing for children and young adults are mostly centered around STEM/STEAM related topics as well as India and Indian heritage. When she’s not writing, she’s gardening or volunteering for We Need Diverse Books and SCBWI or blogging about children’s books at Diverse Verse blog or Cynsations blog. Learn more at https://sumasubramaniam.com.