I am the author of The Luster of Lost Things. My short fiction has previously appeared in publications such as Glimmer Train and Pedestal Magazine. Born in China and raised in Ohio and California, I graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Economics and worked in brand consulting and fashion before leaving to pursue my dream of writing. I currently live in New York City with my husband and a not-so-secret cabinet of sweets.

My love for fiction stems from the countless childhood hours my mom spent reading bedtime stories out loud, from dog-eared library copies of E.B. White and Roald Dahl, to help me learn English. So while my parents are mathematicians, I grew up writing short stories.

My first short story publication came when I was 15, in Glimmer Train, after I placed second in their Short Story Award for New Writers. I’ve known since then that I wanted to be a writer, and the first book I wanted to write would be a grown-up version of the books I loved so much as a kid, about a world like ours – populated by good people and children who see more deeply and clearly than any of us – but steeped in magic, something golden, and probably a little weirdness.

I’m rather fond of desserts at any time of the day, especially if they’re of the interesting, unusual variety, like cereal milk ice cream or red velvet pudding or spekuloos waffles (thanks, Shirley!). Growing up, my family had a golden retriever named Thor, after the Norse god of thunder and lightning, although he was afraid of both thunder and lightning.