Beach Reads Week: Katie Yee's Heartbreak Novel

Summary

Podcast Summary: All Of It with Alison Stewart – "Beach Reads Week: Katie Yee's Heartbreak Novel"

Podcast Information

• Title: All Of It
• Host: Alison Stewart, WNYC
• Episode: Beach Reads Week: Katie Yee's Heartbreak Novel
• Release Date: July 10, 2025
• Description: ALL OF IT explores culture and its consumers, engaging thinkers, creators, and the WNYC community in discussions about the cultural landscape of New York City.

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Introduction

In this episode of All Of It, host Alison Stewart delves into the world of contemporary fiction by engaging with Katie Yee, a local author, about her debut novel, Maggie or A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar. This episode is part of the show's Beach Reads Week, aiming to spotlight engaging summer reads that reflect diverse cultural experiences.

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Guest Introduction: Katie Yee

[00:29] Alison Stewart:
Alison introduces Katie Yee and her novel, highlighting the intriguing duality of the name "Maggie" in the story—referring both to a person and a cancerous tumor. She sets the stage for an insightful conversation about overcoming personal adversity through storytelling.

[01:52] Katie Yee:
Katie expresses her admiration for the show and shares how listening to All Of It has been a companion during her daily routines.

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Synopsis of Maggie or A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar

[02:03] Alison Stewart:
Alison prompts Katie to discuss the inception of her novel, which began as a short story idea before expanding into a full-length novel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[02:16] Katie Yee:
Katie explains that the pandemic provided the time and space to develop her writing, transforming her initial short story into the comprehensive narrative of the novel.

[02:43] Alison Stewart:
Questions Katie about the influence of her professional life at the Brooklyn Museum on her writing.

[02:46] Katie Yee:
Katie elaborates on how constant exposure to visual art influences her focus on language and sound in her writing, drawing a parallel to the concept of Aphantasia—the inability to visualize—highlighting her reliance on words to create vivid imagery.

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Key Themes and Discussions

1. Navigating Personal Crises

[05:02] Katie Yee:
Provides a poignant reading from her novel, depicting the protagonist's discovery of her husband's affair at an Indian buffet restaurant. She emphasizes the realism and emotional depth of the scene, illustrating how everyday settings can frame significant life-altering moments.

[07:13] Katie Yee:
Discusses the symbolic choice of an Indian buffet as the setting for the husband's revelation, intertwining personal elements from her own life, such as her desire to enjoy Indian cuisine and write her scene simultaneously.

[08:09] Katie Yee:
Explores how the protagonist's simultaneous battles with divorce and a breast cancer diagnosis create a layered narrative of resilience and self-reclamation. She highlights the protagonist's decision to withhold her illness from her estranged husband as a means of asserting control over her own story.

[09:37] Katie Yee:
Shares personal connections to the theme of breast cancer, explaining its deep roots in her family history and how it became a central element of her novel to honor her loved ones' experiences.

2. The Power of Storytelling and Mythology

[14:38] Alison Stewart:
Introduces the discussion of myths and fairy tales within the novel, prompting Katie to explain their significance.

[14:56] Katie Yee:
Katie delves into her love for Greek and Chinese mythology, inherited from her mother and grandmother. She integrates these myths into her narrative to enrich the cultural tapestry of her story and provide deeper symbolic meaning.

[15:39] Katie Yee:
Recalls a cherished childhood memory with her grandmother, sharing a Chinese myth about the moon and trees, which inspired a key element in her novel.

3. Friendship and Support Systems

[14:13] Katie Yee:
Emphasizes the importance of friendship in her novel, inspired by her own strong support network. She introduces the character Darlene, who embodies the "ride or die" friend, providing the protagonist with unwavering support during her trials.

[14:22] Alison Stewart:
Echoes this sentiment, highlighting the absence of such supportive friendships in many divorce narratives, and Katie agrees, attributing Darlene’s creation to her real-life friends who have been her pillars of strength.

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Writing Process and Author Insights

[19:31] Alison Stewart:
Queries Katie about balancing her career at the Brooklyn Museum with her writing commitments.

[19:41] Katie Yee:
Reveals her nighttime writing routine, taking advantage of quiet hours to craft her stories by hand, preferring the tactile process of writing over digital methods.

[20:32] Katie Yee:
Describes her fondness for parentheses in her writing style, likening them to theatrical asides that engage the reader in a conversational manner.

[21:47] Katie Yee:
Offers practical advice for aspiring writers: using an hourglass timer to dedicate focused time to writing, emphasizing the importance of discipline and routine.

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Book Recommendations for Summer Reading Challenge

As part of the Beach Reads Week, Katie Yee shares her top book picks across various categories:

1. Classic You've Been Meaning to Get To:

   • First Love by Ivan Turgenev
     A evocative novella exploring youthful romance and nostalgia.

2. Book Set in New York City:

   • Best of Everything by Rhona Jaffe
     A gripping tale of four young women navigating the publishing industry in New York.

3. Recent Debut Novel:

   • Cinema Love by Jiaming Tang
     A heartfelt depiction of gay men in rural China and the women who marry them, offering a fresh perspective on Chinatown.

4. Memoir or Biography:

   • Nothing More of This Land by Joseph Lee
     A profound exploration of indigenous identity and history centered around Martha's Vineyard.

5. Book Published in 2025:

   • Exit Zero by Marie Helene Bertino
     A captivating collection of short stories that evoke the surreal and the everyday with equal finesse.

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Conclusion and Final Thoughts

[21:12] Katie Yee:
Expresses excitement for her book’s release and the opportunity to connect with readers through upcoming events and tours. She underscores the importance of community support and the joy of sharing her story with others.

[21:47] Katie Yee:
Encourages aspiring writers to commit to their craft by setting aside dedicated time, reinforcing the notion that writing requires both passion and perseverance.

[22:15] Alison Stewart:
Wraps up the conversation, highlighting the essential themes of Katie Yee’s novel and expressing gratitude for her insightful contributions.

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Notable Quotes

• Katie Yee on Writing Inspiration:
  “I've been trying and failing to write about this thing that runs through my family. I wanted to lovingly throw as much at her as I could and see what she could do with it.”
  [09:37]

• On Reclaiming Her Story:
  “There can be something really powerful about reclaiming your own story that way.”
  [08:40]

• About Friendship:
  “I have never had to go through anything truly terrible in life all alone. I have so many best friends who I can lean on.”
  [14:22]

• Advice for Writers:
  “Get an hourglass. Just sit down. So much of writing is just putting your butt in that chair.”
  [21:47]

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Key Takeaways

• Resilience in Adversity:
  Maggie or A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar portrays the protagonist's journey through marital breakdown and a cancer diagnosis, highlighting themes of resilience and self-empowerment.

• Cultural and Mythological Depth:
  Katie Yee intertwines Greek and Chinese myths into her narrative, enriching the story's cultural context and providing symbolic layers that resonate with diverse readers.

• The Importance of Support Systems:
  The novel emphasizes the role of friendships in navigating personal crises, reflecting the author's own experiences with strong supportive relationships.

• Writing as a Personal and Artistic Endeavor:
  Katie's dedication to her craft, from her nighttime writing routines to her preference for handwritten drafts, illustrates the personal commitment required to bring a novel to life.

• Community Engagement:
  The release events and tour plans underscore the importance of connecting with readers and building a community around shared literary experiences.

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Join the Conversation

For those interested in exploring Katie Yee’s debut novel, Maggie or A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar, release on July 22nd, 2025, and participate in upcoming events at the NYPL Chatham Square branch and Melissa Joy Manning Jewelry Bookstore.

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This summary captures the essence of the episode, highlighting the significant points discussed between Alison Stewart and Katie Yee, and providing insights into the novel’s themes, the author’s writing process, and her book recommendations.

Transcript

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[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. We're continuing our week of beach reads with a debut novel that could even count towards your summer reading challenge. There are two Maggie's in the novel from local author Katie Yee. One is the woman the protagonist's husband has been having an affair with and the other is a cancerous tumor. So it's fitting that the title of the novel is Maggie Colon or A man and a Woman walk into a Bar. The story follows a young mom married with two kids. She is blindsided by her husband's revelation that he's fallen in love with another woman and that their marriage is over. In the midst of this heartbreak, our protagonist receives another shock. She's diagnosed with breast cancer. She names her tumor Maggie after the woman her husband has left her for. The novel follows the moment of transition as one woman figures out how to push through the face push through in the face of life changing circumstances. By day Katie, she works for the Brooklyn Museum. Maggie or A Man and a Woman Walk into a Bar will be out on July 22nd. And on the 22nd, Katie will be speaking at the NYPL Chatham Square branch with you and Me books. And on July 24, she'll be at a special BFF night with books or Magic at the Melissa Joy Manning Jewelry Bookstore. That's important. We'll get to it in a moment. But it is really nice to talk to you, Katie.

[Katie Yee]

It's really nice to be here, Alison. Can I just say I'm such a huge fan of the show. I feel like it's so wild to meet you because I've been listening to your voice keep me company on like lunchtime walks and just in my living room. So it's a pleasure to be here.

[Alison Stewart]

It is nice to keep you company as well. I read that you started working on this novel really in a serious way during COVID Yes. What was it about that time that motivated you to work on a novel?

[Katie Yee]

I mean, I think we all picked up some interesting hobbies during that time. I also started roller skating, but that's like a whole other story. I've always wanted to be a writer though, and I before this had considered myself only A short story writer. So I started this novel probably as a short story just before the pandemic. But I just kept coming back to it time and time again, and eventually she just kind of got too big and rolled away from me and became this novel.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, you also have a job job at the Brooklyn Museum.

[Katie Yee]

I do.

[Alison Stewart]

How does being around all that visual art inspire your writing?

[Katie Yee]

This is a fantastic question. Have you. I'm going to go on a little bit of a tangent here, so forgive me, but have you heard that Radiolab episode about Aphantasia?

[Unnamed Interviewer]

No.

[Katie Yee]

Okay. There is this whole thing. Listeners, bear with me. Close your eyes for a second. Not if you're driving, but if you're able to close your eyes. Close your eyes and picture an apple. You got it? Okay, Open your eyes. Can you describe your apple to me?

[Alison Stewart]

It's red.

[Katie Yee]

Okay. Okay. The crux of the episode is just that whether or not you can have, like, a mental image is kind of a broad spectrum. So some people can really see things in general, and also when they read, they can, like, picture the scenes and picture the characters, and some people can't. And I feel like I kind of fall on that other end of it. So it's really lovely to be around art all the time and around this visual medium when, for me, personally, I'm so focused mostly on the words and, like, the language and the sound.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

It's changed for me in the past couple of years. As you can imagine, before our narrator in this book has dinner with her husband, what would she say the state of the marriage is? How does she think things were going?

[Katie Yee]

She was really happy. I think that's the sad part. She was really, really happy in her marriage. And as you mentioned, she's got two young kids, and I think she just. I think she just thought her life was kind of set, you know, I will say that the novel opens with her kind of watching her husband tell her children this bedtime story, and she's noticing that he's kind of mixing up all the characters in these different, you know, fairy tales. And I think, if anything, there was a little bit of a moment of jealousy where she kind of watch her children laugh with him in a way that they don't really do with her. And this kind of sets her off on this journey of trying to really understand her kid's sense of humor. But aside from that, I would say she thought that the marriage was good.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

We're gonna ask you to read a little bit from the book. This is the moment that our narrator finds out about her husband's affair. This is Katie Yee reading from Maggie, or A man and a woman walk into a bar.

[Katie Yee]

When my husband told me about Maggie, we were out, kidless at a nice Indian restaurant. I should have known something was up. But the restaurant we were at was actually an all you can eat buffet, so one can imagine the excitement that blinded me. The plates they give you at those things are never as large as you want them to be. They trust that you will not want to get up and down and pace around the buffet table so much. But I requested we get the table right in front of it. So we'll see when they replenish the samosas, I said to my husband, who simply shook his head but sat down across from me the way he always had. He laid the red linen napkin across his lap, which reminded me to do the same. My husband always the man with the good manners. When we first moved in together, with no furniture to speak of, we sat on the hardwood floor and ordered Papa John's. I remember he laid a tiny paper napkin across his knee with a great flourish that night, and I remember remembering that moment at the restaurant. Funny, isn't it? The things that stick. The first part of the evening was marvelous. An all you can eat buffet, a place of possibility. I gorged on garlic naan and saag paneer. We drank creamy mango lassis out of stout goblets. Having the table near the buffet meant we got a lot of foot traffic. This, of course, made it incredibly awkward. When my husband finally said what it was that he wanted to say, I remember thinking he had been eyeing the buffet line with a rare intensity all evening. At first I thought he was just eager to get his second fill when the line was shortest. In hindsight, I think he was timing it such that no one would be within earshot when he said it. I had been in a good mood that day on account of the surprise. Fancy dinner? Don't get too excited. It's not that nice, sam had said when I was opening the door and making little exclamations of joy. When I was growing up, my family didn't eat out at restaurants much, and there are some things you never grow out of. I was yammering on about some gossip from the pta, a very minor treasury scandal that isn't worth dwelling on. Then I guess my husband saw his moment. A clearing of the cars, a log to float on and set it. Four little words. I'm having an affair.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

That's Katie Yee reading from her book. Maggie Or a man and a woman walk into a bar. Okay, first of all, why did you want to have a conversation at an Indian food buffet?

[Katie Yee]

Do you want to know the internal logic answer or like the real life?

[Unnamed Interviewer]

Both.

[Katie Yee]

Okay. I think within the logic of the book. I think for Sam, he. He's kind of obsessed with this idea of being like the good guy. Right. He wanted to give her one last, like, beautiful date at this restaurant that clearly she was having a really good time at in real life. I. I had wanted to order Indian food. I was hungry. My boyfriend was not home that night. And I was like, this will be my special treat. I'll eat this food and I'll write the scene. And that's really where the samosas came in. It's interesting.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

You said that he wanted her to have one last beautiful night, and that seems to be a theme that comes up in the book. That he wants to have one last time with the kids and one more beautiful thing. I think that speaks to his character a lot in this book.

[Katie Yee]

Definitely. Well, and this is something that she's also preoccupied with, that I think we all kind of are like, thinking about the way that we tell ourselves certain stories. Right. And the way that some of us might always be thinking about the way things might end, you know, the way that you might continue dating someone a little longer than you should. Just because the meet cute story. Right. The origin story was so good. Yeah. I think we all have this preoccupation with kind of crafting the story of our own lives in an interesting way.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

Is this why she doesn't necessarily fight over the marriage? Is this why she's like, that's not going to be in my story. I'm not going to fight this woman to the death for this man.

[Katie Yee]

I think he makes it clear at the beginning when he tells her that he's. He's sorry, but he's not asking for her forgiveness. Right. And I think to her, I mean, she kind of retreats internally and she says, you know what, Fine, right? Like that you've made your decision, I'm gonna make mine. And then she has this whole other huge life event to deal with. Right. She's diagnosed with breast cancer shortly thereafter, and she makes this very conscious choice not to tell him about the illness because he's no longer part of her story in that way. And I think that there can be something really powerful about reclaiming your own story that way.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

How did breast cancer enter the story? Was that always going to be a part of it? Was that Always going to be part of the end result of the book.

[Katie Yee]

Yeah. I mean, on a personal note, and sorry to get so dour, but, you know, breast cancer runs in my family. It's something that my grandmother and mother have both had and lived through. So I think for a long time I had been trying to write about breast cancer. The way that I understand the world has so much to do with what I put on the page. And I think I'd been trying and failing to write about this thing that runs through my family. I think actually, when it was a short story, they started out as very different elements. Right. There was, like, divorce, maybe there was like another story that had to do with cancer. The kids weren't even really part of it when it was a short story. But in this narrator, I felt that I had created someone who was resilient and fun and could be funny. And I wanted to lovingly, kind of throw as much at her as I could and see. See what she could do with it.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

This might sound odd, but.

[Katie Yee]

Yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

How does having cancer affect the way she processes grieving her marriage?

[Katie Yee]

I think it really puts a lot of things into perspective. I mean, she. She names the tumor after his lover as kind of a way to be like, you know, you have your Maggie, I can have mine. You have your secrets, and I have mine. So, yeah, I think. I think it kind of puts things to scale.

[Alison Stewart]

We're talking with Katie Yee. Her book is titled Maggie or A Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar. It's her debut novel. We don't learn a lot about Maggie. We learn that she's blond, she goes looking for her on LinkedIn. Why didn't you want to go into more detail about Maggie?

[Katie Yee]

Yeah, I. This wasn't Maggie's story, you know, and I feel like you could maybe say the same thing about Sam. Even her husband, he's in the novel, and I. I guess he's as close as you can get to like a quote unquote, villain character. So I didn't want to make them too flat. But I also wanted to kind of honor the space that she wanted to take up in her own story. So, I mean, you don't really see much of Maggie and not terribly too much of Sam either.

[Alison Stewart]

Why did you choose to name her Maggie?

[Katie Yee]

I am horrible at naming characters. The honest answer is I was listening to a lot of Maggie Rogers, who I love, saw her in concert when she was here in New York City. But I think it's important to give even your villain characters traits of People that you love as a way to not completely vilify them and flatten them. So that's honestly probably where the name came from.

[Alison Stewart]

And as I said, I mentioned that she's blonde. They realize that her husband that is leaving Sam is leaving for a white woman. How does our narrator feel about that fact?

[Katie Yee]

I think that's so hard, right? Because, I mean, on the one hand, we've probably all experienced a kind of heartbreak. Maybe you've been left for someone else. Maybe there was an affair. Maybe you're looking at the person that your person is dating right after you, and you're wondering. You're trying to parse out, like, what is it about them? What do they have that I don't have? And, I mean, honestly, there's no way that race doesn't come up a little bit in our narrator's mind. She's Chinese American. Her husband is white. And of course, it's something that she thinks about.

[Alison Stewart]

What emotions does it bring up for her?

[Katie Yee]

I mean, a little bit of jealousy, a little bit about. I think it makes her revisit their story a little bit. Right. I think she's sort of like, does he feel like he made the wrong choice? Class is also a little bit of a question mark here. Right where her husband Sam has grown up in this rather wealthy family. And I think our narrator is kind of looking towards Maggie, and she's like, you know, did Sam really mean to end up with a woman that was a little bit more like him? You know, some people, I think they think of relationships as, like, finding someone who will, you know, the perfect last puzzle piece that'll fit into their lives. And some people look at them as doors that'll open up whole other worlds. And I. I think that's what our narrator was hoping that their marriage was.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, Sam kind of goes through the.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

World with a certain amount of ease.

[Alison Stewart]

I mentioned the BFF event you're having, because friendship is a really big part of this book. Darlene is her friend. She's a little bit of ride or die. What did you want to explore about the power of friendship?

[Katie Yee]

I have read and loved so many divorce novels that the whole time I'm reading them, though, I'm like, but where is this girl's best friend?

[Alison Stewart]

Where is she?

[Katie Yee]

Where is she? And I'm incredibly lucky. I have never had to go through anything truly terrible in life all alone. I have so many best friends who I can lean on, and I've put bits and pieces of all of them into Darlene. So she was by far the most fun character to write.

[Alison Stewart]

She was the most fun, definitely. Nice. A big part of the novel, it's about the myths and the fairy tales that the narrator tells her children at night. Why did you want to include these classic folk tales in your story?

[Katie Yee]

I think, you know, I love Greek mythology. My own mother was a classics major, so she. She told me a lot of Greek myths growing up. But, you know, with that, I also heard a lot of Chinese myths from my mom and my grandmother when I was growing up. And I hadn't seen so much of that on the page in a lot of book was reading. I mean, even when I was trying to research different Chinese myths, I was having a hard time tracking some of them down. So a lot of the ones that you'll read here in this book are just from my mom and from my grandmother and the way that they told it to me and the way that I remember them.

[Alison Stewart]

Which one really stays with you? Which story?

[Katie Yee]

That's a really good question. I don't know that we have time for the really, really long one, but one in particular that I'm thinking of, I was standing in the driveway when I was a kid, and there was a full moon that had all these kind of speckles on it. And my grandmother was with me, and she said, you know, the Chinese believe that there's a tree on the moon and that that's kind of where the shadows come in. And so I did a little bit of my own research and fleshed out that myth a little bit. But I often think about that moment there in the driveway with my grandma.

[Alison Stewart]

My guest is author Katie Yee. Her new book is titled Maggie or A Man and a Woman or Walk into a Bar. It's about a woman coping with divorce and breast cancer diagnosis. It's out July 22nd. All right. You were so nice to give us some examples for our summer reading challenge. People could read your book as a book that came out in 2025. Let's talk a little bit about some of the choices that you've made.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

Sure.

[Katie Yee]

I would love to.

[Alison Stewart]

The first category is a classic you've been meaning to get to. What are you recommending?

[Katie Yee]

Okay. First Love by Ivan Turgene. This is an example of how quick this book is easy to read, because in the time that's elapsed between us having this conversation and me writing this list, already read it. Great novella. It starts off, it's very gossipy. A bunch of people sitting around at a dinner table and someone says, tell us the story of your first love. And then we get this long. The rest of the novel is just this long story about this man when he was a teenager falling in love with his beautiful next door neighbor. It embodies the feeling of like at the end of the night, you know, you're sitting with a bunch of friends at a dinner table and you're opening one last bottle of wine and read.

[Alison Stewart]

That a book about or set in New York City. You selected the Best of Everything by Rhona Jaffe.

[Katie Yee]

Yes, this is an incredible book that follows four young women who work in publishing. I used to work in publishing, so a lot of this resonated because a lot has changed and a lot has not. I think what publishing fails to do and pay, really, they compensate with the people. So a lot about this book is about the people that you meet when you're at this young, malleable age learning how to have a job, learning how to be young in New York. Great for fans of the bold type and younger.

[Alison Stewart]

For a recent debut novel, you've been recommending a novel called Cinema Love.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

Who's this by?

[Katie Yee]

Yes, this is by Jiaming Tang. Super fantastic novel about gay men in rural China and the women who marry them. But for all you local New York City listeners, it's just the most wonderful depiction of a Chinatown that I have not really seen in books.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

Interesting.

[Katie Yee]

So if you remember the East Broadway mall, this one's for you.

[Alison Stewart]

I do. For memoir or biography, you're recommending Nothing More of this Land by Joseph Lee. It's a memoir and a history of a place close to my heart, Martha's Vineyard.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

My parents are laid to rest there.

[Katie Yee]

Really?

[Alison Stewart]

And my sister lives there. So tell me more. I don't know about anything about this book.

[Katie Yee]

This is very much a book. So Joseph is a journalist and he's kind of exploring. Exploring what it means to be indigenous. And his tribe is from the Martha's Vineyard area. So definitely, if you've spent time in that area, this will be the book for you.

[Alison Stewart]

And finally, for a book published in 2025, you're recommending a collection of stories called Exit Zero.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

Who is this by?

[Katie Yee]

Yes, that's Marie Helene Bertino. I just love short stories. I think they need more love. Hers are wonderful, almost like a fever dream of a short story. There's one where the main character is walking down the street and it's reigning ex boyfriend. So I feel like. Enough said.

[Alison Stewart]

Wow. Well, thank you for contributing to our summer Challenge reading list.

[Katie Yee]

Thank you.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

I had to ask you you said you worked in publishing and you worked at the Brooklyn Museum. When did you find time to write?

[Katie Yee]

That's a great question. I'm kind of a night owl, so just in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep. Really? Yeah.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

So what was your process like? Is it the kind of thing where you just turn on the light and you sit down at your computer and you just write whatever comes to your mind?

[Katie Yee]

I am old school, so I like to write by hand. Mostly I draft. Most interesting. You know, I just love going to the stationary store and picking out a new notebook. What kind of pencils do you use? Oh, that's a good question. I love the muji pens. Okay. 0.5. Okay. Yeah. But my boyfriend goes to bed a little bit earlier than I do, so I think the hours between like 10 and 1am are really where I like to try to sit down and write. But I'm not terribly disciplined, so it's not every day.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

I love the black wing pencils. They're so gorgeous when you write with them.

[Katie Yee]

Yes.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

You think you're writing something beautiful? Not necessarily, but you think it's beautiful.

[Katie Yee]

The most gorgeous grocery list I've ever seen.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

You also write with a lot of parentheses.

[Katie Yee]

I do.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

Why? Why is that? Is that because you have a thought coming to mind? You want to make sure we get it or why do you. Why do you include them so often?

[Katie Yee]

I like a little bit of an aside, you know, it kind of feels almost like I have a lot of friends who are. Who work in theater. And I think that the parentheses are sort of like, you know, a different way to address the audience.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

This book is going to be out in the world in just two weeks. What are you looking forward to its release? What are you looking forward to once it's been released into the world?

[Katie Yee]

Well, I did order a giant cake with the COVID on it, so I'm very excited to eat that with my friends and family who are all coming to the launch. But I'm mostly excited to connect with readers. We're going on this wonderful tour through the Midwest and I've already been getting like sweet DMs from people who've. Who've been reading it. And yeah, just this opportunity to connect with people who the story speaks to has been amazing. I feel really lucky.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

There are people out there who think they have a debut novel in them. They probably do. What advice would you give them to get started?

[Katie Yee]

Get an hourglass. This is what I would recommend. Get an hourglass. 15 minutes, 30 minutes. And just sit down. So much of writing is just putting your butt in that chair.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

The name of the book is Maggie or A man and a woman walk into a bar. It is coming out on July 22, I think. And speaking with Katie Yee. Katie, thanks for being on the show.

[Katie Yee]

Thank you, Alison. This was such a delight. It was so fun talking to you.

[Unnamed Interviewer]

I'm so glad you were here.

[Katie Yee]

1, 2, 3, 4. Those are numbers. But you already knew that. If you want to know what number you're going to pay each month for your car, use Kelley Blue Book My Wallet on Autotrader. They're really good at numbers.

[Progressive Insurance]

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