Debut novelist and 2023 Reese’s Book Club LitUp fellow Allison King on blending history with magical realism, and what it takes to build a writing life while navigating the modern publishing landscape.

We discuss:

Allison’s early relationship with stories and the role her grandmother played in shaping it.
The path from fan fiction and short stories to publishing a debut novel.
The dual timeline and braided structure of The Phoenix Pencil Company, moving between WWII-era Shanghai and contemporary Cambridge.
Building a magic system at the heart of the novel, and why its consequences matter more than its mechanics.
Pragmatic outlining and structural tools (including reverse outlining) for managing timeline-heavy drafts.
Researching family history without turning the book into an autobiography.
Writing about Alzheimer’s with care, and what Allison learned in revision about emotional precision.

Resources and Links:

About Allison King

Allison King is an Asian American writer and software engineer based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In technology, her work has ranged from semiconductors to platforms for community conversations to data privacy. Her short stories have appeared in Fantasy Magazine, Diabolical Plots, and LeVar Burton Reads, among others. She is also a 2023 Reese's Book Club LitUp fellow. The Phoenix Pencil Company is her first novel.

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#176: Allison King — Breaking into Publishing as Debut Novelist, Writing Historical Fiction With Magical Realism, Plus Tools For Structure