Rosalie M. Lin

Welcome back, friend! After ten reasons I liked Daughter of Calamity, it’s time to get the inside story behind this historical fiction from Rosalin. 🙂

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Get to know the author: Rosalie M. Lin

Hi Rosalie! It is a pleasure to have you on Armed with A Book. Please tell me and my readers a bit about yourself.

I am a Chinese American author from the San Francisco Bay Area who has at various times worked as a waitress, scientist, pole dancer, English tutor, and freelance writer. One of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken was dropping out of a PhD program to prioritize my dream of becoming an author. Currently I live in San Francisco, where I collect an embarrassing number of parking tickets from forgetting to move my car when I’m super focused on writing. I have a lifelong passion for dancing and a long-term mission to visit every single boba shop and coffeeshop in San Francisco. Daughter of Calamity is my debut novel!

Daughter of Calamity is set in the vibrant and dangerous world of 1930s Shanghai and is told from the perspective of a cabaret dancer. What inspired you to choose this setting for your novel?

In college when I was studying abroad in Beijing, I had two separate gigs pole dancing in two very different clubs. One was in a bustling district with many universities and a very international crowd—they played EDM music and had things like bottle service. The second was in the city outskirts with an entirely Chinese patronage that preferred karaoke and live music. These differences inspired me to think about the history of nightlife in China and how nightlife might have been influenced or changed by colonial occupation. I chose the 1930s because dancing and cabaret culture had such a large role in defining the era, during the high tide of Shanghai’s globalization. Simultaneously, although the early 1930s in Shanghai were incredibly glamorous and full of opportunity, there was a darkness beneath the glitter, because that glamor and opportunity were largely a byproduct of Shanghai’s forced partition by eleven different nations after the Opium War.

Shanghai is personified in Daughter of Calamity. Having read very few books about it, I felt transported to another place and time. What aspects of Shanghai’s history and culture did you want to highlight?

I wanted to highlight how diverse Shanghai was in the 1930s. In the cabarets alone, dancers came from China, Russia, Japan, and many other nations. Not to mention the businessmen, con artists, sailors, influencers, and more who took refuge in the city out of opportunity, desperation, or escapism. When I did research for Daughter of Calamity, I read fictional and firsthand accounts of the time both in translation and in Chinese, by writers from multiple nationalities, and did my best to capture the meeting of many cultures, both friendly and hostile, in Shanghai. 

I enjoyed the rich spiritual backdrop of the novel and was particularly intrigued by the fantasy elements rooted in old gods. What inspired you to explore these mythological aspects and what kind of research went into this side of worldbuilding?

In many large cities in China, I observed nightclubs and bars literally sandwiched between ancient temples and drum towers. It’s a very haunting feeling to walk out of club at 3am and wait for your taxi on the steps of an ancient temple, some of which would have their doors cracked open, with faint glimmers of incense deep inside (…or did I imagine that?). Sometimes I got chills and wondered what the old gods thought of EDM music. 

I adventured down many research rabbit holes while writing and plotting Daughter of Calamity. As a kid, I always wondered about the difference between Buddhist and Daoist temples and whether or not the deities that graced their halls were the same. The character of the Mother of Calamity was inspired by the gorgeous Temple of Mazu in Taipei, which I happened to wander into while visiting a snack street on vacation. I wondered if Mazu was related to the goddesses I saw in temples back in China, and I noticed how the effigies of all the mother goddess had elements in common, but also subtle differences.

Daughter of Calamity blends elements of fantasy, mystery, and historical fiction. How did you approach weaving these genres together, and what challenges did you encounter in balancing these elements?

Up until fairly late in the publication process of Daughter of Calamity, I was blissfully unaware of genre categories and writing to the market. When I wrote the first few drafts of Daughter of Calamity, I wrote whatever felt natural for the story, and I feel very blessed that I was able to indulge that. 

Having learned more about publishing and marketing, however, I would not do that for my future books. 🤣

How was the first draft different from the final one?

The first draft did not have nearly as much magic, or as much pettiness! The temples being their own magical space (as opposed to just being there for formidable vibes), as well as the plotline with the old gods, was fleshed out in a later draft of Daughter of Calamity. Similarly, it took a few drafts to fully develop the relationship between the various dancers to where they are individuals who start the story at odds with one another, but come to treasure their frenemy-ship and comradery through their various trials.  

Did you bring any of your experiences into this book?

In other answers, I already touched on my experience pole dancing in China. 

Instead, I will take this question to share my favorite temples I’ve visited that inspired Daughter of Calamity:

• Jing’an Temple — Shanghai, China
• Taipei Tianhou Temple — Taipei, Taiwan
• Dongyue Miao – Beijing, China
• Temple of the City God – Shanghai, China

What is something you would like the readers of this book to take away or ponder?

At the end of the book, Jingwen makes a (perhaps controversial) decision regarding how to keep Shanghai safe from future hungry opportunists who might prey upon her hometown. Is there any non-violent way to protect one’s home from being colonialized or conquered?

Do you have a favourite quote or scene in Mother of Calamity that you find yourself going back to?

The first scene from Chapter Three, in which Jingwen introduces herself in three different languages and touches on how she experiences the world differently in each of those three languages, was the first passage of the book I wrote. It remains my favourite because I think it captures the identity crisis of growing up between multiple cultures and struggling to reconcile them all, which I and many readers might find familiar. 

Daughter of Calamity is your debut novel. Can you share any memorable moments or experiences from the publication journey?

There is nothing quite like seeing your cover for the first time! My breath was taken away by how perfectly Daughter of Calamity’s cover captured the core essence of the book. And I actually got to experience this twice – for both the US and UK versions of Daughter of Calamity. Both covers are perfect, but in such different ways. 

Are you currently working on any new projects or ideas?

My next book is a historical fantasy set during the Northern and Southern Dynasties time period of Chinese history, about a girl who grows up in a cult of assassins.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for having me!

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me and share with my readers.

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Thanks for joining us! Connect with Rosalie on Goodreads.

I hope you will check out Daughter of Calamity on Goodreads.

Many thanks to St Martin’s Press for giving me a chance to highlight this book on my blog in exchange for an honest review. 🙂