There aren’t many places I go to anymore which make me think: I’d love to come back. I love travelling, but have seen so many beautiful places that I’m getting spoilt. I have lived in four countries and visited over fifty. I have huge difficulty fitting bin liners into slim-line bins. I’m so impractical that I can’t change a bin liner. Thicker and just as stubborn – like its owner! Which is what people say about the protagonist in my debut novel, The Woman Who Breathed Two Worlds, and I know from experience what it’s like being called stubborn! I lost my hair during chemo, but what grew back was thicker than before! She was sneaky, always saying, ‘Look, there’s not much left.’ How gullible I was! I promise it’s true: ask my mother! She had to follow me around with a spoon. I eat like a horse now but hated food as a child. When the adults lit them, I would run away to hide! I’m still scared of fireworks. Though my Chinese ancestors invented fireworks, I’m terrified of them.Īs a child I had to endure firecrackers each Chinese New Year.
The name I wrote in my dedication is one which an aunt recalls. Only good friends called her by name, and they passed away before she did. My maternal great-grandmother was a matriarch who demanded due respect. Traditionally, we addressed older people by familial rank, not their name. My great-grandmother inspired my debut novel, but I don’t know her name. Post-chemo depression was tough, but it spurred me to write. It’s possible to survive life-threatening illnesses, and even use them as catalysts for positive change. I’ve survived a brain tumour and breast cancer. And as for quant trading, err… Enough said. When I became a banker, no one knew what that was. Physics made everyone think of maths – something they couldn’t do. I was previously a theoretical physicist, an investment banker and a quantitative trader. Writing is my fourth career, and the first one everyone understands.
When the Futures Comes too Soon by Selina Siak Chin Yoke is out today so the author tells us a little bit more about herself.
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