Dear Reader

Dear Reader,

I drafted BLOOD RUBIES in under a year but, in many respects, the book was a lifetime in the making. Anchored by Rune Sarasin, a half-American, half-Thai jewel thief, the story takes place in my two favorite cities: New York, my home for the better part of two decades, and Bangkok, where my husband lived during his studies. On the surface, Rune and I have little in common—she’s a thrill-seeking criminal, I’m a bookish academic—and yet we experience the world in remarkably similar ways. Like Rune, I was raised in North America by an Asian father and a White mother. And like Rune, I have a foot in two different worlds. I have often felt, or been made to feel, like outsider. Many of the microaggressions and intrusive questions Rune fields mirror my experiences. But my mixed heritage has also enriched my life, just as it enriches Rune’s, whose openness and adaptability stem directly from her background. In light of our similarities, it seemed appropriate to give Rune an “unusual” name. Hers means “happy” in Thai. Mine is a compound of Mai, which can mean apricot, plum, or plum blossom in Vietnamese, and Lan, the Vietnamese word for orchid.

Inspiration can come from unlikely places. Years ago, I passed through customs at Charles de Gaulle airport after visiting my mother’s family in eastern France. The official assumed I was French because of my accent. My Canadian passport gave him pause. His confusion grew when he learned that I live in New York. “Citoyenne du monde!” he finally exclaimed, throwing his hands up. Citizen of the world. The characterization stayed with me. It’s the inspiration for Rune.

As an architectural historian, I’m highly attuned to place and space. Rune responds not just to contrasting pulls of identity and biography, but also to geography. BLOOD RUBIES transports readers to vastly different locales, from Bangkok’s impoverished slums to New York’s glamorous auction houses. These locations, strongly evoked and richly described, are as central to the book as character and plot.

I aim to write complex characters who are fun to read about but also intriguing to get to know. Rune is bold, smart, and fiercely loyal. She’s also impulsive, quick to anger, and prone to bending the rules. She’ll undoubtedly provoke a range of feelings, some of which are not all that warm. My goal wasn’t to write a “likable” or “unlikeable” woman, but a complicated, flawed human navigating extreme circumstances in the best way she can. I hope her humanity shines through. I hope you root for her as much as I do.

Very best,
Mailan