The Heroine
Sarah Kuhn on writing stories of Asian American superheroines
Sarah Kuhn is the author of the Heroine Complex novels — a series starring Asian American superheroines. The first book is a Locus bestseller, an RT Reviewers’ Choice Award nominee, and one of the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog’s Best Books of 2016. She has also written the critically acclaimed graphic novel Shadow of the Batgirl for DC Comics and the Star Wars audiobook original Doctor Aphra. She was a finalist for both the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment New Writers Award and the Astounding Award for Best New Writer.
I had the opportunity to speak with Sarah about her experiences as a writer and the creative process that went into developing her widely acclaimed novels.
Tell us about the community you grew up in. What led you to becoming a writer?
I grew up in a very small, very white town in the Pacific Northwest. I could usually be found camped out in the sci-fi/fantasy section of the library — I always loved stories of dragons, superheroes, other worlds. It showed me that there was something more out there, something bigger. But even though I was always a voracious reader, I never really saw a path for myself as a writer, and I didn’t see my little Asian American girl self in much of the work I was reading. In middle school, some friends and I started our own ‘zine — photocopied at someone’s dad’s office, circulation of like 7 (i.e. everyone in the friend group), and covering topics that were really important to us, like the latest Baby-Sitters Club book and who cheated on their math test.
At some point, someone told me journalism was a way you could write every day and get paid for it, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I was a journalist for a long time, mostly covering entertainment, but I didn’t write fiction. I think I had internalized this idea that I wasn’t important enough to be the center of a story — I was much more comfortable telling other people’s stories rather than my own. But then I ended up writing this story that was really just for fun, a thing I did to entertain some friends online — it was called ONE CON GLORY and it was a rom-com set at a comic book convention. It was a serialized short story that turned into a novella, and then I decided to try writing something longer — that something became HEROINE COMPLEX.
What inspired you to write about Asian American superheroines? What has been the most rewarding part about writing your Heroine Complex novels?
It’s funny, because I always wish this was a more brave story, but it’s not. When I wrote ONE CON GLORY, I created this main character who was a lot like me — a grouchy geek girl who was obsessed with comic books and grudges. And I briefly thought — should she be just like me? Should she be Asian? And then I fell into the self-rejection trap so many of us do, where I was like, no, because then the whole story has to be about that and her battle with racism. But when that story started getting popular, a lot of people just assumed she was Asian, because they assumed she was based on me. So with HEROINE, I was like — might as well make her Asian, because everyone will think that anyway! Once I started writing it, though, I felt very moved and empowered — I loved writing this fun, poppy, romantic story about Asian American girls having the kinds of wild adventures I’d always dreamed of.
What is the most challenging part about writing stories related to Asian American culture?
I had a lot of “rep sweats” when I first started — I know what it’s like to want representation so desperately as a reader or viewer, and then to be disappointed when maybe it’s not exactly what you imagined. I worried a lot about letting down my community. My characters are very flawed, very messy, and sometimes I worried I wasn’t putting the best image out there. But what I ultimately came to was that they had to be real people and real people make mistakes — that’s the kind of representation I want out there, that realness. I’m hoping that we’ll keep moving to a place where there’s more and more representation, and diversity in that representation — I want everyone to have an Asian American superheroine they can claim as their own.
Tell us more about your Shadow of the Batgirl graphic novel.
Shadow of the Batgirl is all about Cassandra Cain, the Asian American Batgirl. I have loved that character forever. She’s the daughter of supervillains, has been trained to be a living weapon, and basically has all the tools to become a villain herself — and then she chooses to be a hero instead. I’ve always found that very powerful. Our book is a reimagining of her origin — she’s escaped from her assassin father, she’s hiding out in the Gotham City Library, and she ends up making some new friends who help her on her path. And Nicole Goux, the incredible artist, and I got to add a new character to the Cass mythos — Jackie Fujikawa Yoneyama, a classic Asian auntie and noodle shop owner who becomes a mentor to Cass. Nicole gave her a lot of awesome auntie fashion — so many colors and prints!
To all of the aspiring Asian American writers and graphic novelists, what is your advice to them?
Seek out community. Being a creative of color is draining — it can be exhilarating too, of course, but the microaggressions and just plain old aggressions you have to deal with daily can be soul-killing. I would not have lasted this long were it not for my friends and fellow artists who I can turn to for support, or even just to vent. I have been lucky enough to be part of the vibrant Asian American arts community here in LA, and it always lifts me up when I’m down — we show up for each other.
*July 2020 update: Sarah is a commentator in Netflix documentary The Claudia Kishi Club. She speaks about the importance of Japanese American representation in mainstream American media and the impact of The Babysitter’s Club character Claudia Kishsi. Congratulations Sarah! We encourage you all to watch the documentary, which is streaming on Netflix.
