Q&A: Julia Riew and Brad Riew, Co-Authors of ‘The Last Tiger’

We chat with co-authors and siblings Julia and Brad Riew about The Last Tiger, which is inspired by true stories from their grandparents’ lives during one of the darkest periods in Korean history, forming a story about the power of love to give voice to a broken people.

Hi, Julia and Brad! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves?

Julia: Hi! I’m Julia. I’m Brad’s younger sister, and in addition to being the co-author of The Last Tiger, I am a musical theater composer-lyricist and librettist from St. Louis, Missouri and New York City!

Brad is my older brother, also from St. Louis and currently based in Brooklyn––he graduated from Harvard College in 2018 with a degree in Psychology, where he won the Ecker Short Story Prize.

The Last Tiger is our first novel!

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

Julia: From my earliest childhood memories, all of the times we used to play together, we were actually just storytelling. We’d play “Pokemon” or “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter” but the “play” basically consisted of Brad telling stories while our other brother Grant and I jumped around on the beds and acted the stories out. As we got older, I contributed to the stories more…we wrote our first “book” when I was 8 and Brad was 12––it was a choose-your-own-adventure time travel story.

Your latest novel, The Last Tiger, is out July 29^th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

“Silenced people find their voices.”

What can readers expect?

Magic + fantasy mixed with real history and Korean mythology! It’s a family-inspired story about star-crossed teens, Seung and Eunji, who come from opposite worlds, yet are both trapped within their respective fates. Part I begins in our heroes’ small hometown, Kidoh––but as we enter Parts II and III, their worlds expand…what starts off as a quiet, two-person rebellion grows into a full scale revolution against the oppressive Empire. In terms of fantasy tropes, you can expect: star-crossed lovers/forbidden love, hidden magic, arranged marriage, love triangle, antagonists-turned-allies, friends-to-enemies-to-lovers…

Where did the inspiration for The Last Tiger come from?

Our grandfather loved telling stories, and we grew up hearing about his and our grandmothers’ lives from before they immigrated to America––the countless struggles they experienced, including colonization, war, hunger, etc… at one point, both of our grandparents took the time to write down some of their experiences. Grandpa wrote in one email, “Can you make up a fictional version, based on what I’ve written up to this point?” and so we always knew that we wanted to do something special with their stories.

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

Julia: Personally, I love a morally grey character, so for me, Kenzo was my favorite character to write. I know that Brad particularly enjoys writing nature descriptions!

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

We started writing this story in 2021, and both of our lives underwent a lot of changes since then––in the fall, I went back to school to finish up my senior year of college, and then I was moving to New York City and navigating big developments in my writing and composing career. Brad was diagnosed with ME/CFS (chronic fatigue) after he developed Long Covid, and that was a big challenge for the writing process as well. A note from him on chronic fatigue: “Chronic fatigue syndrome, or ME/CFS, afflicts over 5 million Americans every day. While it’s an invisible disease, the ghosts of what’s missing can be felt so deeply by our loved ones, family members and friends, and most of all, by the survivors themselves. Writing a book while living with this awful illness was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. To all those who are struggling out there, you are not alone. Life can take a lot away from you: your body, your mind, and your health can all be damaged, but never your dignity or your humanity. Those are yours for keeps.”

We also spent a lot of time figuring out how to spin a lifetime of stories into one digestible fantasy novel…we ended up completely rewriting the book around four times before we landed on the current structure!

Can you tell us a bit about your co-authoring process?

We tried a bunch of different methods of working together. Being sibling authors is really great for a few reasons. Firstly, we have this shared family history, and we also grew up watching/reading a lot of the same materials, so we have a built-in shorthand for creative discussions. Also, there’s no ego or need to sugar-coat or be delicate with sharing opinions and feedback. We could be very honest with each other. Eventually, we landed on a system where we each split up and took the sections that we were most excited about writing––wrote a messy, drafty version––then we’d swap, and Brad would go over the draft that I had written, and vice-versa. Brad enjoys crafting descriptive text and has more of an interest in history and spirituality, while I, as a playwright, enjoy the process of laying down action and dialogue. As you read the book, you can try to guess who wrote what, but ultimately, we both ended up working in every sentence of the book.

What’s next for you?

Julia: I’m currently working on the next draft of my musical, DIVE, and also my debut middle grade novel Shim Jung Takes The Dive (which is inspired by the same folktale as DIVE!) comes out next summer! Brad and I are also working on our next YA novel together…without giving away too much, it’s an existential sci-fi comedy.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

Julia: My favorite read this year was Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Walksburg. Brad really enjoyed Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

Will you be picking up The Last Tiger? Tell us in the comments below!