6:21 PM
Alumna Writes
Page 39
Her Way to Success
An on-air sports reporter at NY1 News, a debut book China Dolls and a possible screenplay in the works all have one thing in common: Michelle Yu ’01. Within just six years of graduating from Manhattan College, the multifaceted Yu has achieved the sort of success that usually comes with a lifetime of experience.
China Dolls, a women’s fiction novel co-authored by Yu and her cousin, Blossom Kan, an attorney, arrived on bookshelves this past February. The book follows three Asian-American friends as they navigate their careers, search for love in the big city and balance Chinese family traditions. Shortly before the book came out, the cousins secured a three-book deal with their publisher St. Martin’s Press and already have started to shop around the China Dolls screenplay with the help of Creative Artists Agency (CAA). “I was just your ordinary student at Manhattan,” Yu says. “I worked hard and went through the stress of finding my first job. I never imagined all of this would happen. I’m very thankful to be where I am at 27.” Back at Manhattan, Yu, who earned her B.A. in communications, says the classes she took with Dr. Ashley Cross, associate professor of English, captured her interest in writing. “She inspired me to write,” Yu says. “I valued her discussions in class. She made writing really enjoyable.” Yet, from the time she was a little girl, Yu says she dreamt of being an on-air sports reporter. During her time at the College, she took advantage of its proximity to New York City and interned at broadcast companies, such as NBC, CBS and MSG. Upon graduating, she took a job in print at the newspaper The Journal News. By 2003, she had transitioned to broadcast with a position at College Sports Television. At the same time, she began to write China Dolls. Two years later, she was hired by NY1 News. Yu says she and Kan share a similar work ethic, which enabled them to work together to write the book. “It was a lot of collaboration,” Yu says of writing China Dolls. “A lot of people
ask about how we co-authored the book. It’s not like we sat in the same room writing together.” Actually, Yu and Kan relied on modern technology and e-mail to communicate quickly, send edits back and forth, and streamline the book into one, coherent voice. Yu says the end result is a book about culture, background and tradition told by female Asian-American characters. “There weren’t a lot of books out there that we could relate to,” she says. “I felt there was a story that should be told about Asian-American women, about living as modern women, but also holding onto the traditions that they were taught at home.” While the novel’s characters may resemble the co-authors in certain ways (characters M.J. and Alex are respectively an on-air sportscaster and lawyer like Yu and Kan), Yu says China Dolls is not autobiographical. “We talked to our friends and used our personal experiences, but everything is blended with fiction,” she says. The journey to publishing the book was not always easy, but Yu says she and Kan were motivated to make China Dolls a success. “We were both determined that the first manuscript we wrote would be published,” Yu says. Within six months, Yu and Kan had completed the manuscript. In January 2004, they headed to the San Diego Writer’s Conference, armed with their manuscript and a clever pitch. “We had two minutes to pitch the agents and had to pay per agent,” she says. “It was kind of like speed dating.” The cousins pitched four agents, one of which was Natasha Kern, who would come to represent them by the summer of 2004. Kern steered the writing duo toward St. Martin’s Press for the book deal and, later on, put them in touch with CAA.
Michelle Yu ’01
Yu describes as the biggest challenge to writing a book. She and Kan made the first round of edits based on Kern’s input before submitting the manuscript to St. Martin’s Press for review. It was another year before the manuscript was sold. From November 2005 until March 2006, the co-authors continued to make more revisions guided by St. Martin’s Press editor Diana Szu.
alumnotes
4/18/07
“We owe our book to our agent and editor,” Yu says. With one book hot off the presses, Yu is not likely to take a break any time soon. She and Kan are already working on their second book due out in spring 2008 about an Asian-American woman who moves from New York to Los Angeles in pursuit of her dream to become a famous soap actress. “I’d like to continue to pursue my sportscasting career,” Yu says. “I’ve always dreamt of working at ESPN. And, hopefully, one of my books will hit the New York Times bestseller list.” No small feat for this alumna. Her post-Manhattan story has just begun with a likely sequel or two in the works.
For more information about China Dolls, go to: www.chinadollsnovel.com.
e-mail your news to alumnotes@manhattan.edu
MC_2007_Spring_30
“She has been just wonderful through the entire journey,” Yu says. “It’s been a wild ride.” Once Kern became involved, the revisions and editing process began, which
39