Carolyn Huynh: On Writing Unconventional Happy Endings
In this interview, author Carolyn Huynh discusses the forgotten Asian American history at the heart of her new novel, The Family Recipe.
Carolyn Huynh loves writing about messy Asian women who never learn from their mistakes. Her debut book, The Fortunes of Jaded Women was a Good Morning America book club pick and is being adapted for television by Heyday Studios and Universal. Her sophomore book, The Family Recipe, comes out in 2025. When she’s not writing, Carolyn daydreams about having iced coffee on a rooftop in Ho Chi Minh City. Follow her on Instagram.
In this interview, Carolyn discusses the forgotten Asian American history at the heart of her new novel, The Family Recipe, her advice for other writers, and more.
Name: Carolyn Huynh
Literary agent: Jordan Hill
Book title: The Family Recipe
Publisher: S&S/Atria Books
Release date: April 1, 2025
Genre/category: Fiction
Previous titles: The Fortunes of Jaded Women
Elevator pitch: Five estranged siblings are thrust into an eccentric inheritance scheme when they are forced to compete for their father’s Vietnamese sandwich franchise while unraveling family mysteries along the way.
What prompted you to write this book?
I wanted to challenge myself and write something with a historical fiction element that was rooted in a piece of forgotten Asian American history. But of course, put my spin on it, which was to write a happy ending, even if it’s not a conventional happy ending.
How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?
This was my first book I had written on proposal and on deadline. Suffice it to say, it was absolutely agonizing. It took me a year to write and several more months to revise. I complained every step of the way. Would I do it again? Absolutely. Almost everything changed from the proposal I pitched to what is now in front of you.
Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?
We had a lot of title changes, and I realized that distilling what the book is was more complicated than I thought. Was this part historical fiction? Part contemporary? There’s an inheritance? Is it about food? Is it about the family? I had a lot of thoughts as I unpacked the plot, but I kept the characters close to my heart. The journey from drafting to revising to publication is a very long road, and during that time you yourself will change a lot as a writer. I find myself changing each time a book is finalized and released into the world, and I try to never look back.
Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?
The research! I traveled to Houston specifically for this book, and I learned so much about the law and the specific lawsuit that takes place in this book, which was the Vietnamese Fishermen v. The Ku Klux Klan that took place in the late 70s, early 80s down in Texas. I also learned that I enjoy writing historical fiction more than I thought I would. I was always afraid to tackle it and do it justice, but I grow with each book, and I hope I continue to grow as a writer.
What do you hope readers will get out of your book?
To find levity in the absurd and that everything can be contextualized and learned from history.
If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?
Don’t look back on what you’ve written. You’ll only agonize in pain and perfection, keep going until you’ve finished the first draft. The first draft is the hardest, perfection can be found in the revision.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
