Pronunciation of my name:
Pronoun Notes: Please refer to me as They/Them. Despite my current appearance, I’ve struggled with my gender identity my whole life and much prefer neutral pronouns. But please don’t call me Mx. Zhao. I really don’t like that title. Just call me Xiran.
Important note for interviewers: Please do not ask me questions regarding personal information, such as precisely where I grew up in China or my age and birthday. I’m extremely hesitant to give out information that could allow my old documentation in China, and thus the identity and location of my family members, to be identified.
Short Bio: Xiran Jay Zhao is a #1 New-York-Times-bestselling and Hugo-Award-disqualified (long but proud story) author of sci-fi & fantasy books and YouTuber who makes content about Chinese history and culture.
Long Bio: Xiran Jay Zhao is the #1 New-York-Times-bestselling author of the Iron Widow series and Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor. Their books have been a finalist or winner of many awards, including the Nebula, British Science Fiction Association, Locus, and Astounding awards. A first-gen immigrant from small-town China to Vancouver, Canada, they were raised by the Internet and made the inexplicable decision to leave their biochem degree in the dust to write books and make educational content instead. You can find them @xiranjayzhao on Twitter for memes, on Instagram and TikTok for chaotic skits, and on YouTube for long videos about Chinese history and culture.
Social Media Links:
https://twitter.com/XiranJayZhao
https://www.instagram.com/xiranjayzhao/
https://xiranjayzhao.tumblr.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqSz_KlrE8_IDht7tWsQ-RA
https://www.tiktok.com/@xiranjayzhao
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52459864-iron-widow
Photos:
Iron Widow Cover:
Iron Widow Official Summary:
Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.
Zachary Ying Cover:
Zachary Ying Official Summary:
Zachary Ying is a middle grade series in the vein of Yu-Gi-Oh! meets Percy Jackson.
12-year-old Zack never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open.
The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers.
And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.