Please read an “author interview” of Yulia Yu. Sakurazawa published at a friendly site.
Stranded Cruise looks like a great romance book. Any plans to turn it into a series?
I don’t plan to turn Stranded Cruise into a series, because it is an independent story. Nevertheless, I found it extremely intriguing to write a time-travel romance. I wish to write another time-travel romance or mystery story and hopefully turn it into a series sometime in the future.
That’s an amazing cover. Can you tell us a little about it?
The theme of Stranded Cruise revolves around a cruise, Fukushima of 2011 and the psychology of the heroine, Yulia Sugawara. The cover was designed with the cruise ship in the background and the complicated amalgamation of expressions on the face of 23-year-old Yulia.
Can you tell us a little about Yulia?
If you are interested in knowing what a typical Japanese girl is like, you will be able to find it out by reading Standard Cruise. Yulia is self-assured without being overly expressive, cares about her appearance, is of demure behavior and tries to make men look good. Yulia has had the traumatic experience of losing her parents and brother in the tsunami in 2011. At the age of 14, she comes to know what will happen in the next 9 years. How she thinks and feels in such challenging/delicate situations is the highlight of the story.
Did anything stick out as particularly challenging when writing Stranded Cruise?
Yulia has two egos coexisting in her, but continues to think, feel and act as an ordinary Japanese girl. It is the core of the story and was particularly challenging.
Another challenging factor is the recurring nature of time-travel stories. The protagonist goes through exactly the same thing, twice. As the protagonist tries to change the course of events, there is subtle difference when a scene is repeated. Making the repeated scene more engaging and dramatic was inspired work!
Tell us about the co-authoring project
Lasya Shashimohan and I got to know each other through a common friend in 2015. We have been friends since then. When we had a chance to converse in April, I told her that I had been thinking about writing a coronavirus-related story, because I wasn’t able to find many COVID-19 novels on Amazon. Then, Lasya and I thought of penning it together. I really enjoyed collaborating with Lasya in every aspect of writing the novella. Co-authoring a novella is a good way for friends of different backgrounds to bond with each other.
What do you like to do when not writing?
There are hundreds of onsens (hot springs) in Japan and I am a specialist and addict of the onsen. I have been to about one hundred onsens in Japan. Most of the onsens are open air rock baths where I would sit immersed for a long time. Quite a few ideas for my works popped up in my mind while I sat immersed in the open air bath.