After she immigrated to Canada from Taiwan in the seventh grade, Linda Cheng spent much of her time in the library, working on her English. The colorful, dramatic covers of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series caught her eye. She devoured every one she could get her hands on. Reading her way through the series, she improved her English and found a new passion—spooky books. Her journey took her from reader to writer in the genre with her debut YA novel Gorgeous Gruesome Faces (Roaring Brook).
The story centers on Sunny Lee, an 18-year-old former member of the K-pop-inspired band Sweet Candace. Famous worldwide with their own TV show, the three-girl band had a bright future until a scandal and a tragedy that ended the life of their bandmate Mina. Three years later, Sunny can’t move on, and when her surviving bandmate and former best friend Candie comes to her hometown for a K-pop workshop and contest, she knows she must confront the past. The competition begins to take a sinister turn as the dangerous reality behind the dream of a pop star career comes to light.
Incorporating elements of horror, Asian pop, idol survival shows, female-centered psychological thrillers, and queer love, Cheng hit upon a successful mix. The book has been compared to the popular TV series Yellowjackets and Squid Game, as well as Trang Thanh Tran’s horror novel She Is a Haunting. It was chosen for several end-of-the-year best books lists, and bestselling YA author Marie Lu called it “the kind of horror that will haunt you.”
Cheng started work on Gorgeous Gruesome Faces during the pandemic. “Along with the rest of the world, I was going through massive transitions in my life,” she says. “Writing this book was my way of processing the change and grief that came along with it. At the same time, I wanted to indulge all the things that brought me joy.”
She finished the manuscript in time to enter the October 2020 DVpit event. Cheng received a revise and resubmit request. With her revised manuscript, she received multiple offers of representation, settling on John Cusick of Folio Literary in June 2021. After more revision over the summer, the book went on sub in September and sold to Kate Meltzer at Roaring Brook at auction a few weeks later.
Publishing her first novel has been a dream come true, Cheng says. She studied art at Savannah College of Art and Design and worked as an art director but never lost her love of those spooky horror books that she had discovered when she was young. “I am still a big fan of R.L. Stine, and the way he writes scary stories for children will always remain one of my biggest influences,” she says. She’s also a genuine K-pop enthusiast. “I’ve been a fan of many groups over the years. My current favorite K-pop groups are Itzy and Blackpink, and my forever idol love is the Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai.”
To be able to combine all of her passions into one book has been “incredible,” she says. “Going into my local library—the one I spent so much time in studying English—and seeing my book there has been a wonderful full-circle moment.”
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces is the first part of a duology, and Cheng is currently working on the second book. “I can’t reveal too much yet,” she says. “But I can promise that some of the lingering questions from book one will be answered!”
