Ep. #8 — Interview With Sunil Yapa, author of Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist

In our second author interview, Adam interviews Sunil Yapa, author of Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist, which takes place over one day during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. Sunil shares why he chose that moment in history as the setting for his novel and gives some background and history of the protests. He also gives Adam and listeners a glimpse into his writing process and how some of his own life experiences were woven into the fictional characters he has created. Adam also asks him about what can only be described as a writer’s worst nightmare: losing a manuscript, which happened to Sunil with the original 600 page draft of the book. But rewriting the novel offered Sunil the opportunity to reexamine his characters and focus on the ones that he was truly invested in.

Along with talking about her own book, Sunil shares memories of going to the library as a child and being a voracious readers, including reading Stephen King’s IT at 12 or 13 and being terrified, but also loving The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl.

Sunil Yapa’s other book recommendations:

Underworld by Don DeLillo

Queen of the Night by Alexander Chee

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Music

“Buddy” provided royalty free from www.bensound.com

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