Rin Chupeco

Rin Chupeco
BornManila, Philippines
Occupationnovelist
LanguageEnglish
Genreyoung adult fiction
Years active2012-now
Notable worksThe Bone Witch, The Girl from the Well
Children2
Website
rinchupeco.com

Rin Chupeco[1] is a Chinese Filipino writer of young adult fiction, best known for their books The Bone Witch, The Girl from the Well, and The Never-Tilting World series.

Personal life

[edit]

Chupeco was born and raised in Manila, Philippines.[2] They are of Chinese, Malay, Thai, and Filipino descent.[3]

As a child, Chupeco was fascinated with ghost stories, saying that they were drawn in by the injustice of Japanese tales that tend to favor male aggressors and never end positively for women.[4] They collected the works of Peter Straub, Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Christopher Pike.[5] Their favorite story is that of the kuchisake-onna.[4]

They describe themself as a pansexual, liberal atheist.[4] Chupeco is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.[6][7]

Prior to becoming an author, Chupeco worked as a graphic designer.[8]

They are married and live with their partner and two children in Manila.[4][9]

Selected works

[edit]

Chupeco's works often draw inspiration from Asian cultures.

The Girl from the Well Series

Their debut novel The Girl from The Well tells the story of Okiku, a vengeful spirit who hunts for abusers and eats their souls, who finds herself in a battle with another evil spirit when she falls for Tark, the boy that the spirit is tethered to.[10] It was published by Sourcebooks Fire in August 2014 and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.[10] Chupeco says that it was inspired by Japanese horror, particularly the Japanese legend of the Bancho Sarayashiki and the Ju-on: The Grudge movies, which they rewatched multiple times prior to writing the book.[4] With the novel, Chupeco aimed to try a spin on the topic that had not been done before by making the ghost character the sympathetic anti-heroine.[4]

A companion novel, The Suffering, continues the story of Okiku and Tark as they travel the country.[11]

The Bone Witch Series

The first novel in the series, The Bone Witch, follows Tea, a teen with the ability to raise the dead, who finds herself caught in a struggle for power as she explores her newfound abilities after she accidentally resurrects her late brother.[12]

Chupeco says that their writing often is very experimental, mixing different styles and themes, which led to them writing The Bone Witch in order to tell the story of characters in two different time periods.[4] The Bone Witch series was inspired by Filipino witch doctors, mangkukulam.[4] They also drew on Middle Eastern folklore and influences, like the Ayyubid dynasty and Wahhabism.[13] The witch aspect was inspired by real-life geisha.[4] The Bone Witch was published by Sourcebooks Fire in February 2017 and received starred reviews from Shelf Awareness[14] and Publishers Weekly.[12]

The sequel, The Heart Forger, was published in February 2019.[15] It received starred reviews from Booklist[16] and Foreword Reviews.[17] The last novel in the series, The Shadowglass, was published in March 2019.[18]

Silver Under Nightfall Series

On August 4, 2021, Chupeco announced a two-book book deal for their latest series, Silver Under Nightfall, with Saga Press / Simon & Schuster on Twitter. This marks their adult sci-fi and fantasy debut, and is about a bounty hunter who must work with a royal vampire couple to fight off a new vampire breed from overcoming both their kingdoms.[19]

Bibliography

[edit]

Series

The Girl from the Well

  1. The Girl from the Well (Sourcebooks Fire, 2014)
  2. The Suffering (Sourcebooks Fire, 2015)

The Bone Witch

  1. The Bone Witch (Sourcebooks Fire, 2017)
  2. The Heart Forger (Sourcebooks Fire, 2018)
  3. The Shadowglass (Sourcebooks Fire, 2019)

The Never Tilting World

  1. The Never Tilting World (HarperTeen, 2019)
  2. The Ever Cruel Kingdom (HarperTeen, 2020)

A Hundred Names for Magic

  1. Wicked as You Wish (Sourcebooks Fire, 2020)
  2. An Unreliable Magic (Sourcebooks Fire, 2022)

Silver Under Nightfall

  1. Silver Under Nightfall (Saga Press, 2022)
  2. Court of Wanderers (Saga Press, 2024)

Standalones

Short stories

  • Juan Perez's Corpse in Expeditions Prose: The Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards Vol. 1 and Neil Gaiman Presents: The Philippine Graphic Fiction Awards - Prose Anthology
  • Ho-We in Lauriat: A Filipino-Chinese Speculative Fiction Anthology (Lethe Press, 2012)
  • Sugar and Spite in Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love (Simon Pulse, 2019)
  • The Murders in the Rue Apartelle, Boracay in His Hideous Heart (Flatiron, 2019)
  • Kapre: A Love Story in Black Cranes: Stories of Unquiet Women (Omnium Gatherum, 2020)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Filipino YA horror author Rin Chupeco on life and 'The Girl from the Well'". GMA News Online. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  2. ^ Gallagher, Diana (2014-08-05). "ALL FOUR KIDS: INTERVIEW WITH RIN CHUPECO, AUTHOR OF THE GIRL FROM THE WELL". 2015 YA & MG Debut Authors. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  3. ^ "589: Confidence Starts In Little Ways With Rin Chupeco". The Tao Of Self Confidence. 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i northernplunder (2018-10-05). "Spooky Q+A: Rin Chupeco". Northern Plunder. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  5. ^ "Author Interview - Rin Chupeco (Author of The Girl from the Well)". Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  6. ^ "Rin Chupeco on Instagram: "Happy #IAmNonBinary day!! I still need a good pic of me in a suit 😶"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-26. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  7. ^ "Rin Chupeco's Twitter Profile (cached)". Twitter. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-14.
  8. ^ Brown, Jaye Robin (2014-05-29). "Hanging On To Wonder: A Conversation with Rin Chupeco, Author of THE GIRL FROM THE WELL". Hanging On To Wonder. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  9. ^ "WHO STOKES THE FIRE: TALKING ABOUT THE BONE WITCH AND WORLD-BUILDING WITH RIN CHUPECO". bookdragonism. 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  10. ^ a b "The Girl from the Well". www.publishersweekly.com. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  11. ^ Spisak, April (2015-11-12). "The Suffering by Rin Chupeco (review)". Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. 69 (4): 188. doi:10.1353/bcc.2015.0907. ISSN 1558-6766. S2CID 201744002.
  12. ^ a b "Children's Book Review: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco. Sourcebooks Fire, $17.99 (432p) ISBN 978-1-4926-3582-6". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  13. ^ "Hi! I really look forward to reading your... — Rin Chupeco Q&A". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  14. ^ "Junior Library Guild : The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco". www.juniorlibraryguild.com. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  15. ^ "'The Heart Forger' Continues the Complexities of 'The Bone Witch'". FangirlNation Magazine. 2018-03-10. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  16. ^ than 200, Booklist Online: More; Librarians, 000 Book Reviews for; Groups, Book; Association, book lovers-from the trusted experts at the American Library. Heart Forger, by Rin Chupeco | Booklist Online.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Review of The Heart Forger". www.forewordreviews.com. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  18. ^ THE SHADOWGLASS by Rin Chupeco | Kirkus Reviews.
  19. ^ "Silver Under Nightfall Twitter Announcement".
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