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Kelsea Yu debuted in the indie horror world with her gut-wrenching novella, Bound Feet. She was nominated that year for a Shirley Jackson Award and published a smattering of stories in various magazines and anthologies.
In July, she plunged into the world of YA thrillers with It’s Only a Game, a story that focuses on Chinese-American gamer girl Marina Chen as she finds herself trapped in a terrifying game for her life.
I was delighted to sit and chat with Kelsea about her writing process, how traditional publishing differs from the indie world, and why video games were the perfect setting for her terrifying new novel.
Jena Brown for The Lineup: When did you first start writing?
Kelsea Yu: When I was growing up, I really enjoyed writing stories. I would be the person who got an assignment for a three-page essay and then I’d turn in a fifty-page piece.
So, I feel like that enjoyment and love of writing was always there, especially because as a kid I read a ton. But at the same time, I didn’t actually think I’d be a writer. At no point in my childhood did I think I’d be an author when I grew up. I had other plans.
I went on to major in business and accounting, and worked in that field for several years before I realized how badly I wanted something creative in my life. That’s when I started trying to find my creative outlet.
I tried making and selling jewelry, things like that. But once I started writing, it felt more right to me than anything I had tried.
JB / TLU: What does your typical writing day look like?
KY: I don’t really have a typical writing day because a lot of my writing is built around whenever I can find time. I’m the primary caretaker for my two-year-old and five-year-old, and that means that a lot of time their needs come first.
My husband helps me carve out writing time in the evening if I’m feeling up for it. So, after dinner, he’ll do the routine with the kids and that’s when I’ll come upstairs and write for a few hours until their bedtime.
The other more typical writing time I have is when my parents take the kids for a day or two, usually with a sleepover, so I have a lot more time and headspace. That’s when I have the biggest chunk of writing time.
JB / TLU: What is your writing process?
KY: It varies a bit by the length of the piece. For short stories, especially flash fiction, I’m much more likely to just come up with an idea and start writing without a plan. For novellas, I usually do an outline before I write the story.
But novels are by far my most in-depth. I spend so much more time planning novels than shorter fiction. The process has changed over the years as I’ve tried a bunch of different things that have been helpful in figuring out what did and didn’t work.
I come up with the concept first. I’ll brainstorm until I find an idea that sounds both interesting to me and that is hopefully marketable. Then, I’ll write out a two-paragraph, query-length pitch.
And usually, I’ll come with comps and a title. I basically have the story ready before I start anything else. At that point, I might send to my agent for her feedback. The next step is to start outlining.
I typically build all my stories around a mystery, so I’ll start brainstorming the twists, the clues, all of those details. And then I start drafting.
To give you an idea of what that gives me, for my most recent novel, I had roughly 12,000 words of outlined plot and over 10,000 words of character development before I started writing. So, a big chunk of the story.
Even though it takes quite a while, once I have all that information, it makes drafting so much smoother and I’m a lot less likely to get stuck or have to start over.
It can be frustrating when you just want to start writing, but for me, having the outline is so much better for the story.
JB / TLU: What has been your favorite short story that you’ve written and why?
KY: I don’t know if I actually have a favorite, but the one that is probably the most meaningful to me is “Creature.” It’s published in Kaleidetrope Magazine in July 2024.
“Creature” was the first short story I ever wrote as an adult, and it was my first horror story. In fact, my friend had to tell me it was horror because I wasn’t sure. I wrote it during a very challenging time in my life.
I had just had a miscarriage and the novel I had been working on became sort of attached to that experience. I was completely unable to write for several months, which for me, was a pretty long time to stay away from writing.
I knew I needed to write something new, but I didn’t want to overthink it. So, I just opened a document and started writing. “Creature” is the story that came out. It’s very obviously a story that is me processing that miscarriage, but it’s also the story that made me realize how much I love writing horror and short stories.
Both of those things have completely changed the direction of my career.
JB / TLU: Your novel debut, It’s Only A Game, is a YA thriller. How was that experience different than your short stories and novellas in the adult horror space?
KY: It’s been different in many ways. For one, it’s the first book that’s going to be in tons of bookstores where I am the sole author on the cover.
Even before it published, knowing that made it feel very different. Traditional publishing is also very different. I sold this book over a year and a half before it was released.
In comparison, my indie-published horror novella, Bound Feet was roughly six months from sale to release. The pace was very different, and while in both cases the teams were very enthusiastic, working with a larger team with dedicated people was also much different than the indie space.
JB / TLU: Can you tell us where the idea stemmed from?
KY: I really wanted to write a story about a gamer girl, particularly a Chinese American gamer girl. I thought it would be really cool to have that story out for people like me.
Growing up, I never really got to see that kind of representation. And then one day I had the idea that this gamer girl would see a person die in the video game she was playing and then she would later see the same person die in real life.
I just thought that would be so cool and I wanted to know what would happen after that, so it made me very excited to write the story.
JB / TLU: Technology is such a good medium for thrillers and horror, but why did you choose video games specifically?
KY: Video games have played a big role in my life, especially growing up. I played video games with my brothers and my friends. It was a way that I spent time with people as a teenager.
I had video game nights, where I’d invite a bunch of friends over and we’d play together, or we’d go to somebody else’s house. Friendship and video games have always felt very connected for me.
So that was something that felt very meaningful to me that I wanted to put in a story, especially a story for teens.
JB / TLU: If you could go back and give your teen self one piece of advice, what would it be?
KY: I think I would tell my teen self that it’s okay to have really big feelings. To also just let myself express them or admit them. I feel like I spent a lot of time trying to hide the fact that I cared so much about various things as a teenager because I thought it would be embarrassing or that somebody would judge me for it.
Or I just didn’t want to admit it to myself that something mattered too much to me. And, looking back, I would say it’s okay to care about things. It’s okay to have those big emotions. I would also say you can trust yourself.
Be sure to grab Kelsea’s debut, It’s Only a Game. And check out the rest of her work while you’re at it.
It's Only a Game
Marina Chen left everything from her old life behind—even her real name. She lives a quiet life, desperate to keep her past behind her. The one thing she can’t bear to give up is her online gaming. Especially not with the friends she’s made. When they’re all invited to tour their favorite gaming company, Marina knows she should say no. But she can’t resist accepting. Everything is perfect. Until the owner of the company is murdered during their tour. Now, they’re trapped in a carefully constructed game by a terrifying killer. To win, they’ll have to lie, cheat, and steal. If they lose, they’ll be framed for murder. But to do either, they have to survive.
Bound Feet
When the Hungry Ghost Moon hangs in the sky, spirits can visit the living. It’s the perfect night for Jodi Wu and her best friend to sneak into the Portland Chinese Garden and Ghost Museum to leave food offerings and burn joss paper at the pond where Jodi’s toddler drowned one year ago. Selfishly, Jodi can’t help but pray that Ella returns for just one more night. To distract Jodi from her grief, the friends tell each other stories. But when they stop at the main display with a pair of lotus slippers once used to bind a young girl’s feet, Jodi hears Ella’s voice. As Jodi searches the garden for her daughter, she realizes Ella isn’t the only ghost they’ve called. And it wants revenge.
Demon Song
To escape an abusive man, Megan and her mom are forced to flee to Beijing. An old friend gives her mom a job cleaning the Huihuang Opera house, where she once performed. With a tenuous grasp of Mandarin, Megan manages to make friends with a group of young performers—one in particular. As she spends more time with Kristy, Megan unlocks her love of singing. But the opera house is ancient. And within its walls are secrets. When she finds an old book, legend and reality begin to blur. To find the truth, she has to solve a decades-old mystery. Before the ghosts of the past devour her.
Dark Matter Presents Human Monsters: A Horror Anthology
Not all monsters are make believe. Sometimes they walk among us. They’re your neighbors. Your friends. Your co-workers. You might know them. You might trust them. You might not live to regret it.
Classic Monsters Unleashed
You know their stories. Dracula. Frankenstein’s monster. The Bride of Frankenstein. Each story in this impressive collection takes the monster you think you know and subverts everything. These stories are reimagined to pay tribute and bring new life to all your favorite creatures that keep you up late at night.
Death in the Mouth
Showcasing the horror stories and art of BIPOC and marginalized writers from all over the world, Death in the Mouth opens the door to what it’s like to experience horror from the margins. Ranging from the sludge of grief to transgressions of the body, spirit, and community, these weird legends and tales from secondary worlds will show you how exquisite terror can truly be when you stop overlooking this incredible range of voices.
Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror
Mothers. We all have them. Some are good. Some are bad. And some are truly horrifying. With stories and poems from some of the fiercest female voices in horror, this anthology delves into what makes a mother bad and shows how mommy can be the scariest monster of all.
Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic: An Anthology of Hysteria Fiction
What does it mean to be hysterical? Is it real? Or is it all in your head? These twenty-six stories explore all aspects of hysteria. The political. The Social. The deeply personal. It’s a collection of dark feminist horror cultivated from rage to form an unsettling meditation on women’s rights.
