From cooking to helping women entrepreneurs succeed, Karen Wang Diggs explores the nature of being an Asian woman in today’s world.

As an Asian woman, how did your background play into this book being born?

(KWD): I was inspired to write this book by my aunt, who was part of the last generation of Chinese women who suffered from the terrible custom of foot-binding.

Unfortunately, she passed away when I was young, and I never had the chance to ask her about her life and to fully understand the suffering that she endured.

What did your writing process look like for this book? Is there anything you would’ve done differently?

(KWD): Because I wanted the book out by March 2025, in time for Women’s History, I had to stay focused and prioritize it.

I got the book deal from Mango Publishing in August of 2024 (with the support of Brenda Knight) and had to submit the manuscript by October in order for the editing and formatting to take place in time to get it to the printers. I would have liked to have had more time, but having said that, I am at my best when there is a deadline.

What new perspectives and messages do you hope readers gain from reading The Book of Awesome Asian Women?

(KWD): I hope readers will be well inspired by all the awesome Asian women in the book, from the past and present, and have a fresh understanding that Asian women have always been incredibly resilient, strong, and creative. I also hope that my book will help to erase the stale and offensive stereotyping of Asian women as being either docile and submissive OR dragon ladies out to beguile and dominate. 

What inspires you as a reader and writer? What brings you to write books?

(KWD): As a child, books were my refuge. As a teenager who suffered from clinical depression, books were my refuge. And as an adult who has overcome a lot of emotional trauma and stress, books are my refuge.

My home is surrounded by books, and I am constantly reading. After so many years of reading, the desire to write naturally arose, and I am humbled that I am now a published author.

Women’s history is often overlooked, though it has been brought up more recently and your book is another addition to changing that. What was your experience researching this topic?

(KWD): I was shocked and surprised to learn about many of the women I researched. While reading scholarly papers, news articles, or blogs, I felt that my own life had been deeply affected and enriched by meeting these women, from centuries ago, such as Empress Wu Zetian or Queen Himiko, to women who are superstars today, such as Awkafina and Sandra Oh.

Aside from being an author, what did your upbringing look like? You’re also a nutritionist and chef. How do you think your experiences have influenced you?

(KWD): My aunt and mother were the two most influential women in my life. Sadly, my aunt stayed behind when we immigrated to the US from Hong Kong. My mother raised six children, mostly on her own, and I genuinely marvel at her strength and resilience. The one thing about my Mom was that she was a bad cook! So, we siblings had to fend for ourselves. And that was the impetus that ignited my interest and passion for cooking and nutrition. Being a chef (which is still a male-dominated profession) opened my eyes to the systemic gender bias in the workplace, and being a nutritionist made me understand that women are usually the ones who are most concerned about feeding their families and taking care of everyone’s health. Everything is intertwined, and I feel a strong desire to be part of the positive social movement that highlights the incredible contribution that girls and women have had on behalf of all humanity.

As an awesome Asian writer, do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Keep reading and keep writing! If you want to get published, be focused and write about a topic that you feel passionate about.

Karen is a classically trained chef, microbiome nutritionist, author, and expert fermenter. She specializes in helping women entrepreneurs thrive through The Gut-Brain Protocol. She is also passionate about sharing delicious recipes promoting health and well-being and lives by the motto: “Food is our most intimate and profound connection with Nature.”

Shanti Ariker is a writer by night and a lawyer by day. The start of her memoir appears in How We Change, the 2024 San Francisco Writer’s Foundation Writing Contest Anthology. Her work has been published in The Thieving Magpie, On Being Jewish Now substack and Simpsonistas Vol. 3.

What is your memoir about? What inspired you to write it?

(SA): My memoir, THE LAW OF RETURN, is a study in resiliency in the face of conflict – both the one I witnessed in my time as a soldier in the IDF and the New York Times-covered custody battles between my parents, identified in the newspapers as ‘a religious government computer specialist’ and a ‘Revolutionary Communist,’ that left me, an Orthodox Jewish girl from Northern California, searching for belonging that led to my joining the IDF.

I was inspired to write it when I traveled back to Israel with my family for the first time after being away for 25 years. Seeing some of the same places brought it all to the surface for me, and I realized that I wanted to share my stories about what I had done and seen, what Israel and being Jewish mean to me and how I learned resilience and gained a sense of belonging from my time there.

In your bio, you describe yourself as a tech lawyer by day, writer by night. Does your background in law empower you in your work?

(SA): I do think that being a lawyer, especially one that is so in tune with the needs of a business, like an in-house lawyer is, is empowering. That has allowed me to feel like I can go beyond what I was taught in law school. And creative writing does break the mold of writing like a lawyer – cutting things down to the essence for the business folks and getting to the main point. I had to unlearn a lot of that in my creative writing – to be more emotional and evocative than I would ever be in my business writing.

What is something you have learned about yourself when working on the memoir?

(SA): Writing a memoir takes a lot of soul searching. I had to dredge up memories I had tried to forget and think about them in detail. Some things were especially hard to write and think about. I had a few good cries. Some of the funny things I recalled didn’t lend themselves to the plot and had to be cut. The process of writing about parts of my past that I hadn’t explored deeply made me have to think about how I had acted, what happened and whether I should have done some things differently. The whole process took a long time and was very emotional.

Were there any obstacles you had while writing your memoir? 

(SA): First, It was hard emotionally and I had to take breaks. Second, my mother got sick and died – during her sickness, I stopped writing. I just couldn’t write honestly about our relationship while she was suffering and I was trying to be there for her, so I put it aside. Third, I had never written a book before and trying to figure out the right structure was the hardest part. I had to rewrite it several times before it clicked with my current braided timeline structure.

Are there any other writing projects you have planned beyond this memoir?

(SA): I started a newsletter on LinkedIn that provides advice to in-house lawyers called “In-House Lawyering and Beyond.” I think that could become a book down the road. I am also working on short stories and have challenged myself to write one a month for the entire year. So far, I have written three stories this year. It’s hard with everything else I do, but it has been rewarding as well.

And lastly, do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

(SA): For years, I said that I wanted to be a writer but I didn’t have time. I have learned that you have to make the time – to learn about craft, to read, to sit in the chair and write. It’s easier than you think – just set a timer for 15 minutes and write about anything, then start the rewriting process after a few sessions. Soon, you’ll have a short story. 

Now, I can’t imagine a time where I won’t be writing. It stopped feeling like a chore and now it’s fun.

 Shanti Ariker can be found at shantiariker.com.