From reader to author

BETWEEN the ennui of her internships and studies in California during the pandemic, Kyla Zhao began seeking comfort amid the chaos.

She turned to books, but could not find any light-hearted reads. So, she started to plot her escape from reality by writing her own story.

A year later, The Fraud Squad was born.

“If I could describe the experience of writing and reading it, I’d say it’s like taking a beach vacation,” she said.

“I wrote exactly what I wanted to read while living through the pandemic.”

Slated for release in January 2023 under Berkley Books/Penguin Random House, the novel tells the story of Samantha Song and her dream of working for a high-society magazine. She enlists the help of her friends to infiltrate the Singaporean socialite scene, as she feels her own social status is a setback.

However, Samantha finds that belonging to the elite set may mean losing herself in the process.

Zhao had previously attempted to write short stories when she was younger, and almost always featured a Caucasian character.

However, it was not until much later that she came to realise how much she had been influenced by Eurocentrism through the stories she grew up reading.

Thus, writing a book set in Singapore and with local characters became not just a way to alleviate her homesickness, but also an opportunity to construct a non-West narrative.

“I’d never written short fiction before, unless you count the embarrassing Harry Potter fanfiction I wrote when I was 12,” reveals the pyschology and communications alumna from Stanford University.

“But I’ve always loved being able to distill the complexities of reality into more understandable terms. “That’s why I did so many journalism and communications internships. It’s just like storytelling, in the sense that I have to present an event in the most interesting way possible to draw the reader in, but without the pressure of having to create the event.”

Kyla’s brief stints with Singapore’s top glossy magazines also helped her to craft her debut novel.

“My understanding of luxury brands and events also allowed me to inject the glamour of high society into my book,” she added.