I write the Seoul, Curated books. All five of them started the same way: I'd notice something small — a convenience store shelf, a market stall, a backstreet that still had its old signage — and think, someone visiting would want to know this. Eventually that turned into five actual books.
I still write everything myself — no ghostwriters, no templated listicles. If you've read one of the books, you already know the voice: short, useful, a little playful, never a lecture. (You might also recognize Coral, Teal, and the rest of the cast who show up in the illustrations — they've been with me since the first book.)
Seoul, Retold came from the same instinct. People kept telling me about their trips after they got home — where they went, what surprised them — and I realized I wanted to write those down too, the same way I write the books. So now I do, for anyone who sends me their trip.
— Sumi