Ann Liang Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Ann Liang
Ann Liang was born in Beijing, she grew up traveling back and forth between Australia and China, yet somehow wound up having an American accent. When she’s not busy writing, she can be found binge-watching dramas, making over-ambitious-to-do lists, and having some profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who is a good dog.

Before Ann began writing, she used to draw a lot (horses, specifically, but very little else).

Ann’s writing process has stayed fairly consistent for all of her novels so far. Once she has a story idea, she likes letting it simmer in the back of her mind, and she’ll think up character dynamics, lines, or certain scenes wherever and whenever, like when she’s washing her hair or chopping potatoes. She will hold all of it in her mind until it gets to a point where she feels like she physically cannot keep track of everything any longer, and that is when she begins jotting everything in an outline. Then she dives right into drafting, which usually takes about two or three months.

For “If You Could See the Sun”, she did a round of revisions with her agent before submitting it to publishers, and then another round of developmental edits with her editor. Something that keeps her motivated through the process of writing is reading great books and really focusing on the craft, so she’s constantly inspired by authors like R. F. Kuang.

When she was drafting “If You Could See the Sun”, it was very quiet, since it was just her and the Word document in her small dorm room and her unsubstantiated hope that it’d one day become a book; because nobody even knew she was working on it. Everything has been much louder with the two novels she wrote after it. Now people have actually read her words, and she is a bit more familiar with the industry, and while there are more expectations on her, there is also more support. Ultimately, she is so grateful she gets to continue doing what she loves and tell the stories she wants to.

She never wrote the novel, however with the intention of it even becoming a book, or it selling. It was just for herself, so she wanted it to be as specific as possible. This is what really brings an environment, a setting to life: the world building’s truly in the details. So even if somebody isn’t familiar with the setting, Ann wants them to feel fully immersed. She also just wanted to write about Beijing the way that she knows, the way she lived it. Not about Great Wall and pandas, like a tourist would. She wanted it to feel more like home.

The inspiration for the novel came from many different sources, which is probably why the end result is all of that variety. She was inspired by “Crazy Rich Asians”, since for a lot of people, it was very cool to see that sort of representation on screen. The C-dramas that she has watched were also a huge source of inspiration. She’s been told that certain scenes give them such C-drama vibes, and can visualize it as a scene. Always makes her very happy. Things like “Gossip Girl” too, a show that she binged when she was about thirteen.

While writing the novel, it was just what she was feeling most inspired to write at the moment. She didn’t even think about genre until they were attempting to sell the novel, find some agents.

“If You Could See the Sun” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2022. No secret is really safe.

Alice Sun has always felt like she was invisible at her elite Beijing International boarding school, where she is the one and only scholarship student in a sea of super wealthy classmates. However she’s got a plan: be the top of the class, got to a prestigious university, land a killer job, and finally lift her family out of poverty.

But then her parents drop a bomb on her: they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship. However that is the least of her problems since she’s begun to uncontrollably turning invisible. Fully and completely invisible.

Alice realizes that there is an upside to her odd new power: unparalleled access to the secrets of China’s most influential and rich teens. Soon, Alice has got a new plan: offer her invisibility services to learn what her classmates want to know, for a price.

However between balancing schoolwork, a blossoming relationship with academic-rival-turned business-partner Henry, and stealing secrets, things begin to fall through the cracks. While the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice has to decide if helping out her family is worth losing her conscience, or even her life.

“This Time It’s Real” is the second stand alone novel and was released in 2023. Get ready to fall in love in this hilarious romantic comedy about this girl that starts a fake relationship with the famous actor that’s in her class.

When Eliza Lin, age seventeen, writes this essay about meeting the love of her life and it goes totally viral, her whole life is changed overnight. Now she’s got a career launching internship opportunity at her most favorite magazine, the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, and.a massive secret to keep. Because you see, she made her essay up. She has never been in a relationship before, let alone been in love. All good writing is lying, yeah?

Desperate to hide the truth, she strikes a deal with the famous actor that’s in her class, the aloof yet charming Caz Song. She will help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz truly is a dream boyfriend: he makes Eliza’s younger sister laugh, passes handwritten notes to her in class, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls all around the city.

However when her relationship with Caz begins feeling just a little too convincing, all of her carefully laid plans get threatened. Can she follow her dreams still if it means she’ll break her own heart?