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The name Kyla Zhao might sound foreign to you now, but it will soon be emblazoned across the cover of upcoming fiction book "The Fraud Squad".
The Singaporean writer has secured two books deals — one on the way to shelves, another yet to be written — with Berkley Publishing for six figures each.
Berkley, an imprint of the prestigious Penguin Random House, has also published works by Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris (whose novels were adapted to HBO's "True Blood"), and Patricia Briggs, among others.
Zhao, 23, is a fresh graduate from Stanford, armed with a MA in Communications and BA in Psychology.
In addition to long-form fiction, she also has experience writing for fashion titles like Singapore editions of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Tatler.
Written during the pandemic
Zhao told Mothership that she wrote "The Fraud Squad" while living alone in California at the height of the pandemic.
Feeling homesick, the writer looked to escapist fiction like "Crazy Rich Asians", "The Devil Wears Prada", and "Gossip Girl" in hopes of alleviating the symptoms.
"[...] but those books rarely featured cultural settings or characters I could identify with. I wanted to read something with Asian protagonists and contexts, but couldn't find it—and so decided to write my own."
"The Fraud Squad" is set in Singapore and tells the story of Samantha Song, a young working adult who dreams of having her byline in a high-society magazine.
Song then enlists the help of her friends to infiltrate the socialite scene, but finds that belonging to the elite may mean losing herself.
The book will be published in January 2023.
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Top image courtesy of Kyla Zhao