Q&A: C.B. Lee, Author of ‘Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe’

We chat with author C.B. Lee about Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe, which follows a geeky overachiever who is determined to save the world through science and a troublemaking chosen one lashing out against her destiny meet and fall in love in a magical coffeeshop as their two very different universes begin to collide.

Hi, C.B.! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?

Hi there, thanks so much for having me! I grew up in Los Angeles, CA and my favorite thing to do as a kid was go to the library and just get a big stack of books and lose myself in them. Today I’ve developed a lot of favorite genres but I will always have a soft spot for science fiction and fantasy since that’s where I started!

When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?

I feel like storytelling has always been a part of me. From a very young age I would enact dramatic storylines with the ever changing cast of stuffed animals and toys, and my head was always in the clouds. I think I started really writing long form stories in 5^th grade, when our teacher had an assignment where we’d write a story, lay it out, print it and also bind it. It was so much fun, and I remember going around my classmates and asking for blurbs and making the cover look like a “real” book.

As a teenager, I definitely felt a lot of loneliness; I think I never considered my own queerness or was able to until much later. The focus of my stories now is to write the stories I wish I had when I was a teen.

Quick lightning round! Tell us:

• The first book you ever remember reading: Frog and Toad Are Friends by Arnold Lobel
• The one that made you want to become an author: The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
• The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane

Your latest novel, Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?

Interdimensional magic sapphic dating shenanigans

What can readers expect?

Readers can expect a cozy romance with fantasy hijinks and interdimensional travel. A sweet exploration of defying expectations and falling in love.

Where did the inspiration for Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe come from?

In my childhood neighborhood was a street lined with jacaranda trees, and it always felt magical being under the awning of those purple blossoms and having them litter the street. I walked home from elementary school everyday, and I often daydreamed to pass the time as I walked, and a longstanding daydream was about just being able to walk into another world filled with magic.The title is also obviously a homage to fandom and coffeeshop AU’s. A favorite trope of mine, I love how comforting and reassuring it is to see this iteration in any fandom, and how many different ways writers interpret it, from the quick and cute to the long slow burn. 

I think fanfiction is such a creative space where people find connection and explore character dynamics and see how that changes in a totally different universe or situation. 

Brenda’s world is inspired by our own, and Kat’s world is a huge what-if, not just about magic, but about what a Los Angeles would look like that evolved without cars. The public transportation is based on the real life history of Los Angeles electric streetcars and how thorough that system was, and a lot of the alternate world economy comes from a new idea of magic as a commodity. 

Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?

I love writing meet-cutes,  I think they’re so much fun! Brenda and Kat’s first meeting is a favorite of mine, especially the moment where they both are having two different conversations – Kat’s talking about real magic and Brenda is talking about DND – and they just build this connection. It was also great exploring that with their different personalities too.

Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?

I think the most challenging part of writing is when to stop researching, when to stop editing. It’s very easy to get stuck in a research spiral – I did research on the origins of Chinese immigrants who came over during the Gold Rush to get a sense of Kat’s family, and I could have kept reading and learning more, there was so much information to process. Ultimately I had to learn that I was building a foundation for writing, and that I wasn’t writing a historical novel and that I was mainly procrastinating. Knowing I had to finish and get the project done—that’s part of editing too, knowing when to stop. Because you can pick and pick at a project and it would never be perfect, and then no one would ever read it.

What’s next for you?

Sleeping. Just kidding! (well, not only sleep). I’ve got a few secret things in the works that will be announced when they’re ready. And readers know I’m still working on Not Your Hero, the final installment of the Sidekick Squad series as well.

Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?

Okay get ready for an all over the genre list! I really loved Dahlia Adler’s Home Field Advantage, I think it’s the perfect high school sports romance. Julian Winter’s I Think They Love You is absolutely lovely. I just reread all the Murderbot Diaries before the series came out, and can I just say how amazing the casting is? My favorite of that series is Network Effect, but I think I really started to fall in love with short fiction again because of how tightly written those novellas were. I loved a collection of Ryka Aoki’s works, Seasonal Velocities, which did a lovely job of bringing together poetry, fiction and essays.

Coming up I can’t wait for Dead and Breakfast by Rosiee Thor and Kat Hillis, and It Had To Be Him by Adib Khorram.

Will you be picking up Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe? Tell us in the comments below!