past, present, future: Chinese lantern festival
and an interview with Lunar Love’s audiobook narrator, Raechel Wong
There are several Asian countries that have their own Lantern Festivals, the traditions and celebrations differing. This newsletter is focused on the Chinese Lantern Festival, which is happening this Sunday, February 5th. The Lantern Festival is the final day of Chinese New year and the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. This holiday is a great time to reunite and gather with family and friends.
Lanterns are an important part of this holiday. Some are used for decorative purposes or riddles, while other lanterns are sent up into the sky like a hot air balloon. The hot air is lifted by a fire source under the lantern, which can have messages and wishes written on them. And while you’re looking up, sneak a peek (or a full on gaze) at the full moon!
One of the more popular foods to celebrate the Lantern Festival is tāngyuán, a traditional Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour and filled with sweet (and sometimes savory) fillings such as red bean paste, sweet peanut paste, or sweet sesame paste. They’re served in a hot broth or syrup and are typically about a ping pong ball size or smaller. But back to the Festival and its history (promise you there will one day be a tāngyuán post)!
There are many beliefs about the origins of the Lantern Festival. One of the origin myths of the Chinese Lantern Festival is that when the Jade Emperor’s favorite crane that flew down to earth from heaven was hunted by villagers, he decided he wanted revenge by burning their village down on the 15th day of the first lunar month. The Jade Emperor’s daughter felt bad about this and warned the villagers of her father’s plan. To avoid their home from being attacked, they needed to fool the Jade Emperor by creating the illusion that their village was already burning. To do this, they made as many red lanterns as they could. The Jade Emperor called off his army when he was tricked into thinking that the village was already destroyed.
And because lanterns play such a big role in this holiday, some history: It’s believed that sky lanterns were used as decorative light sources, but also as military signals that communicated messages across long distances. They date back to thousands of years ago to the Eastern Han Dynasty in China (25-220 C.E.).
The tradition of hanging lanterns, as well as sending them up into the sky, has continued all the way up to the present. In addition to hanging lanterns, lighting them, and solving riddles, dances, parades, fireworks, and of course, food, has also persisted over time.
Not only is it a Lantern Festival tradition, but lanterns are becoming popular to celebrate with on birthdays, weddings, and at parties. Because the fire element of sky lanterns can be risky, there are companies making lanterns with non-flammable materials, as well as biodegradable materials since where the lantern lands once you release it is up to fate (and the wind).
It’s incredible the intricacy of some of the lanterns that have more recently gone on display. For instance, the Nashville Zoo has a Zoolumination event running for a few more days where there are over 500 big, bright (lit with LED lights), colorful custom-made silk lanterns designed by Chinese artists that have been created to look like animals and mythical creatures. It’s the country’s largest Chinese lantern festival. There’s even a dragon that spans over 200 feet long!
As interest grows in cultural events and Zoolumination-type events, maybe more places around the country will host more of these types of festivals. Sometimes the future isn’t always about changing, but growing. Let’s continue to keep celebrating and gathering with friends and family, and honoring traditions in our own ways. As for sky lanterns, the tradition is quite literally a beautiful one and I’d be curious how much more they continue to evolve to be environmentally- and animal-friendly.
And now! An interview with Raechel Wong, an actor and voice over artist based in Los Angeles. I had the pleasure of getting to know Raechel because she is Lunar Love’s audiobook narrator. Raechel did an incredible job narrating the book—I was completely transported listening to it. Also: it was on Audible’s Best Lunar New Year Audiobooks list!
Elsewhere, you can watch Raechel in the limited Hulu series Pam & Tommy, Divorce Bait, Finding Love in Big Sky, Montana, and on ABC’s Promised Land. She’s also in the upcoming Lifetime series The Gabbi Luck Mysteries. When she’s not pursuing one of her many interests, she's collecting stamps in her passport and solving all the puzzles in the in-flight magazine.
What inspired you to become an actor and voice over artist?
You know when you finish a film and you're not ready to leave that world so you hit the special features and behind-the-scenes on YouTube or a DVD? My family always had a fascination with the special features of movies and I think that's where it started. My brothers and I were glued to the screen watching the special effects, or seeing how much it took to create a seemingly simple scene. So far, it's been exactly as I imagined!
Acting itself started out as a hobby for me as an adult—fun classes to take after work and on weekends. I loved playing improv games and feeling like a kid within the sanctuary and adventure of a pretend world, but I didn't intend for performing to become a full time endeavor. I just didn't think it was probable or practical. With the encouragement and support of teachers, colleagues, and just good luck and timing—heavy emphasis on luck—I've been able to pivot and make a career out of it! That's the short of it anyways.
That’s so incredible! What movies and books have inspired you?
I adore a good romance book, especially during the summer, so when I was cast to narrate Lunar Love, I was truly over the moon! I don't think I've met a book genre I didn't love to be honest! Fantasy/Sci-fi is currently what I'm absorbed in. I've been really enjoying The Sixth World series by Rebecca Roanhorse and Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, just to name a few. I inhaled several romance books this summer, and Lunar Love was hands down my favorite—I'm not just saying that because I'm biased either!
My earliest memorable inspo for anything film industry-related was definitely The Lion King. I have an uncle who worked at Disney animation and I was really fortunate to visit the studios and offices to see how animated films get made. I was also petrifyingly shy as a kid, so the idea of getting to voice act or perform without being watched sounded like a DREAM.
I have a wide range of genres that I love for film, too. My top favorite films are The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Wayne's World, You've Got Mail, While You Were Sleeping, Life Aquatic, Swiss Army Man, and John Wick. Everything Everywhere All At Once truly blew me away this year too.
Such great movies. Now pivoting to audiobooks, how do you prepare before recording a book? Do you have any routines or rituals?
I do! I always pre-read and take notes of character descriptors that stand out to me and start letting them roll around in my mind, adding on as I learn new plot points. I adored getting into Lunar Love because Olivia's perspective is so relatable to me. (The scene where she's watching the nature show? Very me!) I was really comfortable embodying her sarcasm, humor, and foibles! Plus, I'm SO into baking, cooking, and connecting with my Chinese heritage through the cuisine! What made this narration job special was that your writing voice and style felt so familiar to me. I'm not sure if it's because of our mutual obsession for You've Got Mail or not. 🙂
That definitely must be it. 😊 In the audiobook, you do such an amazing job capturing the essence of the story and the voices of the characters. How do you determine the voices that you use with your characters?
To me, the author tends to drop clues about how the characters sound, whether it's pace, pitch, texture, accent, etc. During the preread, I get to know everyone, and the voices form in my head along with what each character may look like. Sometimes I start by doing an impression of someone I know that's like the character and take it from there.
Elmer, for example, is a heckuva lot like a friend of mine, so you'll hear a little bit of him in that voice. With Carol Rogers, the realtor, I pictured a flashy woman with big gaudy jewelry, a fast-talking mouth with lots of bleach-white teeth, who always has to be somewhere else soon, so I physically performed her in that way and that's how Carol was created. It probably looks ridiculous in the booth, but I think that's when the best work gets done!
So cool! Thank you for that behind-the-scenes glimpse. What can we look forward to seeing and hearing you in this year?
Well, Lunar Love, obviously. 😉 Besides Lunar Love, I'm in the upcoming Lifetime series The Gabbi Luck Mysteries, and y'all can keep an ear on alert for my voice on Netflix and Disney+! Next, a rollicking, fun raunch-com I worked on during the pandemic called Divorce Bait just came out and that film is truly hilarious! And of course you can catch me in a couple other currently-streaming shows/movies!
Thank you so much, Raechel! Catch Raechel on Instagram, IMDb, and her website.
While Lunar Love's pub date was three weeks ago, it has been out for an entire month with Book of the Month 💙. Thank you BOTM subscribers for making Lunar Love your pick! (After this month, Lunar Love will still be available as an add-on!) It has been the biggest thrill seeing all of your copies being unboxed, read, and photographed. Thank you so much to all of you who have read, reviewed, reached out, posted, vlogged, and photographed. This has been an experience for the books! 🥰
A few other things to note:
🎤 I was on a couple of podcasts: Book of the Month’s Virtual Book Tour and Spawned with my author friend Kristen Mei Chase (we talk about being mixed race).
🍪 Check out these incredible Lunar Love-inspired cookies that Cookie in the Kitchen made. I’m obsessed!
🗓 I’ll be at Movable Feast this weekend and am excited to share photos and videos from the event, so stay tuned and follow along on Instagram.
🎵 Lastly, while we wait for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (you know this one’s next!), Lunar Love inspired by Midnights lyrics.
And to everyone who checked out Lunar Love from the library, picked it up from your local indie or B&N, listened to it on audiobook, read it as an eBook, and has shared photos and reviews and messages—thank you, thank you, thank you! I will never be able to say it enough. I am so appreciative for all of it and all of you.
To those who celebrate, happy remaining Lunar New Year and have a fantastic full moon-filled Lantern Festival!
From me to you, in the present,
Lauren
Keep following the thread on Twitter and Instagram and Goodreads
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