Welcome to the second season of the Herald’s dating podcast:It’s A Date. Join Herald dating columnist Lillie Rohan as she takes notable Kiwis on a fantasy date, finding out about their relationships and love lives along the way.
Chloe Gong is only 25, but the Kiwi author has accomplished things some can only dream of.
As both a New York Times and international best-selling author for her critically acclaimed Secret Shanghai novels, These Violent Delights and the soon-to-be-released Immortal Longings, the writer is no stranger to garnering attention from devoted fans. But there was one interaction that left her shocked and confused.
She takes It’s A Date podcast host Lillie Rohan to Paris, where they talk about her life in New York, if Romeo and Juliet are even romantic and how small details can lead to big breakthrough moments in the writing world.
Romeo and Juliet is a tale as old as time. If you didn’t learn about it in high school English class, then you would have at least seen some pop culture reference to it. Yet despite its lingering impact, the central story does involve two teenagers meeting, getting married and then killing themselves, all in the space of a few days. So, does it deserve its legacy as a romantic story?
More prepared for the question than imaginable, the novelist says, “I have a thesis.”
“I think the very essence of it is about two teenagers who dare to love each other, even though it would’ve been much easier to hate.
“Their two families were in a feud. It was this environment that built a very, very bad upbringing, and yet they were brave enough to say, ‘I’m gonna break the cycle’. And you know, yes, they were brave and killed themselves. We should not be recommending that to teenagers these days,” she says, before adding, “However, you know, out of the story that was drawn out of it, they were brave enough to want to end that cycle rather than to perpetuate it, so they chose love over hatred.”
Ultimately, the Last Violent Call author says, “I think it is romantic, but I would not say it is a romance, nor do I think kids should imitate that any time soon.”
Worst date ever
Gong is one of the lucky ones in the sense she has never been on a terrible date, but that doesn’t mean she hasn’t thought about one.
“If I was writing the worst date, I think I would include those really, really silly, tiny details that give a person the ick, but if you try to explain it to your best friend, they’d be like, ‘You’re out of your mind’.”
An example would be if someone keeps answering their phone or if they rudely summon the waiter.
Chloe Gong with her novel Last Violent Call. Photo / Instagram
Weirdest comment
With a following of almost 100,000 people on Instagram and double that on TikTok, the Kiwi author - who is back in New Zealand for the Auckland Writers Festival - is no stranger to receiving some questionable comments or messages. One particularly strange one she can recall left her jaw on the floor.
About two years ago, Gong said she posted a TikTok video made up of fan art of Roma and Juliette - the characters in her first two books. The concept of the video was a joke, and she asked, “Who’s going to be my Roma for Halloween?” While many fans played into the inside joke, one user with a random name replied, “If you want me to be your Roma again for tonight you have to fly me out, unlike last time.”
Disturbed by the reply, Gong immediately blocked the user.
“I was like, I don’t like that you’re implying that I fly people out from the internet to be my character. This is disgusting. Blocked.”
For more from Chloe Gong and her upcoming book, Auckland Writers Festival plans and how her AI engineer boyfriend helped her develop a new book concept, listen to the full episode ofIt’s a Date.
It's a Date is an NZ Herald podcast hosted by Lillie Rohan.
It’s a Date is an NZ Herald podcast, with new episodes coming out every Thursday.
