Lawyer takes turn in the write direction
10:22 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 13, 2008
When she turned 30, Christine Son took stock of her life.
The Plano lawyer had secretly dreamed of being a writer. So she decided to write a novel while juggling her full-time job.
Off the Menu, published this month by Penguin Books/NAL, is a spirited tale of three Asian-American best friends – a chef, a lawyer and an oil heiress – living in Houston and figuring out their dreams and careers.
Son, now 32 and in-house counsel at J.C. Penney, will read and sign copies of her book on Friday at Barnes and Noble. Here's more on how she launched her side career.
Lesley Téllez Q: What's your creative writing background like?
A: I didn't do a whole lot of it growing up. In fact, I did very little outside of English classes in high school. I was a biology major in college, so I didn't do any writing at all. It wasn't until I was out of law school that it started to – not nag me so much, but it did a little bit. There was something in the back of my head like, I think I could write this. I think I could do this. I want to sit down and try.
Q: How did you pull it off having a full-time job at the same time?
A: I sacrificed sleep. That's why I feel halfway crazy all the time. Writing is a very odd thing ... How do you do this? Where do you get the time? I'm kind of obsessive by nature. And once something sparks in my head, I cannot not do it. So it did become this obsessive labor of love, where I'd be up before the sun was up and working way past sundown, and working crazy hours on the weekends. It did become very much like I was working two extremely difficult jobs.
Q: Do you see any similarities in being a writer and a lawyer?
A: I think the organizational skills have helped, for sure. I'm a list-maker. I think doing that in both has been helpful. But it's such different uses of the brain. ... I will say, though, that being a lawyer, it makes you think about things in as many different lights as possible, especially in litigation. I always have to anticipate: What is opposing counsel going to say? What are some of the counter arguments? What are the weaknesses of my argument? I think that helps a lot with fiction writing, too. How can I make this more efficient, or more effective, or more persuasive, or more whatever it is?
Q: One of the characters in the book, Whitney, feels like the token Asian lawyer at her firm. Did you ever feel that way?
A: When I was at my law firm, I was the only Asian lawyer. ... I didn't feel like a token, really, at any point in time. A lot of that was based off of my friends' experiences. And even though I was lonely at my firm, I never really felt like I was treated as a commodity. But I certainly understand it.
Christine Son will read and sign copies of her book, Off The Menu, at 7 p.m. on Friday at Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Park. 7700 Northwest Highway, Suite 300. 214-739-1124.