Abigail Hing Wen’s Loveboat, Taipei trilogy is now the movie Love in Taipei on Netflix, which she executive produced. Her new novel, The Vale, which she wrote 10 years ago, is an illustrated middle grade adventure following a boy and his virtual elf trying to save an AI-generated world and his real-life family. We invited Wen and her publisher, Stephanie Lim of Third State Books, to discuss their collaboration and recent milestone in becoming a bestseller, in addition to already being adapted as a Roblox game and a short film prequel directed by Wen and starring Tony Award-winner Lea Salonga.

Abigail Hing Wen: Stephanie, we did it! We launched The Vale into the world!

Stephanie Lim: What a ride! It has been incredible to see people show up with so much support and enthusiasm.

Wen: So incredible. I’m beyond grateful.

Lim: What do you think people should know about this journey?

Wen: How about we start with us? Over a year ago, I was working on the short film prequel to The Vale, which doubles as my directorial debut and a proof of concept for a feature-length adaptation of The Vale. You generously hosted an event in the Bay Area to which I was invited to talk about my new movie, Love in Taipei. And at that event, we talked about The Vale! I’m curious what you were thinking at that time.

Lim: I’d been following your career since the beginning and was already a huge fan, so I was genuinely curious what other stories you had percolating. We were just getting Third State Books off the ground and we were intent on building an innovative platform for our AAPI authors to tell their stories in a way that feels authentic to them. When you told me about this tech-native story for middle grade readers, I latched onto it, as the mother of two young boys who is trying to help them navigate their relationship with technology.

Can you say more about the story?

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“I wrote The Vale to democratize access to this powerful AI technology… so that young people everywhere can take advantage of its potential and guard against its pitfalls.” —Abigail Hing Wen

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Wen: The novel follows Bran Lee, age 13, who has spent half his life building his Vale—an AI-powered virtual fantasy world—using AI tools created by his parents. Bran’s Vale grows at the speed of his imagination, complete with a Blue Forest, Castle, and Village of Elves. But despite the wonders of their creations, the neurodiverse Lee family falls on hard times. To save them, and to prove their genius to them and their community, Bran enters the Vale in an invention competition to win a $10 million investment. But then dangerous glitches and a rogue wizard emerge in the Vale, and he and his elf best friend, Gnomly, must uncover the betrayal threatening both their worlds.

Lim: I love that at the heart, The Vale is a young founder’s journey, about creating something from scratch, and finding creative solutions when things go sideways.

Can you tell us more about the origin of The Vale and why you wrote it?

Wen: I wrote The Vale in 2015. It was my creative thesis at Vermont College of Fine Arts under the wise guidance of Martine Leavitt. I was working in the heart of the AI revolution, and I saw this powerful technology seeping into all our lives without people being aware. I wrote The Vale to democratize access to this powerful AI technology that was already shaping our lives and our futures, so that young people everywhere can take advantage of its potential and guard against its pitfalls.

Lim: This book was so ahead of its time—there was hardly anyone outside of Silicon Valley who knew about AI in 2015, and it’s surreal to learn that you actually wrote The Vale before Loveboat, Taipei!

Wen: No overnight success here! I wrote and shelved five novels over 10 years before Loveboat, Taipei. The Vale was my love before Loveboat, Taipei. But because it was about an AI-generated fantasy world, it was too early for its time.

And when we chatted about it last year, it felt like the right fit to publish with you and Third State Books. The whole project was already so entrepreneurial within the story itself as well as the short film prequel in the works—and I loved your own background in tech. You not only understood the tech, you appreciated the importance and timing of getting this book out. And I love where we landed—with 40+ beautiful illustrations showcasing the world of the Vale.

Lim: The illustrations truly are gorgeous and one of the first things people react to when they open the book. It’s been part of our modus operandi to involve our authors more fully in the creative process. You served as art director for the book, which was also another first for you, wasn’t it?

Wen: Working on the illustrations has been an incredible labor of love. My short film team weighed in on many rounds of Gnomly, who is our iconic character. Yuna Cheong and Brandon Wu did an amazing job bringing the whole set together: colored end-pages, black-and-white stills. Yuna was so careful with getting all the details correct and creating the beautiful cover, and Brandon brought his skills as an animation character designer. Our interior designer Sammy Yuen gave the ancient Book of Elf chapters—a book within a book—a look of their own with crinkled edges. Our cover designer Celine Son put on the finishing touches with the title. The resulting collaboration is just so wonderful.

Lim: Now, tell me more about the short film, which does a great job of setting up the novel. It’s so emotionally resonant and it’s amazing you got the iconic Lea Salonga to star in it! Why did you decide to create it?

Wen: I was thinking of moving into directing, and was advised that I needed a short film as a calling card. The Vale—Origins—the reason the Lee family built the Vale in the first place—was the most interesting, bite-sized story I had in my portfolio. It was also a fun challenge to do a film that was a hybrid—part live-action, part animation. And we ended up with such a wonderful team—as you mentioned, Lea Salonga stars as our roboticist mom, and John Aoshima (Ultraman: Rising) was our animation director along with Neil Blevins (The Incredibles, Up, Brave, Wall-E) as our animation production designer.

Lim: Where can people watch it?

Wen: We will be showing it at various film festivals over the next year, and in the meantime, schools and community leaders can reach out to my team to see if we can set up a private screening for an assembly and author visit.

Lim: Tell us about the audiobook, which we released simultaneously with the book, and why you were so excited to work with Matt Yang King.

Wen: Matt Yang King is the voice behind characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender and Elemental. He is so wonderful with different accents and voices, and The Vale is full of voices! He uses an American accent for the live-action chapters, and a British accent for the Vale chapters. There are the humans in the real world, and the Elves in the world of the Vale, and there are secret connections between them that Matt very thoughtfully worked through with his voice. It was truly amazing to listen to him bring the story to life in yet another medium.

Lim: A lot of folks have asked how we were able to hit the New York Times bestseller list as a new indie press dedicated to AAPI authors. It’s seemingly impenetrable, especially for new players!

Wen: I’m so thrilled we did! It is such a coup for the community. And it truly was the work of the community in getting word out. I’m grateful that my Loveboat, Taipei readers and viewers have supported this novel’s launch too.

Lim: Hitting the bestseller list really shows how much enthusiasm and appetite there is for a story like this. As a newer press that just started publishing our first books 18 months ago, it helps put us on the map and signals that there is a market for AAPI stories and tech-optimistic stories. The way AI touches so many aspects of our lives these days, The Vale is more relevant than ever.

What’s next for you?

Wen: I have quadrupled down on The Vale. We just wrapped the Roblox game, which has had a soft launch online, and the short film. I’m also working on the feature film script. I’m now on my book tour and am especially loving my school visits. I’m excited to do more in-person and virtual author talks.

Lim: That’s right, we have a wonderful set of discussion questions on our website that will be continually updated with more teacher guides and curriculum. How can teachers and librarians reach you to set up talks?

Wen: You can reach out to my assistant, or find me on social media. The best way to stay in touch is via my newsletter.

Lim: Thank you so much for trusting a startup publisher with your story, Abigail!

The Vale by Abigail Hing Wen, illus. by Yuna Cheong and Brandon Wu. Third State, $19.99 Sept. ISBN 979-8-89013-031-0