Why K-dramas Are Modern Jane Austen: Slow Burn Romance and Yearning Heroes with Belinda Kroll

S3 E35 / Belinda Kroll, indie author and illustrator (cozy romantasy for Jane Austen fans!) and OG Kdrama lover, joins me to talk about slow burn romance, the Hallyu wave, and kimchi-making. 

🎯 We explore the parallels between Kdramas and classic Jane Austen—yearning romances and the creative tension that comes from societal constraints. 

🥇And we have a list of comfort-watch dramas. Plus we discuss tropes like the competent heroine, the yearning hero, the dreaded forced separation.

✅ Spoiler Free episode. Enjoy!

Currently Watching:

• Tastefully Yours
• Perfect Crown 
• Reply 1988 

Dramas Mentioned: 

• Rooftop Room Cat
• Coffee Prince
• Full House
• I Am Not a Robot
• My Holo Love
• Because This is My First Life
• Mystic Pop-up Bar
• Goblin
• Hotel del Luna
• Oh My Ghost
• Atypical Family
• Romance is a Bonus Book
• Sailor Moon
• Nodame Cantabile (possibly - let me know if this isn’t the correct title. We we weren’t sure of the title)
• Turn to Me, Mukai-Kun (S3 E32: Turn to Me, Mukai-kun, A Slice of Life Jdrama https://www.buzzsprout.com/2435348/episodes/18752474)
• Quartet
• Business Proposal
• K-pop Demon Hunters 
• AustenLand

Links:

Belinda Kroll’s website: https://worderella.com/

Sara Rosett's Jane Austen-inspired mystery series: Death in the English Countryside (Book 1 in the Murder on Location series): https://books2read.com/countryside/

Transcript

Belinda Kroll: KDRAMA Podcast Recording

Sara 0:11

This is the How I Met My K-Drama podcast, and it's all about K-drama origin stories and recommendations. I'm Sarah Rosette and today Belinda is here with me. Hi Belinda, how are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Good, good. Glad to be here.

Meet Belinda

Sara 0:23

I'm excited to talk to you. So tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Uh well, many people know me as the indie author and illustrator of cozy romantic for like Jane Austen fans. My my interior true identity is like an OG K drama lover. I'm glad we're here. I'm gonna out myself.

Sara 0:42

Tell everybody your author name if you're if you want to.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Yeah, yeah, Belinda Kroll, K-R-O-L-L.

Sara 0:47

So I found out you are into K-dramas. You were on the other podcast I do with Jamie called Wish I Know Then. And you mentioned that in passing. And I was like, oh my goodness, we have to talk because I love K dramas. I'm a very new K-drama fan. Oh yeah. But tell us a little bit more about yourself if you want to share anything else besides just that you're an author.

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Yeah, no, I'm I'm in Ohio and I met my husband swing dancing. I have a gray cat whose proper name is Mr. Fitzy William Darcy, but he goes by Fitzy on for every day. And otherwise, if I'm not dreaming about writing and drawing or complaining that I don't have time to write and draw, then I'm probably complaining that I'm doing the dishes or laundry, or I'm working on a house project and I'm having a lot of fun.

Sara 1:36

So awesome. Yeah. I love the cat name. That's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 1:41

I looked at them and I was like, you're a Fitzy William.

Sara 1:44

What are you currently watching, K-drama-wise? Do you have anything into right now?

SPEAKER_01 1:49

I am. I've actually been watching Tastefully Yours. I don't know if you know that one, but um, I love it. I love it. Do you like the food element to it? I do enjoy the food element. I adore Korean food. I'd had like some like stomach issues a couple of years ago, like a decade ago. And I discovered the beauty of pickled everything.

unknown 2:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

And how it has like a lot of probiotics and prebiotics in there. And that's a lot of that's like all the little the banchans, the little dishes that they have. A lot of it's pickled the garage picket, all these pickled veggies. And so that became a part of my diet and helped get me back on track. Like there was no medicine that was helping me.

Sara 2:31

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

Um, but yeah, so I do enjoy watching, I watch a lot of food shows in general. Somebody feed Phil is like my favorite on Netflix. And but I like and I really enjoy Tastefully Yours because it's we're probably gonna jump into this, but it's the competent woman and the guy that like discovers her and is like, why does no one else know about you?

Sara 2:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

And it's it's just really satisfying.

Sara 2:58

Yeah, that's good to hear. Let's see. I'm watching there's a new one out called Perfect Crown. There's only a couple of episodes out on Netflix, so I'm watching that. And it's a it's an alternate history. If the Korean royal family were going on today, if there was a royal family, but like a constitutional monarchy, sort of like England or I maybe similar to Japan. I don't know much about Japanese culture as far as that goes. But anyway, it's interesting. So, of course, there's a prince and they want him to get married. It's been a lot of fun so far. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

You I think I would have that on my list. Yeah, I think you think it's on my list. Yeah.

Sara 3:37

Yep. And then I like to try and watch like a throwback and older classic. So I watched the first episode of Reply 1988 the other day.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

And oh see, I haven't seen those. Like I've seen them on the list, but I haven't had a chance to watch that particular series.

Sara 3:53

Yeah, it feels and a lot of it is for things that I don't have that nostalgia for because I didn't grow up in Korea. It does feel very family, found family oriented, but there's a lot of episodes. So I was like, I don't know. I'm in not in the mood for this. So I watched the first one, I enjoyed it. So I'll go back to that one too.

SPEAKER_01 4:11

Oh, okay.

Sara 4:12

Well, tell how you found K-dramas. You said you're an OG.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

I am. It's funny. It's it was like the second thing I found for when we first got cable. Oh, so like 2002, we had just gotten cable in our house, and there was this channel called A Z, it was a cable channel called A Z N, like the letters A Z N. And it was just an import of all of these shows from Japan and South Korea, and probably others, like I just the way like my school schedule was, I just probably couldn't get a chance to see those. And specifically that summer that we got in the cable was the summer of High U because and I discovered that later they called it that because South Korea hosted the FIFA World Cup that year. Okay. So they were just banking on everything was the summer of Hyu. Everything was just the summer of like Korean culture and everything. Yeah. Um, and so like I write in the I like dove right in. As a person who loves Jane Austen, I was like, this is what I want. I want the guy yearning and like looking across the table and then being like, oh no, she's looking at me.

Sara 5:24

It's the really subtle, slow burn, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Yes. So like, oh, it's halfway through this series, which is like episode eight, and like they just their hands just touched.

Sara 5:37

And it's such a big deal. It's like so exciting.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

So exciting. Exactly. Exactly.

Sara 5:44

I love that too. And we don't really see that very much in rom-com movies that come out here or even TV shows. You may have a long slow burn. I think of like a mystery episodic show where the you know, like castle or something like that, you'll get a really slow burn because they don't want them to get together. I feel like there's you've got a point where okay, we've got to have something happen here. You don't get that satisfaction like you do in a K drama.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

That happened with Moonlighting. It was that mystery show from the 80s, early 90s.

Sara 6:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

I used to watch everyone through that show. I loved that show. And then yeah, the whole thing collapsed once they got together. And it was like there's almost more tension. There's a possibility for more tension after you get together, it turns out. But like TV writers don't, I don't know if American TV writers just don't know how to do that.

Sara 6:33

Yeah. Yeah. I was really, I was really surprised the first couple of K dramas that I watched where the characters got together in the middle, like at the midpoint. Yeah. Yes. And I was like, whoa, what are we doing here? I don't what's gonna happen? So it's very interesting to see how the structure is different.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Yeah, I really enjoy that because then I feel like you get to spend more time with the couple because it is a it is work to learn how to be a couple. Yeah.

Sara 7:01

And that could be entertaining to watch in and of itself. And then you've got all the other ramifications of the families, because K-Dramas usually have all the family stuff. So then you've got him trying to figure out her family and her trying to feel his family and in-law relationships and stuff. So yeah, there's a lot of plot there that you can mine, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Absolutely. And I honestly I and I think we have similar things like here in the States, right? Like you get into a relationship and you start to meet the person's family. Like anytime two families come together, you you have the possibility of like clashing many microcult microcultures. Um, yeah, I just feel like we have so many things just sitting waiting to be plucked by some amazing TV writers, if they could just figure it out. Yeah. Or I guess the people who have the budgets, maybe that's what it is.

First Kdrama

Sara 7:50

Yeah, interesting. Well, do you remember what your first K drama was that you watched or some of the early ones that you enjoyed?

SPEAKER_01 7:58

The first one, I think it was called like hotelier. So it was the staff of a hotel that had, I don't know if the owner had gone bankrupt or something, but somehow like the staff for the reason why the hotel was still existing and they were like keeping it together. And then it was all the it was all the relationships and microcosms between the staff members. And of course, there's the sort of like the head staff member, and then like the girl who comes in, and she's just like a lowly page or something, and but then she does something that sparks his attention because she like saves something or does something great because she's I have nothing to lose, I'm just a page. I have like core memories of sitting at the TV watching because the cable it didn't come through clearly. It was like an ant farm, and I'm watching this show and I'm also trying to read subtitles.

Sara 8:49

Yeah, and you no rewind, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:53

No rewind, yeah. It's just we're just here. And and I remember my parents being like, What are you doing? And I'm like, but he just did a thing, and they're like, Is this okay for you to be watching? Because I think I was like 14, 15 or something like that. And I was like, they just held hands, and they're like, Oh, okay, you're fine. Keep going. We just yeah, keep going. We're out of here, you're fine. Yeah, you're fine. Oh, that's funny. But then when I got to college and like their cable package was different, that's when I saw rooftop room cat and coffee prints and full house, and those all live rent-three, rent-free in my head, like all day, every day.

Sara 9:26

Yeah. Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. Do you have a K drama that just really has a special place in your heart? And is there one that really resonates with you? It's hard to narrow it down to one, probably.

SPEAKER_01 9:39

It is hard to narrow it down, but I really Coffee Prince was so interesting to me on so many levels because um, and this isn't a spoiler because this is like how the show is set up, right? The guy like orders a meal or something, and the person who delivers it has a short haircut, a boyish figure. He assumes it's a boy, never questions that assumption. And as soon as she takes her helmet off, you're like, that's definitely a girl. Like she's on the little thing. Yeah, as a viewer, like that is 100% a girl. And like it was one of those he finds and thinks he's like a little scruffy ruffian and he's gonna take him under his wing. And but throughout the then throughout the show, you're watching him struggle with the idea of am I attracted to this intern person that I brought on my staff? Meanwhile, everyone on his staff, one by one, is all figuring out she's a girl.

Sara 10:37

So you've got so many, so many levels of the story there, because you have what they know and what he knows and what she knows.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

Thinking at it like from like the cultural, like what was a what was like approved or what was like taboo, and then you've got the boss employee dynamics.

Sara 10:52

Yeah, there's a lot to work with there.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

There was a lot to work with there, and I think that show in particular, I was reading about it like years later, and they were saying that and it's a rom com, so like obviously they're gonna get together by the end, and there will be at least one kiss. But the first kiss that they have was like one of the first, like it was more, it was not an American kiss, but it was the most American kiss I'd ever seen in a Korean drawing.

Sara 11:18

So it was more realistic then. It wasn't so like the fish eye thing, and yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

No, it was it was very much like we had the camera is back away from them, and we get to see their full bodies press against each other. Yeah. Um, and apparently that made it really controversial, which is also why it made it was really popular at the time.

Sara 11:40

Probably, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

I just love that one because then it's the whole, oh, he figures out that she's a girl, and then there's that whole thing of I thought I was attracted to her when she was a boy. So maybe being gay is not that bad. So like they trickle that into the show, which I found fascinating. And then, yeah, and then the way a lot of the shows back then in that particular era, it was like they would get together, but it was always like family will come in and say something like, You have to prove that you're willing to wait for each other. So we're gonna send this girl to America.

Sara 12:12

Yes, the forced separation.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Yeah, like she's gonna go to college or something, or go to culinary school or whatever. And when she comes back, if you two are still interested, then you can and so that was a thing too, where I was fascinated by that. I think because my grandparents tried to do that to my parents, so my parents are like, no.

Sara 12:31

Yeah, that is even now a lot of the shows that come out now have that where they have to be apart. And yeah, to me, that seems an odd thing at the end. And I don't know if it's more a cultural thing. I saw something, I think it was on Reddit, some of his time and how they're like North and South Korea, they're separated and they deal with separation a lot, and like the men go away to military training. I thought as a writer, it's a way to prove that your characters are true to each other, but I feel like we see it so often that it's almost like okay, now we come to this checkbox that we have to fill. So I think we get too used to it for it to be meaningful. Or I don't know if that's the right word.

SPEAKER_01 13:13

Yeah, I think for me, I've so I think I think once I noticed the pattern, I was like, oh, okay, so this is like the point of no return big breakup. It's just that it's not like in an American story that they would fight breakup. This is an external reason to take them apart. Okay, so that's all right. And then so I like that I like the fact that it's an external reason that breaks them apart because they've worked so hard to get together. So I do sometimes get annoyed with like romance fiction, and you're like you just spent 75% of this book trying convincing yourself you like this person, and now they make one small mistake, and it's over. It's done. It's done. I knew you were like this. Yeah. Um, but I do enjoy just seeing how they do like each story is a little bit differently, but it's like a fantasy one versus a rom-com one. They each have their own flavor of that, and I find that interesting. How are they gonna make it? How they're gonna make it new this time, yes.

Sara 14:16

Yeah, that's the fun part. Yeah. Well, do you have a go-to comfort watch? Do you re-watch dramas or not?

SPEAKER_01 14:23

I do re-watch dramas. I am not a robot. Hit me in the fields. I love that gosh. Oh my good one. So good. Um, my hollow love is also a good one because this is my first life. Really just to have really good, especially talking about like family and family culture, and they're not their relationship, is not the typical married relationship, but it works. Yeah, you know, it works for them because I think I just think it's cool, like they're brave enough to do something out of the ordinary and make it work for them. So I love that story. And I keep meaning to go back to re-watch Mystic Pop-Up Bar. I want to go back to watch Goblin, the Great and Lonely God.

Sara 15:08

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

And I want to go back and watch Hotel de Luna.

Sara 15:11

That's a lot. That's a long list.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

I know. I was like, I was like, I'm gonna have to like only because I saw the prompt and I was like, oh no, I'm gonna have to keep this to like under 10, aren't I?

Sara 15:20

Yeah, but it's good to have those. I feel like if you are in the mood for something like that's good to have kind of your selection, yeah. Well, I'm in the mood for this, or just go back and rewatch certain scenes that are your favorites. Yes. Well, we've talked about tropes and stuff a lot. Do you have a K-drama trope that you just love that is like a yes, I'm definitely watching this one?

SPEAKER_01 15:43

That is a great question. And I had to I actually had to think really hard about this because I was like, yeah, what is my pattern? Like, what do I what do I do? I think what I discovered or what I came to the conclusion was like when the heroine is the grumpy, serious, capable one who already knows her value. So therefore she sees no reason to really uh interact with modern society. Yeah. Uh chooses to be on the outskirts. Uh, and then there's this, then the hero comes in and he's startled and is like, why does no one so like taste tastefully yours? It's a perfect example, right? She's this amazing uh death. She makes beautiful uh meals, and that's because she goes and sources the best uh ingredients she can find. But her restaurant is suffering because it takes her so long to find the right ingredients. And then here comes this like mogul son of a restaurant family who's been kicked out because he didn't sell a restaurant well. So he's kind of he's like charming, but he's also like slightly in incapable because he's always been on like the marketing selling side. He's never actually done anything with his hands, and so like even in the first couple episodes, like I thought this was gonna be he was gonna like mock her, but instead he's just bewildered by her. Yeah, and he just keeps following her because he's I don't know what she's gonna do next. And then the turn it goes from being bewildered to like admiration. Oh, she's not proving herself to anybody, she knows exactly who she is, but I need to make sure all the people know because she's awesome, yeah. You know, so yeah, I like those sort of shows.

Sara 17:28

Yeah, I like that too. I love the I'm not as much into enemies to lovers.

SPEAKER_01 17:33

I like it when they're I don't, yeah, yeah.

Sara 17:36

When they're when they at least like each other a little bit, or maybe they're not really aware of each other. That's I like it when they're you can see that. Oh, he's cool, or oh, she's interesting. What I didn't realize. I like that.

SPEAKER_01 17:48

Yeah, like a begrudging respect andor interest.

Sara 17:53

Yeah. Well, it was there a drama that you were surprised you liked.

SPEAKER_01 17:56

I could not come up with an answer for this one. Okay, that's all right. I was sort of like, is there do I did I like all of and I know that can't be true, but I think anything that I see? I almost didn't make it through, I think it was Oh my ghost. I almost didn't make it through Oh My Ghost because it started really light and happy and funny, and then it went dark, so dark.

Sara 18:21

Yeah, like a roller coaster.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

It went dark so fast that then it was it went to the point where I had been watching at night, like before bed, and I was like, I don't think I could turn my light off tonight.

Sara 18:33

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 18:34

Like really got it, really got me because it was it just suddenly became this like mini psychological, almost Felker type story that happened that I just didn't see coming, but I was so worried for the character that I watched it the whole way through, and then I loved it again. So that was probably the closest.

Sara 18:54

Well, it sounds like you watch a lot of different types of genres anyway because for me, I'm not as into fantasy sci-fi type stuff. I I was like, eh, I don't know if I'll like this, I'm not a robot, and I loved it. And then I tried, I was like, I don't know if I want this time travel stuff mixed in with my mystery, and I was turned out I do. I loved it. So it's like, I guess I just need to stop worrying. And another one that surprised me was A Typical Family. I really love that one. That's a newer one. Okay. Yeah, it's on Netflix, and it's uh it's about a family of superheroes. And I was like, I don't know, I'm not into superheroes, but it's really not that is part of the plot, but that's not the main plot, it's not like a Marvel movie, it's a Marvel universe type story, it's more about the characters and how they're dealing with their lives, and there's a whole bunch of twisting. A typical family.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

I am yeah, putting and typing this into my back right now.

Sara 19:49

I'm the atypical family evangelist. Everybody, I tell everybody to watch it because it's I don't think a lot of people know about it, but it is very interesting and had a lot of twists that I wasn't expecting. And so that one I was like, oh, so I just need to uh I need to try them and see. I might like them.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Well, and to be fair, I don't really watch a lot of sci-fi, I don't really watch a lot of mystery or like crime stories. I stay away from even though I enjoy like the ghost stories, I stay away from like the zombie stories. I think because zombies feel like those could actually happen if like biochemistry goes wrong. Yes, they're gonna be.

Sara 20:26

Too much potential there. Yeah, let's see. We've already talked about dramas that resonate with you long after you finish them, so your early ones. How do you pick what you're gonna watch next?

SPEAKER_01 20:36

I think a lot of it is the vibe, right? I'm so glad that Netflix has picked up so many of these shows because we already had a Netflix account. Previously, I was buying, I think it was Crunchyroll, and I think there was another one as a blue logo. Uh Vicky, maybe Vicky, yeah, Vicky, thank you. And I'm like, I am spending all this money and I don't even have time to watch all these shows. I get it. It was so exciting to see these on Netflix. And so oftentimes what'll happen, of course, Netflix suggests things, right? So, oh, this might be good for you based on what you've already watched, and oftentimes it's like the font on the true image itself, and then what's that one sentence that they have? If the vibe, because in general, I want a happy ever after. That's why I work, that's why I write romance and it's why I read it, because it's like the real world doesn't always have happy ever after. So my entertainment should give it to me. I agree. Um I totally agree. So yeah, I really do I try to find clues that even if it may seem dark, that if I'm questioning it, then that's when I go like online or go to Wikipedia or something like that and read about it. But usually anything kind of rom commy, but it's a vibe thing, and I'm looking for clues to help make sure the vibe is correct. like the font and the image and the teaser little seven seconds that they show. Yeah.

Sara 22:07

Yeah. Yeah. And I do the thing that Netflix puts on there, the like the three words. Sometimes it'll have nostalgic or I don't know if it says bittersweet, I'm like, I don't know about this one. That's a caution for me because it could be good or it could rip my heart out. Yeah. I don't know. I want that. I have to I have watched some really angsty ones that have been like a difficult watch, but I enjoyed them because of like the storytelling and the symbolism and stuff. And then they would have that glimmer of hope at the end. And I'm like, okay, I can handle that.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

Yeah. Happy for now also counts. Absolutely. Happy for now counts.

unknown 22:42

Yeah.

Sara 22:43

You said like you had a hard time watching Oh My Ghost. Do you have any others that you were like eh, I don't know. I wouldn't recommend this one or are you pretty easygoing?

SPEAKER_01 22:53

Oh, there was one I was disappointed in. I remember I'm a writer and they don't have a ton of shows about writers. So when they have when love is an was it love is an open book.

Sara 23:03

Oh is it romance is a bonus book or something like that?

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Yeah something like that. Yeah. It's it but it's the story about the woman who she's she's divorced and she has this kid that she's trying to take care of and she's a cleaner in the beginning.

Sara 23:18

Yeah. And then she goes to work.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

Yeah. Yeah. And then she ends up like working at a publishing house. And I everything about the story should have clicked for me. But something about the connection between the actors I think of the hero and the heroine I just didn't buy it. Like I could not suspend my disbelief enough that they were actually attracted and happy with each other. But like structurally that story should be like my number one favorite show. Right.

Sara 23:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:49

You know so that one was puzzling.

Sara 23:51

Yeah. Yeah. Well that's funny because if it is Romance was a bonus book and I think that's how that one starts, I remember I watched the first episode of that and I couldn't keep going. And I think part of it was the publishing thing and when you're really close to something in real life and you try and watch a show about it and you're like that is that would not happen in real life. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

Yeah.

Sara 24:11

Not that I work at a publishing house but you know you know how it is. So I think that's what I've always thought. Like I'm an indie writer and I could tell them like this is not but it happens in every book that there's every book or movie that has a writer. I'm like like real professional writers don't they're not friends with their agents. That's always the setup. And no that never happens. It's a working relationship. Yeah. And you're lucky if they will email you back. That's the bottom line. And they're not asking where the next book is for sure. So yeah. Anyway okay enough of my hobby horse on that. So let's see. Oh one of my other questions is do you keep track of the dramas you've watched anyway or you just go with the flow.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Okay. So I go with the flow, but it really bothers me that I go with the form. You're an aspirational book tracker or movie drama tracker. Yes. Because it's so I used to have a journal that I would keep track of all the books that I read. And I would even say like what was the format? Like I'd write a plus or minus and like whether I enjoyed it or neutral. And then I would say was it like a print book or an ebook? And then as the years went on like you can watch the progression of oh we actually hit half and oh now it's 75% ebook. And now it's like why am I using a book to keep track of ebooks?

Sara 25:27

Because you have them all on a device or something.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Of course now with licensing things you're not necessarily guaranteed to keep your books on your device. Yes as we've all found out the hard way. Yes. So I do I it's I wish I had a cute way to do it. Like Story Graph is really cute for books and like reading things. And I just wish I had a cute way to keep track of my K drama watching. Maybe that's what we could use AI for. Let's make cute K drama trackers. Yes let's I'm up for that.

Sara 26:04

Yeah. Cause there is a it's a site called My Drama List and it's like you go in, you pick your drama and you say currently watching it's not pretty like you're talking about but then you have to remember to use it which sometimes I forget. Yes. Yes. And then I'll think what was that drama that it was about this woman who is traveling and I have to go look for it and it takes forever. I would like something that's prettier especially at the end of the year when you get the Spotify wrapped and it shows you all your things you listen to that could be fun to see button. We're going to start a side hustle business like either one of us has time for that right add it to the pile.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Yeah. Just add it. Yeah.

Sara 26:45

But you talked a little bit about the foods that you had eaten. So I always asked do you have a thing like K drama made me do it try to food or do you have anything like that? Anything extra?

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Yeah K drama made me make kimchi.

Sara 26:58

Oh wow how did that turn out how did that go?

SPEAKER_01 27:00

It was delicious.

Sara 27:02

Wow it's so much easier than I thought it was going to be yeah because it makes it look like it's a huge involved process.

SPEAKER_01 27:09

Every time I've watched a show where they make that maybe it's because they're making so much I think so I think that is because I I basically had one nap of cabbage and so and I had one like tall mason jar and like I was able to like rinse it, let it sit and so it's a lot of sit and soak in salt water and rinse it and then sit and soak in more salt water and you do that a couple times. And then finally you dry it off and then that's when you put like the gochu tongue in between the leaves and like little carrots and everything. And I it was actually because of which one was it?

Sara 27:45

This is not my first life isn't there it's yes where he goes back to her village.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Yes. And he like sits down in like the the kimchi squat and it's just oh I'm going to do this. They centered a whole episode around this it really was good. And so for a good seven years I always had a jar of kimchi in my house like in my fridge. Yeah. And then in grad school is when I went to my first Korean barbecue because I had a schoolmate who was from Korea. Okay. And she was like oh you watch she was like why do you know about full house and coffee prints and I was like let me tell I'm obsessed yeah yeah and then she was like did you know that there's like a Korean barbecue down the street and I'm like no how do we do that? And then it was and so like now and in Columbus Ohio they've popped up all over the place. We have so many Korean barbecues that basically now everyone knows if you're going to ask me out for dinner, I'm going to suggest Korean barbecue. I will sit there probably not talk to you because I'm having so much fun cooking the food for you. It's an introvert's dream like you're social you're you're amongst the crowd but you feel no need to have to participate in the conversation because you are the little mini chef here. Because you're cooking yeah oh that's awesome.

Sara 29:06

You were talking about the how you wave when you first started watching shows and it's I feel like there's another wave now where all this has become like skincare and dramas like K-pop K Pop demon's yeah it's it's a it's a second bigger wave don't you think oh absolutely like the first wave I think was for those of us who already were watching anime like I was already watching Sailor Moon.

SPEAKER_01 29:33

I was already going to the sci fi channel to watch their every Saturday morning they had an anime movie from 10 to noon um that's that's how I spent my Saturday mornings in high school yeah and so it's it was a very natural transition. And then I watched a couple of J dramas but I don't know there's something about the K drama there's like a different feel to it.

Sara 29:55

They're very different yeah because I've watched a couple of J dramas. I haven't ventured into Chinese dramas because I've like that's too many I can't be tempted by all those they do have a lot yeah but I've watched some J dramas that I just love in but they are very different from the K dramas too they have a different feeling they're almost feel more realistic in some ways.

SPEAKER_01 30:16

Do you think so or what would you how how what are the differences you think see and the one that I saw or was it two there were two of them that I saw maybe one of them was like I can hear the music in my head but like they're all students at this like crazy like symphony academy and they're all battling it out for the top spot and and there's this girl who like never practices but she's doing great and everyone hates her and then and then there's like the guy who doesn't talk to anybody because all he ever does is practice and you can see where that's going and yeah of course collar yeah and I really enjoyed it but it also had a very cartoonish character. It was like so real and then it had the orchestra director was clearly some person wearing like a ratty gray wig to be this older crotchety uh like silly wise man type character. So the dichotomy was hard for my brain to latch onto but I enjoyed it I watched the whole thing but it wasn't one of those I'm gonna watch another one of those.

Sara 31:23

Yeah yeah I've watched a couple that I really enjoyed in fact I convinced another friend to watch a J drama and we talked about it's on the feeding tycoon it's a romance and then another one that I loved was called Quartet and it's so quirky. It's just about these four people who become friends because they're into playing instruments and they form a quartet it was just so interesting to me. And I don't know if it was just because it was new and different and I but I love it was well written that they would sit around the table and have conversations and I was just so into it. So maybe just because I like the writing of it I liked it so much.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Yeah. And I think too like I'm so biased towards anime and manga like Sailor Moon all day every day. So I think there's a part of if it doesn't have a magical girl cast in it I don't know why I'm you're not into it. Like why am I watching this?

Sara 32:13

I get that we all have our things that we're like oh this is what I'm most into because there is quite a bit of choice now on what you can watch.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

It is so much choice and like Sailor Moon like I discovered that when I was like 10 years old or something. So it's like a core part of my personality even it's why I've started drawing it's how I wrote my first book was I was basically writing fan Sailor Moon fan factions set in the American Civil War.

Sara 32:38

Nice that cracks because it probably hadn't been done before right no I don't think it had I love that I love to hear what inspired people to write their first book because that's usually one that's very personal. So that's very cool. Yeah yeah if you had a friend who had never watched K drama um and they asked for a recommendation what would you recommend?

SPEAKER_01 32:59

The first one that came to mind was business proposal specifically because then I want them to go watch K-pop demon hunters so then we can giggle over Jeannie's entrance together. You're triangulating I am I'm like you you don't understand what you did by coming and asking me this question. I am I am now going to build an experience for you multi-steps.

Sara 33:23

Yeah yeah and that's funny because you can figure it out you can be like okay now if you like this one's related because it's got the same character or it's got the same trope there's so many ways you could do that.

SPEAKER_01 33:36

So when I first saw K-pop demon hunters first off I fell off my bed I was laughing so hard at how they had pulled in some of the traditional drama the music and the oh it is so beautiful he's blinding and the song I was like why does the song sound so familiar it's the business proposal song. Yeah so the guy from Business Proposal who plays Genu the first time he saw the movie they didn't tell him that they got the rights to that song. Oh okay and so he thought there was a mistake and he's looking up what's and everyone's just grinning like no we got it we got it isn't it great I got it and I I love I love backstory like that. I love watching little the little clips that you can find on Instagram and stuff of what's happening.

Sara 34:24

Yeah the kind of little behind the scenes things yeah yeah and business proposal is a good one has a wide appeal I think it's it does a lot of people really love it and it's got a rom-commy feel to it.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

The secondary romance is just as compelling as the primary and it's yeah it doesn't feel quite so Cinderella esque you know how some of them it's like he has to come down so low to be with her it's not quite that bad. Like she is clever in like in her own right and really business proposal I think was one of the first that I remember turning around at work being like why do you know business proposal? And it was like oh yeah I found this cute show on Netflix and there's never in a million years that they would have watched a Korean drama that just wasn't in their horizon. Like they didn't even know it existed. I know because I would try to talk to them about it.

Sara 35:18

You tried to convert them right yeah that was terrible a conversion and then here they turn around and they're like oh yeah watch this cute show business proposal and I'm like okay so many years have been lost let's catch up yeah that is it is funny when people find this drama this type of drama I feel like people either love it and they dive in and they just can't get enough of it or they're like eh that was okay and then they move on. Yeah. But for those of us that really like it where it's like becomes a little bit of an obsession. It's true. We talked about K dramas a lot is there any other reason that K dramas are special to you?

SPEAKER_01 35:52

I actually had this thought a while back that particularly for me, I think why I'm so drawn to K dramas is because my mind has equated them as being modern Jane Austen stories because of the amount of yearning the amount of emotional and internal turmoil the amount of societal expectation and like society would not allow these two to come together but their love was that they're gonna try to see if they can make it happen anyway and and especially with the Matthew McFadden hand flex era it's just that's the entire K-drama rom-com genre. So if you ever need one like just go pick one up you won't have the hand flex but you're gonna get the vibe of the hand flex.

Sara 36:38

Yeah yeah I agree and I think uh there was a movie did you ever watch Austin Land?

SPEAKER_01 36:44

You probably did it's I actually didn't uh were you not into it or no I'm that I'm that really annoying person that like everyone was telling me to watch it and so therefore I was like no I'm like that too if too many people like something it's like no I'm not interested so yeah like I'm I'm not part of the mob mentality I didn't watch I didn't read I didn't read the giver until I was like 27. Yeah and then actually I was mad at myself for that one because I'm like this actually is a brilliant book and I see why people told me to read it.

Sara 37:16

Yeah I'm country like that too so I totally get that but if the if you ever do watch it there is a scene where he's talking the two main characters are talking because they go to this place that's a modern like you can live out your Jane Austen fantasy in this country house place in their costumes and stuff and the main character that's the male lead is talking to the female character about why he likes it and he said it's the manners it's the restraint it's the all the things that we don't have anymore and I don't remember what his exact words were but I was like yes that makes it interesting because you've taken things down a notch back to a simpler time in a way where things were more restrained and you had more rules and more formalities in a way.

SPEAKER_01 38:04

Yeah my my day job is being an experienced designer and I often coach and mentor designers. And one of the things that I say is if your tech team comes in and says they can't do this thing, that's not the end of the world. That's just another constraint to design around and I do feel like the when you have constraints boxing you in it forces you to be more creative.

Sara 38:27

Oh I totally agree.

SPEAKER_01 38:28

Yeah you know so like the fact that Victorians invented Valentine's the language of the fan the all this stuff and the language of the flowers and the flowers exactly like all these hidden clues and and then there's always the risk of one being caught or two your message going to the wrong person because you're trying to do it across the room and yeah.

Sara 38:51

Yeah I do agree that constraints really do make you be more creative and I think that's why you know you're not going to have the couple get together right away. So that the slow burn the that's why the handhold or the just the like when they put the food on the plate those little things that you're like oh it's happening. It's been really slow build yes yes well this has been so much fun I've enjoyed talking to you about it and hearing about your shows that you watched and enjoyed it's been great. Do you have any links you want to share?

SPEAKER_01 39:25

So if people are interested in you or your books they can go find them yeah everything is probably the easiest way to get to things is from my sort of link tree. So wordarella.com that's like Cinderella but with words slash links and that has like direct access to the free ebook that you can get has access to my own little podcast that I do like once a month and it's usually just me rambling and it's fun but retailers and my shop and I do have a Kickstarter that's coming up soon for book three and I'm excited about that. And it's just I just like being creative and I like making cool things and wordrolla.com slash links is probably the easiest way to find all the things I'm making. Okay cool.

Sara 40:08

And if you're at all interested I would recommend just go look at your books and stuff because they're beautiful they're the illustrations are so unique and and if you like this flavor of you know restrained romance and happy endings yeah definitely go check out Linda's website.

SPEAKER_01 40:26

Yeah it's a good place to find all that for sure I love a yearning hero and the but for book three I describe the hero as like the yearningest of yearning heroes. I didn't know I could write someone so yearning but I love him.

Sara 40:42

So okay well those links will be in the show notes and if you enjoyed this episode please take a few minutes to write a review or if you listen to the podcast that will help K Draw my fans find the podcast and I'll see you next time. Thanks bye thank you bye