Love of the Half-Eaten Peach: A Lee Wind Q&A and Cover Reveal

The folktale is not dead. It’s just resting.

Folks, I’ve know Lee Wind for years and years, but if I were to try to pinpoint the exact moment we became acquainted, I would fail utterly. You may know him because his blog I’m Here. I’m Queer. What the Hell Do I Read? was one of the forbears of the industry and is still on fire with its content. But of course Lee’s an author himself, with everything from picture books (Red and Green and Blue and White, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky) to YA nonfiction (like No Way, They Were Gay? Hidden Lives and Secret Loves) to THREE upcoming titles in 2024. And one of those books is the subject of today’s discussion. It is . . . a folktale.

Back in March, you may have seen this announcement in Publishers Weekly:

“Wiley Blevins at Reycraft Books has bought worldwide rights for the picture book Love of the Half-Eaten Peach by Lee Wind (l.), illustrated by Jieting Chen, an epic take on Yuan (Duke Ling of Wei) and his beloved Mi Zi Xia who shared a peach circa 500 BCE, inspiring generations of people to use the expression “Love of the Half-Eaten Peach” in Chinese to describe romantic love between men. Publication is scheduled for spring 2024; Marietta Zacker at Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency represented the author, and Alex Gehringer at the Bright Agency represented the illustrator.”

But finding additional information about the tale required talking to the man himself. And happily, Lee was willing to comply:

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Betsy Bird: Hi Lee! I am so pleased to see that you have created that rarest of rare picture books: the folktale. And not just any folktale but one dating back to around 500 B.C.E. in China. It’s a remarkable story, one of the few with gay characters that I’ve ever encountered. How did you first discover this story?

Lee Wind: Thanks, Betsy! I’m excited to be here.

I first learned about Yuan, Duke Ling of Wei, and the man he loved, Mi Zi Xia, while doing research for my nonfiction No Way, They Were Gay? I was just blown away by the fact that the moment of love expressed between these two men (Zi Xia sharing a half-eaten peach) captured the imagination of people at that time so much that in Chinese they used the expression “love of the half-eaten peach” as we use the word “gay” in English – to describe romantic love between two men. And they used that expression for over a thousand years!

That felt epic. Huge! I kept thinking it would make an incredible picture book, in a similar fairy tale/folk tale vein as Cinderella. But gay. And inspired by the true story.

BB: Once you determined to turn this tale into a book, there had to have been some challenges. Many folktales come from an oral tradition and they don’t always neatly slot into a picture book’s page count. What changes did you have to make to the tale when you adapted it?

LW: Oh, so many changes! The earliest version we have of Yuan and Zi Xia’s story was part of a cautionary tale told by the philosopher Han Fei Tzu almost 250 years after the actual sharing of the peach, about how a ruler’s affections can change over time. That was fascinating (and a bit of a bummer that it wasn’t a happily ever after that lasted forever). What I realized after playing with the story was that I really wanted to focus on how the simple gesture of sharing a peach became a symbol of love that lasted for centuries!

But two people walking through an orchard and sharing a peach isn’t much of a story…

So over many, many drafts I created the framework of a problem – Yuan needing to understand perfection so he can be a good ruler, and Zi Xia going on a heroic quest to find Yuan something perfect. And the twist at the end? Well, once I had that, the whole story clicked into place. I still get goosebumps when I read it, every time.

BB: I love that you mention some of your research at the back of the book. What kinds of research did you have to do with this book?

LW: The hardest part was letting go of the historical research – what actually happened – and telling a story inspired by that moment.

I had to let myself make up – and figure out – so much about who the Yuan and Zi Xia of my story were, and what they cared about.

Then the research was pure fun. Nine is a number of resonance in Chinese culture, so instead of 1,000 in the story we have 999 cranes take flight, 999 streams tumble over a mountain’s edge, and 999 rays of sun glow in the most precious jade. Being one off of 1,000 also thematically fit the idea that nothing is “perfect” – the idea that you can’t quite achieve 1,000.

I also researched what the constellations were called back then. That’s why Xi Zia’s quest is under all the great stars, south under the Red Bird, west under the White Tiger, north under the Black Tortoise and Snake, and east under the Blue Dragon. It’s so evocative!

One of my favorite moments was consulting with a silk weaving expert to find out how to best describe an imperfection in the smoothest of silks… Turns out it’s a “lump.” Because nothing is perfect – which is exactly Yuan’s problem!

BB: The book is accompanied by the art of Jieting Chen. Were you aware of Chen’s work prior to this book? How do you feel about the final product?

LW: I wasn’t aware of Jieting’s art before this project, but I’m so grateful she brought her incredible talents to this story. I’m gay, and admittedly obsessed with Queer history, so I could speak to that part of the story—but I knew the book needed an illustrator who could ground it in being a Chinese tale. Jieting has that heritage and infuses her art with a style that feels so right, putting Yuan and Xi Zia in the right place, in the right time, and in the right cultural setting. And she does it all with a sit-back-and-let-us-tell-you-an-epic-love-story feel. The perspectives! The emotion! The colors! It’s breathtaking, and I’m so excited at how the words and art together add up to so much more.

One of my favorite parts of the book is the dedication page, where I dedicate the book to my husband, and Jieting dedicates the book to her wife. Turns out it’s a love letter to our own queer loves, and to every reader out there yearning to be included in an epic love fairy tale.

BB: What do you hope that your young readers come away with when they read LOVE OF THE HALF-EATEN PEACH? 

LW: That we Queer people deserve epic love stories, too. And we have them, in our own history. And that’s worthy of celebration, just like our lives and loves today are worth celebrating.

BB: Finally, what else do you have coming out next? 

LW: In August the follow-up to No Way, They Were Gay? comes out. It’s called The Gender Binary Is a Big Lie, and it’s all about how the idea that there are only two ways to be a human is just not true. There are many communities who understand gender more expansively than dominant western culture, both historically and today. And there are many individuals (in the past and now) who lived their lives outside the gender binary. Knowing that turns out to be a liberation for all of us, whether we fit in the boxes of gender or not.

Thank you for this opportunity!

BB: Thank YOU for talking with us today!!

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Love of the Half-Eaten Peach is coming out in September of 2024, but we wanted to get a jump on things and let you know about it as soon as possible.

And here, my one and all, is the cover itself:

Big thanks, once more, to Lee Wind for talking with me today and letting us all know about this book.

Filed under: Interviews