Name: Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Website: www.prettyokmaggie.com

Asian background: 1/2 Japanese

What is it about your experience and upbringing that inspired you the most to write?My entire family is comprised of storytellers– writers, actors, journalists, editors. I don’t think I ever stood a chance to do anything but be a storyteller in some capacity, and it turned out writing is what I love most. It has the good fortune of being the kind of job you only get better at with time, and that’s nice to know. 

Name 3 authors and 3 books

What do you think is the best quality a writer can have?

The emotional fortitude for merciless self-awareness

Any last words? (Fun facts, comments, something you’d like to share with the world, etc.)
Did you know that there’s a frog that’s native to Lake Titicaca in Peru called a scrotum frog, whose skins purportedly can be used for male enhancement? They are critically endangered and much cuter than something named for the ball sack. I’ve never seen one in real life, and it doesn’t seem likely that I will now, being that I didn’t much enjoy my visit to Lake Titicaca and am unlikely to return. 

Challenge: Write a one-sentence story!
She didn’t believe in mermaids until one tried, unsuccessfully, to drown her.