M. L. Wang

Frequently asked questions

• Is M. L. Wang traditionally or self-published?

  She built her career through self-publishing. The Sword of Kaigen won the 2019 SPFBO as a self-published title, and her later standalone Blood Over Bright Haven was picked up by Del Rey, which re-released it in 2024.

• Does M. L. Wang have a martial-arts background?

  Yes. She works at a martial arts school in Madison, Wisconsin, and credits that training for the grounded, often messy realism of the fight scenes in her novels.

• Does M. L. Wang write under any other name?

  Yes. She publishes The Volta Academy Chronicles under the name Maya Lin Wang, separate from the M. L. Wang name she uses for The Sword of Kaigen and Blood Over Bright Haven.

• What inspired the Japanese-influenced world of The Sword of Kaigen?

  Wang drew on her Chinese heritage and her family's history under the WWII Japanese occupation, alongside a love of Japanese classics such as the Kojiki and The Tale of the Heike. That mix of admiration and inherited tension shaped the book's setting.

• Where is M. L. Wang from?

  She was born in Wisconsin in 1992 and is based in Madison, where she splits her time between writing and working at a martial arts school.

• Are The Sword of Kaigen and Blood Over Bright Haven set in the same world?

  No. They are unrelated standalones in completely different worlds. The Sword of Kaigen belongs to Wang's Theonite universe, while Blood Over Bright Haven is wholly separate.