In Conversation with Dustin Thao
Dustin Thao did not expect to blow up on TikTok. As a breakout title from the FYP, You've Reached Sam has gained a cult following of readers who love a book that makes them cry. Since then, Dustin has been writing up another book that is sure to make you emotional (international pre-orders were packed with a packet of tissues). The BookTok sensation and increasingly popular YA author spoke to us about where he finds inspiration, the power of a book that can make you cry and the expanding the Dustin Thao Multiverse.
- Firstly, congratulations on the publication of your sophomore novel! You’ve mentioned previously that You’ve Reached Sam took a few years to write, can you describe your writing process for readers?
A lot of my ideas came to me when I was a teen. Like a lot of us, it just took me a while to sit down and finally write it. You’ve Reached Sam was a very personal one in particular. It was a story I truly had to write for myself and took a very long time. Often times, when you sit on an idea for so long, they can become stale and you lose inspiration. It’s important to find a spark that makes it new again and gets you excited about it. I like to watch films to find that inspiration, often sad ones of course. I remember watching The Fault in Our Stars, when Hazel Grace calls Augustus after his death. When it went straight to voicemail, I remember thinking, what would happen if he picked up the phone? That night, I sat down to work on Sam again.
- As a self-proclaimed ‘author of sad books’ (who is much embraced by sad lit lovers everywhere), you’ve said previously that you love stories that have emotional impact. Both You’ve Reached Sam and When Haru Was Here explore grief and its non-linear nature, are there any other difficult emotional subjects you’d like to explore with your writing?
Here's the thing about stories that make you cry. I don’t think I purposely go looking for them to read. They just happen to be the ones I remember the most. The ones that stay with me days after I finish reading them. I believe that grieving over a character means that you truly loved them. They feel as real as our friends, a neighbor, or a sibling. While my books deal with grief, they also deal with themes of loneliness and figuring out who you are, which I think is important for young readers who are experiencing similar moments. Personally, I like writing about stories of unrequited love, which is core to When Haru Was Here.
- You’ve Reached Sam is well-loved on BookTok for its heart-wrenching romance and relatable portrayal of grief. As part of the BookTok community of authors and readers alike, how do you navigate your status as a BookTok darling?
First of all, thank you for calling me a BookTok darling. When You’ve Reached Sam first blew up on TikTok, I didn’t even have the app on my phone. It was a big surprise to me and my publisher. For those first few years, I mostly came on just to lurk around and watch people cry over the book which was very sweet. But I recently started posting my own TikToks and I’m honestly having a lot of fun. It’s nice to be able to engage with readers directly and see all their comments with each post.
- BookTok is the hotbed for romance and anything romance-adjacent. The more of it the better, no matter what shape it takes. With the positive reception to You’ve Reached Sam widely as a YA romance, how would you characterise your relationship to romance as a writer, and as a reader?
Romance used to be a word that I hesitated to use to describe You’ve Reached Sam, which is silly because now I've totally embraced it. I learned that at the core of all my books is a love story. I believe that’s the reason so many people gravitate towards them. A reason I write YA is it often deals with first love, which is one of the most pivotal moments of our lives. I still think about my first love all the time, which to no surprise is a sad story that left me shattered. But I learned so much from that experience. It truly taught me not only what love means, but what I want out of it.
- With You’ve Reached Sam and When Haru Was Here happening around the same time in separate locations, and a You’ve Reached Sam spinoff from Oliver’s perspective coming in 2025, one might assume the presence of a Dustin Thao Multiverse. What are the core components of a Dustin Thao novel?
I also like to imagine my stories taking place in the same universe, possibly around the same time. I love emotional stories with a magical twist, which is exactly the stories I love to write. While something strange and unexplained happens in them, I always take a realistic approach to the story, keeping them grounded in the contemporary world. I think there’s a perfect balance to it, making sure the reader believes this might be possible. And of course, the readers might cry in the end.
- Magical realism is a big part of both books, taking inspiration from Your Name and WandaVision. Are there any elements of magic that you would incorporate into your life if you could?
Truthfully, I like to believe magical things happen all of the time. Moments we can’t quite explain or even tell anyone about because they might think we’ve lost it. I think the magic comes from the way we think about the world, such as understanding things as serendipitous rather than accidents. I believe in perfect timing and that many things happen for a reason, even the bad, maybe to teach us lessons or get us to where we truly need to be. As for my own personal life, I like to believe that person I’m meant to be with is waiting for me somewhere, too. We just haven’t reached that part of our story yet.
- Speaking of inspiration from film and television, you’ve spoken about incorporating visual elements like flashbacks in your writing to represent memory and the passage of time. Taking inspiration from film and television creates a rich texture in your work, which makes it that much more believable for the reader. Are there any books or literary works that you draw similar inspiration from?
I’m glad so many readers resonate with the flashbacks in You’ve Reached Sam. They were inspired by movie montages, where scenes flow effortlessly from one to the next. The heartbreaking beginning of the movie Up was what I was going for, but in the format of a book. For When Haru Was Here, I also drew a lot of inspiration from WandaVision which I watched while I was revising the book. The show uniquely goes through different sitcoms to showcase how the character learned about her idea of love. Similarly, I decided to have my character go through scenes of his favorite romance movies to cope with his loss.
- You pitched You’ve Reached Sam initially through #DVpit in 2019. With the growing democratisation of the publishing industry through communities like BookTok and the global reach of pitching events like #DVpit, do you have any words of wisdom for South African BookTokers and aspiring authors inspired by your journey as an author?
The first advice I like to give is always read the genre in which you want to write. If you want to write sad contemporary stories, you must read them. If you want to write a cozy fantasy, look up the ones that came out over the last few years and read them. What is important is to not chase trends, as they are constantly changing. You must write the story you truly love, because you will be sitting with it for many years.