Yvonne Liu. Writer. Adoptee. Memoir-in-Progress
@yvonneliuwriter.bsky.social
Over 3 million read HuffPost #adoptee essay. NYT, Salon, Newsweek, NBC News. Sewanee Tennessee Williams Scholar. Received support from PEN America & Bread Loaf Writers. Modern Love podcast. Mental Health Advocate. James Patterson grant #writer #memoirs
An early Christmas gift. I thought I knew the end of my memoir, but today the true one revealed itself. My teachers and workshop leaders were right: The book will tell you what it wants to be. Thank you, book!
December 4, 2025 at 6:50 PM
An early Christmas gift. I thought I knew the end of my memoir, but today the true one revealed itself. My teachers and workshop leaders were right: The book will tell you what it wants to be. Thank you, book!
Praying for the people of Hong Kong. I’ll never forget the kindness of so many when I returned in 2023, my first visit to the place of my birth since leaving as a small child.
November 27, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Praying for the people of Hong Kong. I’ll never forget the kindness of so many when I returned in 2023, my first visit to the place of my birth since leaving as a small child.
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for
• Friends I’ve made here and at @sewaneewriters.bsky.social and @awpwriter.org Conference
• Publishing in the NYT, HuffPost and the Los Angeles Times this year
• Making a lot of progress on my memoir
Wishing you and yours a safe and lovely holiday week. 🥰🥰
• Friends I’ve made here and at @sewaneewriters.bsky.social and @awpwriter.org Conference
• Publishing in the NYT, HuffPost and the Los Angeles Times this year
• Making a lot of progress on my memoir
Wishing you and yours a safe and lovely holiday week. 🥰🥰
November 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for
• Friends I’ve made here and at @sewaneewriters.bsky.social and @awpwriter.org Conference
• Publishing in the NYT, HuffPost and the Los Angeles Times this year
• Making a lot of progress on my memoir
Wishing you and yours a safe and lovely holiday week. 🥰🥰
• Friends I’ve made here and at @sewaneewriters.bsky.social and @awpwriter.org Conference
• Publishing in the NYT, HuffPost and the Los Angeles Times this year
• Making a lot of progress on my memoir
Wishing you and yours a safe and lovely holiday week. 🥰🥰
After hours of doing revisions yesterday, went into a rabbit hole of the Olivia Nuzzi and RyanLizza blowup. Kept typing Nuzzo and Luzzi in my searches. Let's just call the kerfuffle #DoubleZgate. #olivianuzzi #ryanlizza
November 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
After hours of doing revisions yesterday, went into a rabbit hole of the Olivia Nuzzi and RyanLizza blowup. Kept typing Nuzzo and Luzzi in my searches. Let's just call the kerfuffle #DoubleZgate. #olivianuzzi #ryanlizza
Thank you Writing Workshops and @courtneykocak.bsky.social for the Edit and Elevate: Revision Intensive. So many great tips, like put your reader hat on, from your revision checklist. Can’t wait to read your memoir, Girl Gone Wild.
November 17, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Thank you Writing Workshops and @courtneykocak.bsky.social for the Edit and Elevate: Revision Intensive. So many great tips, like put your reader hat on, from your revision checklist. Can’t wait to read your memoir, Girl Gone Wild.
Honored to serve as the moderator of a workshop, “Understanding Neurodiversity: Why Does It Matter.”
Our speaker spoke about autism and ADHD. As someone with ADHD, the program helped me understand myself and others better.
Our speaker spoke about autism and ADHD. As someone with ADHD, the program helped me understand myself and others better.
November 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Honored to serve as the moderator of a workshop, “Understanding Neurodiversity: Why Does It Matter.”
Our speaker spoke about autism and ADHD. As someone with ADHD, the program helped me understand myself and others better.
Our speaker spoke about autism and ADHD. As someone with ADHD, the program helped me understand myself and others better.
Two of my kids have birthdays this week. I’m so grateful for the kind, hardworking young people they've become. An arc of my memoir traces how a physically and emotionally abandoned child grew up determined to become a better mother than the ones she had.
November 6, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Two of my kids have birthdays this week. I’m so grateful for the kind, hardworking young people they've become. An arc of my memoir traces how a physically and emotionally abandoned child grew up determined to become a better mother than the ones she had.
Thrilled that my second @nytimes Tiny Love Stories published during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
October 29, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Thrilled that my second @nytimes Tiny Love Stories published during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Why I Kept My Breast Cancer Secret for 28 Years.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is coming to a close. Women of color get mammograms at lower rates than others. Please share this with someone you love.
yvonneliuwriter.substack.com/p/why-i-kept...
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is coming to a close. Women of color get mammograms at lower rates than others. Please share this with someone you love.
yvonneliuwriter.substack.com/p/why-i-kept...
October 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Why I Kept My Breast Cancer Secret for 28 Years.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is coming to a close. Women of color get mammograms at lower rates than others. Please share this with someone you love.
yvonneliuwriter.substack.com/p/why-i-kept...
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is coming to a close. Women of color get mammograms at lower rates than others. Please share this with someone you love.
yvonneliuwriter.substack.com/p/why-i-kept...
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please reach out to them. I wish people had reached out to my mother and me. www.huffpost.com/entry/kriste...
October 24, 2025 at 4:23 PM
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please reach out to them. I wish people had reached out to my mother and me. www.huffpost.com/entry/kriste...
What the heck! Joking about domestic violence wasn't a one-off!!! Page Six. For women like me, it's not funny!
www.huffpost.com/entry/kriste... @huffpost.com
www.huffpost.com/entry/kriste... @huffpost.com
October 22, 2025 at 10:26 PM
What the heck! Joking about domestic violence wasn't a one-off!!! Page Six. For women like me, it's not funny!
www.huffpost.com/entry/kriste... @huffpost.com
www.huffpost.com/entry/kriste... @huffpost.com
I so miss my maternal grandmother, Mee Ma, and pray she’s in a better place now. It broke my heart to cut the pages I’d written about her because they no longer served the story. Still, she lives in my heart.
October 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
I so miss my maternal grandmother, Mee Ma, and pray she’s in a better place now. It broke my heart to cut the pages I’d written about her because they no longer served the story. Still, she lives in my heart.
When I watched Something’s Gotta Give, I dreamed of becoming a writer/creative like Diane Keaton’s character. From Annie Hall to Baby Boom to Morning Glory, she embodied women’s growing empowerment, changing roles, and independence. R.I.P. #DianeKeaton.
October 11, 2025 at 9:03 PM
When I watched Something’s Gotta Give, I dreamed of becoming a writer/creative like Diane Keaton’s character. From Annie Hall to Baby Boom to Morning Glory, she embodied women’s growing empowerment, changing roles, and independence. R.I.P. #DianeKeaton.
Delighted to receive these handmade works of art from @bethkephart.bsky.social sky.social. Every piece feels personal and full of meaning. Love the message: "You are not alone."
October 4, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Delighted to receive these handmade works of art from @bethkephart.bsky.social sky.social. Every piece feels personal and full of meaning. Love the message: "You are not alone."
So special to meet Laura Cathcart Robins, author of Stash, virtually. “I didn’t have any secrets by the time I wrote this book.” Yes, we’re long past the fear of writing our memoirs. Grateful to @lisanapoli @jillconnection for a terrific program.
September 30, 2025 at 3:24 PM
So special to meet Laura Cathcart Robins, author of Stash, virtually. “I didn’t have any secrets by the time I wrote this book.” Yes, we’re long past the fear of writing our memoirs. Grateful to @lisanapoli @jillconnection for a terrific program.
Excited for the Devil Wears Prada sequel! My two daughters and I rewatched the original every winter holiday break. I've read @voguemagazine.bsky.social for years. As someone who writes culture essays, I enjoy reading the articles and decoding what the ads reveal about society and trends.
September 28, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Excited for the Devil Wears Prada sequel! My two daughters and I rewatched the original every winter holiday break. I've read @voguemagazine.bsky.social for years. As someone who writes culture essays, I enjoy reading the articles and decoding what the ads reveal about society and trends.
As Hong Kong rebuilds after Typhoon Ragasa, I’m thinking and praying for the place where my story began—and for the tour guides, librarians, and fellow adoptees who helped me find pieces of it on my visit. 🌏💔
September 25, 2025 at 3:31 PM
As Hong Kong rebuilds after Typhoon Ragasa, I’m thinking and praying for the place where my story began—and for the tour guides, librarians, and fellow adoptees who helped me find pieces of it on my visit. 🌏💔
R.I.P. Robert Redford. All the President's Men lit the spark in me to be a journalist. Won the Detroit Press Club Foundation President’s Award for high school journalism. Now I’m living my dream & published in major outlets. Thank you, Woodward & Bernstein, for inspiring a generation of journalists!
September 16, 2025 at 4:29 PM
R.I.P. Robert Redford. All the President's Men lit the spark in me to be a journalist. Won the Detroit Press Club Foundation President’s Award for high school journalism. Now I’m living my dream & published in major outlets. Thank you, Woodward & Bernstein, for inspiring a generation of journalists!
We hosted our annual neighborhood potluck barbecue over the weekend. We were born in Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Ukraine, and the USA, and somehow our paths led us here—together in one small corner of Los Angeles.
September 2, 2025 at 3:59 PM
We hosted our annual neighborhood potluck barbecue over the weekend. We were born in Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Ukraine, and the USA, and somehow our paths led us here—together in one small corner of Los Angeles.
After slogging through receipts, bank statements, and credit card charges, I needed a change of scenery. A Southern Gothic party delivered: moody lights, eerie decor, and a hearse out front with a glowing skeleton inside.
August 31, 2025 at 5:36 PM
After slogging through receipts, bank statements, and credit card charges, I needed a change of scenery. A Southern Gothic party delivered: moody lights, eerie decor, and a hearse out front with a glowing skeleton inside.
Great conversation from Shirin Yim Leos with @rchetypes.bsky.social about writing and publishing. Don't worry about how long it takes to write your book. If you're looking for an agent, residencies and awards can help open doors and give agents an extra reason to take notice.
August 29, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Great conversation from Shirin Yim Leos with @rchetypes.bsky.social about writing and publishing. Don't worry about how long it takes to write your book. If you're looking for an agent, residencies and awards can help open doors and give agents an extra reason to take notice.
open.substack.com/pub/yvonneli... What it's like to grow up with a mentally ill parent.
August 28, 2025 at 3:55 PM
open.substack.com/pub/yvonneli... What it's like to grow up with a mentally ill parent.
Super helpful Eula Biss revision class: Cut your piece by 1/3 or 1/2. Look for the heat in your piece. There is usually one sentence or a few of them that represent the essence of the piece. So fortunate to have been in Eula's workshop at the @sewaneewriters.bsky.social.
August 25, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Super helpful Eula Biss revision class: Cut your piece by 1/3 or 1/2. Look for the heat in your piece. There is usually one sentence or a few of them that represent the essence of the piece. So fortunate to have been in Eula's workshop at the @sewaneewriters.bsky.social.
A delight to speak with legendary agent Georges Borchardt, who secured a publisher for Elie Wiesel's Night. His agency stewards the estate of Tennessee Williams. On publishing, the longtime @sewaneewriters.bsky.social speaker said, "Everything is totally unpredictable...Keep the faith in yourself."
August 12, 2025 at 1:51 PM
A delight to speak with legendary agent Georges Borchardt, who secured a publisher for Elie Wiesel's Night. His agency stewards the estate of Tennessee Williams. On publishing, the longtime @sewaneewriters.bsky.social speaker said, "Everything is totally unpredictable...Keep the faith in yourself."
Looking forward to @garthgreenwell.bsky.social's AMA this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET for his Substack paid subscribers. It was lovely to meet the 2025 @penfaulkner.bsky.social winner in Fiction at Bread Loaf last year.
August 7, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Looking forward to @garthgreenwell.bsky.social's AMA this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET for his Substack paid subscribers. It was lovely to meet the 2025 @penfaulkner.bsky.social winner in Fiction at Bread Loaf last year.