In Julie Chan Is Dead, debut novelist Liann Zhang uses her background as a former skincare content creator to introduce readers to Julie, a down-on-her-luck cashier who steps into the glamorous, dangerous life of her estranged influencer twin after discovering her body under mysterious circumstances. What begins as a darkly alluring identity swap quickly spirals into a surreal, high-stakes thriller exploring internet fame, self-erasure, and the secrets we keep behind the filter.
I emailed with Zhang about writing in the age of social media, the blurred line between self and performance, and what it means to inherit someone else’s digital life.
Julie Chan Is Dead opens with a bold, unsettling premise: a woman stepping into the life of her deceased influencer twin. What sparked the idea for this story, and how did it evolve during the writing process?
My time as a skincare influencer in my teens allowed me to learn a lot about the behind-the-scenes of the industry. There were so many interesting dynamics and feelings of conflict that I knew would be interesting to explore in a novel, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to do it. So, the idea of writing about influencing sat in my head for a long time. While it marinated, I began to work on a Mulan-inspired fantasy novel that involved a girl taking the place of her twin brother. When I realized that I could also apply this in a modern context and force the main character to be thrown into the middle of influencer chaos, I knew I had to do it. From there, Julie Chan was born!
How did you develop both Julie and Chloe? What was easy and hard about keeping them so unique despite needing to feel like authentic sisters?
Julie came a lot easier to me. She’s a cynical, chronically online, gen-z-er, which I also slot nicely into. So, in some ways, I was able to borrow a lot from my own voice in writing Julie. Chloe, on the other hand, required a bit more work. It was difficult to explore a character that’s been dead since the beginning of the book. We can only learn about her character indirectly–through other character’s dialogue, journal entries, her digital footprint–so it was a little difficult crafting her and I needed a few revisions to flesh it out and to work out the nuances.
What inspired the different elements ranging from a grounded psychological thriller to the surreal? Did any books help shape your writing?
I think I’ve always had a fascination with the surreal. Like Bunny by Mona Awad. Reading it feels surreal, like you’re on a drug trip, where you aren’t sure what’s real and what’s not, but you’re along for the ride. I absolutely love that feeling.
I’ve had a complicated relationship with social media and content. How do you relate to it? Did your personal beliefs seep into the book?
My personal beliefs 100% seep into this book. I have a very love/hate relationship with the internet. On the one hand, I can recognize how toxic it is to both my mind and society. But I also grew up online. It’s in my DNA! I know first hand what it feels like to find connection and friendship, how much support I can find at my fingertips through social media, how much I can learn. It allows me to be more interconnected, yet also, keeps me disconnected from reality. Everything about the internet is discordant, yet, I’ll keep using it, likely forever.
For one thing, it’s kind of impossible to engage with modern life without social media. It’s been so tightly braided into our lives. This is a sentiment I’ve heard (ironically, online): trying to stay offline these days is like trying to quit nicotine while having a job centered around smoking cigarettes and having half your social life be in smoke breaks. Truth is, online has become the new gathering space of modern people. As much as it’s complicated and toxic, we all need to find ways to navigate it. Like everything, social media is best used in moderation. We all need to learn to use the “log-out” button more frequently.
The line between reinvention and self-erasure feels razor-thin in Julie’s journey. Did writing this novel make you reflect differently on the concept of identity, online or otherwise?
Julie’s journey was very clear to me from the beginning, as the ending was one of the first things I thought of when beginning to dream of this book. I really wanted to reflect the journey that I see a lot of influencers go through: from relatable small-town girl to LA/NYC transplant who loses that spark/sense of self that had originally made them so relatable.
I think I’ve been on the internet long enough that I’ve seen dozens of my favorite influencers/content creators go down a similar pipeline–where they shed the parts of them that made them so unique to conform to the society they find themselves in. Julie is an example of that–in the most extreme way.
You’re officially part of the 2025 debut class! What’s something you’ve learned about the publishing world that you wish you could tell yourself back when you first started drafting this book?
Not necessarily related to the publishing world… I would tell myself that people will actually be proud of you for writing a book!? That your friends and family will be supportive?! That people will pay real life money they worked hard for and spend hours consuming the words you typed on a keyboard on your couch?! Yes–ideas that seem inconceivable, but will become so, so real soon!