Success Story Interview - Mymai Yungrattanachai

An Interview with Mymai Yungrattanachai (mymaiyungrattanachai on QT) upon receiving an offer of representation from agent Amanda Bernardi of Europa Content.

11/10/2026

QT: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you've found representation? What inspired you to write it?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
My first book, FABLED FISHBONES, came to me after the loss of a grandparent. In the haze of homesickness and grief, the story poured out. The one-sentence pitch is: "In a modern retelling of Thai folklore, a grieving woman’s intense friendship with a foreign researcher unravels after the discovery of a golden fish—are the old tales true and what will she sacrifice to protect it?"

QT: How long have you been writing?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
I've been scratching (terrible!) stories in my diary since I was 6.

QT: How long have you been working on this book?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
2.5 years! Writing with a full-time job is a slow endeavour. I took a whole year to write a first draft, then a year and a half to edit and edit.

QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
I'm not sure if I ever felt like "giving up" because I know how long and tough the writing & publishing journey can be. That said, I am going to write, regardless of publishing, and so if not this book then the next one! In the middle of querying, and after so many rejections and silence, I hit such a low that I made peace with the possibility of shelving the project.

QT: Is this your first book?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
Yes!

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
A little! During my undergraduate studies, I minored in Creative Writing.

QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
I did at least 2 rounds on my own, 2-3 rounds with beta-readers (friends & family), and 2 rounds of professional edits with a developmental and line editor.

QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
I am, for better or worse, a pantser. The structure emerges in the sticky mud of the first draft!

QT: How long have you been querying for this book? Other books?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
This is the first book I queried, and I did so for 4 months.

QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
45 queries.

QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
It was important for me to work with an agent who really understood the heart of my book. FABLED FISHBONES explores grief, the mundanity of magic in local Thai culture, and the feeling of your stories being told by foreign outsiders. I looked for agents who expressed an interest in speculative and multicultural narratives.

QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
Mostly. I tried to be selective when it came to querying my agents and so there were usually specific reasons.

QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?

Mymai Yungrattanachai:
The right person will find and love your story! All it takes is one.

Query Letter:

Dear [AGENT],

Given your interest in [MSWL], I'm querying FABLED FISHBONES, a 90,000-word adult fabulist novel set in 1990s southern Thailand. In a modern retelling of Thai folklore, a grieving woman's intense friendship with a foreign researcher unravels after the discovery of a golden fish—are the old tales true and what will she sacrifice to protect it?

Nineteen-year-old Kaew works on a scuba diving boat shepherding foreign tourists—when she can bring herself to show up. Grieving the grandmother who raised her and suffering from chronic throat lesions, Kaew prefers to nurse her wounds at the local reggae bar. On a dive one day, she glimpses gold flickering at the edge of a sea shelf. Before she can investigate any further, she is abruptly fired. With worsening throat pain, Kaew seeks an apothecary where the enigmatic owner keeps a golden scale, supposedly from the fabled fish with healing powers from her grandmother's tales.

With a temporary reprieve from her pain - and fueled by resentment toward her mother - Kaew lands a job at a local aquarium funded by American scientists, where she meets the beautiful visiting researcher, Lana Miller. Utilizing Kaew's local connections and knowledge of Thai folklore, they are able to win a grant for Lana's work, sparking an intense friendship that consumes Kaew. But as Lana's attention shifts elsewhere, Kaew makes an impossible discovery: a golden fish. As Kaew's condition worsens and the captured fish fades to gray, Kaew must decide whether to conform to the role expected of her in an institution funded and populated by foreigners, or if she believes that the old tales are true. If they are, Kaew must reckon with what she will sacrifice to protect them and face the depths of her grief.

I was born and raised in Thailand. This novel was inspired by my grandmother, a local healer who treated fishbones lodged in the throat. I received my BA in Creative Writing and Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania, where my personal essay on loving friends with internalized racism was published in the university journal. I hold a Masters from Harvard University, exploring how global development and conservation shapes whose stories are told in the Global South. FABLED FISHBONES explores what it means to have your stories co-opted by outsiders, blending the family secrets and quiet grief of Charmaine Wilkerson's Black Cake and Shelby Van Pelt's Remarkably Bright Creatures with the simmering magic of the 2003 film Big Fish. The full manuscript has been requested and is currently under consideration by [NUMBER ABOVE 5] agents.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration!

Sincerely,

Mymai Yungrattanachai