I didn’t know what it was – I thought it was just a normal karaoke bar. “I got a call from a drunk friend, asking me to meet him there. “The first encounter I had with room salons became a scene in the book,” says Cha.

“Room salons,” often associated with prostitution, are one particularly sensitive facet of South Korean culture Cha highlights in her book through the viewpoint of another character, Kyuri, an escort at a high-end Seoul venue. These became settings and themes in the book.įor instance, mute K-pop obsessing protagonist Ara works in a hair salon, while her roommate Sujin dreams of having plastic surgery to change her face – and, hopefully, her life.Ĭha says she wanted to portray the 'brillance and beauty' of contemporay South Korea in her book. “I was always observing everyone and everything on a heightened level as I went about my day in Seoul.”Ĭha wrote about Seoul’s plastic surgery industry, fine art and K-pop while also offering recommendations on everything from restaurants to hair salons during her tenure as a travel editor. “In particular, the articles ‘ How to be a Seoul local’ and the ‘ 10 things South Korea does best’ were very fun ones to write because I was able to dive into the specific quirks and global superlatives of South Korea as a country.

“Much of the inspiration that I got for this book comes from when I was working at CNN Travel,” Cha says. The New York-based author grew up in the United States, Hong Kong and South Korea and joined CNN as a travel and culture editor in Seoul in 2010. Frances Cha, author of 'If I had your face,' says her book was inspired by her time as a travel writer and editor.