Born in the United States to Korean parents, children's author Linda Sue Park says her heritage has provided a rich source of inspiration for most of the 10 titles she has had published.
And the fact she speaks only a little Korean, has only visited the country twice, can only read the alphabet and write her name, hasn't hindered her in drawing on many aspects of the country's history and culture for her stories.
'I think it definitely gives me a different perspective, and sometimes distance [from my background] can be helpful,' she explains from the home in upstate New York she shares with her husband and two children.
'I haven't been there often, so I feel that I'm exploring [on my own].'
From the age of four, Park has been an avid reader and writer of poems and stories and her first piece of published work was a haiku in a children's magazine when she was nine years old.
After graduating from Stanford University with a degree in English (a useful degree for a would-be writer, says Park), she worked in public relations, for an advertising agency and taught English as a second language to college students, before her first book, Seesaw Girl, was published in 1999.