India, Feb. 21 -- 1Mongrel feels like a novel written from the body as much as from the mind. Did it begin as a story you consciously wanted to tell? The story came about because, as an actor, I wasn't being offered roles - or at times, even the opportunity to audition for roles - that reflected my lived experience as a Japanese-British woman. When the Caucasian roles came in, I was told I wasn't white enough. When the Japanese roles came in, I was told I wasn't Japanese enough. Mongrel came out of that frustration, that anger, that desire to be understood. It was a way I could bridge how I was externally perceived to how I internally understand myself. I was raised on my Japanese mum's love for food and culture, and so I feel very Japanese; but that is not how I'm perceived externally. As an actor, that's amplified because you're constantly being asked to fit into boxes other people create for you. So yes, it came from the body - because that's where my anger lives. 2The novel moves between three women across different geographies, yet the structure of it never feels fragmented. Why did you decide that it needed multiple voices rather than a single one? I was really inspired by Lisa Taddeo's Three Women - the way she explores Sloane, Lina, Maggie. I was my true north when I was writing Mongrel. Out of the three women, I was most familiar with the character of Mei, because she resembles me the most. Once I had a grasp on how I wanted to write her, I tackled Yuki, because she is the closest to my mother. Haruka was the most unknown. As soon as I started exploring them, they revealed themselves to me and became more three-dimensional as I spent time with them. 3Grief runs through the novel. Were you consciously exploring how loss mutates across cultures and spaces? It emerged very instinctively. I'm very interested in grief because it's something I am deeply afraid of. One of my biggest fears in life is losing my mother - it is a bit selfish in the sense that I fear what it would mean for me. My mother represents my Japanese-ness. So, when she goes, what becomes of my Japanese-ness? Where does it go? I'm also completely obsessed with my mum, as many people are, so the idea of losing her is untenable. That became a central theme in the book. I think, no matter how much you try not to, you write what you fear. 4Desire in the novel often exists alongside imbalance of power. How did you approach writing those charged moments with honesty while also resisting simplification? As with all my writing, I have to emotionally and imaginatively take myself there. That's always my way in, and it informs the way I write. Being an actor allows me to get there quickly because actors are constantly asked to inhabit and embody someone else. That's how I write those scenes. I really have to just imagine and go there, stop being the writer, and become the character a bit....