Number One Chinese Restaurant author Lillian Li joins Larry and Lee (subbing again for BQ) in the GrottoPod this week to discuss the many roads that led to her debut novel. She shares her brief-but-intense experience as a waitress, what it’s like writing a beach novel at Panera, and how family, life experience and tradition shaped her writing voice.“In some ways (my book) is and isn’t inspired by working in a restaurant. I was just trying to get through the day without crying in the walk-in refrigerator at least once.”10:02: How a panoply of inspirations led to Number One Chinese Restaurant20:11: Getting into the mind of a male protagonist24:05: Questions of plot; finding your writing process33:55: How Li came to see writing as a career instead of a hobby47:26: Number One Chinese Restaurant’s journey from manuscript to book