what was your first impression of seokjin?

It's pretty well known at this point that I did my Bangtan research on the rap line before the vocal line. But a couple of things struck me about Jin: first off that nobody seemed to talk about him out of the vocal line, which made me sad. Jimin was a mochi and Jungkook was perfect and everybody would swoon over V (you know, except me, because reasons). So I made the effort to learn more about Jin, and I don't regret it.

what is your impression now of seokjin?

I think Jin can be "overlooked" by new ARMY because everybody always "pays attention" to the others, or like in English/American interviews how RM speaks for most of the boys. But the truth is, those of us who are real ARMY are OT7, even when we have our biases. And it's great to see Jin getting love alongside Jimin and Suga and the other members. So I don't actually think he's left out at all. I think he works really hard, and he looks fantastic, and oh by the way he's a great singer LOL

how do you write seokjin?

I'm not quite sure what possessed me to pick Seokjin to write about for my first Big Hit Pride book (Dream On, Cinderella), but I'm glad I did! I try my best NOT to write Seokjin as a "mom" type character, because I know he doesn't want to be referred to as that. I think that's an incorrect characterization. I do see him as an older brother, but sometimes just as rowdy as the rest of the boys. In DOC, he is the oldest of three brothers, dragged through a series of balls meant to find him a bride:

"Okay," Prince Namjoon said, sitting next to his brothers on their thrones. "You ready for this?"

"I'm ready for this to be over," Seokjin moaned.

"It will be fine," Taehyung said. "All we gotta do is judge a bunch of people. They don't even know who we are."

But I also make sure to write Seokjin as a man dedicated to his art; in DOC, this takes the form of playing piano in a salon style:

Seokjin scurried over to the bookcase, reaching behind the encyclopedia and pulling out the bound book. He then dashed over to the piano, putting the book up. A dashing white man in a waistcoat sat on the cover. Franz Liszt was a superstar. His recitals sold out all over the realms, no matter where he appeared. Women and sometimes men fainted at just the sight of him. He was the most famous pianist in the entire world, both composing and performing his works for the masses.

And all Seokjin wanted to do was play his music.

Make no mistake, Seokjin knew that he would never be as great as Franz Liszt. But two years ago, he had performed at the Grand Cendrillon Hall in the Royal District, and Seokjin and his brothers had been right in front to watch. Seokjin had found himself so captivated that not only did he want to watch Liszt play, he wanted to play.

He was horrible at it. Seokjin had ceased his piano lessons at the age of twelve, when Namjoon and Taehyung had produced their own musical talents. While Namjoon was proficient at piano, and Taehyung preferred an instrument en vogue called the saxophone, Seokjin spent most of his early piano lessons looking at himself in the mirror. But that was before Liszt, and now he was trying to plunk out melodies after the rest of the castle went to sleep.

I think it's appropriate to write Seokjin as someone who won't give up -- not only on the Yoongi in the story, but not on anybody. Not on his brothers. And most certainly not on ARMY.

what would you like to say to seokjin on his birthday?

A lot of particularly Western fans are considering Seokjin to have received a birthday gift from the South Korean government -- a delay on his enlistment. While I don't have an opinion on this (nor should I!) I'm glad it's making other people happy. As long as Seokjin is happy, I think that's all that matters, isn't it? (Not to mention all the crazy Billboard stuff going on right now -- that's a birthday gift for the ages!)