The DMS was lucky enough to interview Thanhha Lai. Lizzy reviewed her book Inside Out and Back Again, and it was great to share our thoughts about it and
hear yours! We're excited to learn a little more about her story. So, without
further ado... take it away, Thanhha!
What inspired you to write Inside Out and Back Again?
What inspired you to write Inside Out and Back Again?
I had been struggling for 15 years
with a much more ambitious novel that went nowhere. Right before giving
up writing for good, I had an idea to write a much more contained book,
spanning one year instead of 4,000 and developing one central character instead
of 15. So the inspiration came mostly from exhaustion.
How long did it take you to write Inside Out and Back Again?
I was already writing about a
Vietnamese family coming to Alabama. But the voice was never right. Once I came up with the prose poem format to convey how the girl is thinking in
Vietnamese, the actual writing of Inside Out took about six months. But
those six months resulted from a 15-year struggle.
What are some of your favorite books from childhood? Were there
any specific authors who inspired you?
I read anything that had to do with
animals, Where the Red Fern Grows, Charlotte's Web, The Call of the Wild. Growing up between two cultures, I found human beings too confusing. Animals, though, showed unconditional kindness.
If you could befriend a character from any of your books, who
would you befriend? Why?
I would befriend the Mother in Inside Out. Luckily, I modeled her after my own mother, so we're built-in
friends. I can imagine spending hours listening to her talk.
Where do you like to write? Do you listen to music while you are
writing?
I write in a small bedroom sitting
in a love seat with a laptop on my lap. When I need to nap, I just lean
over. I like quiet, with just a few chirps out the window.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?
I would be a gypsy and spend half a
year in every major city in the world. I love cities, the idea of being
faceless among millions.
The path to publication varies from author to author. Every author
has a unique story and one that other authors can learn from. Can you tell us a
little bit about your path to publication or do you have any advice for new
authors?
It took my close to two decades to
get published, so I'm not sure I have any advice for authors other than
"keep going." I wrote and rewrote and my first manuscript of an
overly-written novel, which was rejected by agent after agent. When I
finally sent out Inside Out, seven out of ten agents got back to me within a
day. Rosemary Stimola was the first. She asked for five pages, then
25, then 50, then the whole novel. Rosemary nudged an editor to read Inside Out, which had been sitting on her desk for a year. We received an
offer shortly after.
Inside Out and Back Again is written in
prose. Have you always been a fan of poetry? What inspired you to write a
book in this style?
I’ve always read poetry but do not
consider myself to be a poet. I wrote Inside Out in prose poems to convey
what it’s like for the character to think in Vietnamese, which is naturally
lyrical and rhythmic, at least to my ears. So my protagonist dictated the
style.
Are you currently working on a book? If so, can you tell us a
little bit about it?
On February 17, 2015, my second
novel will be published. Listen, Slowly is about a Vietnamese-American,
Laguna Beach girl who has no interest in her heritage. One summer she is
forced to accompany her grandmother back to a village in Vietnam. And
what a summer she has!
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