This virtual book tour is presented by Teddy Rose.
The entire tour schedule is at the bottom of this post.
Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour.
It is my pleasure to feature Khanh Ha and Flesh.
The entire tour schedule is at the bottom of this post.
Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour.
It is my pleasure to feature Khanh Ha and Flesh.
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Khanh has joined us for an interview.
I write because I was born with a desire to work with words.
That desire had matured in me and become an extension of myself in the form of
words. There was no plan and there was no ‘why’. You write because the urge to
write has always been within you since you were a young boy. Then when you had
enough vocabulary and your thoughts have become more refined, you were then
driven to put them down in words. I wrote my first short story when I was a
young teen. I won a magazine’s short story contest and was the youngest among
the guests to accept the prize. Between seventh and tenth grades, I wrote a lot
of short stories, each of them paying good money. I also translated stories in
English into Vietnamese and sold them to newspapers and periodicals.
? What would you
say is your most interesting writing quirk?
I must have the first sentence down right. Dead right. Every
word, every cadence in that first sentence must be right. I torture myself to
death before I start a novel, a new chapter, on how to get that sentence
written the most truthfully, i.e,
no falsity in the voice, in the cadence.
? Do you have a
routine that you use to get into the right frame of mind to write?
A routine helps settle your mind before you write. Mine is to eat a light breakfast
and be at my desk between 7:30 – 8 AM. I
drink black coffee throughout the morning while I’m at work―no snacks. I listen
to classical or relaxation music while I write. I read during my writing
breaks. Have lunch, read a newspaper, then back at work until 4 PM. That’s the capsule of a day in a life of a
writer. And it starts over again the next day. If a novel takes a year or
longer to write, the routine of each day is duplicated over and over again like
clockwork.
? Where do you
write and how do you write ~ on paper, typewriter or computer?
A quiet room with a view over the back hill―though I’m not
a bird watcher. A room with a bookcase, a desktop computer, a desktop phone, a
cell phone, both of which I wish to never ring during my writing. On the wall
facing me a painting of a stream in autumn. And a thermos of black coffee. I
write electronically, i.e.,
using a computer. It makes editing, revising much more effective and it helps
save your thoughts in marginal notes when you use MS Word.
? Where do you
get your ideas or inspiration for your characters?
A passion for something, then an image. A flame burning low for
many years . . . never dying. It starts when you would glimpse people moving
around like specters; these would later become characters in your novel. You
would see the locales, colorful flashes of them, you could smell them. . . .
Then the plot began to form, at times you would interfere, at times you would
back off. The moment you could hear your characters speak, see their mental faces,
see the beginning, the end of your story, you’re ready to write it.
? Where does a
book start for you ~ characters, plot, ending?
It’s always the characters. With literary fiction, you deal with
characters more than with plots. You deal with spontaneity and dynamics of
characterization which shapes the story line. You don’t shoehorn your
characters into a predetermined plot. Depth of characterization is the heart of
a literary novel in addition to the mood, the atmosphere, the ambience, the
prose. But for me a book starts with a beginning and an end, both of those I
must know like the starting point and the destination of a road trip. Anything
in between will come into being once I begin writing.
? What are you
reading right now?
A Lesson Before
Dying by Ernest Gaines. This is the type of books that answers the
next question: What makes a good story? Read it and find out how Enest Gaines handles
characterization in a literary novel. In fact, he portrays every person he
creates as real, as sympathetic, as interesting, and as formidably moving as a
grand master of fiction would do.
? What do you
think makes a good story?
The characters, of course. They don’t have to be sympathetic, but they must be engaging,
interesting in an inspiring or wicked or perverted way like Lester Ballard in
Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God. But don’t take
anything you read seriously. When you do, when it really knocks you out, “you
wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call
him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.” Don’t you love a reader like
Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the
Rye?
? What book, if
any, do you read over and over again?
Let me put that in plural. There are books that I would pick up
to read again in my leisure. These are books that for many years have been
imprinted in my mind—of very real characters, of human nature, of human twists
of fate. As a teen I read The Izu Dancer
by Yasunari Kawabata, Rain by
Somerset Maugham, and The Snows of
Kilimanjaro, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber by Hemingway. They
haunt like a good long book. I read A
Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines, Flowers
for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (my creative writing professor at Ohio University
? Are you a
“plotter” or a “pantser”?[1]
I write literary fiction. With literary fiction, you deal with
characterization more than with plot. But you need a plot like a highway so
your characters can get from A to B while interacting with one another. That
said, plot complements characterization, like
a light dessert that complements a rich meal. You deal with spontaneity
and dynamics of characterization which shapes the story line. You don’t
shoehorn your characters into a predetermined plot. Depth of characterization
is the heart of a literary novel in addition to the mood, the atmosphere, the
ambience, the prose.
Fun random questions:
·
dogs or cats?
Dogs
·
Coffee or tea?
Coffee
·
Dark or milk chocolate?
Milk chocolate
·
Rocks or flowers?
Flowers
·
Night or day?
Day
·
Favorite color?
Sapphire
·
Crayons or markers?
Markers
·
Pens or pencils?
Pencils
Flesh by Khanh Ha
Amazon Product Description:
The setting is Tonkin (northern Vietnam) at the turn of the 20th century. A boy, Tai, witnesses the beheading of his father, a notorious bandit, and sets out to recover his head and then to find the man who betrayed his father to the authorities. On this quest, Tai's entire world will shift. FLESH takes the reader into dark and delightful places in the human condition, places where allies are not always your friends, true love hurts, and your worst enemy may bring you the most comfort. In that emotionally harrowing world, Tai must learn to deal with new responsibilities in his life while at the same time acknowledging his bond, and his resemblance, to a man he barely knew-his father. Through this story of revenge is woven another story, one of love, but love purchased with the blood of murders Tai commits. A coming-of-age story, but also a love story, the sensuality of the author's writing style belies the sometimes brutal world he depicts.
Flesh Tour Schedule
Lori She Treads Softly Jan 10 Review
Paula Book Lover Stop Jan 11 Guest Post & Giveaway
Joy Story Jan 16 Review
Shoshanah From L.A. to LA Jan 17 Review
Stephanie IMiraculous! Jan 17 Guest Post & Giveaway
Rebecca A Book Lover's Library Jan 22 Review
Rebecca A Book Lover's Library Jan 23
Interview & Giveaway
Joy Story Jan
25 Guest Post
Bev The Wormhole Jan 25 Interview
Valerie Sweeps 4 Bloggers Jan 25 Review & Giveaway
Kathy Ordinary
Girlz Reviews Jan 28 Review &
Giveaway
Kelly Belle of the
Literati Jan 30 Review
D. Ann Overflowing
Bookshelves Feb 1 Review
D. Ann Overflowing
Bookshelves Feb 4 Interview
Gina's Library Feb 4 Spotlight/Giveaway
Jessica Crossroads Feb 5 Review
Harvee Book Bird Dog Feb 6 Guest Post
1 comment:
Thanks so much for taking part in the tour and hosting Khanh!
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