Ask the Author: Vu Tran
Answered Questions (4)
Vu Tran
I haven't decided yet, Justin—but I am considering writing a novel centered around her alone, perhaps before the events of Dragonfish. Thanks for asking!
Vu Tran
I was asked to contribute a short story for a crime anthology called Vegas Noir. My job was to write about Chinatown, and the story I wrote—"This Or Any Desert"—was eventually selected for the Best American Mystery Stories 2009. The characters stuck with me, mostly because each of their stories felt much bigger and deeper than what was contained in those 25 pages, and could overlap in a way that felt right for a novel. "This Or Any Desert" ended up being the second chapter of Dragonfish. In fact, that was the title of the novel for a long time.
Vu Tran
I read books and magazines, fiction and nonfiction. I watch TV and movies. I listen to music. I do all this both for enjoyment and with the hope that something will unexpectedly trigger a good idea, or at least affect me so viscerally that I'll want to replicate it in my own writing.
Vu Tran
There are many good things about being a writer. The sense that you're in control of things. The satisfaction that comes with getting a sentence or a certain part of a story right. The constant proximity to books and stories, which is inspiring. My favorite aspect of writing is that it forces me to think deeply about points of view that I not necessarily my own, which in turn makes me think deeply about what I actually believe. In order to write convincingly about anything, you need to constantly confront the truth as you see it, and the inherent difficulty of this is what makes writing both arduous and immensely satisfying.
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