A huge thank you to novelist Alicia Masztal for the thoughtful questions and engaging chat! Alicia interviewed me for our MFA class called Finding & Reaching an Audience. As you can see, we are having a great time!
Alicia Masztal: Hello to author Kari Nguyen. Thank you for allowing me to ask you a few questions. I have so many questions for you, but I promise I will narrow them down. 😊
On your website, on the blog page of your “2022 Books Read list,” you note that you read The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I am a massive fan of her writing, activism, and advice on the craft (much like Kurt Vonnegut’s writing and grammar skills, Ursula K. Le Guin blows my mind). As a speculative fiction writer, what are your thoughts on The Left Hand of Darkness and on Ursula K. Le Guin as an advocate and icon of the writing craft?
Kari Nguyen: Hi Alicia! Great to be with you! I chose to study The Left Hand of Darkness in my Advanced Studies in Literature class for SNHU’s MFA program, and quickly realized how much Ursula K. Le Guin’s craft has to teach when it comes to writing speculative fiction. That book is complex, thematic, and forward-thinking. It’s easy to be intimidated and think I could never do this. How could someone do this? Le Guin was ahead of her time. I’m still not sure we’ve caught up to where she finished. But as a student of literature and writing, I’m discovering how important it is to get past that fear, read like a writer, and examine the craft choices of authors like Le Guin and Octavia Butler, who pushed the speculative genre in ways it needed to be pushed. The work is ongoing. These are things I’m thinking about when I sit down to write.
AM: Also, on your website, in the “Interviews, Videos, & Word on Craft” section, you have a phenomenal video from January 2017 entitled Standing Together. The video is about how to handle the Trump years ahead, and I was inspired and moved when I watched it (I wish I had seen it then). At the end of your notes about the video, you say, “Light. It. Up. With. Love.” You have effectively merged your author persona with your activism and political ideologies. What wisdom can you share with those of us who are starting out and want to be true to our author’s persona and our political, environmental, and general activism beliefs without losing potential audience members? Or does it matter if we alienate potential audience members?
KN: I wish I had an easy answer here. As with most of life, I think it comes down to your personal goals and motivations, as well as what you’re willing to accept. Speaking for myself, I have a hard time separating my heart from my words. If activism is important to you, if you’re passionate about it—use that. Write into those ideas and see what comes. Grapple with that on the page. I’ve done this in many of my short stories, and now that I’ve turned my focus to writing a novel, I’m constantly toggling between theme and story. The “What If?” questions that drive speculative fiction make this a compelling genre in which to explore those connections.
AM: Kari, you are an accomplished editor and writer. You have been a column editor and a nonfiction editor for Stymie Magazine, as well as a guest editor for flash fiction works in SmokeLong Quarterly. What advice do you have for your fellow writers on best editing practices, and how can you translate that advice to the editing work we will be doing in Thesis III?
KN: One of my favorite pieces of editing advice is to volunteer at an online lit mag. It’s a great way to show literary citizenship, learn the indie publishing scene, and make connections; beyond that, it will make you a better writer. When you’re able to read submissions, you can see what works, and what doesn’t. You begin to see how something could be improved, and it feels good to work with other writers who are working hard at their craft, too. I loved working with Stymie Magazine, and I had a lot of fun guest editing at SmokeLong Quarterly.
Beyond that, my favorite way to edit my own work is to read it over, again and again. It’s almost an obsession, like doing those magic eye posters my childhood friends and I used to enjoy. Sometimes you get it quickly. Sometimes it just takes time to see something—and sometimes it takes time to step away, put it down, and come back to it after several days. Your eyes might hurt a little after, but it’s possible to end up with something impossibly cool and special. As you can imagine, this method is much easier with short fiction! For my Thesis work, I’m hoping to get a first draft done early, so that I can obsess over edits as long as possible. I’m finding novel-writing to be like doing a labyrinth of magic eyes.
AM: You write incredible literary and speculative fiction; I enjoyed reading some of it on your website. Who are your current readers, and how would you like them to think of your work?
KN: You are most kind! My current readers love short stories, love the indie lit mags, and, at least until fairly recently, hung out on Twitter. Many of them are writers and editors. They love to read books, talk books, share books—and same goes for the short stories they love.
When I first started to seriously pursue my writing, I set this goal: Write something that means something to one person. That’s it. And I’ve found that if I can move myself, if I’m moved by what is happening on the page, then it’s just about there. My goal has never changed. I’m still that same writer, wanting to show you something.
AM: Let’s talk about your thesis novel. Is it speculative fiction, literary fiction, or both? Do you feel that you are writing for the same audience as your previous works, or are you writing for a new audience?
KN: I have a feeling my fiction will continue to be a blend of speculative and literary that will hopefully appeal to current readers, as well as to new readers looking for stories and novels specific to the speculative genre. As of this interview, my thesis is a utopian story! I’ve been playing with three different novels since starting the MFA program. Dystopia, fantasy, and utopia. Right now, the utopian story is the one I can’t stop thinking about.
Kari Nguyen 
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