Nghi Vo is the author of the novels Siren Queen and The Chosen and the Beautiful, as well as the acclaimed novellas of the Singing Hills Cycle, which began with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. The series entries have been finalists for the Nebula Award, the Locus Award, and the Lambda Literary Award, and have won the Crawford Award, the Ignyte Award, and the Hugo Award. Born in Illinois, she now lives on the shores of Lake Michigan. She believes in the ritual of lipstick, the power of stories, and the right to change your mind.

I had the opportunity to interview Nghi, which you can read below.

First of all, welcome back to Geeks OUT! For those out there unfamiliar with you, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Sure! I’m Nghi Vo, I’ve been paying the bills with writing for some twenty years now. You may know me from such novella series as The Singing Hills Cycle and such historical fantasy novels as The Chosen and the Beautiful and Siren Queen.

What can you tell us about your latest book, Don’t Sleep with the Dead?

Don’t Sleep with the Dead is the standalone companion novella to my Gatsby retelling, The Chosen and the Beautiful. Imagine what happens to the American canon’s most unreliable narrator after some seventeen years have passed, and Nick Carraway finds he still can’t get Jay Gatsby out of his head or his heart. Also there’s magic and deals with devils. Also this Nick is a paper soldier made to replace the original for the draft of World War I.

The inspiration for Don’t Sleep with the Dead, a companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, comes from The Great Gatsby, correct. What inspired you to wrote something based on that story?

I woke up with the words don’t sleep with the dead in my head one morning. I realized it was quite good advice, and then I needed to figure out who wasn’t going to take it. Turns out that’s Nick Carraway, and here we are!

As the author of several books, how would you say your writing process has changed and/or stayed the same since the beginning of your career?

You know, it’s mostly the same. The win condition is still words on the page. I think my rough drafts are maybe a bit sloppier now. There are more people working with me. I am very used to writing on my own. Having an editorial agent and the editing team with my publisher is fascinating and tons of fun!

What’s something you wish you had known as a writer earlier on?

Food, sunlight and exercise make the words come faster. 

What’s a question you haven’t been asked yet but that you wish you were asked (as well as the answer to that question)?

Q. Would you like some free salmon sashimi?

A. Yes, please. 

What advice might you have to give for any aspiring writers?

Be more than a writer. If this is the only thing you do or identify with, it won’t be great for you. Be a guitar player or a rock climber or a fan of a certain mushroom or someone who feels passionately about a cause. Be a lot of things. It’s safer, and it will actually make you better at writing. 

Are there any other projects you are working on and at liberty to speak about?

I am finishing up the draft of a Gilded Age novel about devils and debutantes, and there’s more Singing Hills novellas coming down the line!

Finally, what books/authors would you recommend to the readers of Geeks OUT?

Oooh, how about Moses Ose Utomi’s fantastic Forever Desert series and Wen-yi Lee’s When They Burned the Butterfly?