We chat with author Nghi Vo about her latest release Mammoths at the Gates, which is the latest installment novella installment in The Singing Hills Cycle.
Hi, Nghi! Welcome back! How has the past three years been since we spoke with you for Empress of Salt and Fortune?
Hiya! It’s been super-weird! During that time, I learned to use a sewing machine, travelled more than I have in the previous five years before that combined, started working as a full-time novelist, and recently figured out that I’m really bad at making bánh cuốn. Working on that last one, though.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I don’t think love came into it at first- I was too young for love but not for compulsion. Mostly, I remember a teacher in kindergarten showing us a dictionary and saying that all the words we needed to write a story were in there, and being so excited that that was it, that was all I needed, and all that was left was to get the words into the right order.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
The first book I remember reading was Margaret Holland’s The Special Unicorn, Lawrence Yep’s Dragon of the Lost Sea made me want to be a writer, and I cannot for the life of me stop thinking about Indra Das’s The Devourerers, which left me sitting on a rainy balcony in San Diego staring at the skyline, utterly heartbroken.
Your latest novella, Mammoths At The Gates, is out September 12th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Sad cleric, threatening mammoths, death!
What can readers expect?
The wandering cleric Chih returns home for the first time in four years to find their teacher dead and a very angry imperial advocate at their gates, backed by a pair of war mammoths. Everything’s the same, nothing is, we’re never done growing up, and growing up is always a loss, even if what we get in return is worth it.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring further?
I loved getting the chance to explore Chih’s childhood home. The Singing Hills abbey, famous for its archivists, storytellers, anthropologists and historians, is very special to me, and I loved getting to spend 24,000 words there.
Mammoths At The Gates delves into grief. How did you approach this as it can sometimes be difficult to tackle?
This was by far the hardest Singing Hills Cycle book to write, but honestly, grief is such a part of life that I didn’t worry about writing the grief part at all. Grief is a lot of things, but most of all, it’s personal. To figure out the grief of this novella, I needed to look at Chih’s relationship with their teacher, Cleric Thien and understand what it is they’ve lost, going back into their past and forward into their future. At a certain level, grief is always unique, always singular. Once I figured out how Chih feels it, I just had to write that.
You’ve been very busy over the past three years with six titles releasing! What’s your writing process and how do you manage your workload?
I’m very fortunate in that I know what’s expected from me for a little while, so I just go down my list of things that are due and work on those. I manage my workload mostly by trying to stare it into submission. When that doesn’t work, I make a list of everything I want to get done in a week, break that down into manageable steps, break it down further than that because I like easy wins, and go from there.
What’s next for you?
Well, we have a storm coming in tonight, I think, so I’m looking forward to that. Probably some dinner. I have a short story to write for the formidable Uncanny Magazine before the end of the year, and I’ve got this novel to edit up for a 2024 release. This bit that might be a novel showed up a few weeks ago, so we’ll see how serious that is. Bunch of things!
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
For sure get a hold of Moses Ose Utomi’s Lies of the Ajungo. Quick, heartbreaking and lyrical like few things are.
