Written by contributor Kajree Gautom
Acclaimed author Malinda Lo returns with a new poignant story set in San Francisco’s Chinatown during the 1950s; a gripping, sensitive and heart-wrenching story about first love, history and identity. We chat with Malinda Lo about her new book Last Night at the Telegraph Club, publishing, writing and so much more!
Hi Malinda! Tell our readers a little about yourself!
Hi! I’m an Asian American lesbian writer. My best known novel is Ash, a retelling of Cinderella with a lesbian twist, but I’ve also written novels in several other genres. I love to genre-hop, but the one consistent theme is queer female characters. I like to joke that my brand is lesbians!
If you had to describe Last Night at the Telegraph Club in five words, what would they be?
1950s coming-of-age lesbian love story.
What was your biggest inspiration behind writing Last Night at the Telegraph Club? How did the idea come to you?
The novel originated in a short story, “New Year,” that was included in the anthology All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell. That story was inspired by two nonfiction books I was reading at the time: Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt and Wide Open Town by Nan Alamilla Boyd. The two books have nothing in common, but in my head they combined to create a character named Lily, a Chinese American girl in San Francisco’s Chinatown in the 1950s, who is fascinated by rocket science and also realizes she might be a lesbian.
How long did it take for you to write Last Night? Were there any scenes that didn’t make it to the final copy that you really liked?
Three years! There was one scene that didn’t work for the book, but parts of it found their way into the book in dialogue. So even if you write scenes and end up cutting them, they can still influence the story.
Your previous books are thrillers, science fiction and fantasy. What was different while writing a historical fiction? Did you have to approach writing differently in contrast to your other books?
The main difference for me wasn’t about genre, because historical fiction is a lot like fantasy. There’s a lot of world-building involved. The biggest difference was that Last Night at the Telegraph Club is not plot-driven; it’s all about character development. That meant I didn’t have to stress about plot as much, but it took a lot of layering during revision to deepen that character development.
What was the hardest part to write in Last Night at the Telegraph Club? And which was your favorite?
Without revealing any spoilers, the climax (at least the scene I think of as the climax) was the hardest for me to write, because that’s the scene where everything I had seeded earlier in the novel had to finally come together and work. Also, it was pretty emotionally draining for me; I got headaches every time I worked on it. My favorite scenes to write were in chapter 42, because it brings the main character into a new stage of her life.
The past year had been nothing but bizarre. How does writing and publishing a book in the midst of a pandemic feel like?
In some ways it’s more stressful, because all the normal elements of a book launch, like book events and travel to festivals, are gone. But in other ways it’s a relief. You’re not doing that stuff, and nobody else is either, so you might as well quit worrying about it!
What are a few things you wish you knew about publishing before venturing into the industry?
Publishing people are generally lovely, but it’s a business, and you should do your best to not take it personally. I’ve written about the most important things I’ve learned in my first decade as an author on my website if you want more details.
If you could say something to the aspiring writers out there, what would it be?
Don’t give up.
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Out this month: Kristin Cashore’s Winterkeep, the fourth in her Graceling Realm series. It’s a brilliant and immersive read.
From last fall: Emily M. Danforth’s Plain Bad Heroines, a gothic/contemporary, Hollywood/haunted house twist of a novel that is exceptionally Sapphic.
