Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Ai Jiang
Book Title: Linghun
Released: 04/04/23
Genre: Paranormal Novella
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “Linghun”?
Jiang: I was contemplating the notion of ghosts and the ways in which they often manifest as malevolent forces that haunt the living or the space in which they have passed—whether due to revenge or unsettled heart, mind, and soul from a tragic death. But I wanted to explore death and the idea of ghosts through a different lens, where it is the living that tether ghosts, the dead, to our world, unable to let go of those we have lost and the memories that we desperately want to reclaim.
How did you come up with the names of your main characters?
Jiang: Wenqi’s name is made up of the Chinese characters in the word “language” and “curiosity”, and I suppose that is an echo of myself and the way I am as a writer. In relation to Liam, (incoming spoilers), I wanted to draw a parallel between him and Mrs.’s husband also named Liam, because my intension was to also draw a parallel between Wenqi and Mrs.’s differing yet similar experiences concerning death. For Mrs., I wanted to emphasize the way that many women within my culture, or at least among my family, might lose their identities after marriage, become Mrs. So and So, or So and So’s wife, rather than seen as someone individual. And because Mrs. specifically has had her identity stripped by her husband, yet her husband is also now gone, I thought it most fitting to remove the last name but keep the title, as that was how she saw herself: a wife, only.
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?
Jiang: In terms of my writing process, it is very much chaotic, non-linear, disorganized, and passionate. And I would like to say that all of my works—or at least most—are the same way.
If "Linghun" was adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Jiang: Wenqi — Stephanie Hsu
Liam — Timothée Chalamet
Mrs. — Michelle Yeoh
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Jiang: I’ll read (anything and everything—nonfiction, SFFH, memoir, graphic novels, webtoons, comics), watch lectures, documentaries, Netflix, movies, look at art, listen to inspirational music, speak to other people about something other than writing, speak to other people about only writing, ask my cat what they think my next course of action should be.
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Jiang: Persistence truly is the key to this industry, I think. And be kind. Don’t stop learning and wanting to improve, and this doesn’t necessarily have to be about writing craft, but it can simply be anything.
What is your favorite genre, book, and/or author?
Jiang: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro ; Beloved by Toni Morrison ; Interpreter of the Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson ; A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin ; The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
“The Paper Menagerie” by Ken Liu ; “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes ; The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
What are you working on next?
Jiang: A post-apocalyptic cyberpunk novel inspired by Chinese Opera and a novella based on my family’s marriage traditions—both of which I’m extremely excited about!
Learn More About the Author and Linghun:
Twitter: @AiJiang_
Instagram: @ai.jian.g
Website: www.aijiang.ca
Interested in checking out the book for yourself?
Find it for purchase here
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