This is my second year as a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) and last year was my first opportunity to nominate and vote for different works in the Nebula Awards. I wanted to start a new series of interviews with sci-fi/fantasy award winners and finalists to promote their accomplishments. The most notable awards today include the Nebulas, Clarke, Locus, Ignyte, and Hugo awards.
My guest today is Ai Jiang. Ai is a Canadian-Chinese writer, and an immigrant from Fujian. she has been a finalist for her writing in the Nebula, Locus and Ignyte awards. She is a member of HWA, SFWA, and Codex. Her work can be found in F&SF, The Dark, Uncanny, The Masters Review, Prairie Fire, among others. She is the recipient of Odyssey Workshop’s 2022 Fresh Voices Scholarship and the author of Linghun and I AM AI. Find her on Twitter (@AiJiang_) and online (http://aijiang.ca). Let's get to the interview
T.D. Wilson: In a few paragraphs, describe your writing journey and how many stories/books you have written.
Ai Jiang: My writing journey has been wild and chaotic to say the least. I began diving into short story craft and writing/submitting short stories in late 2020 and have sent out 1500+ submissions with 150+ publications since then (a mix of short stories, poems, and nonfiction piece). But before that, I wrote a bit in middle school and high school that were inspired by my favourite books back then. Since then, I’ve had pieces translated into different languages—Chinese, Spanish, Japanese—and had them taught at/included as part of courses at MIT, the University of Washington, among others. It’s wild to have the honour of saying that one of these stories had made it onto the Nebula and Locus Award finalist list.
I had written my first novella (LINGHUN) in 2022, along with my first novelette (I AM AI), put together a mini collection (SMOL TALES) as well as a full collection that’s on submission with my literary and film agents, and finished my first novel recently. There was a novella I’d written back in 2020/2021, though it was not completed, and I intend to take it apart and placing pieces of it into my other works-in-progresses.
T.D. Wilson: You have a few new releases this year. What are they and what inspired them?
Ai Jiang: My debut novella LINGHUN (April 4th, 2023—Dark Matter INK) is inspired by a flash fiction piece with the same title: “Welcome Home”, which was published in Ghostlore: An Audio Fiction Anthology. I thought it would be interesting to explore the idea of ghosts and grief through a different lens, where the humans are the ones doing the haunting rather than the ghosts.
My first novelette I AM AI (June 20th, 2023—Shortwave Publishing) is a bit of a meta cyberpunk piece that I’d been thinking about writing for a while, and rather than the recent AI developments, it was more so inspired by my past as a ghost writer and the toxic productivity that the role had promoted—the more you write, the more you get paid—along with how this same toxic productivity is encouraged in numerous industries.
My mini collection SMOL TALES FROM BETWEEN WORLDS (March 2nd, 2023—Tales From Between) is made up of my earlier works of short fiction to explore my journey as a writer and the stories that have brought me to this point in my career.
T.D. Wilson: Do you enjoy writing novel length or short fiction? Why?
Ai Jiang: I think they both hold quite different appeals for me in that I often finish short stories in one sitting (the writing part of it and not the thinking/brewing that leads up to it), whereas novels/novellas/novelettes take far longer and don’t offer the same immediate dopamine. But I find that short stories are great for when I want to experiment with something craft-related, whether it’s a particular structure, unconventional perspective, or other unusual storytelling formats, and also as a way to explore an idea I might want to later expand it. Short stories allow me to zoom in on a vast world and focus more so on the minuscule while hinting at the broader world around it. Though with novels, I enjoy the flexibility in its length for when I want to include more subplots, characters, and explore more aspects of a world I’ve been brewing on for a very long time.
T.D. Wilson: Do you have any unusual writing habits?
Ai Jiang: I suppose I have an odd ritual of procrastinating before I write—in that I procrastinate for a long time, trying to get it out of my system, before I go into a hyper-focus mode. Though this often means my writing is sporadic with long stretches of no words and mostly thinking and rabbit-hole research before a sudden burst of thousands within days. That, and I tend to drink a lot of bubble tea while I’m actively writing.
T.D. Wilson: What authors, or books have influenced you?
Ai Jiang: Too many to count! But I would say my main influences would by Kazuo Ishiguro, Toni Morrison, Don DeLillo, Ursula K. LeGuin, Ted Chiang, Khaled Hosseini, Junot Díaz, George Orwell, Octavia Butler. As for book: Never Let Me Go, Beloved, White Noise, Kite Runner, Haunting of Hill House, Flowers for Algernon, Lilith’s Brood trilogy.
T.D. Wilson: What are you working on now?
Ai Jiang: I’m picking at my first novel—it’s gone through two revisions now—but I’ve been working on research for a few of my new projects and will be starting my horror romantic tragedy soon as well as the novelized version of my short story “Give Me English” and book two of the novella duology I’d sold to Titan—Natural Engines.
T.D. Wilson: What was your reaction to being nominated for Nebula/Locus awards? Did you attend the ceremonies?
Ai Jiang: Both surprised and ecstatic, I’d say, because there were many people who had reached out to tell me how much the story had resonated with them, but I’d never expected that it would gain enough votes to make it onto the final ballot. I attended both ceremonies, the Nebula Conference in person and the Locus Awards online.
T.D. Wilson: What are you reading now?
Ai Jiang: I’ve been trying to read a ton of indie/small press releases recently, but I’ve also been trying to balance it with the research I need to be doing and catch up on reading more Asian SFF as I’ve discovered that my current library of the mind is lacking in that sense.
T.D. Wilson: What is your next project?
Ai Jiang: Outside of what I’m working on now, I’m also planning on an epic fantasy duology/trilogy. I’m not quite sure about the logistics yet, and I might end up writing other books in between as my “procrastination”, so we shall see!
T.D. Wilson: What’s the best advice you’ve ever heard?
Ai Jiang: Write for yourself; edit for the readers. I think after getting into the weeds of the publishing industry, it’s difficult not to think of our work as products rather than the fruit of our love and passion for writing, and this line of advice was one that helped me pushed past the mindset of thinking about what readers would want to read while writing my first drafts and focusing on what I really want to write and say instead.
T.D. Wilson: What hobbies or activities do you enjoy when you’re not writing?
Ai Jiang: I love learning new things—histories, cultures, the roots of languages—and though my efforts are rather scatter-shotted, it keeps my attention and interest from waning. Recently I’ve taken an interest in ancient Chinese calligraphy and art as well as the art of tea brewing. I used to train and compete competitively in badminton but have taken a step back from that this year and play more recreationally now. I’m thinking about taking up archery again—something I ended up putting down when I got into badminton in high school. Visual arts are something I’ve always loved since I was a child, so I’m thinking about picking that up again as well by watching some video lessons on using tools like Procreate.
T.D. Wilson: Lasty, imagine you’re going to be stranded on a desert island and you’re allowed 3-4 books to take with you. What would they be?
Ai Jiang: Beloved, Never Let Me Go, Kite Runner, and Lord of the Flies. The last of the list particularly fitting I think—a reminder of what the desperation of survival might result in.
That's all we have time for today. I really want to thank Ai for her time and inspiring answers. Today's current list of Nebula Award Suggested reads is available here: https://www.sfwa.org/forum/reading/. Ai's LINGHUN is listed in the novella section. Her novelette I AM AI and my novelette Smuggler's Valor are in the novelette section. Please take a look at the all the great works listed there and give them a read. I hope to post a new interview soon.
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