An essay I wrote describing Vietnam's influence on my writing life has been published in diaCritics. The essay can be read here:
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In July, while giving a keynote presentation at the 7th Annual Engaging with Vietnam conference, as well as presenting on my novel at the US Embassy's American Center and the Institute of Literature in Hanoi, I was asked to do an interview with VTC10 TV about Lotusland. Though the information cited in the video isn't entirely accurate, I appreciated the chance to talk to the interviewer about my work. The video can be seen below.
Good news! For readers who prefer to read books on a Kindle, or for those who find it difficult (and expensive) to access hard copies of books published in North America (i.e., readers in Vietnam), please note that Amazon finally made a version of Lotusland available on Kindle. For $9.95 it can be purchased and downloaded here:
http://www.amazon.com/Lotusland-Essential-Prose-David-Joiner-ebook/dp/B01013YK6K
I'm at my least articulate here; nevertheless I appreciate the coverage of my book reading and signing in Cleveland. It's funny, because this interview was conducted over Skype when I was in Japan, and the connection kept cutting out, which both distracted and flustered me. But enough excuses. Here's a link to the short interview we did:
http://coolcleveland.com/blog/2015/04/lotusland-takes-readers-into-vietnam-sapuche-coffeeproper/
The quote at the top of the blog post is not what I would have chosen, and the intro to the article needs correcting, but that's fine. Here's another interview, published on a popular expat blog.
http://www.expat-blog.com/en/interview/364_david-in-saigon.html
My publisher, Guernica Editions, has placed Lotusland at the head of their “Spring 2015 Frontlist.” They have it down at a length of 400 pages (though it’s actually less than 104,000 words) and priced at $25 for the trade paperback (higher than I expected; I expect the Kindle version to cost under $10). I believe that’s $25 Canadian, which would be around $22 US. That seems like a lot, but hopefully an audience exists that is willing to pay that amount and will say, after reading the novel, that it was worth it.
I’m finally getting around to posting that interview I was part of a few months ago. Not all the info on me is correct, but that’s fine. I was happy to be included among various writers in Saigon who are trying to devote their time and energy to something literary. Thank you, AsiaLife!
http://www.asialifemagazine.com/vietnam/expat-writers-vietnam/
I’m thrilled to have received endorsements for my novel from Le Ly Hayslip (who I also recently had the chance to meet for lunch in HCMC) and Andrew X. Pham (who I’ve never met, but who I’m now obliged to buy a beer for as an expression of gratitude for his kindness – his idea, not mine).
Le Ly Hayslip is the author of When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (a PEN-award winner and the basis for Oliver Stone’s film “Heaven and Earth”) and Child of War, Woman of Peace.
Andrew X. Pham is the author of Catfish and Mandala (NY Times Notable Book of the Year) and The Eaves of Heaven (National Book Critics Circle finalist), and also the translator from Vietnamese of Last Night I Dreamed of Peace.
If anyone had suggested to me two years ago, before I had found a publisher, that my novel would be endorsed by either writer, I would have scoffed at the notion. Now I simply don’t know what to make of any of it.
I’ve never put much stock in endorsements – I've read that they have no measurable effect on selling books, for example – but what I didn’t expect from getting them was the feeling of legitimacy they would give me. To hear two favorite (and award-winning) writers say they enjoyed my novel is something else I never expected to hear.