Ocean Vuong

And that's why I started the book with that North Star is that the hardest thing is to live only once. So make it count and make it count for others as well.

And that's why I started the book with that North Star is that the hardest thing is to live only once. So make it count and make it count for others as well.

It started with the town. I write by hand. So I wrote this the day after the election in 2020. When the results were coming in, it was kind of chaotic. No one knew what was the results were. And I said, all right, I'm going to rent a room. I live in Western Massachusetts. I'm going to rent a little cabin and just go away. And when I come back, hopefully we'll know what's happening.

It started with the town. I write by hand. So I wrote this the day after the election in 2020. When the results were coming in, it was kind of chaotic. No one knew what was the results were. And I said, all right, I'm going to rent a room. I live in Western Massachusetts. I'm going to rent a little cabin and just go away. And when I come back, hopefully we'll know what's happening.

It started with the town. I write by hand. So I wrote this the day after the election in 2020. When the results were coming in, it was kind of chaotic. No one knew what was the results were. And I said, all right, I'm going to rent a room. I live in Western Massachusetts. I'm going to rent a little cabin and just go away. And when I come back, hopefully we'll know what's happening.

But it got more and more convoluted, as you remember, from that election.

But it got more and more convoluted, as you remember, from that election.

But it got more and more convoluted, as you remember, from that election.

And no one knew where the country was going to be headed, who was going to head it. And I turned off all the radios and TV. I went to this cabin. I start writing by hand. And I spent nine pages writing about the towns in the Connecticut River Valley that sustained me, that I grew up in, because I wanted to really think, like, what is my America? What is America?

And no one knew where the country was going to be headed, who was going to head it. And I turned off all the radios and TV. I went to this cabin. I start writing by hand. And I spent nine pages writing about the towns in the Connecticut River Valley that sustained me, that I grew up in, because I wanted to really think, like, what is my America? What is America?

And no one knew where the country was going to be headed, who was going to head it. And I turned off all the radios and TV. I went to this cabin. I start writing by hand. And I spent nine pages writing about the towns in the Connecticut River Valley that sustained me, that I grew up in, because I wanted to really think, like, what is my America? What is America?

And I want to really sink in to the town as a character, as description. I wanted to really love it in all of its difficulty to just present it and not go on with a plot. So it started with space. It started with land and the history of land because land is tied to history. And at the end of the day, I think I write historical fiction, not in the sense of of, you know, a period piece.

And I want to really sink in to the town as a character, as description. I wanted to really love it in all of its difficulty to just present it and not go on with a plot. So it started with space. It started with land and the history of land because land is tied to history. And at the end of the day, I think I write historical fiction, not in the sense of of, you know, a period piece.

And I want to really sink in to the town as a character, as description. I wanted to really love it in all of its difficulty to just present it and not go on with a plot. So it started with space. It started with land and the history of land because land is tied to history. And at the end of the day, I think I write historical fiction, not in the sense of of, you know, a period piece.

But I write fiction that has history involved in it. And land is a part of history.

But I write fiction that has history involved in it. And land is a part of history.

But I write fiction that has history involved in it. And land is a part of history.

disperse right well the sentence is a linear technology so it's a kind of a track and what you do as an author is that you're asking a reader for their trust to say just stay with me in this track because it's a it's a big leap of faith it's almost like when you're riding on a roller coaster it's like we're it's one track

disperse right well the sentence is a linear technology so it's a kind of a track and what you do as an author is that you're asking a reader for their trust to say just stay with me in this track because it's a it's a big leap of faith it's almost like when you're riding on a roller coaster it's like we're it's one track

disperse right well the sentence is a linear technology so it's a kind of a track and what you do as an author is that you're asking a reader for their trust to say just stay with me in this track because it's a it's a big leap of faith it's almost like when you're riding on a roller coaster it's like we're it's one track