Hien Nguyen Writes

Hello all! By now, my agent announcement is live, and I continue to be in shock over the whole thing. If you are looking for an in-depth "how I got my agent" post, you can find that here .  This week has been quite heavy, and oftentimes continuing with other things feels sad and strange. However, I've realized writing (about craft or my stories) has helped me focus my energy in moments of heartache. I hope you are holding yourself in care, and allowing yourself grace as your focus your energies in ways you feel are productive.  Today's post is focused on something a bit different. I did want to discuss my querying journey within the context of an "atypical" story.  The manuscript I got my agent with included: dual timelines/a non-chronological story structure  a prologue a tense  and  POV shift in the climax And, in addition to all those choices, this manuscript was: a literary/speculative genre blend a story that despite...

 This will be quite long, FYI. And I also want to highlight two caveats to this “how I got my agent” story: 1. In the grand scheme of things, I had an easy querying experience. This is my first completed manuscript, and I had been querying it for exactly 35 days before I had an offer of representation in hand. I fully recognize that timing and luck were on my side. 2. This story is also intimately tied with grief. I don’t share this to somehow try and make my querying experience seem tougher than it was. It wasn’t. I had an easy querying experience, and I was also grieving during it. Those are just two co-existing facts. If you don’t want to read about all the heavy grief stuff, I’ll share my stats below and you can skip the rest.  The Stats 51 total queries 13 full requests, 1 partial 26 query rejections 9.8% request rate before offer nudge/27.5% after 11 passes on the full/partial 11 CNRs on query, 1 on full 2 offers of rep I) My Writing History I am somewhere between ...

 Hello all! I hope you've been doing well :) As of March, I am officially querying the first manuscript I wrote with the intention of traditional publication. So far it's been okay. I know querying overall is super tough right now, so I've been setting expectations. I have a handful of requests and plenty  of rejections. In the end, if it doesn't work out but I can learn something from the process, I'll count it as a win. I am also changing the name I will be using as a writer from Hien Fox to Hien Nguyen. While making this switch during  querying isn't the smartest thing I've done, it does feel more authentic to me. I'll be forwarding my presence so hopefully  it isn't too confusing. Cheers and hope you are enjoying warmer weather if you're in the Northern Hemisphere!

Hi all. Long time no chat. I have a few bits of news. If you've been following me (for which I am immensely grateful!) you know I had been working on my first major manuscript (an adult grounded speculative/upmarket project). This project is what landed me my AoC mentorship and received a lil' bit of love during Diversity Pitch. I had planned to finish revisions by the end of this year and start querying early 2022. It is a project that is deeply personal for me. Strangely enough, in uncanny and uncomfortable ways, it has ended up running parallel to my real life. In the novel, the protagonist must confront her mother's departed spirit in the climax. Almost a month ago exactly, I lost my mother unexpectedly. I am doing alright, or as much as one can given the circumstances. However, considering the nature of the story and my IRL grief, I am going to be taking a step back from that project for now. It hurts my heart a little bit, but the story will find its place in the worl...

 So. Funny story. Do you recall when I said I was going to take a long mental break from my manuscript and maybe query this fall? I finished my manuscript with one major revision (mostly of major structure and the addition of some scenes) in September. I felt a bit meh  about it. Well, last week I received news that my submission to Avengers of Colour was accepted and June Hur had selected me as her mentee. I thought I was mistaken for a second after receiving the e-mail.  But, here we are. So, the "long break" plan is scrapped and I will be instead undergoing some serious revision with the aim of querying this year. It's scary and exciting. I'm grateful, for both the mentorship and the little community it's already conjured.  For now, I'm reviewing some work for my critique partners. Then, hopefully, I'll be diving deep into revisions. Wish me luck! 😬

 Hi there :) It's been a while. I've actually been working on my first complete novel manuscript. As per usual, I vacillate in how I feel about it. BUT the important thing is: the manuscript is complete. I'll be taking a mental break from the work for a while before going back to do another revision. The goal is  to query sometime in fall, but we will see how I feel. I have my next project planned, which is very exciting and hoping that will be my NaNo project this year. Shoutout to my 7th grade class for being correct. It only took 17 years but that's okay. Anyhoo, cheers!

 Hello there! I hope you have been taking care of yourself and holding community close.  The past few weeks have been sad and draining, to say the least. I found myself vacillating between a lot of emotions after the attacks in Atlanta, and obviously, couldn't find my focus. So, there aren't many writing updates for this post. I have started my spring herbs and restructured my writing/work space-both to feel less cluttered. An added benefit is my plants are in a better location (my partner also gets more of his bookshelf space back, which he is very excited about). Nurturing plants make me feel closer to the earth and its creatures, somehow.  Smol baby perilla plant, which actually gets a shoutout in an upcoming flash fiction piece. Two of them seem to be dominating, let's hope after a second division they have more root space.  Tropical corner, which gets to bathe in filtered south-facing light all day