LA Mystery: The Genesis of the First Vietnamese American Detective Novel

Have you ever read a work of fiction and wondered what the author was thinking? As any writer know, jotting your thoughts on paper is a very personal journey. In his blog in LA Mystery , author Khang Ho discusses the evolution of his character as he writes what he considers to be the first ever Vietnamese American detective novel ever.

Khanh says he didn’t set out to write a Vietnamese American novel, it just turned out that way. Originally he began writing to entertain a friend who had just completed a stint with rehab. His friend isn’t even Vietnamese American and neither was Khanh’s detective. Khann also acknowledges his writing isn’t just a work of charity. He compares it to masturbation, an act of self pleasure. In other words, he often writes for himself.

So when his friend encouraged him to turn his character into a Vietnamese American detective instead of a mixed race black detective from the south, Khanh decided to give it a shot. So far Khanh’s novel has no name, or at least one he wants to make public. We’ll have to wait to see how this story will end.