Welcome to Fantasy Magazine! We’re so pleased to bring your story “Set Yourself on Fire” to our readers. Can you tell us how this story came to be?
Thank you, I’m very happy to be here!
“Set Yourself on Fire” actually started out as a realistic fiction short story. I wrote it in second-person, originally, but I was drawn to the idea of the narrator being an actual ghostly presence in the story, so I decided to do a complete rewrite using first-person direct address instead. I wanted it to look like it was written in second-person, right up until the moment the narrator makes themself known to the reader as an actual character present in the story who is quietly observing everything. I ended up being a lot happier with this version. Since every word of narration is in the voice of a ghost, the story itself becomes haunted.
What was the most difficult part of writing this story, and what came easiest?
The subject matter was definitely the hardest part. Domestic violence and abuse are already very emotionally raw and heavy topics, but there’s also an element of anxiety over writing about it “the wrong way.” (One of my closest friends works as a trauma therapist, and her encouragement played a big part in me being able to finish this story.) Changing the story from realistic fiction to be more fantastical and supernaturally oriented also helped. I’ve found writing about ghosts (and other speculative fiction things) can make it a little easier to explore difficult things like trauma and grief. What came easiest though was writing about the connection between the narrator and the protagonist. Having the narrator speaking directly to the protagonist gave this story a different kind of emotional gravity, and I really enjoyed exploring it.
How long did it take you to write this story, and was it typical of your process? Are you generally a slow writer, or a fast one? What factors contribute to your work style?
It’s always hard for me to know how long it takes for me to finish something, especially when it’s a story like this one where the earlier version of it was both an entirely different story but also still technically the rough draft and a vital part of the process. It’s a common occurrence for me to write something and then completely change my mind about it and open a blank word document to start over from a different angle. As a result, I can be a very slow writer. (Or maybe you could say I’m a sometimes fast but extremely inefficient writer.) Even now I still haven’t really gotten the hang of having a brain with ADHD, so my writing pace is very sporadic. Overall, I do lot of the initial creative work for any story in a state of generalized chaos, and sometimes it can take a little while before it comes together.
Are there themes or character archetypes that you find yourself returning to in your writing?
Ghosts, sad robots, East Asian folklore. Nonbinary characters and queer relationships. Neurodiversity. Lonely strays and found families.
In general, I think speculative fiction is a vital space for exploring and processing difficult things in ways that don’t have to hurt as much as realistic fiction. Because you can have a story about a very real and familiar misery, but also in this story world, magic is real, and sometimes the helpless bystander does have the power to stop a tragedy from happening through sheer force of will. Sometimes the murder victim can seek justice for themself.
Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know about this story?
“Set Yourself on Fire” has actually received the most rejections of any of my stories—sometimes it reached the final round of considerations, but ultimately it would still be rejected. It got to a point where I honestly thought the story just wasn’t publishable. That’s why I’m so grateful to Fantasy Magazine for giving it a home. So let this be a tangible bit of encouragement to any other writers to never give up.
What are you working on now, and what can our readers look forward to seeing from you in the future?
I’m working on the final revisions for my debut book, Small Gods of Calamity which will be published by Interstellar Flight Press in Spring 2024! It’s an occult detective story set in South Korea starring Han-gil—a protagonist who is kind of a disaster but he’s trying his best—as he chases down a parasitic spirit that leaves a trail of dead bodies in its wake. He’s joined by his adopted sister, Azuna (the onmyouji), and Yoonhae (the spirit medium who shares a tragic backstory with Han-gil).
The whole story is an amalgamation of my love of detective fiction, ghosts, East Asian folklore, and nature documentaries, and I’m really looking forward to being able to share it with people.