Yeji Y. Ham
The Invisible Hotel
(Literary horror, March, Zando)
“In the aftermath of the Korean War, a young woman dreams of an abandoned hotel with infinite keys to infinite rooms, waking up to the unsettling truth about her nation’s collective heritage.”
Korea. Before writing this book, I … was wrapping up a short story collection. … While searching for something new, I found a note from my master’s class, discovering a scatter of random sentences and images—a bathtub of bones, an old man carrying a window and a door on his back, an abandoned hotel, and many more. At first sight, I knew they would come together to create one whole story. It took a year for me to begin understanding how all those random images were coming together to speak about the inescapable, collective space of fear of war in Korea. This I met my wonderful agent, Danya Kukafk a, through AWP’s Writer to Agent program. Writing is revision. … It involved a continuous back-and-forth with the manuscript, reaching a point where I felt I had done everything I could. Being patient—patient to myself and patient to the work—helped me break in. I feel it is important to have faith that time does not pass meaninglessly on the pages. It helps to wait, allowing the right words and sentences to reveal themselves in their own time. The past five years have been a period of growth for me, not just as a writer but also as a person. Looking back, I don’t think I would have done anything differently. Don’t throw out any of your writings, no matter how small or hastily scribbled—even those on napkins or receipts. At times, one can become so immersed in their creation that they cannot see the big picture or forget the original spark. Returning to those early writings, no matter how small, can serve as a guiding thread to lead you out of the labyrinth of your own creation. I have returned to my short story collection while also brainstorming ideas for my next novel.
