1.- Could you introduce yourself to Jamreads’ readers?
I'm Khan, and I'm an unabashedly queer writer of speculative fiction. I have been part of bohemian subcultures for most of my adult life, including the rave scene of the early 90s, poetry circles and the underground arts, circus, and Burning Man scenes of the 2000s - 2020s. All of that life experience shows up in my work in some way.

2.- How did you start writing?
I started as a reader: first of Tolkien and Narnia, like so many. Also Jules Verne and Dickens. As a teen I got into the Young Adult (before YA was a thing) thrillers of Lois Duncan, and also Stephen King. So many others! That love of story led to my trying my hand at crafting my own. With the inspiration of The Outsiders, I tried my hand at a YA drama about "kids with problems." I LOL about it now, it was terrible, but the fire was lit.

3.- Could you tell us when you start pursuing publication?
I made my first run at publication in the late 90s. I'd signed with a rockstar agent for a post-climate catastrophe dystopian. It came close at a couple of publishers, but in the end died on sub. My agent subsequently dropped me as a client by sending a fax to my day job. I was so disheartened by that experience, I decided to walk away from writing and pursuing publishing. If I'd had the kind of writing community then that I do now, I probably would have made a different decision. But that period of not writing made space in my life for other creative explorations, which in turn led me to many rewarding friendships and experiences I might not otherwise have had. I decided to try again in 2017. First I re-wrote that 1990s project, decided it wasn't working but I got it out of my system. Then in 2019 I wrote something that had good ideas but didn't quite hang together, then I wrote The Circus Infinite.

4.- The Circus Infinite was your debut novel. How did the first idea appear? Could you tell us about how you approached to draft it?
I long had in mind writing a circus story - but I'd always imagined it as grounded in realism, in the real world. However, one of the ideas from that abandoned book I wrote in 2019 led to the worldbuilding of the spacefaring, alien society that features in The Circus Infinite. I'd done a whole lot of worldbuilding, but didn't have a story to set in that world. And then one night of brainstorming it just hit me - an alien circus in space. I drafted the main story first, then added the flashbacks.

5.- The Circus Infinite was a finalist for the Lambda Awards and longlisted on the BFSA Best Novel Award. How did you feel about it?
I was thrilled that it got some of that kind of recognition. Writers mostly toil alone, and don't know if what we're laboring over will sell, and if it sells if it will reach readers. So some industry/literary community recognition is really validating. Authors can't control any of that though. There isn't much we can control, to be honest. Only the writing. So I enjoyed the rush of getting that notice, but then I got back to work.

6.- Down in the Sea of Angels is your latest book; what was the idea behind it?
This was a project-of-my-heart. I'd first written a version of this story back in the 90s before I quit. It was wafer-thin, all vibes/no plot as the current saying goes. All I had was the concept of different time periods in San Francisco, but no idea what it was *about*. All these years later, after the life I've lived, and things I've learned about the world, it felt like it was time. The idea was to show how people of different generations exist in very different realities, yet the same social/cultural/political forces can continue to impact their lives. I knew there'd be a queer character POV, and once I settled on three timelines (it was originally five) I decided to also focus it on the Chinese American community, though the stories have resonance for everyone. And San Francisco has been my home for most of my life, and it is a magical place. It felt important to me to capture some of that (inspired by the Tales of the City books) but with my own speculative twist.

7.- Which part of writing Down in the Sea of Angels you found more challenging? Why?
The research! This was the most research I've ever done for a project. I had to research 1906 history, and the lives of the trafficked girls in Chinatown, and life in Chinatown specifically, and San Francisco in general, at that time. And also, I researched the projected impacts of sea level rise on the landscape of San Francisco. The 2006 timeline was drawn largely from personal experience - so in a sense I've been researching it my whole life ha ha!

8.- Did any of the final three characters change much from the inception to the final form?
Not particularly. I never start writing on a project until I have some sense of how it will end. So before I began, I had an inkling of where each character would end up, and the challenge was to get them there. I always stay open to my plan changing as I write, so while the characters do go through their journeys and some details weren't planned, the overall arc for each of them and who they were as people was all very clear.

9.- If you could choose something for the readers of Down in the Sea of Angels to remember from the book, what would be?
Hope, even in dark times, and having courage in the face of oppression.

10.- What hobbies do you have?
I love music, and dancing, and visual art. I play a little ukulele. I'm still heavily involved with the Flow Arts, and serve as a board member of a non-profit that serves that community. That's not really a "hobby" exactly, so much as it is a lot of unpaid labor! I still pick up poi and my hoop every so often. Reading and writing were for so long my hobby, but they don't really feel like hobbies anymore.

11.- What can we expect from Khan Wong in the future?
I have a novella coming out from Stars and Sabers press in early 2027. It's a sequel to a short-story that will be in one of their anthologies, coming out this fall. I am working on new novels and hope to get something sold soon. All the good luck vibes, please.