Home is East
1. Why did you write Home is East?
To be honest, I don’t know why I wanted to write Home is East. However, I do know why I wanted to write—simply. Growing up, I couldn’t find any work of fiction about Cambodians. Also, I didn’t think many non-Cambodian people knew much about Cambodia, besides a time in our history called the Khmer Rouge. There is more to us than that dark period, though, and I hoped to portray this through my characters. I felt that it was important for people to know that we, especially Cambodian girls, existed. We have heartaches and dreams and secrets. We are smart, and we are beautiful. I wanted for us to be heard.
2. Is Amy you?
No, Amy is not me. I get this question often. People who know me think that Amy is based on me because she is feisty and very emotional. Although I’ve given Amy some of my experiences, such as wearing a green Christmas dress in the summer, Amy’s life is her own. There is, though, a character in the story who is based on a real person. The character is Auntie Sarah, and the person whom she is based on is a woman I know name Linda. Like Auntie Sarah, Linda is loud, easy-going, and has a beautiful heart. Unlike Auntie Sarah, Linda is pretty, and her hair is, too.
3. How did you start writing?
It started out as a hobby. My husband was working long hours, and I was looking for something to do. I joined the Squirrel Hill Writers’ group. I owe them most of what I have accomplished with my writing. After I turned in my first chapter for review and critique, they encouraged me to turn in more chapters. If you are interested in writing, join a writers’ group. Encouragement and true criticisms from the group will help you.
4. Why doesn’t Amy’s mom acknowledge her at the concert?
I don’t know of anyone who hasn’t had something unfair thrown at him or her. For Amy, it is her mother’s leaving. I’m not sure why her mom ignored her, though. It just happened as I wrote the story. I think I wanted to focus more on Amy than her mother. Amy had been gaining so much strength that I didn’t want her to suddenly lose it just because her mother returned to her. I wanted Amy’s strength to continue growing, with or without her mother.
5. Will you always put something about the Khmer Rouge in your stories?
I was born in 1977, which was during the Khmer Rouge regime. Fortunately, I was a baby and don’t remember the hardship of it. However, people older than I am (like my parents and husband) do. Some people will talk about that period. Others will not. For a long time, I did not want to recognize this part in our history. As I grew older, I learned to accept it. Now, I am beginning to embrace it—not the killings—but how my people overcame it. I don’t purposely set out to write about the Khmer Rouge, though. It surfaces naturally in my stories. I’ve been told to write about real things. For now, that time period is very real to the people in my story. If you would like more information about the history of Cambodia, search for it on-line. Also, you can read autobiographies like First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung or A Cambodian Odyssey by Haing Ngor. If you would like to know more about Cambodia in general, a fun and informative site to visit is: http://andybrouwer.blogspot.com