Tracey Lien
All That’s Left Unsaid (Literary fiction, September, William Morrow)
“When a 17-year-old Vietnamese-Australian is murdered inside a busy restaurant, his older sister takes it upon herself to track down each witness to find out what they saw and why they refuse to speak.”
Brooklyn, N.Y. I was a reporter for the . It took two years, including a false start in which I thought I was writing a short story collection. As it turns out, I was not! Authors usually thank their literary agents in the acknowledgments section of their books, so I picked out some novels that I loved, flipped to the back, made a list of names, sent personalized query letters, and crossed my fingers. I ultimately went with Hillary Jacobson at ICM because she was so I found readers whom I trust—trust in their taste, trust that they understand what I’m trying to do, trust that they want the best for me—and was receptive to their feedback. Those early readers helped me write a stronger novel. So far, nothing. I know my strengths—building a platform is not one of them. As a reporter, if I only wrote whenever I felt inspired, I would have gotten fired. Which is why, when writing this novel, I never waited for inspiration to strike. I wrote a bit every day—sometimes as little as 300 words—and trusted that if I kept showing up, the work would eventually improve. I’m working on my second novel.
