Aimee Phan Recommends...

“I don’t intentionally scrapbook for inspiration, but that always ends up happening. I will see a graphic or image, or hear a song on the radio, and start to collect them for characters whose perspectives I am about to inhabit. Because I work in text, I find my emotional motivation within these other media. For Kim, in my story collection, We Should Never Meet (St. Martin’s Press, 2004), it was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ ‘American Girl.’ For Cam, a character in my novel, The Reeducation of Cherry Truong (St. Martin’s Press, 2012), it was A Fine Frenzy’s ‘Almost Lover.’ When I was in France over the summer, I found these writing journals with these gorgeous graphic women on the covers. I bought one for each new character in my next project. With so much of my writing up in a digital cloud, it’s nice to have these tangible elements where I can root my characters.”
Aimee Phan, author of The Reeducation of Cherry Truong