Author Q&A with Hemmy So

Hemmy So is a Korean American fiction writer from Houston, Texas. Her debut short story appeared this spring in Redivider, and she reads prose for Chestnut Review. In her former life, she worked as a news reporter, tech, and sports attorney. She currently lives in Alameda, California with her husband, two young sons, and an affectionate terrier. Hemmy is working on her debut novel.

Her flash fiction piece, The Language of Family, featured in Issue #12 is the runner-up of this year’s HoneyBee Prize in Fiction as selected by Roxane Gay.

Tell us about yourself. 

I’m an Enneagram 9 living in Alameda, California, which is an island in the Bay Area. I live here with my husband, two sons ages 5 and 7, and our affectionate terrier Mr. Puff. There’s a lot of male energy in this house! My side hustle is working as a sports lawyer. And when I’m not working, I handcraft greeting cards or see live music.

What made you want to leave your previous careers to become a writer?

A close relative of ours passed away during the pandemic, and her death brought me face-to-face with mortality. I couldn’t bear the thought of dying — and at that time, many of us worried we’d die sooner than we thought — without really putting in the effort to do something I had always loved.

How does writing bring value to your life?

I love exploring ideas through stories, and doing that is a real challenge. I also love learning, and I’m constantly learning from other writers, teachers, and readers.

What inspired you to write The Language of Family?

I’d been studying the Korean language for a couple years when someone asked me why. Many people assumed it was so I could better connect with my relatives, but funnily enough the real reason was so that I could watch BTS content without relying on subtitles. But the thought of reconnection led me to think about how families interact. I used language as the entry point for this exploration.

What is Miri’s greater challenge in The Language of Family – the language barrier between Miri and her family or Miri’s feeling that she owes her cousin for saving her life? 

Miri thinks it will be the language barrier, perhaps a naive thought. But she discovers the real challenge is the complexity of familial obligation. And in Korean families, that obligation can sometimes be overwhelming.

Although there is a language barrier, there are many nonverbal cues from her relatives that add to Miri’s unease. As a writer, do you find yourself studying human behavior? Where have you found the best place to observe human behavior and why?

I believe writers are always studying human behavior — how else to make our stories rich with characters? I don’t have one place that’s best for observing human behavior, but I’m often paying attention to people no matter the setting — especially how they talk about things.

How have your previous careers helped you as a writer? 

My training as a reporter has helped me immensely when it comes to identifying good stories, crafting tight language, and editing, though I’m always trying to improve. My legal career taught me repeatedly that you can’t make assumptions. And that’s also where I often find compelling stories – within upturned assumptions.

Do you have any words of advice for anyone who is working full-time and trying to dabble in writing or thinking about making a career shift to writing full-time?

You do you. I heard a lot of advice about how to manage my time, what kind of job to get to allow me to write more, what kind of writing I should pursue, how to stay accountable. But in the end, advice only works if it suits your personality and lifestyle. There’s lots of ways to do things, and that is OK. And it’s also OK to experiment.

What do you think of when you hear the phrase, “The Good Life?” 

Good people, good home, good food, good art.

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Thank you, Hemmy, for taking the time to participate in this Q&A and for sharing a small slice of your work with us.

Hemmy’s Flash Fiction “The Language of Family” can be found in issue #12 of The Good Life Review.