GREETINGS, BOOKWORMS! I’m Aisha Kandisha, Head Librarian at Kandisha Press. Join me in the dusty stacks of the library I will never leave again as I chat with some of my favorite Women in Horror. Today we feature author Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito!
Frances Lu-Pai Ippolito (she/her) is a Chinese American judge, mom, writer, and publisher in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has appeared in Nightmare Magazine, Flame Tree’s Asian Ghost Stories, Chromophobia, Mother: Tales of Terror and Love, Death’s Garden Revisited, and Unquiet Spirits. She is the founder of game and book publisher Demagogue Press and the nonprofit, Qilin Press, which focuses on diverse, marginalized voices. She is the co-editor of The Cozy Cosmic, a cozy horror anthology through Underland Press, and Winding Paths: A Playable Reading Experience from Demagogue Press.Frances is also a co-chair for the Young Willamette Writers program that provides free writing classes for high school and middle school students. You can find her on IG @francespaippolito, FB Frances Pai, and at www.demagoguepress.com/about
What made you want to become an author? Did you have an “Aha!” moment when you knew you were born to write? Or perhaps a beloved book inspired you?
I started writing because of family. First, for my grandmother. As a Chinese American immigrant, she didn’t speak or understand much English, but she loved horror and we watched a lot in the 80s. The stories were easy for her understand. Fear is universal and unifying. Second, I wanted to write stories for my children. The bookshelves of my childhood rarely had people who looked like me. The bookshelves of the present have more representation but there’s more work to be done. As Toni Morrison said, “If there’s a book you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
What do you believe are your strengths in writing? And when you feel you need to improve on a particular writing skill, how do you go about it?
I’m a structure nerd. When I write a story, I write pretty lean, focusing a lot on framework initially. That has a lot to do with my nearly 20 years in law. My default writing brain is always coziest with technical, economical writing. That’s great in the sense that I can be fairly disciplined in the logical organization of a story. It’s also terrible for fun reading, unless you really enjoy reading textbook style writing. (I do, but not everyone does.) So, what I have to do is create the skeleton for a story and then grow the good stuff – vibrant descriptions, snappy dialogue, compelling character differentiation, etc. I generally can’t expand a story unless the “bones” are healthy and sturdy. Sometimes it can be really frustrating and I’m always envious of writers who spin up beautiful, engaging prose with the ease breathing.
What are your thoughts on the book industry today, or more importantly, about the book community? Do you feel it is getting harder or easier to make it as an independent author these days?
“It’s complicated.” The ease at which our narratives can enter the market is stunning compared to previous generations. Self-publishing, indie publishing, and small press publishing have truly changed (and continues to change) the options readers have. And in doing so, independent authors have reached and created new readership markets. Nonetheless, it can be a mixed bag. With so much content, it’s a challenge to stand out from the crowd. This will become even more challenging as AI content enters the equation.
For me, at the end of the day, I enjoy the work and am proud of the work that I do regardless of the outcome. I love the stories I tell. I enjoy reading across genres and from established and new voices. I’m grateful to be a reader in time when we can more easily share our stories with each other.
Tell us about your work. What story are you most proud of?
I feel privileged and frankly awestruck to be in the company of so many amazing horror writers. This includes all the essayists in Unquiet Spirits. In my essay, “Belonging to Fear,” I talk about my immigrant experience through the lens of horror. All the essays in the collection are wonderful. If you’d like to learn more about the contributors, including editors Lee Murray and Angela Yuriko Smith, here’s an interview I did with them for Nightmare Magazine. https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/panel-interview-lee-murray-geneve-flynn-angela-yuriko-smith-christina-sng-rena-mason-and-k-p-kulski/
What are your upcoming works and plans for the future?
It’s been a busy couple of years. I started two presses in 2023. The first one, Demagogue Press, is focused on tabletop games and books. My first book was Winding Paths—A Playable Reading Experience. It’s a book that is also a game, with a playable boardgame on the cover. I’m currently working on creating a game zine and some games for 2024.
The second press, Qilin Press, is a nonprofit with a mission to support marginalized and diverse voices. The first book is “A Tree of My Own,” by Nui Wilson, coming in Fall 2024. Our illustrator is Kayor Art. Our Art Director is Gigi Little. The story will feature a Karen refugee family who must flee their village in Burma and resettle eventually in Portland, Oregon. Our plan is to create a series of books and a curriculum guide for schools interested in including these stories in their discussion of displacement, migration, and resettlement.
For horror, I am working on a collection of short stories rooted in my Chinese heritage. I also have a few longer fiction projects brewing. Horror is my first love and I always come back to what gives me the most joy to read and write.
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