We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarina Dahlan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sarina, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
At the end of 2023, after two stressful years of book deadlines, I found myself at a ghost shrine in Bangkok getting massaged by a person who could see spirits, and my birth chart read by a fortuneteller who had never met a writer. Stories, for me, come from a place of curiosity. The what ifs. And through travelling is how I attempt to tease out those questions.
Surrounded by new sights and sounds, the potential in one waft of incense smoke is endless. Where did it come from? Who lit it? Why? All of those questions could then spark an idea and open a door into the realm of the imagination.
“The incense smoke rose from between the palms of a young woman in a black-and-white university uniform. She sat in front of the gold statue, eyes closed. She was here to ask the ghost to spare her lover from the war. It was December of 1941 and Japan had just invaded the country.”
Creativity in itself is a journey into the unknown. I do not know what random happenstance will occur during a trip, just as I don’t know what story will come out of it. All I know is that happenstance—that story—would not have existed had I not I packed my bag, wedged myself in tiny seat for inhumane hours, and allowed myself to meander while sleep-deprived.
Just like writing.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My entire life, I never quite fit. I grew up in an Indonesian enclave in the capital of Thailand. At twelve I moved to California after my parents’ divorce without knowing how to speak English. I am a person of the in-between. But instead of discomfort, I found freedom in that space. In my ability to be unattached to one identity, one place, one idea, one system of thought, I can look at it anew. I can be curious—take things apart and question them without the burden of attachment.
That path had led me to being a writer of speculative worlds—the what ifs. In “Reset”, “Preset”, and “Freeset”, I took apart the idea of peace. What would it take to get it, to keep it, and what would it be like to wield it as a weapon? I ended up creating a futuristic world where memories are erased to maintain peace, and characters driven by love to find their way back to each other and themselves.
I always write about love. All types of forms. “Reset” looks at the intensity of love at first sight. “Preset” examines a long marriage and what happens to love under the pressure of survival. In “Freeset”, community love offers hope and a way forward. And in my current book, I’m digging into love after death and dissecting grief through the lens of Buddhism.
My books are tough conversations I have with myself. In them, nothing is ever black and white. My characters are intelligent and complex, like who I feel my readers are. Their world is complicated and their paths forward are never clear. Their views are constantly challenged, broken apart, and rebuilt. And in that process, they arrive at hope. Not the fleeting kind that’s given, but earned.
There’s an Einstein quote I included in “Preset”—”Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” And that to me, is the beauty of the what ifs. If enough of us ask what ifs and question the status quo, perhaps together we can arrive at something better.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Curiosity, resiliency, and hopefulness. All three keep me moving forward, especially when I’m at my lowest.
To best develop and improve on these qualities, my advice to early writers is to do your best to detach yourself from expectations from both outside and inside. Just write your story. Tell your truth. And do it in the bravest way you can.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
Taking me to the library when I was young. In Thailand, there aren’t that many libraries, and because of that they are not easy to get to for everyone. Add Bangkok traffic and you’ll understand the unique level of tenacity required to go to one. I have a memory of visiting the main library with my mom and making a clay mangosteen. It was always a special treat. I still get giddy around places with lots of books.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sarinadahlan.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarina.dahlan/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarinaDahlanWrites/
Image Credits
Blackstone Publishing
Sarina Dahlan
Caroline Davis
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