Meet Rebecca Anne Nguyen

We recently connected with Rebecca Anne Nguyen and have shared our conversation below.

Rebecca Anne, we sincerely appreciate you joining us today and agreeing to talk about some very personal topics. So, to kick things off, let’s talk about a tough one – divorce. Can you talk to us about how you overcame divorce?

I got through my divorce by writing an accidental novel. When my husband and I separated, my kids were 2 and 4 years old, and I had taken a job a thousand miles away from family and friends. Overnight, I became a single working parent of two young children, and I had never felt so isolated or hopeless. Then, the pandemic hit. Single parenthood had already limited where I could go and what I could do, and with lockdowns and quarantines, it was taken to an even further extreme.

I started to write as a way to escape reality. I created a world for myself populated with characters I longed to spend time with and problems I wished could replace my own. The story was filled with adventure, humor, and love—the precise kind of love I felt my marriage lacked. When writing the novel’s leading man, I never struggled with what he should say or do; it was always the exact opposite of what my ex would have done.

Over time, what began as pure escapism became a labor of love. The story and characters took on a life of their own, and I became a novelist instead of merely an escapist. It took five years, but I eventually finished the book, found a publisher, and got to see the book out in the world. This year, the audiobook of my novel, The 23rd Hero, was an Audie Awards finalist alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Salman Rushdie (I didn’t end up winning the award — Whoopi did — but now I can forever say I was whooped by Whoopi!).

It was healing to make meaning out of the pain I experienced and comforting to know that one of the darkest times in my life inspired the brightest. I can’t say I’m glad to have gone through a divorce, but I’m certain that if I hadn’t, the book wouldn’t exist, and for that I will always be grateful.

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?

I am a writer, playwright, and author of the novel, The 23rd Hero. My essays and humor have appeared in The New York Times, Insider, and Slackjaw, and my play, Hypotheticals, was the 2023 winner of the Epiphany New Works Festival. This summer, I had an absolute blast performing two of my satire pieces at Slackjaw LIVE! in New York City with some writers from Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

Most of my work centers around love stories, especially between characters who are secretly in love with each other, and my heroes tend to be neurodivergent in some way — on the Autism spectrum and/or gifted with unique abilities, such as a superpower memory or psychic powers. My obsession as a writer is striking the right balance between humor and heart and telling hopeful, aspirational stories that feel possible for our world.

As I work on completing my second novel, I have some upcoming appearances I’m excited about! I’ll be signing books at Romance Con in Milwaukee September 5-6 and at Heartland Fall Forum in Indianaopolis October 15-16. I’ll also be taking part in Booked Eau Claire in September 2026.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

First, I had to get comfortable not knowing. When I was earlier in my career, I felt pressure to prove I had expertise, maybe because I was afraid I wouldn’t be perceived as ‘good enough’ otherwise. Ironically, now that I have more experience, I’m much more comfortable admitting when I’m clueless, asking questions, and seeking out people who know more than I do about what I’m trying to learn. It’s been so helpful to become a competent wonderer and embrace curiosity without the pressure to be an expert in everything (or anything, for that matter!).

Reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron has been endlessly helpful in my creative journey. Her 12-week course was life-changing in how it shaped the way I approach my writing and my life. It made me think of failure in radically different ways, and it helped me see that while Hollywood fetishizes creative genius, the reality of living a creative life involves taking a lot of creative dumps, throwing a lot away, and failing again and again (and again). What we see when we view a finished film or read a book off the shelf is just the most recent version of hundreds, even thousands of versions of a work of art. I learned not to compare my first draft to someone’s hundredth. That has allowed me to actually do the work and get comfortable with the discomfort of knowing something sucks right now. Embracing that discomfort is what allows me to work through the suckiness until it sucks less.

Finally, a quality that has been key in my journey has been obsession. I have to be obsessed—with an idea, a character, a moment that fascinates me endlessly. Without obsession, I couldn’t finish a project, especially something long-form like a novel. Earlier in my career, the idea of “me writing X” or ‘me as author’ was enough to get me started, but rarely enough to carry me across the finish line. Now I”ve had enough failures and successes to know that other people’s reaction to my work is not enough to drive me. I need to be hooked on an idea, or in love with a character, or obsessed with the world I”m building to see it through to completion.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

The ‘Save the Cat’ series on writing craft has been and continues to be instrumental to my work, whether I”m writing a novel, a play, or a screenplay. The Save the Cat approach to structure breaks down stories into beats and helps you figure out what kind of story you’re telling. It has give me ‘the bones’ of the story I’m writing without constricting me. I’ve found it to be a perfect balance between inspiration and form. This was especially helpful in transitioning from nonfiction, where character and plot are provided to you, and fiction, where you’re staring at a blank page that could become anything. Structure gives you essential starting points and helps guide the arc and shape of your story.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

@refinerymke
@stephsmithphoto
Shutterstock on behalf of the Audio Publishers Association; Caption: The Audio Publishers Association’s 30th Annual Audie Awards on March 4 at Pier 60 in NY.

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Highlighter Series
Are you walking a path—or wandering?

The answer to whether you are walking or wandering often changes from season to season

Highlighter Series
What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?

With so many high-achievers in our community it was super interesting to learn about the

Highlighter Series
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?

We asked some of the wisest people we know what they would tell their younger