Literary novelist Carol Van Den Hende is chatting with me today about Dear Orchid.
Bio:
Carol Van Den Hende is an award-winning author who pens stories of resilience and hope. Her Goodbye, Orchid series draws from her Chinese American heritage, and has won 40 literary and design awards, including the American Fiction Award, IAN Outstanding Fiction First Novel Award, and Royal Dragonfly Awards for Cultural Diversity and Disability Awareness.
Buzzfeed, Parade, and Travel+Leisure named Carol’s books a most anticipated read. Woman’s World and Glamour Magazine recommended her “modern, important take on the power of love.” The International Pulpwood Queens selected Goodbye, Orchid, Orchid Blooming and Always Orchid as Books-of-the-Month 3 years in a row.
Carol’s mission is unlocking optimism as a writer, speaker, strategist, Responsible AI Chair, and Board member. One secret to her good fortune? Her humorous hubby and twins, who prove that love really does conquer all.
Please sign up for Carol’s newsletter at cvdh.substack.com or linktr.ee/cvdh
Welcome, Carol. Please tell us about your current release.
Dear Orchid is a collection of true stories and short fiction, written largely in an epistolary format. These letters are my most personal writing to date, yet readers find universal themes in their specificity. In these stories, you’ll meet my childhood best friend and her shocking end, the combat wounded veterans who inspired my Goodbye Orchid novels, and even some special felines. You’ll gain a personal account of historical events. For instance, in one chapter, you’ll hear about East Berlin following the dissolution of the Berlin Wall. In another chapter, you’ll hear details about my grandparents’ emigration from China in 1949 and how Communist era border closures kept them separated from their daughter for three decades. I write a letter to my mother’s lost sister called “Dear Secret Auntie.” The final section of Dear Orchid offers short fiction that gives a nod to these formative early experiences, including an epilogue to the Goodbye Orchid trilogy that will feel like a hug from a loved one (even if you haven’t read the series). I’m proud that Kirkus Reviews’ verdict is “GET IT.” They call the collection “A gracefully executed exploration of an engaging scribe’s thoughts and journeys.”
What inspired you to write this book?
The short answer is Mary-Louise Parker’s memoir.
The longer answer is that over time, I recognized that recurring themes across my novels were echoed in my short fiction too. I became captivated with the idea of a collection of stories. When I shared an early manuscript with my editor, I included a letter that I had written to Sgt. Bryan Anderson, a Purple Heart decorated triple amputee who helped me with my Goodbye Orchid series. My editor loved the intimacy of the piece and placed it in the powerful opening position. I began to pen more letters: to an unlikely older friend who didn’t speak, to twins on the run, to the serendipity of a train ride that brought my husband and I together. In one caffeine-fueled weekend, I drafted seven chapters.
That initial letter to Bryan was inspired by actor Mary-Louise Parker’s book, Dear Mr. You. Bryan’s letter wasn’t initially intended for publication. The original version resides in his special box of mementos. We’re both proud to share it with the world. The Dear Orchid audiobook includes an interview between Bryan and I, our first in-depth conversation since he helped me launch Always Orchid, the finale that Woman’s World called “One of 7 Books You Won’t Be Able to Put Down.”
Here’s an excerpt from my letter to Bryan, called “Still, You’re Tall.”
“What matters in life isn’t what happens to us but how we choose to react to it.”
—Sgt. Bryan Anderson, author No Turning Back
2015, NORTH RIDGE, CALIFORNIA
Dear Sgt. Bryan,
You zip towards me, fast and fluid, like gravity had cut you a deal. I cross the street, notebook clutched tight, hoping the person who’s survived so much still resembles the man I’ve come to know on paper.
Your porch blooms with pink petunias. Your wheels hit the sun-warmed concrete like punctuation, exclamation marks of movement. I see the gray tee stretched over your chest, the sunglasses perched on your close-cropped hair: anticipation tangled with reverence.
I cross the street, heart thudding from the weight of this moment. You lean forward in your chair like you can’t get to me fast enough. It feels like we’ve known each other longer than we have—your story etched into the chapters of my manuscript, and now, in front of me, the real you.
We meet at the curb, that gentle concrete slope meant to ease transitions.
“How are you doing?” you ask, eyes steady on mine. No filler. Like you really want to know. Not small talk. A real question.
“I’m good. You?”
“I’m good too,” you reply. But we both know we are more than that. We’ve survived things, overcome things, shared things.
You glance me over, from my black skirt to my skater high-tops. “You’re tall,” you say, certain.
“It’s my shoes,” I shrug, lifting a platform wedge to show you.
“Still,” you say, unmoved. “You’re tall.”
It’s not flirtation. It is fact. It is noticing. It is presence.
And I notice you, too—your tribal tattoo spiraling down one arm, your calm strength, the slight strain as your wheels bump the threshold of your front door. I see it: how carpet drags, how you can’t quite clean your sunglasses, how everything asks more of you. And how you answer each inconvenience with a shrug and forward motion.
Later, I’d feel the ache of that—what you live with, what you don’t show. But in that moment, we just are two people, meeting at the edge of something. We leave the Los Angeles sky behind and enter your home, not for the first time, not really. We’ve already met in story. This is just our physical forms catching up.
To read the rest of Bryan’s letter and hear about my wisdom from that visit, you can access Chapter One here, and pre-order Dear Orchid at major retailers.
What exciting project are you working on next?
While there aren’t concrete details to share, my writing is guided by my mission to inspire hope and optimism for people and planet. When readers seek out my books, they can expect beautiful stories, brave truths, with heart in every line.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
It took me until adulthood to recognize myself as a writer. As a kid, I often penned stories and drew comics. But I began to take my writing seriously after I started crafting my first novel. I joined a writers’ group which critiqued each other’s work aloud. One Saturday, sitting in a poet’s kitchen, I shared the chapter in which my main character Phoenix wakes in the hospital after a disabling accident. As I read, I heard my fellow writers sniffle and rummage in their handbags for tissues. In that moment, I first realized the full power of Goodbye Orchid. That insight sparked my journey to pursue publication, sign with an agent, and publish my debut. Since then, I’ve heard from readers how Phoenix’s recovery has deepened their understanding of limb loss. One reader told me that the stories in the trilogy opened her mind to dating people with disabilities. Another discovered new adaptive tools to share with her granddaughter who was born missing an arm.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
By day, I’m fortunate to love my intellectually stimulating and meaningful career, governing the responsible use of AI (Artificial Intelligence). So, my writing life takes place on weekends, in the evenings, and during vacation days. This means that I need to stay disciplined to find time for writing, and other authorly activities. I particularly like meeting readers, whether it be at bookstores, libraries, book clubs, or book festivals. The time leading up to a book launch, like this period before the November release of Dear Orchid, is especially busy. I’ve been lucky to be speaking with wonderful podcast hosts, journalists, librarians and more.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I often write with hardcore, post-punk tunes simmering in the background. Plus, snacks abound. Lots of snacks!
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Kids are often constrained by the careers they see around them. I loved books and thought being a librarian would be fun. But I was also curious about the balance of power in the world and during one election year, told my parents that I wanted to be President.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
The relationship between readers and writers is special. Neuroscience has even found that the areas which light up in a reader’s brain mirror the activity in the author’s brain while writing. It’s the closest experience to a brain-to-brain connection. No wonder that reading deepens our humanity. So I’d be honored for readers to seek out my work and let me know what you think.
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