Friendship, Community, Home
By Axie Oh
My first ever in-person critique group I found through the local chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators here in Las Vegas. In 2012, I was fresh out of university and excited about pursuing my dream of becoming a published author. Showing up at the first meeting, which was held at a local coffee shop, several printed copies of the first chapter of my novel in hand, I was a bundle of nerves. Writing is a bit like bearing your soul, and I was about to share mine with several strangers. Luckily, everyone was lovely, and I left that first meeting with not only feedback on my writing, but validation that I was on the right track. That critique group met for several years on and off, with old and new members alike, two of whom were past Nevada authors for the National Book Festival themselves, and the friendships I made there and the community I experienced proved invaluable on my journey.
If 2012 was when I first decided to pursue publication, then I’ve been on this journey for over 10 years, and it’s a little wondrous in hindsight to see all the steps that have taken me here to where my fourth novel, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, is Nevada’s featured title at the National Book Festival. Back in 2014, I was still an intrepid writer, and the American Library Association was coming to Las Vegas to hold their annual conference. I was working on my second novel at the time, and I was eager to visit the publisher booths in hopes of feeling inspired by the many new and upcoming books, with the dream that mine might join their ranks one day. It was at Lee & Low, a wonderful independent children’s book publisher, where a booth attendant gave me a pamphlet for their annual New Visions Award, in which the winner receives a publishing contract. I submitted the novel I’d been working on, and in 2017, my YA Sci-Fi, Rebel Seoul, was published, and I became an author.
In the 15 or so years I’ve called Las Vegas my home, I’ve gone to many literary and bookish events here, as well as in Reno. In fact, it was at Reno Comic Con where I met an author who invited me to write a short story for a superhero anthology he was putting together—Generation Wonder released from Abrams this year. I’ve met friends and colleagues at Barnes and Noble, as well as the annual Las Vegas Book Festival. Putting myself out there and building community have always been the highlights of my writing journey. I had the launch of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea at The Writer’s Block, an independent bookstore here in Las Vegas, and seeing so many of my friends in the crowd, even some from that first critique group, brought me boundless joy and gratitude. For friendship. For community. For this city I call home.
Photos courtesy of Axie Oh.
Axie Oh is the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, XOXO, and the Rebel Seoul series. Born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, she studied Korean history and creative writing as an undergrad at the University of California, San Diego and holds an MFA in Writing for Young People from Lesley University. Her passions include K-pop, anime, stationery supplies, and milk tea, and she currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, with her dogs, Leila and Toro (named after Totoro). The Nevada Center for the Book is featuring Axie Oh and her book The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea as a Nevada Great Reads from Great Places selection for the 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival.