Interview with Jennifer Hayashi Danns

We sat down with Jennifer Hayashi Danns, debut author of Beneath The Burning Wave, the first book in the YA fantasy trilogy The Mu Chronicles. The story is set on the mysterious island of Mu, where gender is fluid, and magic runs deep into the soil. Twins Kairi and Kaori, born with opposing elemental abilities, share a fractured relationship as they try to find meaning outside of the complex and stifling hierarchy of Mu.

Jennifer, who found publishing success via HarperCollins’ One More Chapter imprint, was also a Black Girl Writers mentee. Jennifer Hunt, Megan Carroll, and Juliet Mushens all advised her on how to navigate her contract and secure her best deal. We’re all extremely proud of her!

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You mentioned in your postscript, "Weaving the World of Mu", that The Mu Chronicles are a "significant change from the work being published by Black British authors". As a fellow Black British speculative fiction author, I agree! How do you imagine the landscape for Black British authors five years from now? Are there any stories or narratives that you would love to see, or even write yourself? 

Thank you so much for all of your support via your Black Girl Writers mentorship programme. I can’t wait to read your novel!

In the next five years I would hope to see Black British authors writing across all genres. As I wrote in the postscript I am very grateful to all Black writers who laid the path I now walk on. However the gatekeepers of UK publishing are predominantly white women. The CEOs of UK publishing are predominantly white men. Currently there is an over commissioning of novels and non-fiction books about racism. Most of these books are spectacular and of great social value but without the equal representation of romance, thrillers and fantasy it seems like Black writers are only allowed to write about race.

The problem is with the gatekeepers and their lack of imagination of what Black people can write about and what readers will enjoy. There needs to be more people of colour with commissioning power in UK publishing. It is a business. When genre fiction by Black writers inevitably sells well then there will be more acquisitions. There have to be comparative titles which have sold well. If white people working right now in publishing want to be allies then they can start commissioning books from writers of colour which are not centred on racism and trauma.

One of the most striking features of Mu and its people is the use of neopronouns. Did you invent these yourself, or do they derive from a particular language and culture? 

I invented the neopronouns mu/mir/mem. I am a cis woman and I am interested in the origin of gender. I imagined an agender society where a zealous leader is desperate to populate the land. This makes people who can ‘carry’ vulnerable. Therefore my novel does begin with a depiction of fluidity but quickly becomes about a more binary scenario. I can understand the frustration of non-binary people reading my novel and being annoyed that the pronouns become gendered. I am surprised that there are not more neopronouns or non-binary representation in commercial fiction. There is definitely a market for a novel wrote entirely without gendered pronouns.

What I hope to achieve with my novel is to reduce the ridiculous intellectually dishonest narrative that it is difficult to address a person by their chosen pronoun. If you can read this book you can use a variety of pronouns.

Beneath The Burning Wave is set on a remote island nation with a very unique cultural system. What myths, traditions, and/or cultures were the main inspiration for creating Mu? 

I watched a lot of BBC documentaries! A BBC documentary series called Human Planet inspired many of the rituals and traditions on Mu. Beneath the Burning Wave fuses Japanese and ancient Egyptian mythology. Since I was a kid I have loved anything to do with ancient Egypt and as an adult I spent a decade in Japan. It is a country that has had a profound impact on my life.

An idea for a novel had been brewing for a while then all these thoughts found a sense of place when I discovered the Yonaguni monument. The Yonaguni monument is a submerged rock formation off the coast of Yonaguni, one of Japan’s southern Ryukyu islands. Many insist the rock formation is natural and a result of tectonic activity. However, there are those who believe the symmetry and sharp angles of the rock belong to a submerged pyramid from a Japanese Atlantis or even the lost continent of Mu…

Who would you say are your biggest author inspirations?

My three favourite books are Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter.

I have been inspired by all these authors and their influence is visible in Beneath the Burning Wave. From Dumas I developed an appreciation for epic fiction although I write much shorter than he does! I love the social commentary running through Nights at the Circus and the splash of speculative.

 I greatly admire Zora Neale Hurston as a person. How she wrote what she wanted to write. It was in her character Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God I saw myself for the first time. A black women who is spirited, rebellious and knows exactly what other people are saying behind her back but continues to follow her heart.

What would you like to write after the trilogy? 

I have two children under the age of four and as many parents of Black children know it can be a challenge to find children’s books with Black protagonists. I do not like reading my children books which centre trauma or difference. That seem to imply “Oh you’re black but it’s okay.” I don’t like it. So I have wrote some picture books that depict diverse children and diverse parents in silly and fun situations. By diverse parents I mean same sex parents, single parents or separated parents.

There are definitely other novels within the Mu world. I am interested in the period when the prophesy was etched and I also like the idea of modern people returning to excavate the island of Mu, their technology failing then they find themselves in an adult Lord of the Flies situation.

Tell us about your writing journey: you took a fairly unconventional route to publication success. How did you go about getting published? 

I started writing Beneath the Burning Wave on a Faber Academy online course. After the course finished a sample chapter went out in a Faber Academy student anthology to over 100 agents. I received zero interest.

I continued working on the manuscript and I wrote short stories. I had two children. Then George Floyd was murdered. The UK publishing industry flung open its doors to black creatives and I submitted the manuscript to various open submissions. I found a home at HarperCollins digital imprint One More Chapter (OMC).

I have had a very positive experience with OMC. My editor is wonderful and, for example, in an early conversation I asked for the Black characters to be depicted clearly on the book cover and she found an incredible African American artist to illustrate exactly what I had envisioned.

Now we are beginning to see the novels from Black creatives who slipped through at this time. I use that phrase intentionally. It is awful that it took the murder of a Black man in America for the UK publishing industry to momentarily embrace Black writers. The submission criteria ensured only a finite number made it through. Most open submissions were open for one month and asked for full manuscripts. I only saw one which said we will open again in six months for anyone who is not prepared.

It is not lost on me that my publication came from years of preparation meeting perverse opportunity.

When I signed with OMC I was unagented. I survived the contract negotiation through advice from the Society of Authors and by pestering you to put me in touch with various relevant mentors at Black Girl Writers!

I asked for specific advice from each mentor about digital first imprints and their contracts, how to retain dramatization rights – which became very important later! (After my deal was announced I was approached by scouts interested in the Film and TV rights and I was very happy I owned them). I also asked a mentor when was the best time to approach an agent even though I already had a publishing deal. I did eventually sign with an agent. Two weeks before publication!

What tips would you like to share for other aspiring authors? 

There comes a point when you have to stop talking about writing, reading about writing watching videos of writers talking about writing, and just write.

If you want to write as a profession not only for pleasure then you must have that discipline. Believe me, when the publishing door swings open you need to be ready because you enter a business. With deadlines!

Perseverance is key. Keep writing. Develop new stories. Then when your opportunity comes you will be ready.

For single parents of young children like myself you must treat writing as you would a salaried job. I know it is hard when there are so many other demands on your time. It is insanity inducing to try and write while they are sleeping. You are entitled to 15 hours free childcare per week (this works out as two afternoons a week or one full day in nursery) Use it. Then edit while they are sleeping!

How much did growing up in Britain affect your writing? Are there any experiences that inspired you to get into writing?

I was born in the 80’s so throughout the 90’s I was able to access my local library. I read what I enjoyed. Point Horror, Mallory Towers and Sweet Valley High books! I would race through them and take them out again and again. It gave me a passion for reading for pleasure. Something I believe is very important for young people. There is plenty of time for classic literature and close reading.

I am horrified by the closure of libraries across Britain over the past decade. It is a wicked act of cultural vandalism by the Conservative government. No amount of ‘levelling up’ will replace the desecration of libraries in working class communities.

An early introduction to literature nurtures empathy and kindness as young minds explore new lands, galaxies and perspectives. British people of all ages should have easy access to a local public library.