press package
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Short Bio:
Vickie Lan [lahn] is an award-winning communicator, short-form filmmaker, and host of the Speculative Sandbox podcast. When she’s not storytelling, she’s fixating on one of many hobbies, including reading, knitting, baking, sketching, voiceover, drinking (tea!), and competitive dog grooming. One of those is made up.
LONG BIO:
Author and podcast host Vickie Lan has sold her debut novel, But First Take Off Your Shoes (title subject to change), a genre-blending work of women’s fiction, science fiction, and comedy, to Union Square & Co, an imprint of Hachette, slated for publication in Fall 2026.
Represented by Ali Herring of Spencerhill Associates, Lan’s novel centers on an estranged mother and daughter forced to reconcile their fractured relationship in the midst of an alien invasion. Combining irreverent humor with emotional depth, the story explores themes of diaspora, identity, and intergenerational tension through a distinctly original lens.
Early readers and industry professionals have praised the manuscript as “a blast,” highlighting its “complex, intricate mother-daughter dynamics, whip-smart humor, and hooky apocalyptic plot,” as well as “a lovingly detailed and emotionally rich depiction of diaspora life.”
The project has been described internally as Crying in H Mart meets Mars Attacks, merging intimate cultural storytelling with absurd, high-stakes spectacle.
Lan, a Vietnamese Irish American writer, was inspired to write the novel as an exploration of the mixed-race, second-generation American experience in a comedic way. “I originally wanted to write something to troll my mom,” said Lan. “I asked myself, what science fiction scenario would she find utterly ridiculous? I ended up with a surprisingly poignant exploration of intergenerational trauma and forgiveness.”
In addition to her fiction writing, Lan hosts the podcast Speculative Sandbox, an audio platform where writers explore the craft of storytelling, tropes, and character archetypes across genres.
But First Take Off Your Shoes marks her debut novel.
Resources:
Author One-sheet
Contact:
Vickie Lan is represented by Ali Herring at Spencerhill Associates
Union Square & Co
PHOTOGRAPHY:
By Timothy Eyrich
