Meet A. A. Vacharat | Author & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with A. A. Vacharat and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi A. A., how do you think about risk?
You know, when I talk to other people about my career journey, I’m always surprised how often “risk” comes up. People seem to think I’ve done a lot of risky things, which, I suppose in hindsight, I have:

Things like taking on post-op clients the day after graduating massage school. Or jumping from that to starting a software consultancy. Or closing that business and eliminating my only income source to focus on writing. Or writing an offbeat novel about conspiracies in the current political climate.

I do believe in risk-taking, in theory, especially for entrepreneurship and creativity. But for me, it’s not ever a calculated choice. It hardly feels like a choice at all. I simply have a low tolerance for doing things that I don’t want to do.

To say the exact same thing more positively, in following my interests and intuition, in doing what feels authentic, I’ve taken big risks that have worked out well for me. Not necessarily financially, but I have done and made a lot that I’m proud of. I don’t have regrets for things I haven’t tried.

The other thing I’d say about this is that in assessing “risk” I tend to not think of the outcome as binary. It’s not win or lose. For me, the outcome branches into a million other opportunities—“If this business doesn’t work out, I’ll write a novel,” or “move to Argentina,” or whatever.

I guess you could say that nothing feels risky because I redefine “success” to match whatever happens. I am a terrible cheater of my own games.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Ha – “Was it easy?” Has anyone actually said “yes” to this?

The thing I’m most proud of these days is: I have a novel, THIS MOTH SAW BRIGHTNESS, coming out in May with Dutton / Penguin Teen. And no, it wasn’t easy. I started this novel in 2013 or so.

But it wasn’t hard in the way I typically think of as something being “hard.” Not like lifting a heavy weight or doing the Sunday crossword.

The hardest parts for me were facing my personal limitations. Perseverance despite lots of rejection. Perseverance in limited time. And the hardest: Perseverance when you look at something you make and you know it’s terrible. Perseverance when how terrible it is—this thing you’ve made—makes you physically ill, when you’re nauseous looking at it, when you imagine anyone finding it and, and they know you made it, this terrible thing, and how they will be embarrassed for you, they will be embarrassed that they know you, this maker of things so terrible it’s a blight on your whole reputation as a human being, it’s a blight on human beings in general…perseverance through all that and continuing to edit and revise even if your eyes and nose and ears are closed in disgust with yourself for what you’ve made.

I actually had to use specific methods to trick myself to push past these phases. So, yes, the hardest part was probably learning the weaknesses in my character and then learning how to outsmart myself. My subconscious is an extremely worthy opponent.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am a terrible city tour guide because I personally try to never leave my house. But I do love Asheville.

My imaginary friend would have a dog (because of course) so we’d leash up and walk around Historic Montford. It’s beautiful in any season, especially the spring, and close to home.

Asheville is super dog friendly all around, so we’d all go downtown and get a coffee and listen to records at Citizen Vinyl, hop over to Madame Clutterbuckets to get fidget toys and a craft project for the evening, then we’d walk around one of the art walk galleries to appreciate the local artists. We’d end that day with a visit to Malaprops for a tea and a book event with a local author.

I also love taking people (and their dogs) to the River Arts District (the parts that are left after Helene) and trails—my favorites are the ones that involve climbing and scrambling, the ones where my friends end up cursing me by the end.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My story is long at this point, and there are probably hundreds of people I want to shout out. Since this is North Carolina, though, I’ll shout out Citizen Vinyl Session Cafe. It was the perfect place to write when I was having trouble making progress anywhere else. They let me sit there for hours and made me pour overs.

Website: https://aavacharat.com

Instagram: @quillypig

Other: @Vacharat (On Bluesky)
@a.a.vacharat (on TikTok)

Image Credits
Photograph of artist by A. Azur