I first learned about Shelter in Peace (SIP) when its president, Anna Rossi, came to my church to discuss its work. SIP is a local nonprofit providing transitional housing and rent assistance for immigrants, refugees, and low-income families in Alameda County. “Imagine, if you will,” she said, “escaping from danger in your native land and …
Continue reading How My Community Rallied to Help One Refugee Household
Soon Hansel and Gretel came to a little cottage. When they got quite near, they saw that the little house was made of bread and roofed with cake. The windows were transparent sugar. As I was developing a Hansel and Gretel curriculum for my employer’s ballet camp this summer, I considered the dark original story …
Continue reading How One Fairytale Sugar Coats and Lays Bare the Painful Truth About Infanticide
Happy Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month! This month we recognize the historical and cultural contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent to the United States. I’ve been celebrating by launching my book, The Strength of Water, an Asian American Coming of Age Memoir. This is my mother’s memoir, as told to me, …
Continue reading It’s Here! Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month With ‘The Strength of Water’
Inside: Reflections on how my Chinese American mother taught me fundamentals of personal finance. With my daughters close to launching into the world – one a senior in high school and the other graduating from the local community college in the spring -- I sat down with them recently to have a heart-to-heart talk about …
Continue reading Five Personal Finance Lessons I Learned From My Asian American Mother
I am enjoying working with Balestier Press on my book's interior layout and with their contract artist, Andre D’Rozario, on the cover. The Strength of Water is starting to feel real! Here I share a bit about the process. The book is the story of my mother's Chinese American odyssey, so for the cover, I …
Continue reading The Strength of Water: Adventures in Book Cover Design and Interior Layout
Today’s literary adventure is a symbolic one in honor of Qingming Festival, called Tomb Sweeping Day in English. In China, this is a three-day holiday to honor one’s ancestors dating back 2500 years to the Zhou Dynasty. Families visit the tombs and graves of their ancestors to sweep them clean, pay respects, and honor memories. …
Continue reading Honoring the Stories of our Loved Ones on Qingming or Tomb Sweeping Day
Forty-two – it’s the answer to life, the universe, and everything[i]. It’s also my new lucky number -- the number of queries I wrote before signing a book publishing contract. Most Hero's Journeys start with a starry-eyed protagonist like Frodo Baggins, Harry Potter, or Luke Skywalker, but mine starts as a 55-year-old dance instructor with …
Continue reading How I Survived My Debut Book Publishing Journey at 55 Years Old
What if you could learn about an ancient tradition, enjoy a delicious dessert, and turn an ordinary evening into a fairytale? You can with the Autumn Moon Festival, a holiday born of legend. It traditionally falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month or mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar. In …
Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh In February 2021, I had the great pleasure of signing a contract to publish my narrative non-fiction debut, My Name Is King Ying, with a small press publisher. I had two offers, and …
Continue reading One Writer’s Journey through the Dauntless Dunes
My eldest graduated high school in May. It was a touch bittersweet -- the first time we had been back to campus in over a year except for two curbside pick-ups of textbooks. The year began frantically with virtual college tours, SAT preparation, and the crafting of essays for university applications. At the same time, …
Continue reading Bittersweet School Year and Finding a Way to Dream Again