Category: On Writing
Born in China, Writing in English
When I told my friends in China that I wrote two novels about Empress Wu, their favorite empress, the first thing they asked was, “Is it in Chinese?” It’s a legitimate question, I understand, since I was born and grew up in China. I went to school in China, too, and learned the basics of […]
Reality Bits: Fact in Family Fiction
One week after my debut novel was published, one of my father’s cousins called me. I hadn’t spoken to her for almost a decade, but she had seen my book in the new fiction section of her local bookstore. We talked for a while, and she asked whether the story was about some of our […]
From Journalist to Novelist
I’m often asked how my real-life experience as a journalist influenced my career as a writer. Though I didn’t know it at the time, my work as a reporter and anchor became incredibly valuable as I began writing novels. After being in TV news for six years, I learned to work quickly and efficiently. After […]
Writing and Cancer
I would consider myself to be an incredibly lucky person. I have a wonderful life. I’m about to celebrate my eighteenth wedding anniversary in June. I have two teenagers, a boy and a girl who are the light of my life. Especially when they choose to actually talk to me – that normally happens when […]
How Disaster Movies Creep Into My Writing
Hands up – I am a disaster movie geek, which is perhaps strange considering I only write romantic comedies. Part of the attraction is the element of danger, which doesn’t exist in my day-to-day life (not complaining!) My nine to five is spent at home, tapping away at the keyboard. I don’t even risk being […]
Writing About History: Truth or Dare
I was recently confronted by a reader, who took it upon herself to inform me that the main character in chapter 1 of my book, ‘Cults: A Bloodstained History’, did not exist. ‘Everyone knows that Joshua is a mythical character’, she scoffed at me. As if that was not enough, she went on to verbally […]
Books Of My Childhood
Like it is for so many others, each book that I’ve read has found its way into the fabric of my being, has helped form whom I’ve become ~ mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teacher, writer – and who I’ve yet to become. Being the youngest of six didn’t allow for much alone time in […]
On Being Genre Fluid
My day job involves listening to other people’s stories (Spoiler alert! I’m a doctor.) Each patient who walks into my room has their own unique narrative – some deliver their ailments like slam poets, some are dramatists, others unfold like a thriller novel and a few I would even categorize as metafiction. Whatever way the […]
To Be or Not To Be a Writer
I always assumed that authors came from a very special mould. They were the kind of people who spent their childhood scribbling down stories whereas I was a bit of a geek. I had one of the first home computers, a Sinclair ZX81 so I was busy writing computer programs while those budding authors were […]
Writers and Self-Censorship
Writers should not be censored. I think everyone can agree on that. The whole idea of censorship conjures an image of stern political enforcers, combing through every line of poetry and prose with an eye to deleting or destroying anything that works against the current regime and its often hypocritical ideology. Who can create art […]
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