The Dragon and the Stars (Table of Contents)

I am extremely honored to be in this anthology. In fact, the story included in The Dragon and the Stars is probably the most personal story I have ever written, as a (young) woman, and ABC, and a human being. Hope you pick up a copy of this anthology, edited by 2 amazing authors, and enjoy the stories inside.

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The Dragon and the Stars, edited by Eric Choi and Derwin Mak, the first anthology of fantasy and science fiction stories by ethnic Chinese outside China, will be published by DAW Books next year. It's an international anthology with stories from writers in Canada, the United States, Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong. Here are the stories in order of their appearance in the book:

Introduction by Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestseller novelist.

"The Character of the Hound" by Tony Pi (Canada)
During the war between the Southern Song and the Jin Dynasties, a soldier allows a spirit to possess his body so he can solve a murder.

"The Fortunes of Mrs. Yu" by Charles Tan (Philippines)
A Filipino Chinese woman is horrified that each of her fortune cookies has a blank strip of paper inside it.

"Goin Down to Anglotown" by William F. Wu (U.S.A.)
In an alternate America that is dominated by Asians, three young Asian men go out for a night of intrigue in exotic "Anglotown".

"The Polar Bear Carries the Mail" by Derwin Mak (Canada)
Chinese investors and a Chinese Canadian pilot try to start a space tourism business in northern Canada. Unfortunately, they have bad feng shui at their spaceport.

"Lips of Ash" by Emery Huang (U.S.A.)
During the time of a historical dynasty, a cosmetics artist uses dark magic to help the ambitious mistress of a nobleman.

"The Man on the Moon" by Crystal Gail Shangkuan Koo (Hong Kong)
Yue Lao (月老), the Man on the Moon, hosts a beauty pageant to find a bride.

"Across the Sea" by Emily Mah (U.S.A.)
A Tlingowa Native American woman's aunt tells a legend about mysterious visitors who came to America hundreds of years ago.

"Mortal Clay, Stone Heart" by Eugie Foster (U.S.A.)
During the reign of the First Emperor, a clay sculptor finds love and tragedy with a soldier.

"Dancers with Red Shoes" by Melissa Yuan-Innes (Canada)
In Montréal, magical red shoes dance by themselves.

"Intelligent Truth" by Shelly Li (U.S.A.)
A young Chinese American woman discovers truths about herself and her mother’s intelligent robotic servant.

"Bargains" by Gabriela Lee (Singapore)
A young woman meets a strange shopkeeper in Chinatown. The shopkeeper sells success as a writer – but with a terrible price.

"Threes" by E.L. Chen (Canada)
A Canadian man thinks his dead wife has become a Chinese dragon in Lake Ontario.

"The Son of Heaven" by Eric Choi (Canada)
The Chinese rocket scientist Tsien Hsue-shen (钱学森) is persecuted during the Red Scare in America in the 1950s.

"Shadow City" by Susan Ee (U.S.A.)
In a fantasy universe, a gatekeeper must stop people from leaving an evil place called Shadow City.

"The Water Weapon" by Brenda W. Clough (U.S.A.)
The British police are suspicious of a talking Chinese dragon and a Chinese princess who appear at the Great Exposition of 1851 in London.

"The Right to Eat Decent Food" by Urania Fung (U.S.A.)
Two American English teachers in China will do anything to get decent food during the SARS epidemic.

"Papa and Mama" by Wen Y Phua (Singapore)
A Chinese daughter struggles to remain dutiful to her late parents, who are inconveniently reincarnated as a fish and a bird.

"Beidou" by Ken Liu (U.S.A.)
In the Ming war against Japan, an ingenious Chinese army officer invents new weapons to defeat the Japanese.

Afterword by Derwin Mak & Eric Choi

Biographies

Try to Praise the Mutilated World

Try To Praise The Mutilated World
by Adam Zagajewski

Try to praise the mutilated world.
Remember June’s long days,
and wild strawberries, drops of wine, the dew.
The nettles that methodically overgrow
the abandoned homesteads of exiles.
You must praise the mutilated world.
You watched the stylish yachts and ships;
one of them had a long trip ahead of it,
while salty oblivion awaited others.
You’ve seen the refugees heading nowhere,
you’ve heard the executioners sing joyfully.
You should praise the mutilated world.
Remember the moments when we were together
in a white room and the curtain fluttered.
Return in thought to the concert where music flared.
You gathered acorns in the park in autumn
and leaves eddied over the earth’s scars.
Praise the mutilated world
and the grey feather a thrush lost,
and the gentle light that strays and vanishes
and returns.

Try to Praise the Mutilated World. There has never been a poem that has struck me so hard, emotionally, as this one. And this poem, written by Adam Zagajewski and published just before 9/11, is the inspiration for the new novel that I just finished. (!!!)

Update on Things

I realize that I haven't posted in almost 2 months. God, time has really slipped away! Well, let's start with the announcement that I'm back home now in the U.S.A. I returned August 8, just in time to recover from jet lag and then dash off to the start of school. Junior year, and it's time to start the IB (International Baccalaureate) program at school. There's a bunch of homework now, plus tests so long and hard that they will make your head explode, but the interaction with a classroom full of intelligent kids who can carry on a conversation for 5 minutes before going off on a tangent to their weekend plans, it's very, very fun. Call me a nerd, but hey, I guest that's what I am.

Now I myself am going to take you on a tangent and return to my reflection of China. My China vacation was, as usual, amazing and eye-opening. The highlight was going to Hangzhou and getting to see my grandmother again, from my mother's side. She raised me until I was 6, and her health is failing. I also enjoyed seeing the rest of my extended family too, but my best moments in China were just walking around with Grandma and 4 in the morning (still had jet lag), buying breakfast goodies and listening to her tell stories of my parents, my childhood, etc.

I also climbed Yellow Mountain, which was breath-taking, truly. Standing up at the peak of the stone mountain, looking out and seeing no other person in sight, no commercial buildings or even houses, I felt that all my worries and fear were insignificant after all. All that mattered was living in the moment. And the moment atop China's Yellow Mountain is a moment that I will never forgot.

Besides Yellow Mountain, I did spend about a few days in Shanghai just hanging at my dad's place. I spent 2 days in Guangzhou, which were wild and fun. Overall, China has cleaned up its act significantly. In fact, the cities I visited were cleaner than Chicago or Omaha, so that was really interesting to see--especially since, 10 years ago, those same cities were nothing better than dumps.

Any writing news? Yes, in fact. While I was in China, Nature accepted my short story, "The Imitation Game." Also, Italy's Robot Magazine is planning to translate and publish a story called "Spaghetti" in October. And lastly, my story, "Soul Mate," is now up at Cosmos Online: http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/fiction/2890/soul-mate

And I think that's all for now.

The Agenda Today

Well, today I'm off to Chicago, then from Chicago I'm going to Shanghai to spend the next three weeks with my friends and family in China. I'm sad that I have to leave my mom and stepdad, but I'll be home soon = ) It's kind of scary how dependent I am of them.

In China, I have my "special" interview with ZJTV. Whereas my CCTV interview was mostly focused on my life as an ABC--although at the halfway point, the reporter just started asking like a billion questions about my writing and my beliefs--the ZJTV interview will be centered around my life and writing.

I also have a meeting with an editor from Hubei Children's Press, who wants to translate the handful of short stories that I have previously published or are forthcoming, and publish them in a short story collection.

Since my last trip to China, I will say that I have certainly learned many things. When I was little, I used to be quite ashamed of my culture and being Chinese. The other kids at school would make fun of me for using chopsticks when my mom packed my sushi or fried rice for lunch, plus other racial slurs, etc. And so for a long time, I kind of turned my back on my heritage and tried to become as "American" as possible. We have a name for ABCs like me in China, called "the banana." Yellow on the outside, white on the inside. Yeah. Not nice.

And then I woke up one morning and learned that, by trying to pretend that I'm not Chinese, I'm only hurting myself. Because no matter how hard I try to be "white" I'm never going to be. And I can't stop the racist remarks. I can't stop the prejudices. I can't change other people. But by trying to change myself to not be Chinese, I'm throwing away a culture that is, in fact, a blessing. Because of my Chinese heritage, I can speak a whole other language. I can open doors that many of my peers cannot. I can survive in an entirely different world.

The CCTV Interview Went, well, Well

The interview with the reporter from CCTV, the wonderful David Wang, went very well--although I admit that there were a few questions I stumbled over, like a blabbering idiot. I knew what I wanted to answer to English, but by the time I got to talking in Chinese... I forgot the questions entirely. Luckily, David was a really nice guy and asked follow-up questions to get me back to my point.

Let me paint you a picture of the setting: two GIGANTIC studio lights blasted down on me from above, blinding me from everything. They also wired me to a microphone as i sat there on the couch, my stomach twisting and tuning. The reporter sat across from me in a chair behind the camera and shot off a bunch of questions. I was not allowed to look off to the wings. I was not allowed to look directly into the camera. I could only keep my eyes on David.

The interview was supposed to be 20 or so minutes, but somehow we got to talking and the questions all the way into an hour and a half. It was already 11:30 at night by the time he finished, so David will interview me again, more in-depth, when I get back to China in three weeks. That is also about the same time that my first interview will be airing on CCTV's Channel 4.

So... awesome interview! David asked extremely thought-provoking questions about balancing school and writing, how my Chinese culture has affected my stories--in which I dutifully plugged The Dragon and the Stars, a new anthology of ethnic Chinese writers edited by the brilliant Derwin Mak and Eric Choi. I was asked questions about happiness, sex, alcohol, drugs, etc.

Interview: CCTV

Well, I'm sitting here in my room, about ready to go to summer school. (I promise that I didn't fail or even get a 'B' in anything!)

I'm trying to edit a few more pages of the novel, but my brain is off floating on some distant planet. "Damn it, Eugene, you get the f*** back here!"

Um. So tonight I'm flying down to Chicago. I've got an interview tomorrow with China's TV Station, CCTV, who will be asking me questions about growing up as an American Born Chinese, and writerly subjects as well. Not sure what I'm going to say yet--guess I'll outline something on the plane ride over.

Hmm. I've got good news on a short story, but until the "We'll buy it" email, I won't say anything. So, more on that later.

My little city is unacceptably hot, and impossibly humid. Hope the winds of Lake Michigan make Chicago a lot cooler than here!

Dying Wish to See the Movie "Up"

I'm an atheist, and I'm not to afraid to tell anyone. But it's stories like this that make me wish that there was a place as beautiful and pure as Heaven.

California girl gets dying wish to see movie 'Up'