*ai ling fights against demons.

i think any author will tell you that one of the
best perks of being published is receiving fan
art from readers. i have been lucky to have gotten
a few from my artistic readers and i love each and
every one of them.

imagine my surprise today when liz wong, the
fabulous artist, tweeted this beautiful drawing
(rendered in pencil and colored digitally) of ai ling to
me. don’t you love the fierce expression on my heroine’s
face? the demons and feel of the drawing reminds me of
the lake scene from Silver Phoenix–one of the very first
scenes i ever wrote for my debut. i remember brainstorming
the scene in the early dawn, and i am not a morning person!

thank you so much liz for this wonderful drawing!
and for giving me permission to share it here.

have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

ETA: oooh, the serpent demon is here too!
it’s a montage of monsters and demons! love it since
my heroine of current novel is half serpent demon!

i don’t know which date or day it is at
any given time. november is gone and december
seems to be passing me by leaps and bounds.
and the only thing i’m certain of,
if you were to ask me, is where i am exactly in my
rough drafting of novel 3: issues i need to address,
inconsistencies that i’m concerned about, word choice
and dialogue. those, i can tell you in a snap.

but i’m afraid between holiday parties, kiddies holiday
performances, the special clothes they need to wear,
the secret santa exchanges, gifts for the teachers, donations
to adopted families, so on and so forth, i’m at a complete
jumbled loss.

what day is it again? =)

brush painting, as always, is my meditative sanctuary.
but while my teacher has been encouraging winter subjects
such as pine dusted in snow and plum blossoms, i’ve been
inevitably reaching for spring, as i tend to do.

thus, i present you with funny birds perching amongst
a burst of fragrant blooms.

and without further ado, i’d like to announce the
winner and honorable mentions for my nameless cat
contest. thank you so much for everyone who made
suggestions, so many of which made me smile!

the grand prize winner, with the actual name printed
on the back of my new cat cards is deborah with
“Inscrutable Cat”. congrats, deborah, who will be
receiving two of the cards as a prize! (i’d give deborah
a copy of Silver Phoenix, but she has already bought
and read it, ha!)

honorable mentions go to:

zombie joe with “Mr. Grumpy Puff”.

joan stradling with “Shady Cat” and the
hilarious caption: “If this tree touches me
I’ll turn it into a scratching post.”

and megan’s “SoPo Under the Bough” which
sounds all hip and sassy. =D

honorable mentions will each be receiving
one card in the post! thanks to all for playing!! xo

currently reading:

Brideshead Revisited by evelyn waugh

at the end of october, i attended my first world fantasy
con AND malinda and i also brought the Diversity in YA
tour to official close, with a fantastic signing at the Poway
library. thank you so much danielle, for having us! so many
of my friends from twitter (yes, twitter!) who love YA came
to attend the event. thank you guys for coming too!

greg van eekhout was the only other local author and
was kind enough to shuttle all the panelists from the
world fantasy con hotel over to the library. i admit, i was
nervous. when we say DiYA is grassroots, we mean it–
pile a bunch of YA authors into one car–adventures!
yikes. greg admitted he was nervous and i felt the exact
same AFTER the event, when i drove everyone to a taiwanese
dinner. ha!

*our rad panel consisted of (L to R): malinda lo, me, cinda chima,
holly black, karen healey, and greg van eekhout with danielle, the
wonderful YA librarian at the Poway branch as moderator.

*i’m fairly certain that i’m responding to the question posed
by the raddest 13 year old boy in the audience: what’s a eunuch?
everyone said i did a wonderful job of explaining in an as polite
way as possible. even radder? the boy bought a signed copy of Silver
Phoenix after!!

*it was a packed event and such a fantastic way to end
our Diversity Tour. it truly was a labor of love and malinda
and i stressed but had a wonderful time. to be honest, looking
back, i’m not sure how we pulled it off. haha! but i will say that
the tour was only as successful as the great authors who agreed to
join us at each tour stop, as well as the YA book lovers who showed up
to support us! and of course, all the wonderful librarians and
indie booksellers! thank you!!

*a mom with twin girls wanted a foto of them with malinda
and me. how cute are they? one twin got Silver Phoenix and
the other got Fury of the Phoenix, but each only wanted me to
sign the novel to herself. hehe!

*so it started as a joke on twitter when i asked megan
(raddest fan ever aka RFE) wouldn’t she LOVE to be at our diversity
panel. unfortunately, she lives in utah. well, guess who drove all
the way out from utah (again!) to attend the event? thank you megan
for being such a fantastic and fun fan! <3

*karaline came with her sister larissa, also a YA fan! this
was her first bookish event, hoorah! karaline said she had
a blast. =D

*a group foto of awesome! (L to R back to front: joanna (librarian),
karen, malinda, greg, holly, me, lali (librarian), danielle (librarian),
cinda and jennifer (librarian). i loved the librarians who all came
to support the event, not to mention host us!

*it was so great to finally meet the lovely rae carson,
author of fantasy debut The Girl of Fire and Thorns. and
between you and me? she’s even more beautiful now than back
in her beauty pageant days!

*i didn’t get to attend world fantasy con full time because
motherly duties called that weekend as well. but a highlight
was definitely meeting n. k. jemisin (nora) whose debut The
Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was a top read for me in 2010.
i was really bummed i missed out on her pajama themed release
party for the third book in the series, The Kingdom of Gods. BUT!
she tweeted about giving away the slightly used games from the party
and i responded with a YES, please. so i picked up the games before
the banquet. thus nora is looking so stunning in her elegant gown.
what a fan girl moment for me!!

*here is a foto by my friend heather of the YA panel i was
on at the con. it was a pleasure and honor to be discussing young
adult books and reading along with mar perez, karen healey and
tamora pierce.

whew! i hope you enjoyed the recap and fotos! it has been a whirlwind
november and i can hardly believe thanksgiving is next week! stay
tuned for another cat painting to be posted this week. i need help
with naming this particular cat–and there shall be a prize if you play!

hoorah! i invited fellow san diegan YA author kirsten
hubbard on a piercing date and she took fotos! check
out her post here. she said i smiled the whole time.
probably. haha! the pain was minimal–it’s the healing
the piercing for weeks that will be the real challenge now!

the piercing followed an exciting weekend of book events.
on saturday, i attended the mission viejo reader’s festival.
it was a fantastic event and had something for readers of
all ages. i arrived early and chatted to jamie ford (Hotel on
the Corner of Bitter and Sweet) for a bit. allison, the lovely
librarian who invited me to the event for a diversity panel also
introduced me to linda evans, who recently released a memoir
recipe book. she was very gracious.

*our fantastically fun panel: lisa yee, gretchen
mcneil, moderator allison, me, and marlene perez!

on sunday, i attended the orange county children’s
book festival for the first time. it was hot! but also very
well attended and there was a fantastic YA line up including
authors such as lindsey leavitt, d. j. mchale, andrew smith,
kami garcia, heather brewer, katie alender… so many rad
authors in one place!!

some attending YA authors: lisa desrochers,jeff mariotte,
gretchen mcneil, heather brewer, me, inara scott, katie alender.

reading from Fury of the Phoenix. i’m wearing
prescription sunglasses and it was a hot and bright
day. just to clarify i wasn’t being a diva. inara (to my
left) and i actually discussed the decision before going
on stage. hee! also on the rad paranormal panel, emma
michaels, gretchen mcneil and jeff mariotte.

it was a wonderful weekend spent with fellow book lovers,
readers, and writers with great food to go with the great
company. a special shout out to aly who was my official
author handler, as in, she literally had to be on the phone
directing me where to drive as i got hopefully lost. i’m afraid
sense of direction is not my forte. you’ll never find a map
in the front of my fantasy novel. haha

wow. this post took all day to write because sweet pea
fell off the monkey bars and smashed her teeth. ouch. so
the afternoon entailed a trip to the dentist as well as the ER
to make sure she wasn’t injured beyond what we could see.
she is okay!

also, congratulations to vivian on the YA Rising Stars
tgifbm! giveaway! thank you to all those who entered!

i’ll be tweeting and sharing fotos during my uk
trip, sure make sure to check out my twitter wall
if you’re curious as to what i’m up to in the next
two weeks. 8)

a few weekends back, i had a blast at the scbwi
los angeles conference. i crashed with ellen oh for
one night and was able to hang out with her, which
was *loads* of fun. and then meet and see many other
writing friends. as you can tell from the fotos below.

also had a lovely signing at Once Upon A Time in montrose.
another fantastic event co-sponsored by Bridge to Books,
they do such a fantastic job. thank you!

*gretchen mcneil and ellen oh! check out
gretchen’s blog for her rad count down to the release
of her debut, Possess!

*martha flynn, me and ellen at the scbwi gala!

*we had an inkies breakfast the next morning bright
and early at 8am! lisa green, gretchen, amaris glass,
me, ellen and robin lafevers. love these ladies. mike jung,
honorary inkie, took the foto.

*a few members of the Asian Mafia in children’s literature.
ellen oh (Prophecy, 2013) and mike jung (Geeks, Girls and
Secret Identities, 2012).
there have been rumblings and rumors (started by
ourselves, HAHA) of the mafia. what exactly is it? well, basically,
we get together, eat, and take fotos (sometimes awkward
and goofy). oh, and we also write Kick Ass books. no lie. 8)

*one of the highlights of the weekend was
finally meeting nova ren suma and hanging out
wish suz young for more than five minutes at a time.
i enjoyed both their novels, Imaginary Girls and A Need
so Beautiful–so different and original. and Once Upon A
Time created such a fantastic display for our novels.

*it’s always a happy book event if khy shows up.
she’s my Original Teen Fan!! had a lot of fun chatting
to her and her mom, as always.

*the fantastic group that helped with YA Rising Stars
event! janelle, alethea, me, holly goldberg sloan, aly,
vania, nova and suz. i was kicking myself for not taking
a foto with vania alone! she’s always the one behind the
camera.

*suz, bethany griffin and mandy. was so excited to
find out that bethany is a new greenwillow books author!
her debut, Masque of the Red Death will be released in 2012.
check out a rad interview with bethany by fellow soon to
be published author lenore appelhans!

*we had a delicious and beautiful cake pops bouquet
at the event! me, nova, holly and suz, the authors at the
signing.

*and finally, fun to hang out with lindsey leavitt always.
she just makes me laugh and smile. she even gave me
a signed copy of Sean Griswold’s Head. so excited to
read it!!! thanks lindsey!

that’s my last post among scarce posts this summer.
i’ve been busy and doing good authorly things, i promise!
remember to check me out on twitter if you want to get
a peek of my uk trip! 8) until september, lovely readers.
i’ve got loads of rad books to give away for tgifbm
(Thank Goodness It’s Free Books Monday)–so stay tuned!

i’m not an outliner, and rough drafting can be
a terrifying experience for someone who tends to
be a Control Freak in every other aspect of her life.
there’s nothing like the challenge of The Blank Page
and that oh crap, what happens now feeling. haha!
but i will say, i’ve got very intriguing characters and
situations in this novel and i’m at that stage where
i love it a lot and can’t leave it alone. i’ll enjoy this New
Cute Boyfriend feeling while it lasts. 8)

now that my annual brush painting show is over as well
as the exhibit at the san diego county fair, i know what
paintings i can give away as grand prize(s) for the Fury
Meets Mad Men contest!

*baby panda will come matted in chinese fabric
and framed. it is a small painting.

*i really love this bird plum painting. i didn’t clean it up
in photoshop but it’s a huge painting, matted in green chinese
bordering and rich with spring colors. this prize will come unframed,
as it is so large!

as i’ve said before, the Fury contest is open to fans who have
read the novel and can come up with a slogan or ad, etc, to help
“sell” my rad sequel. 8) check out the original post for full details.
contest closes on september 1. WINNER chooses
which painting s/he would like.

now for some upcoming author events i’l be participating
in! comic con starts this thursday and i’ll be on a panel
with some great authors on SATURDAY, 7/23! with a signing
right after. hope to see you there!

12:30-1:30 Diversity in Young Adult Works— It’s not all about being torn between vampire and werewolf boyfriends. This panel is a celebration of different genres, protagonists, and media for young adult readers. The diverse authors participating include Cindy Pon (Fury of the Phoenix), Kiersten White (Supernaturally), Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy), Vera Brosgol (Anya’s Ghost), Gene Yang (Level Up), and Elizabeth Bunce (A Curse Dark As Gold). Moderated by Malinda Lo (Huntress). Room 8

and i’m so excited to say that i’ll be participating in another
Bridge to Books co-sponsored event and signing with nova
ren suma (Imaginary Girls), suzanne young (A Need So Beautiful),
and holly goldberg sloan (I’ll Be There) at Once Upon a Time in
montrose on Sunday, 8/7 at 1.30pm.

click here for full details!

as you know, i had a blast at the first Bridge to Books event
which was YA in Bloom!

that’s all for now, dear readers. i hope you’re
all having a wonderful summer–especially since
it’s already half over!

i apologize for dropping off these last few weeks.
it took me over two weeks to get over my gross
summer cold and in the mean time, i leapt right into
rough drafting my third novel.

so i’m officially in Troll Mode.
while rough drafting, i don’t often feel very chatty,
tho you can always catch me (usually late at night)
on twitter. =)

it’s very strange to be writing completely new characters
and stories. i know some writers (like dia reeves) who
doesn’t enjoy writing the same characters because she
finds it too constricting. i, in turn, very much like writing
the same characters because there is a familiarity to them–
like an old friend.

but ai ling’s story ended with Fury of the Phoenix so
i move on–to characters i don’t know at all. to a story
i don’t know enough of. the whole thing is rather maddening
and scary and hard. i’m trying to write at least 1k words
a day, so i plod faithfully on this summer. wish me luck!

in the meantime, i went to the first YA in Bloom event
run by Bridge to Books, a few saturdays back. and had
a blast! i sounded a little like a man due to the tail end
of my cold–but that didn’t stop me from having fun! =)

*teen readers chloe and khy, the Original Teen Fan! =D

*i had the pleasure of meeting ashyln, teen reader and blogger!

*was able to hang out with marie lu which was
so much fun. her debut LEGEND is a rad read!

*authors and organizers of the event! (alethea, me, jessica brody,
andrew smith, lisa yee, nancy holder, katie alender, and aly beecher.)

lisa yee does a wonderful write up of the event here.
i always love hanging out with her and le peep!

diana, who was super fun to meet, recaps here.

and ashlyn also shares her thoughts!

finally, malinda and i are very excited to launch
our next big DiYA endeavor–a summer reading challenge.
librarians are welcome to create summer reading programs
focused and inspired by diverse middle grade and YA novels
for a chance to win over 50 books for her/his library.

and book bloggers are encouraged to read diverse novels
throughout the summer and write an (at least 500 word)
essay on her/his experience. the winning blogger with the
best essay will win over 50 books all for him/herself!

it’s an amazing list of books to be won–check it out here.
and all the details here!

challenge closes on september 1, y’all! so get on it!

until next time…

First, the SLJ review of Fury:

Gr 9 Up—This sequel to Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009)
continues the adventure of Ai Ling… who follows her heart
by sneaking onto a ship carrying Chen Yong, bound for the
land of his father. Ai Ling is trying to protect him from the
harm she was warned about in a dream. Interwoven into the
story is the tale of Zhong Ye and his rise to power in the
Emperor’s palace and his love for Silver Phoenix. How the
lives of Ai Ling and Zhong Ye are bound together makes for an
intriguing story. Pon engages readers immediately. [The] novel
is sensuous and descriptive, and even readers unfamiliar with
the first book will find themselves unable to put this one down.
—Kathy Kirchoefer, Prince Georges County Memorial Library
System, New Carrollton, MD

yay! thank you ms. kirchoefer for the review! and although
you could read Fury without reading Silver Phoenix first, i think
it’s definitely better that you read both novels in the order they
were published.

*click for full image!

and marie, a local (for now, wah!) writer and artist was
kind enough to sketch ai ling for me. i love how loose it
is but how alive it is at the same time! don’t you think?
the expression and the eyes are especially wonderful. thanks
so much marie for this lovely fan art piece!

and finally, i’ll be attending the first YA in Bloom
luncheon at vroman’s on saturday, june 25, 1-4pm!
it includes lunch as well as discussion and fun and
lots of raffle give aways! nancy holder, lisa yee, and
katie alender are the other authors in attendance! if you’re
in the los angeles area and are a fan of young adult
novels, you should come and say HI!! click here to purchase
the $12.50 luncheon and register!

this has been a challenging week for me and i’m
looking forward to better health and less craziness
next week. =) everyone have a great weekend!

lovely readers, it’s difficult for me to believe that
nearly an entire month has passed since the diversity
panels in new york city.

malinda and i took a very early train from boston to new
york city. i was able to grab a dunkin’ donuts coffee and
chocolate donut (yes, this needs to be noted) before the
trip and napped almost the entire way. it was friday the 13th,
and we had a crazy full day in front of us, including checking
into our hotel, a two hour radio interview, then the diversity
panel at the LGBT center.

it was an unusually warm day and we braved the subway
during friday rush hour and managed to get to the panel
before it started at 6.30pm.

*malinda, cris beam, jacqueline woodson, david levithan and me!
i was the moderator for the panel and i think we had some great
discussion and questions from the audience. i especially enjoyed
(or was tortured by =) the “lightning round” at the end in which
every panelist took about thirty seconds before asking deep questions
such as “favorite drink while writing”. haha

sturday started with a fantastic brunch with ello and jj
at a greasy spoon diner which really hit the spot (both malinda
and i had the biscuits with gravy and grits!) then we headed
to our Books of Wonder panel. we probably had about sixty
people in attendance, and it was fantastic to see many of my
friends in the audience as well!

*the rad display of all the diversity authors’ books right
at the front of the store! i signed TONS of copies of Silver
Phoenix in hardcover, paper back as well as Fury of the Phoenix
hardcovers.

*alison is a super duper teen fan! and i was so excited that
she could come from NJ to attend our panel. it was lovely to
finally meet her. click here to read her post on the signing.

*it was also a pleasure to meet steph for the first time,
who is a recent college graduate (congrats!) and runs a
great blog. she also came in from out of state for the event.
as with all book signings (which are much like weddings)
i didn’t get to talk to everyone like i wanted to. boo.

*my first time meeting jenn and seeing  shveta
again in nyc. even tho i had a grand time with the
panelists after the signing, i was sad i couldn’t join
jen and shveta for lunch!

*neesha, david, and me! david has been a long time online
friend (he was around when i blogged, hey, i’m going try and
follow a dream of mine and Write A Novel! he is a great spec
fic writer himself. and neesha and i have been friends since we
became debs in 2009! i met both of them at my Silver Phoenix
gathering in nyc in 9/2009!

*so the funniest thing happened. the audience was pretty big
and many kept trickling in during the event. i noticed a tall
gorgeous brunette in the back of the room that looked EXACTLY
like lindsey leavitt (Princess for Hire series, Sean Griswold’s Head)
but it couldn’t have been lindsey, because there was no reason for
lindsey to be in nyc. she lived very far away! but lo, it WAS lindsey!
she was in town for a romantic getaway with hub for their anniversary
and had the chance to pop in to the signing. it was such a nice
surprise and totally random and funny.

*we didn’t get a full group foto, alas, but here are some of
us at the nyc panel, moderated by the fantastic cheryl klein!
neesha, malinda, me, cheryl, kekla, gbemi. i look forward to
reading the books by my fellow panelists!

tomorrow is sweet pea and munchkin’s last day of school!
the school year went by so fast! so i’ll be escaping to LA to see
my family for a few days and hope to squeeze in some research
reading too as i need to start writing another novel this summer!

congrats to JESSIE who won the arcs for Imaginary Girls and
Daughter of Smoke and Bone! thanks to everyone who participated.

hello lovely readers! just a poke in to say that
i’ve extended the Fury meets Mad Men contest because:

1. i didn’t get enough entries. wah!
2. i also didn’t publicize it as well as i should have, having
been on tour for most of may.
3. i’d like to have the contest coincide with a summer reading
challenge malinda and i are organizing through the DiYA site!

the new deadline is now September 1!
check the original entry for details and comment there
or email me your entry directly. the grand prize is an
original chinese brush painting by me and signed copies
of Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix. (this has been
added. =) the contest is open internationally.

links of interest:

so i actually do have some DiYA news! the cambridge
panel got a fantastic write up in The Atlantic today. check it
out, with quotes from sarah rees brennan, malinda, holly black,
francisco stork and me!

and liz burns over at School Library Journal online
writes a very thoughtful review of Silver Phoenix at
her blog, A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy.

have a wonderful weekend, everyone! i’ll be at the Spanish
Village in Balboa Park, Gallery 21 this saturday if you’re inclined
to stop by and admire some fantastic Chinese brush paintings by
me and my fellow artist friends. cheers!