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

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!

took two fotos over the weekend that are totally
filled with Pretty People but are also totally
Awkward Author Fotos.

behold and judge for yourself!

(back row L to R: Elizabeth Bunce, Kiersten White,
me, Dave Roman. front: Shannon Messenger, Kirsten
Hubbard and Nikki Katz.)

we have a wonderfully fun and supportive MG and YA
writing community here in san diego. so it was lovely
for shannon, kirsten and nikki to come to the signing after
kiersten’s and my panel together. author fotos during
signings are always awkward. from the mere logistics
of The Table. whenever i can, i’ll run to the other side of
the table to take a less awkward foto, but it didn’t happen
in this case. haha! still a great foto tho!

me, Malinda Lo and Marie Lu.

on saturday night, was lucky enough to catch
malinda and marie (with beau in tow) to have dinner
together at extrao desserts. of course, we had to take
a foto of this tremendous occasion!

but as you can see, marie’s beau wasn’t quite sure
which was more important, the cake and mimosa or
the women in the foto. he wanted it all! and malinda
somehow decided it wasn’t cool to drape her arms around
us like “the don”, and instead, chose to hover between
marie and me like the Head of Oz.

dudes. i could NOT stop laughing after i saw this foto!
i mean, crying laughing. and everyone else thought it
was hilarious too! (i swear i cannot look at this foto and
NOT laugh. hhahah!)

pretty people. awkward foto.

haha!

i am bleeding words. at least half way through
novel 3 and Trying Not to Panic. 8) but the first
half is rad, so i’m happy with that.

next week, i go to scbwi (unofficially). you can find
me in the lounge or by the pool. if so, stop and say hi!
also, my exciting signing with Nova, Suzanne and Holly is
next sunday as well at 1.30pm hosted by Bridge to Books
and Once Upon a Time. click here for details!

but before i start packing, let me share some
fotos from our radical (i’ve decided to use rad
instead of awesome at times to switch up the
lingo =) panels in austin and chicago!

*before our panel, guadalupe garcia mccall, varian johnson,
bethany hegedus, me, malinda and dia reeves and jo whittemore
flexing their muscles in front!

*the lovely chandler craig stopped by before another
social engagement. it was so lovely to finally meet her. we only
knew one another from online and she was one of the first to
interview me, way before i was published!

*i know steph and jen from twitter! they were very helpful
with sharing info for our austin stop and both book lovers.
thanks so much for stopping by and it was so great to meet you too!!

*katie is part of the mundie moms site which first started
as cassie clare fan site but has gone on to do so much to spread
YA novels book love. we were both happy to be dolled up in our
pretty clothes for the event (versus our usual more practical, less
pretty mom clothes. =)

*malinda, me and jenny moss (author of Winnie’s War,
Shadow, and Taking Off). jenny has been a DEB
friend for years and it was so fantastic to finally meet her!

*okay, so meeting dia reeves was definitely a highlight
of the tour. it was the *first* author panel she’d participated
on and she didn’t hesitate to say YES! when i asked. <3 also, i had
no idea she’d have to fly to austin. so dia, thanks so much for coming
out and joining us. i’m looking forward to the end of traveling and
being able to settle down with my copy of Slice of Cherry which i know
will be awesome!

*we had yummy mexican (i had the delicious chicken quesadilla,
some of malinda’s gaucamole, and a virgin pina colada, yum!) meal
after which was loads of fun! i love celebrating with food after a great
panel, hee!

*next up! check out ari’s (reading in color) shirt!
we’re in chicago, baby! i’ve known her for a couple of
years online and she is an absolute delight. i’m excited that
she is going off the college soon, the world is wide open for her!

*claudia guadalupe martinez, nnedi okorafor, me and malinda.
i’m so glad we added chicago as a stop. as a result, we were in
austin and chicago both for less than 24 hours, but it was a
fantastic signing and i got to fangirl nnedi (tho i respected her
no hugging thing–i still squished up against her, haha!) and i
look forward to reading claudia’s debut, The Smell of Old Lady
Perfume. after, we had awesome indian food with
malinda’s college friend adn we ordered way too much. whoops!

OKAY lovely readers!
i’ve chosen my two dresses for my second nyc
jaunt (i’ll be the Lady in Red) so wish me luck and
perhaps i’ll see some of you there? i’ll be tweeting as
ever, addict that i am, over @cindypon so follow me if
you don’t already.

zai jian for now!! xo

i came back yesterday on a very nice delta flight
in which i totally lucked out and got an aisle exit row
and slept for most of the way. landed, then proceeded to
go immediately to chinese school with my bubs. no rest
for the wicked and what not. 8)

malinda and i were most definitely on Diversity Tour
Amazing Race and were just glad we survived and made
it to each event safely.

despite the frenetic madness and exhaustion, we are both
so pleased and proud for the turnouts at our tour stops.
great discussion, great readers and bloggers and writers
and friends all turned out to support us, all our authors
and some fantastic books. i estimate that we had over 300
peeps attend throughout the week, and that is simply
*tremendous*. thank you thank you thank you! <3

this saturday, i fly again to nyc for BEA. i’ll be at the
SLJ Pre-BEA Day of Dialog (5/23). my panel is at 9.15am with
authors malinda lo, rita williams-garcia and paul griffin,
moderated by liz burns. then i’ll be signing Fury on tuesday
(5/24) at 10.30pm. i’ll be tweeting @cindypon so follow me
to keep posted! =D

now, without further prattle, let me share fotos from our
first kick off event at the san francisco public library. it
was such a fantastic and fun way to kick off the tour!!

*our awesome audience! people trickled in after event started
and they had to add four more rows of chairs to accommodate!

*one of the first friends i said hello to! sarina has been an
online friend for… a decade probably. but i only met her for
the first time in 2009 for my SF Silver Phoenix signing. she drove
in from sacramento again to attend our panel. it was lovely to see
you sarina (who is a YA novels fan! =).

*teri is also an online friend, a writing one, who drove in
from sacramento. yay, it was so good to see you again, teri!

*author of Butterfly Swords, jeannie lin, was able to come
too! it was such a lovely surprise. if you’re looking for a fantastic
adventure and romance set in the tang dynasty, read Butterfly Swords!

*and cheryl, author of Breathing, was able to take time
out of a busy saturday to come! she’s a deb and we’ve all
been through so much together. it’s hard to believe it’s only
been two years or so that we’ve known each other!

*how cool is andrea’s shirt? i met andrea at the sirens
con last october and was so happy she could come in from
studies in berkeley!

*the entire panel (jon yang, malinda lo, me and gene yang) with
julia, actual teen! =) she made me laugh because the first thing
she said to me was “you’re a mom right? you’re a pretty cool mom
for reading that passage.” haha! i had read one from zhong ye’s
narrative near the beginning of Fury of the Phoenix.

*our san francisco panel was the only one that had official
sponsors! jon yang, ellen from Kearny St. Workshop, malinda lo,
betsy from San Francisco Public Library, me, gene yang and claire
from the Carl Brandon Society.

after the awesome event, we went to have dinner at LuLu’s. it was
delicious and so fun to unwind and celebrate a successful panel!

*jeannie lin and i shared this fresh made gnnochi (delicious).

*and also these chicken meatballs which were so yum too.
now i’m hungry!

*and finally, the always lovely martha flynn and i pose with
her very jiggly panna cotta (i’m sorry, but it was super jiggly).

sorry my post is totally superficial and mainly fotos (per usual, ha!)
but i’m functioning on two brain cells at the moment. =) for some
great posts about the san francisco diversity stop:

awesome recap by anne nesbet at Enchanted Inkpot

sarah stevenson, author of The Latte Rebellion, also shares
a fantastic recap at Finding Wonderland

malinda lo also posts with a wrap up over at DiYA blog!

that is all for now, darling readers. i hope to do another blog
post before i leave for nyc again this saturday, but can make no
promises. zai jian for now!!

but in the end, i couldn’t have asked for more gorgeous
weather, the Extraordinary Desserts delivered on time,
and so many of my wonderful friends (many fellow writers
and brush artists) came to celebrate with me. thank you!!

i had a fantastic time signing with nancy holder. her third
novel in the Possessions trilogy, The Screaming Season, is out
as well. i really loved The Evil Within, and definitely recommend
this series for those interested in a suspenseful, scary and
twisty read.

*nancy and me before the signing! she wore a gorgeous
jade necklace and i’m debuting the betsy jonhson dress
i love. (which kate at Mysterious Galaxy had to help zip
me up in as no one was at home to do that for me, ha!)

*the spread from Extraordinary Desserts. so yummy.

bernadette is actually a local teen fan! YAY! am always
so thrilled when actual teen readers show up at events.
*waves to bernadette* =D

*keri is a local san diegan writer. she also brought lessa’s
gorgeous diorama so i could display it. everyone thought it
was so cool, and it is! wish you could have made it lessa!

*had the pleasure of meeting another fan, karaline. so happy
you could make it!

all in all, it was a wonderful happy day. i celebrated with my
family after with a delicious italian meal.

currently reading:

Supernaturally by kiersten white

hip hip hooray! the day is finally finally here!
my sequel to Silver Phoenix, Fury of the Phoenix
officially releases! and to celebrate, i’m holding a
Fury release contest, Mad Men style. 8)

The Contest

you may or may not already know, but i’m a huge
Mad Men fan. it’s right there as a top favorite along
with Fringe. the show is about advertising agencies
on madison avenue back in the 1960s. so what do you
need to do to win? you need to help advertise Fury of
the Phoenix in some way, whether by writing a great
pitch, putting together a story board for a commercial,
shooting a vlog or whatever to win.

you will have had to READ Fury of the Phoenix before
entering. i guess you could cheat, but i really want this
contest to be open to Fury fans! (and know i may call your arse
out if i suspect you’re cheating and haven’t read Fury yet! =)

examples of pitches

Fury of the Phoenix: Eunuchs Need Love Too.
(i personally find this one very amusing. haha!)

or

Fury of the Phoenix: A Love Triangle Like You’ve Never Seen
(it’s true. intriguing, yes?)

it can be as simple as that or more involved.
you know that i do love creativity!!

The Prizes

one of my original paintings! it could be…

Surly Cat!

Oriole Among Blossoms

Baby Panda! 8)

i don’t know which painting exactly as i’ve
a show coming up in june and one or all of these
may sell. BUT you will receive an original painting
beautifully matted in a chinese border, possibly framed.

i may give away more than one painting, depending
on number and quality of entries received!

The Swag

*every* participant who enters will receive Fury Swag!

gorgeous postcards featuring ai ling and chen yong,
zhong ye and silver phoenix. also a bookmark featuring
my bamboo painting.

you can also receive swag by tweeting, blogging
or fb status to this contest post and helping me
spread the word! just email me the link and your
mailing address for goodies.

How to Enter

you can leave any entries (if just a simple text post)
here in comments or you can email them to me.
ALL ENTRIES subject to being shared here on my blog!
be sure to include a mailing address so i can send you
swag if you want it!

this contest is open internationally (i love my international
readers!) through thursday, september 1. good luck!!!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXpAqQcY9oY

lovely blog readers! Fury of the Phoenix releases
this month! in exactly 22 days in fact. do you know
what this means? this means that i’m wandering around
with fifty different things i need to remember to do,
while trying to actually do them, often stopping mid-task,
turning in circles aimlessly, and moving on to do something
else until i get distracted again.

it’s a sad sight, dear readers. it truly is.

but at the same time, i’m so very excited for the world
to read Fury and find out what happens to Ai Ling and
Chen Yong! to find out what happened between Silver
Phoenix and Zhong Ye…

and since it’s monday, and you know how i loathe mondays
and try to mitigate its foulness with pastries, mapo or book
goodies, i’m making this particular monday a little better by
revealing my Fury of the Phoenix book trailer. i hope you
enjoy it!!

if you could spread the Fury trailer love by tweeting, blogging or
sharing it on your fb page, i’d be ever grateful! i do have
an awesome Fury release giveaway planned on 3/29 so
stay tuned!!

currently reading:

Chime by franny billingsley

happy early valentines day, my lovely
readers! i’m sharing Surly Cat early as a present
to you. =D i’ll be going out for a nice dinner
with the love tomorrow for a date night, and
am hoping i’ll finally get a few hours to write on
monday–actual valentines day.

i was trying to paint birds again last night, but
they were simply flitting away from me. after three
or four poor attempts, i decided to try a cat
instead. none of the lesson books inspired me,
so instead, i googled for cat images and found this…

haha! tell me it’s not the cutest thing you’ve
seen? so this is the cat that inspired Surly Cat.
i first tried to paint him in the orageish color but
that proved too difficult. so i rendered him in
black ink. what do you think? does he make you smile?

he makes me giggle every time i look at him!

this was one of those paintings where i started with the
first four strokes and thought, there is no way i can
paint this thing. but slowly and surely, he began to
emerge on the rice paper, coaxed by brush strokes as if
by magic. in art, as in writing, there is the comfortable
confidence of “i can do this, i’ve done this many times before”
and the challenge of “i don’t think i can do this, but i’m going
to try”. it’s the latter that makes us better every time.

if my oriole made you happy, i hope my Surly Cat makes
you giggle, as he does me. and finally, in celebration of
Silver Phoenix paperback release, i’m giving them away
over at the Supernatural Underground.

have a wonderful weekend and a happy valentines day!!

Surly Cat’s theme song sung to “Spider Man” tune:

Surly Cat, Surly Cat does everything
a Surly Cat can
Glares at you
Pouts all day
Is Surly as only a Surly Cat can!

the harperchildren’s booth with a glimpse of jordyn
from ten cent notes. Fury of the Phoenix
arc is somewhere in this foto. i’m among author friends. =)

i heard there was a stampede when the exhibit hall opened on
friday night at 5.30pm. by the time it was 6.30, the scene had
calmed down some what. but i did the majority of my YA arcs
snagging that night. (i had a list on my iphone, hehe!)

i ran into alex bracken at the random house booth!
yes, she is like twenty and gorgeous! and just so happens
to be the the debut author of Brightly Woven which was
one of my five star reads from last year. i recommend it!

on saturday morning, one of the first things i wanted to
do was hit two author signings. I’ve heard great buzz for
sarah jamila stevnson’s The Latte Rebellion and was lucky
enough to get a signed copy at the flux booth.

then i went to fellow deb lee’s signing for her
new novel The Princess of Las Pulgas. congrats, lee!!

was lucky enough to run into mary kole on the
exhibit floor, as she couldn’t do dinner together that
evening.

one of the funnest parts of going to ala is being
stalked by awesome YA librarians and bloggers. =D
sarah from green bean blog saw me on friday night
but had put her Fury arc away. she promised to bring
it to get it signed on saturday. and she found me! so we
got a foto together. i signed the arc to the teens at her
library. i hope they enjoy it–and sarah too!

steve from greenwillow books arranged this
very official author foto in the harpercollins
children’s booth and also played photographer. =D
thanks, steve! it’s my new profile foto on facebook!!

i also saw lessa a few times during my brief time at
ala. she was the one that won the first rare Fury arc by
creating the wonderful gardens of the golden palace scene
from Silver Phoenix. she’s a fellow writer, newly-married, and
just totally cool. we geeked out on arcs at the hyperion booth. =)

saturday night, i went to dinner with sophie, jill
and martha. i had taken my fantabulous editor and
steve to extraordinary desserts for lunch–then went
back again for dinner. TWICE in one day. i didn’t mind.
haha! we had a lovely three hour dinner talking books
and publishing and everything else. it was just a wonderfully
fun time. as was lunch!

finally, a look at all the arcs i picked up. not including some
adult titles and middle grade ones for my sweet pea.
um, amazing, right? and uh, good thing i had those shelves
built at christmas. ha!

arcs that i’m looking forward to reading that i hadn’t
heard about until  the ala convention:

Chime by franny billingsley

Tempest Rising by tracy deebs

The Midnight Palace by carlos ruiz zafon

Falling for Hamlet by michelle ray

how’s that for a post of awesome? now, i’m
really geared up for ala in new orleans! i’ve never
visited before and Fury of the Phoenix will be out then.
so exciting!