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!

American Iraq War veteran Ellie Cooper is down and out
in Beijing when a chance encounter with a Uighur—a member
of a Chinese Muslim minority—at the home of her sort-of
boyfriend Lao Zhang turns her life upside down. Lao Zhang
disappears, and suddenly multiple security organizations are
hounding her for information. They say the Uighur is a terrorist.
Ellie doesn’t know what’s going on, but she must decide whom
to trust among the artists, dealers, collectors, and operatives
claiming to be on her side—in particular, a mysterious organization
operating within a popular online role-playing game. As she tries
to elude her pursuers, she’s haunted by memories of Iraq. Is what
she did and saw there at the root of the mess she’s in now?

…

doesn’t it sound so cool?
the signing was great. lisa’s mom even baked
cookies for reading!

*deborah, lisa and me!

afterward, we took lisa to the extraordinary desserts
near little italy. a favorite destination of mine for
friends who visit! and we got some fun fotos! hee!

*lisa is duly impressed by her chocolate
monstrosity!

*deborah swears she is not as naughty
as this foto might suggest. i can neither
confirm or deny this statement. haha! =D

but we had loads of fun and chatted about
(what else?) books and publishing and writing
and everything else.

i’m fully immersed in my first set of line edits
for Fury of the Phoenix. so happy to be within
my story again. i’m also enjoying an art/craft
class in the name of sequel research and found
myself daydreaming of a third (unsold) novel
on the drive back on saturday. exciting but also
makes me slightly apprehensive. ha!

currently reading :

the agency by y. s. lee

so for fun, i decided to cast for the major roles
in the film as well as for the sequel. since that’s
what i’m so immersed in at the moment.
as i’ve said before, i haven’t watched many chinese
films, so my choices of actors are quite limited.
also, ideally, the movie would star asian-american leads.

many of the actors i chose are not the right age range.
but they have the look and feel i think the character has.

liu yi fei as ai ling.
i saw this star for the first time in
the film Forbidden Kingdom a few years
back. she has the exact mix of innocence
and determination that ai ling has in my mind.

daniel henney as chen yong.
the man is ridiculously good-looking.
i mean, bordering on obnoxious.
but my editor said that was oh-kay.
so hoorah! ha!

jay chou as li rong.
apparently a mega star in many parts of asia, and
i didn’t even know it. he starred in Curse of the Golden Flower
as well as sang the song i linked in a recent post for ai ling
and chen yong. i couldn’t find any smiling/laughing fotos
of jay–as that’s how i picture li rong mostly in my mind.
but the looks are right.

takeshi kaneshiro as zhong ye.
i’ve only seen him in one film–Red Cliff.
i had a difficult time casting zhong ye.
i considered tony leung, because i just LOVE
him. he has such a romantic sadness in his eyes.
but perhaps not the edge i need for zhong ye.

gong li as silver phoenix.
classy, gorgeous, confident and dead sexy.
you don’t know much at all about silver
phoenix in the debut (despite the title =)
but meet and get to know her a lot better in
this second novel.

her role in Raise the Red Lantern is unforgettable.

definitely mired in The Dreaded Middle of the
sequel right now.
and believe or not, this little diversion does help
in my writing!!

do you have any suggestions of actors to star in
roles for Silver Phoenix, the movie?

edited to add, reader suggestions!

from ah yuan :

hu ge who apparently is in all the movies
in every ancient chinese production from mainland
china. =) i approve, for the smile alone. and definitely the
mischievous look that is so li rong. nijibug also suggested
hu ge!

michelle krusiec as ai ling.
i have never seen or heard of this asian-amerian
actress? i love her face shape and her eyes.
probably not enough innocence for me, however?
but it may just be the foto.

from ari :

leonardo nam as li rong.
again, i approve of the smile!
he looks like he could get into some trouble too. ha!

yin chang as ai ling.
probably known best (by me at least)
for her short stint as one of blair’s minions
on gossip girl.

zhang zi yi as ai ling.
i would be lying if i say i didn’t
consider her. i think she’s gorgeous and
love many of the chinese films she’s been in.
i think the only thing holding me back is
(and this being my own filter) she’s too aware
of her own beauty. and how to use it.
which isn’t where ai ling is yet. perhaps silver
phoenix, but not ai ling.

from mechelle :

mike moh as zhong ye.
i originally saw some smiling fotos and
thought li rong (because mike looked boyish
to me as well). but upon further research, yes, he
may very well be able to pull off zhong ye!

i just had to include the foto of tony leung. <3
he is such the leading man, love him.

i LOVE all the suggestions! keep them coming!

*i squish those cheeks!

munchkin is 4.5 years old now, but one
year old in the above foto, making a blanket
tent with sweet pea! he constantly amuses me
with the things that he says.

these related to me by his preschool teacher,
mrs.p.

munchkin : i won’t see you tomorrow!
i’m going on a long weekend to new york city!
(we were going a few miles up to carlsbad. =)

and when mrs.p asked why i hadn’t gone
to the preschool open house along with
daddy. (i was at our annual autumn potluck
for brush art class.)

munchkin : she’s got a book signing. it’s
sooo boooooring.

at home

munchkin : why is mommy reading books
all the time? they’re only words!
(despite this, he does enjoy stories, ha! =)

helping sweet pea read winnie the pooh.
she’s having issue sounding out “tea”.

me, giving a clue : it’s what daddy drinks.
munchkin : BOOZE!

a preschool mom died very young and
unexpectedly recently. so i’ve mentioned
death a few times, and how sad it was to the
bublets.

munchkin : we have to do everything we want
before we die.

me : =O that’s right! where did you hear that from?

munchkin : nowhere. i thought it myself.

today after reading starwars easy reader

munchkin : i wonder what droids eat?

me : i don’t think they eat anything.

munchkin : yeah. neither do aliens.

me : no. i think aliens do eat.

munchkin : what if they ate their buggers?
(”boogers” in munchkin speak.) that’d be
disgusting!

haha!

sweet pea is the epitome of nerdette.
we have homework every night (including
weekend homework) usually involving math
and book reports and daily reading. she also
needs to memorize addition tables (like 1+1,
2+2, etc). each day, she is thrilled to do her
homework and says how much she loves it.
i bought her some flash cards and she loves
“playing” with those too!

hope this nerdiness lasts! =D

in exciting Silver Phoenix news, i’m thrilled to
announce that foreign rights have been sold
to indonesia! =D i hope to share a cover soon
once it’s finalized! hoorah!

also, stacy whitman interviews me for the new
small press, tu publishing, focused on multicultural
fantasy and science fiction for children and young
adults. i really enjoyed this interview!

*a classic foto of sweet pea and munchkin.
i think sweet pea is about 19 months here and
munchkin is 2 months. as you can see,
it’s the end of the world, and she is deeply
offended. ha! i couldn’t tell you whose expression
makes me chuckle more in this foto. =)

short entry, when i should not be posting at all.
back today from a mini getaway just 30 miles from
home at a fancy resort in belated celebration of
the love’s birthday. he was suprised (he thought
we were going to seattle, ha!) but had a good time.

i ate too much (no fotos, alas) and too well.
unfortunately, friday night, i finally succumbed to
munchkin’s cold and sore throat. =( i’m sick.
i guess it must be october. to all the parents
out there–may we survive this oct/april cold
and flu season.

hoping mad men will make my cold feel a
little better tonight, along with michelle moran’s
cleopatra’s daughter. which i’m enjoying very
much. “happy” monday, all! 8) it could be worse.
look at poor sweet pea…

on thursday afternoon, i had my very first con panel.
imagine my surprise when i showed up fifteen minutes
early to see a long line snaking from the door around one
corner AND another! wow. i think they were mostly there
for jacqueline carey and patrick rothfuss. most of my
friends couldn’t get into the room, they turned people away.

i was nervous.

but i managed to make a few points
without making an utter fool of myself.
i was told i was succinct by greg van eekhout [NORSE CODE]
and patrick rothfuss [THE NAME OF THE WIND],
tho i didn’t feel thus. ha!
i DID make the point of saying how much i loved
being a YA author (i think i may have been the
only one on the panel?) and how great YA fans are. *nods*

after, we had a signing, and i sold quite a few
copies of Silver Phoenix, so hoorah to that! many
hadn’t heard of the book before the panel so i was
happy to reach a broader audience. they were impressed
by my succinct contribution to discussion. ha! =D

and even after that, pat and i spent about an hour
just chatting about books and writing and the
publishing industry. he was loads of fun to talk to.

*pat doing “manly”.

on the second day, i went in costume as :

*the pg version.

*the more accurate non-pg gaming version.

CHUN LI of streetfighter!

and boy, i can honestly tell you i knew
what it felt like to be almost famous. it is
the oddest thing to have your name whispered
and shouted while walking down the halls and
have fanboys and girls chasing after you for a
foto. of course, i loved it! loads of fun!!

*me with my friend nels of aarising. we met first
thing in the morning so i’m bright eyed chun li. ha!

i was there only for two signings before i had to go
pick up the bubs from summer camp. the first was
kami garcia and margie stohl’s BEAUTIFUL CREATURES
arc signing. which was a smashing success. these
debut authors were mobbed! while standing in line
like the fangirl that i am, sarah rees brennan
(THE DEMON’S LEXICON) introduced
herself to me!

*sarah is like a model! she’s lovely and vivacious
and i had loads of fun chatting with her! and
she patiently took fotos of me with various
fanboys and girls–thank you, sarah!! (that would
be me as chun li, not as cindy pon, alas, ha!)

*we managed to take a foto at the signing!
sarah, me, margie and kami!

after wandering a bit through the exhibit with
sarah, i stood in line at starbucks to grab lunch.
then waited for alyson noel (EVERMORE
and BLUE MOON) sarah and mary pearson’s
(THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX) signing. there,
i was able to take a foto with khy and senfaye!

*khy, me and senfaye!

and alas, i only had a brief chance to talk
to alyson and mary. but it was fantastic to meet
them! they are both inspirations to me!

*me, alsyon noel and mary pearson.

after the signing, i had to jet to pick up the
bubs. i stopped before exiting and tore off my
two inch white go go boots. who knew they could
be so lethal? after four hours, i felt like i needed
to amputate my toes. i’m still trying to recover!!

and i’ll leave you with a foto of a little fan. she
was so cute! and yes, i wore boy shorts. as hot
as chun li is, i couldn’t abide by her crotch shots. ha!

and now it’s past 11pm and i still have
yet to watch any mindless tele. THE HORROR!
still in the midst of my sequel deadline, will update
when i can. happy happy monday to all! xo

currently reading :

FIRE by kristin cashore

so reader reviews are trickling in for SILVER PHOENIX,
and i have become a self-googling fool. you better believe it.
i read all reviews. and it may come to a point where i can’t
anymore or i choose not to. but at this point, i’m reading
everything. there have been some meh ones. where the reader
wasn’t so into my story for whatever reasons. i thought it’d
sting more, but it really hasn’t.

control freak that i am, i’ve learned these past years
the best thing you can do is not worry over things you
have absolutely no control over. and that includes reader
reaction to what you have written. it’s all part of becoming
an author. i DO know, however, that i put out the best
story i could with the backing of a wonderful editor and
publisher. i couldn’t be more proud of this achievement,
and nobody can take that away from me.

SILVER PHOENIX releases next tuesday and i feel like
i’ve been running around in circles chasing my own tail.
my best friend flew in on her birthday and we had
such fun catching up. we’ve known each other since junior
high and are headed toward nearly 25 years of friendship!
i took her to george’s terrace for a delicious lunch, the meal
rivaled by the gorgeous views of the pacific below us. i’ll
see her again in london later this year!

our brush painting society’s show also started last week.
i went to the reception on saturday and found out that my
panda painting had sold to out-of-towners, who took the
baby panda home with them. i really don’t get too sentimental
about my art. when someone is willing to buy my painting
because it brings them joy–i honestly cannot think of a greater
compliment for an artist. my bunny painting, however, i’m still
unwilling to part with right now. =)

speaking of bunnies…

my best friend had fun peeping on my muse.
here is bunny sprawled out, just chillaxin’.
i find it very very funny! he feels so at home now
in our back garden! but! there was a bit of excitment
last week when i spotted this….

it must be spring as we have a BABY BUNNY!
awwwwwww! so my best friend and i admired the
baby bunny and the big bunny for quite some time,
trying to guess if big bunny is a parent or possible
sibling? we both stepped away from the window for
a bit and when i went back–there were TWO baby bunnies
on the grass. i thought maybe the big bunny had shrunk but….

do you think we’re in trouble? if we see two baby
bunnies–does that mean there’s a half dozen more in
the bushes? haha! yikes! i have no idea how many bunnies
are in a litter. either which way, they are very very CUTE!
i tried throwing carrots at the baby bunnies. one sat on it
for a while–but never tried to eat it.

baby bunnies will learn. and please buy my book as
i will need a serious increase in the “bunny fund”. haha!
it’s glorious weather these past few days–like summer.
hope everyone has a wonderful week! comment and give
us some bunny love!

eta : “Rabbits can mate as early as 3 months of age and gestation
is 31 days with a litter size of 4 to 12 kits.“ oh dear.

some linky love :

steph over at reviewerx was kind enough to share my
first sale story–and is doing an ARC giveaway as well!

lenore also was kind enough to interview me for
her YA review blog, presenting lenore.

and kelsey has featured SILVER PHOENIX for
her “on the outside” cover posts.

and finally, we have a great discussion going on over
at the enchanted inkpot on gender roles in fantasy
novels–especially that of women! please join in with
your own thoughts!!

now, lets move on to the long list of categories!!!

most uniquely shaped alien :

sunil sara lewis holmes ello

deva renee collins

winner : sunil!

best dino impersonation :

david batista

most caffienated alien :

michelle muto

cutest alien :

sara lesley rebecca herman

dia moonrat

winner : sara!

prettiest alien :

angela nandini sue

meg angie

winner : meg!

most comatose alien :

kara mike jung gretchen

winner : mike! (not only is he comatose, he looks
like he’s on crutches and in need of pain meds.)

most boring alien :

cindy (that would be me!)

most persistent alien :

michael (he signed on 4x to different accounts!)

alien you would least like to meet in a dark alley :

wicked julianne 9

kari tara rose

winner : 9! (famous last words from 9 : “i hope i’m cute”.)
hahaha!

best fish impersonation :

dawn

most disgruntled alien :

ellen heather

winner : ellen!

most zen alien or best walk like an egyptian alien :

amber

gassiest alien :

alice

best “come hither look” alien :

anne nesbet

most loveable alien :

elise

best cyclops alien :

jayprich tracey

winner : jay!

best angie jolie impersonation :

bettina

CONGRATULATIONS to all the finalists and winners!
if you are the winner or the only alien in your particular
category, you have WON a lotus painting bookmark!
email me and i’ll pop one in the mail to you! =D

thanks everyone for indulging my goofiness!!!

for those who have ALREADY COMMENTED on
other posts here on wordpress blog. you are
automatically entered. =D

ETA : okay, these are totally making me giggle more
than they should. i have decided there will be CATEGORIES
like “scariest alien” and “prettiest alien”, etc, and MULTIPLE
WINNERS. i mean, how could i just choose ONE! all of you
look more interesting than i do. that’s all i can say. =)