*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!

Silver Phoenix paperback releases today!
and it also includes my mom’s veggie homestyle
mapo tofu recipe (it is delicious!). see
greenwillow’s very own Head Chef martha mihalick’s
first delicious attempt here. also included is a teaser
for Fury of the Phoenix and some comments about
writing my debut by me.

in celebration of my paperback release, some
wonderful bloggers are doing fantastic giveaways
along with Fury of the Phoenix reviews. first, i heart
monster reviews Fury and is giving away a Silver Phoenix
paperback and Fury arc.

next, malinda lo shares why she enjoys my
novels, as only malinda can. =D i love her
endorsement! it means a lot.  she, too, is giving
away a Silver Phoenix paperback and Fury arc. you
can also see her delicious rendition of my mom’s
mapo tofu recipe!!

finally, ellen oh (fellow harpercollins YA author who
has an asian-inspired three book deal!) is
running a haiku contest on twitter and her blog! she’s
giving away two prize packs, including $75 worth in
giftcards! won’t you write a haiku for some Fury love? =)

also, a while back, cassandra clare was kind enough to
blurb Fury of the Phoenix:

“Cindy Pon’s writing is beautiful, conjuring up images
of breathless adventure, heart-stopping romance, dangerous
demons, and hidden secrets. Ai Ling is the sort of heroine you
can’t help but root for. A thrilling ride from start to finish.”

-Cassandra Clare, New York Times Bestselling Author
of The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices series

then today, i learned that she had selected Silver Phoenix as
a favorite read in a bn.com feature. !!! amazing! and i happen
to be in fantastic company as well, with books i truly enjoyed
reading (Bleeding Violet, White Cat, Book of A Thousand Days,
The Replacement, Anna and the French Kiss). thank you so
much, cassie!!

i believe my book may be featured in endcaps at
some bn stores under a “Cassandra Clare Recommends” sign.
let me know if you see this–so exciting!

so there you have it, all my book news. =) i can’t
believe we’re less than two months away from
Fury release and not much more before the awesome
Diversity Tour. it’s going to be crazy and amazing.
till next time, lovely readers!

thanks to everyone who took the time to blog or
comment in the contest post with your thoughts--it
really means a lot. now i’d like to share some of the
great entries i received!! WARNING! this post contains
a whole lot of Silver Phoenix SPOILERS!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MawgoUwOq8g

alison, a teen reader from the east coast, submitted this
fantastic vlog of why she loves Silver Phoenix. how cute is it?

i received three art entries--and what’s so fantastic
about them is that they are all from readers abroad!

by adam in thailand (using watercolor pencils)

this is the scene where chen yong saves ai ling
from his demonic doppleganger. adam mentioned
especially liking the terraced rice fields. me, too. here
is the passage from Silver Phoenix:

The sun descended, streaking the sky with ribbons of
vermilion. There was no farmstead in sight. Lush terraced
fields reflected the light. The fields had collected recent rains,
and the crops grew from pools tinted rose, gold, and green.

my comments: other than the terraced fields that i love,
this scene is where chen yong and ai ling join
each nother again. i especially love the sword
wielding action from chen yong. he looks fierce!

by annie in calgary, canada (using .7 lead and pencil crayons)

my comments: annie is also a teen reader! and i think this portrait
of ai ling is just lovely. i love the colors and i love that she’s holding
a calligraphy brush in one hand!

by haricha in the uk (using coloring pencils, ink, Photoshop
Elements and Imagine FX brushes)

my comments: i love the surrealism of this piece! how
ai ling holding her jade pendant is blending into the
chinese dragon behind her. gorgeous!

i also received some great written entries!

lauren from ottawa, canada submitted a fan fiction piece
titled “A Smile from Ear to Ear” based on a japanese monster.
she said she enjoyed the monsters from Silver Phoenix the most.
below is an excerpt, shared with permission:

When I woke up I was not sure where I was. At first I believed I was in the gardens of heaven. An angry wasp stinging me made me realize this was not the case. I was lying on the edge of a river, my clothes ripped and covered in blood. I struggled to stand up and crawled to the water to clean myself. Then I saw what my lord had done. He had taken his sword and split my mouth from ear to ear, giving me a grotesque smile. I was a monster. I remember feeling an unholy anger that sustained me when I could not find food or drink. My wounds became infected and I wandered the countryside in a delirious fever. I wanted to hurt and kill someone as my lord had to done to me. I did not know what to do, until the man found me.

He called himself Zhong Ye. He offered to help me get revenge, for a price. He offered to give me power to destroy my lord and any man who stood in my path. The power to hurt any man who threatened his wife the way mine did. My lord and husband had taken Xiu Ying from me. He had beaten me and scarred my body daily, then had the nerve to insist I had been betrayed him for another man. He did not even have the honour to kill me, only the cowardice to scar me. I readily agreed, not caring about what it might cost me. Zhong Ye filled me with spells and powers with only one command: I must find the girl named Ai Ling.

First I had to see to my own desires. I went to the grand palace. My lord was there feasting with his friends. He had remarried a young nubile girl half my age. I doubted that she had even begun her moon time. An angry feeling twisted within my heart. I waited until the night fell and snuck into the castle. He was sleeping on the pallet, his arm curled around his naked bride.

my comments: whoa! right? the entire piece is dark,
creepy and horrifying. but lauren ends the story on a hopeful
note, with ai ling’s help. i really enjoyed this story.

heather zundel wrote a wonderful Silver Phoenix
haiku sequence. here, i share the first stanzas. to read
the poem in it’s entirety, click over to heather’s blog.

Mere daughter
Unworthy of esteem by most
but cherished by a father still

One day, a letter
a summons from the emperor
leaves -- but does not come home

A journey begins
the step beyond the light is dark
but time -- too short

Courage, a medallion
gifts of her father, but to take hold of another’s spirit
a gift of her own

The world is wide
unknown dangers always lurk
a reflection of life

The pool seems safe
cool water, soft lilies bloom
but the monster’s hands are strong

my comments: i really enjoyed this poem. i was
especially impressed because heather had written it
same day and without much revising, which she lamented.
i think that’s why it read so true and so organic.

and finally, LT uses her craft skills and beyond to
bring a scene from the immortals gardens to life!

this is a scene in which ai ling, chen yong
and li rong enter the immortals gardens of the
golden palace. unusual trees such as the Love Lost
Tree greet the three friends.

Ai Ling stopped at the first tree, its trunk as thick as
three men, the roots gnarled and spread wide, drinking
deep from the ground. Its ivory leaves were shaped like
the palms of hands, and it bore fruit--glistening human
hearts that beat rhythmically on white stems. A jade placard
set into the ground had the words LOVE LOST TREE etched in
gold upon it.

my comments: um. amazing? you really must click over to
LT’s site to read about how she made the entire scene. she
mentioned some details she missed, but truly, what she has
is so wonderful. and it isn’t about getting the exact details right,
when she brought the feel of the entire scene to life. i love it.

the winner: so truly, how fabulous are Silver Phoenix
fans? i wish i had more Fury arcs to share! the grand
prize goes to LT for her fantastic hand crafted recreation of
the immortals gardens in the golden palace. i’d like to give a
second Fury arc to haricha for the wonderful mixed-media piece
of ai ling and the red dragon. congratulations to both winners!

and for everyone else mentioned in this entry, i’d love to share
some Fury swag if you’re willing to email your posting address. i
truly was so impressed and touched by the creativity, time and
thought all of you put into these entries. <3 thank you,
everyone! i hope you enjoyed these entries as much as i did!

*i spent the first night escaping the disney all star
sports resort (motel). it was a nightmare and the sports
theme was totally wasted on me. it might as well have
been the All Star House of Clowns or something. but i
was only there for one night. and i also was able to go to
a lovely dinner with many of the debs that were attending.
alas, we didn’t take a foto for some reason! and i love fotos!

after, i wandered around shopping with sydney
salter and suzanne morgan williams. i was trying to find
a gift for sweet pea and munchkin–and it was really hard.
suzanne and sydney were kind enough to follow me around
as i searched.

here, sydney models a princess robe. very cute! =)

*on monday, i was lucky enough to join holly black
and megan whalen turner for lunch at the buffet type
cafe in the conference hotel.

i really miss megan since she moved back to ohio.
but we had a really fun year while she was in san diego
and it went by so fast! she’s clever, funny and smart, as
well as evasive when she needs to be. which always reminds
me that she’s the creator of eugenides!

i only met holly in october at sirens and she is
super nice and hilarious. prone to a lot of laughter
(often at self) which only makes me want to laugh with
her. i love people who laugh a lot!

the conversation meandered from sailing to books
(of course) and the stories we create and who and how
and what may have influenced us. i mostly chewed on penne
and kept my ears perked. haha! i hadn’t had the chance
to read Holly’s White Cat yet (just finished it, loved!) but
this foto was taken right after megan complimented holly
on her books. i love holly’s smile here! =) hoorah for
fantastic books and lunch with authors i admire.

*speaking of being fans of books and authors.
i had taken the liberty of reading sarwat’s The Devil’s Kiss
as well as cinda’s The Demon King and The Exiled Queen
before our panel together at ALAN. enjoyed both of them
thoroughly. after lunch, i had at least two hours to kill and
in ambled sarwat and we had a great discussion about young
adult novels, diversity in young adult and middle grade fiction
and everything recently published authors gab about.

sarwat hadn’t prepared a speech and we decided he could
run on charm and his british accent alone. ha! and it worked.
he spoke for seven minutes very eloquently–i could never
without um’ing my way through it!

then cinda joined us and i had to fangirl her as i absolutely
loved The Exiled Queen–a wonderful YA high fantasy. and
we discussed more of the same very animatedly. cinda’s speech
was great as well. i honestly can’t think of two authors i would
rather have been on my first ALAN panel with. it was such a pleasure
to meet them and an honor to present with them.

*my view from the stage.

as for my speech, well, i think i got through it okay.
as i mentioned in the previous entry, my voice was pretty
hoarse by the end of the first night. and i only proceeded
to yak more on the second day (how could i not in the company
i was with?!) so i was just grateful i presented without a
coughing fit. i also speak too fast when i’m nervous, but i don’t
think i went too fast. i could have slowed a little perhaps?

after was signing Silver Phoenix copies which was a lot of fun.

and finally, i stayed for the final part of the schedule
which was kristin cashore accepting the Walden award for
Fire. i’m a big fan (as many of us are) and i had been trying
to spot her all weekend. no luck! but i queued up like everyone
else after and was able to get a copy of Fire signed and take
a foto with her. her speech was very well done and she’s so sweet
and gracious in person. i didn’t have any time except to say it
was so good to finally meet her and congratulate her on her success.
of course, i had to get a foto in, i apologize for the bad lighting.

so there you have it, i was at ALAN for two full days and
what two full days they were! i’ll leave you with some links
of interest that are ALAN related!

fotos from the greenwillow blog including one of megan
getting a mickey mouse birthday cake! =D

i was lucky enough to get peeped by lisa yee!
i feel so famous! i’m excited to read Warp Speed, her
next MG novel. have heard fantastic things!

i’ve spent the past days working on Fury
copyedits. and was grateful that a writer
couldn’t be arrested for her use, misuse
or non-use of commas, semi-colons, and
modifiers. not to mention the danglers. those
darned dangly things!!

and today, like a reward from the heavens
(or my fantabulous editor!), a box of Fury of
the Phoenix arcs arrived. this truly is The
Best Monday Ever!! so of course, i have to hold
an ARC contest. now!!

i had a think about it and i want this first
contest to be for Silver Phoenix fans out there.
tell me what you enjoyed or loved about
Silver Phoenix. you can leave it in the comments here
BUT creativity and effort count. you can express
Silver Phoenix love by blog post, by drawing, by vlog,
by poetry, by fan fiction, collage, paint or doodles.
whatever inspires you! please post contest entry on
your blog (and link here) or if you don’t blog, you can
email me the entry or send via snail mail (but email me
and let me know you’ve posted something! =):

cindy pon
p.o. box 928107
san diego, ca 92192-8107

depending on number and quality of entries, there may
be more than one winner. (i hope so!!) the prize package
will include:

1. signed hard copy of Silver Phoenix
2. signed ARC of Fury of the Phoenix
3. one of the first to receive a postcard of Silver Phoenix
and Zhong Ye portrait (shown below)
4. choice of two brush art cards from my etsy site

this contest is open to all Silver Phoenix fans and
i will ship world wide. =D contest closes wednesday,
12/1. good luck!!

if you are in orlando and love young adult books,
you really should consider attending. here is the
alan site. there will be at least fifty authors on panels
in one place, including ones i hope to meet like
kristin cashore and cassandra clare.

i also just finished books by both sarwat chadda
and cinda williams chima and really enjoyed them.
i’ll be on a panel with them on monday at the conference!

Monday, Nov. 22 @ 3.45pm, Panel and signing
“Long Ago in a Land Far Away”
Cinda Williams Chima
Courtesy of Disney Books, Dina Sherman
Sarwat Chadda
Courtesy of Disney Books, Dina Sherman
Cindy Pon
Courtesy of HarperCollins, Patty Rosati
Introduction by Margaret Ford, Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio

i can’t wait!!

other than that, please check out the newly
redesigned Silver Phoenix page and added
Fury of the Phoenix page (click on contents to
your left =). if you are reading this on LJ, you’ll
have to hustle over to my actual website.

and finally, congrats to lauren (same name!) for winning the
signed arc of Wither by lauren destefano. the turnout
was amazing and thank you to everyone who entered!
and to lauren d especially for sharing an arc of her
debut with me. =)

just finished The Replacement by breanna
yovanoff and really enjoyed it. beautiful prose
for some dark and frightening imagery. i’m not
sure what i’m in the mood for next, tho sarah waters
fans are voting for Fingersmith. she’s such a fantastic
writer, if you haven’t read her yet, you should. i started
with Tipping the Velvet and recently read The Little
Stranger.

zai jian for now! =)

next year, the theme will be MONSTERS and their guests of
honor are laini taylor, nnedi okorafor, and justine larbalestier.
i loved laini’s Lips Touch and justine’s Liar. i hadn’t heard of
nnedi before this but was excited when i did, and am looking
forward to reading her novels. especially Akata Witch coming
out next year.

i would REALLY love to go myself next october, but
can’t commit officially till i see what my traveling will be like,
since Fury of the Phoenix will be out and i definitely will be
attending World Fantasy Con here in san diego next october too.
still, i can’t recommend sirens con more highly.

i received presents from Silver Phoenix fans!
rachel made the cutest clay figure of ai ling with a giant
dumpling on her plate (we aren’t complaining!) and then
decided to give her a table full of dim sum just for good
measure. haha! i believe there are shu mai, bell pepper with
shrimp AND chicken feet. how awesome is that? thank you
so much rachel!

and larry made me the chinese dragon out of origami.
isn’t it amazing? he actually was making various creatures
and doling them out throughout the conference. i also got
a lovely ox, my chinese astrological sign.
(i shamelessly asked for one. hee! =) thank you for
sharing your wonderful craft, larry!

this was the first day of the author signing tea and
i sold out of Silver Phoenix copies! it was lovely to meet
so many attendees who have already read my debut or
were excited to read it.

me and rachel! =)

malinda lo was my roomie. we took a lot of fotos
together but i think this is the cutest, as we’re both
cracking up a little. =D

*juliet (soho editor), holly black, sarah rees brennan,
malinda and me.

friday night we went into vail village to eat at
kelly liken (recommended to us by ellen kushner).
it was really really delicious. we had to sit at the bar
but that didn’t stop us from having some loud, fun
and interesting conversations veering from books, writing,
cute boys, cute girls and shenanigans. (i am vague here
to protect the not so innocent. ha!)

i was determined to go into vail village again on saturday a
little earlier so we could walk around and take in the sights.
the weather was overcast at times but often sunny and gorgeous.
these were taken from the steps leading down to the village.

*me, shveta, and andrea.

this is 3/4 of the panelists for our multicultural faeries
discussion, which i think went really well. i think most thought
it was an interesting panel and we introduced folklore and
myth from non-western traditions, many who often do serve the
same purpose(s) as western fey in storytelling.

another post later!
congrats to stephi for winning the tgifbm! gail carriger
giveaway!!

currently reading:

The Devil’s Kiss by sarwat chadda

i commissioned a portrait of ai ling and
chen yong a while back from a digital artist,
shuangwen. she happens to be from guangxi,
the province that my mom is from! i couldn’t
be happier with it and hope to make postcards
from them to pass out as swag in the future! <3

thanks especially to courtney (ANGELFIRE,
HarperCollins/Katherine Tegan Books, 2/15/2011)
for recommending shuangwen to me!

i’ll be at the scbwi los angeles conference on saturday
only. eating mostly with friends. perhaps will make it
to one panel. but will definitely be at the gala–most
likely in my corset and awesome hat again. =D
if you see me, do say hi!!

my prize is a full drawing by natalie.
i really enjoy her art and drawings so i’m
very very excited about this. i’ve asked for
a drawing of ai ling and chen yong together.
*beams*

*this is a drawing natalie was kind enough to
do for me of chen yong last year. =DD

just finishing up this batch of line edits this morn
(and reading the prose aloud) when i got an
email from megan whalen turner inviting me to
go surfing. and i actually agreed. only for you,
megan! i really hate the sea and almost never get
into it. i hope i survive. and i’m already fantasizing
about the bagel and mocha i’ll have after.
food fantasizing always helps in difficult
situations. haha!

the discussions continue on the Fury cover.
i’ve had more than one person ask me whether
or not Silver Phoenix has been remaindered. and the
happy news is that it hasn’t! the paperback with new,
darker cover will release 2/1/2011. Fury of the Phoenix
is out 3/29/2011! thank you so much
to everyone who has supported my books in his/her own
way. it means a lot to me.

and don’t forget i’m giving back the love with
the latest tgifbm! seven fantastic YA novels all
featuring protagonists of color, and the winner
TAKES ALL! i’ll be selecting the lucky person
at random some time tomorrow!! xo

*kimberly derting, me, kelley armstrong,
ellen schreiber, and kim harrison.

*the turn out was fantastic! people waited a few
hours to get their books signed.

*i’ve met kimberly before and it was a real pleasure
to meet the other authors–all so nice. kelley told me
she was currently reading Silver Phoenix! ellen had the
cutest shirt and i love kim’s glam hair. =D

*aly who i know from online was a treat
to meet too. we talked about YA novels and southern
cali authors.

also, happy news for Silver Phoenix, which was named one
of the Best Fantasy, Sci-fi, Horror novel in 2009 by VOYA
(voice of youth advocate)!

bisi was kind enough to interview me on her blog.

and i just joined a group of harpercollins paranormal
authors group (adult and YA) and we launched this month,
giving away loads of book to celebrate all month long.
my first post was today about sex in Silver Phoenix. i’m
giving away a signed copy of my book as well as my Blobby
Cat and Lily cards. so come check it out!!

currently reading :

wolf hall by hilary mantel