Ferry Tale reviews + a video update!

My new book, a love story set in Hong Kong, has been out for one week. Thank you to everyone who grabbed a copy! The reviews are starting to come in, and I wanted to share some of my favorite excerpts:

“A fun, fizzy story that takes readers from the smoggy ferry decks to the spectacular harbor views of the InterContinental Hotel’s Lobby Lounge. Young’s fondness for her adopted home of Hong Kong comes through on every page of this cheerful and charming romance . . . as effervescent as champagne.” –Maura Cunningham

“Young evokes the vibrancy and sense of possibility in her adopted home Hong Kong. Her characters are each cast with their own unique mix of endearing qualities and weaknesses. Through alternating viewpoints, you’ll barrack for Katrina and Sam as they tackle their demons and learn more about themselves and each other in the process. Ferry Tale is an enjoyably sweet and classy romance – set in the digital age, but not lost in it.” – Booklover Book Reviews

Get the book on Kindle here, or buy the paperback!

I'll be reading from Ferry Tale at a love-themed event at Aesop on Hollywood Road on February 24th. Come along if you can!

In the meantime, I've also posted a video update about my ongoing writing journey. It has been 18 months since I quit my day job! Check out the update here:

A Mid-Autumn Eve's Dream

I'm back in Hong Kong just in time for my favorite part of the year: Mid-Autumn Festival. This was the first holiday I experienced when I moved to Hong Kong four years ago, and I'm very happy to be marking the beginning of my fifth year here in Asia's World City.

As you know, I spent the month of August in Arizona writing with my mom and getting in plenty of quality family time. We enjoyed some nice afternoons working in local restaurants and coffee shops (including Liberty Market and Coffee Rush, where I used to spend a lot of time grading essays). We visited a local writers' group and attended a talk with Southwest novelist Jo-Ann Mapson. I even got to check out First Draft Book Bar with my sister, which is literally a bar inside a bookstore. 

The trip was reasonably productive, too. I wrapped up a draft of the sequel to my forthcoming post-apocalyptic novel, worked on a new group of articles for Modern Love Long Distance, and reread the entire Harry Potter series. My mom wrote 500 words a day and she's getting ready to launch a cool new blog that I'll tell you about as soon as she lets me!

Perhaps one of the best things that happened while I was out of town was that I got to see some cover designs for my memoir that is being published by Blacksmith Books later this fall. It's called Year of Fire Dragons: An American Woman's Story of Coming of Age in Hong Kong. The story begins and ends at the Mid-Autumn Fire Dragon Dance in Tai Hang (video above from 2011). It's hard to believe that my dream of having this book published will be coming true very soon. The cover we settled on is so beautiful and I can't wait to show you guys the final version!

For the first time, I'm not returning to school as the autumn begins. I'm giving my dream job a chance, and so far, I'm absolutely loving this writing life. Thank you all so much for your continuing support and enthusiasm. If you're in Hong Kong, I hope you have a safe and happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Dragonfruit Round-up: Kathryn Hummel, Coco Richter, Ember Swift, Leza Lowitz and Susan Blumberg-Kason

This week on the Facebook page for How Does One Dress to Buy Dragonfruit? we are featuring one anthology contributor per day. In case you missed any, here are the first five!

Kathryn Hummel, author of Charting Koenji (Japan).

Kathryn Hummel writes non-fiction, fiction and poetry, often combined with her photography for digital performance. Her diverse work has been published throughout Australia, New Zealand, the US, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Qatar, Nepal, Bangladesh, and India. As well as holding a PhD for studies in narrative ethnography (more info here), Kathryn was a writer in residence in 2011 for the Cafe Poet Program (Australian Poetry) and for the Forever Now project (Aphids and Vitalstatistix), featured during Adhocracy 2013. In the same year, Kathryn won the Dorothy Porter Award for Emerging Poets in the Melbourne Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards, was nominated as one of Fair Clout Poetry’s ‘Top 3 Most Compelling Writers’, and for the Pushcart Prize XXXVII. A collection of her poetry will be published by the Walleah Press in 2014.

Kathryn's latest update is that she'll be touring Bangladesh and India from November 2014-January 2015 to read and perform poetry in collaboration with local artists, courtesy of a Writers' Travel Fund grant from the Australia Council for the Arts.

Read more about Kathryn and her work at ArtSlant. You can find Kathryn's blog here.

Coco Richter, author of Waiting for Inspiration (Hong Kong). 

Coco Richter is from the US, where she practiced law for 18 years. She moved to Hong Kong in 2008 with her family and now writes fiction. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Hong Kong in 2011. Her writing has previously appeared in multiple editions of Imprint, the annual anthology of the Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society.

Coco is also a talented editor with a knack for encouraging fellow writers and helping them improve their craft.






Ember Swift, author of Chinese Stonewalls (China).

Ember Swift is a Canadian musician, songwriter, performer, and writer. She has released eleven independent album recordings since 1996, one live DVD project, and continues to perform regularly in both North America and China. Now based in Beijing with her Chinese husband and two children, she maintains three popular blogs through her website and is a contributing writer for Women in China Magazine, Herizon's Magazine, Mami Magazine, Beijing Kids Magazine, China.org, and InCulture Parent, an online portal for cross-cultural parenting.

Ember recently made two appearances on Chinese prime time television show "Mama Mia".

Leza Lowitz, author of Here Comes the Sun (Japan).

Leza Lowitz is a writer and yoga teacher in Tokyo. Her debut young adult novel, Jet Black and the Ninja Wind (Tuttle, 2013), received the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in the Young Adult category. Leza's Yoga Poems: Lines to Unfold By was a #1 Amazon bestseller. Portions of her memoir in progress appeared in the New York Times online, The Huffington Post, Shambhala Sun, Best Buddhist Writing 2011, and Yoga Journal.

Leza's latest news is that she has sold World English and Japanese-language rights to her memoir, Here Comes the Sun, to Peter Goodman of Stone Bridge Press.

More about Here Comes the Sun:
Leza, who founded the popular Sun and Moon Yoga Studio in Tokyo, relocated to Japan from the USA over ten years ago, met the man of her dreams and yearned for a child. But when attempts to become pregnant fail repeatedly, Leza begins to question whether motherhood is in the cards for her, and if she can finally heal the wounds that have kept motherhood at bay. After much soul-searching, Leza comes to a deeper understanding of what motherhood truly means, and at the age of 44 she and her husband, the award-winning writer Shogo Oketani, begin the process of adopting a child in Japan, where bloodlines are paramount and family ties almost feudal in cultural importance. The memoir will be published in spring 2015.

You can found out more about Leza and her work at her website. She is represented by Kelly Falconer of the Asia Literary Agency

Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of Ninety Minutes in Tsim Sha Tsui (Hong Kong).

Susan Blumberg-Kason is the author of Good Chinese Wife (Sourcebooks, 2014), a memoir of her five-year marriage to a musician from central China and how she tried to adapt to Chinese family life as a wife, daughter-in-law, and mother. She is also the books editor of Asian Jewish Life magazine and can be found online at Susan Blumberg-Kason Remarried, Susan lives in suburban Chicago with her husband, three children, and a clingy cat.

Susan maintains an active presence in the Hong Kong/China book world. Many of you have probably read her reviews and noticed her encouraging and enthusiastic voice. She truly loves the region and the authors who write about it. We are all looking forward to the launch of Susan's own memoir on July 29th!

You can find How Does One Dress to Buy Dragonfruit? True Stories of Expat Women in Asia at the following retailers in paperback and e-book formats.

Amazon (paper and e-book)
Barnes & Noble (paper and e-book)
Smashwords (e-book)
Apple (e-book)

Blog Tour for Ghost Cave: a novel of Sarawak by Elsie Sze

This week I have the honor of kicking off the blog tour for Elsie Sze's excellent work of historical fiction, Ghost Cave: a novel of Sarawak. The story, set primarily in the mid-1800s and the 1960s, follows the adventures of two young men as they chase ideals, fortunes and love in the jungles of Borneo. Set in a fascinating--but largely unexplored--period of history, it contains surprises at every turn. A long-ago tragedy, a buried treasure and a harrowing guerrilla war are just part of what makes this exceptional tale a highly recommended read.

I worked on the publication of Ghost Cave, and I'm excited to share it with anyone who has an interest in the history of Malaysia, the life of Chinese immigrants in Borneo, and a touch of the supernatural.

Elsie's blog tour starts here, with the video interview we recorded when Elsie was in Hong Kong for her book launch at the FCC.

On Tuesday, you'll find a review of the book by Susan Blumberg-Kason, who has excellent taste and blogs often about the Asia Pacific region.

On Wednesday, dedicated Hong Kong book blogger and Women in Publishing Society member Laura Besley will review Ghost Cave.

Then, on Thursday, you can head back to Susan Blumberg-Kason's site for a guest post by Elsie herself, which is sure to be fascinating.

Finally, on Friday you can find a written interview with Elsie back on Laura's blog.

Visit Elsie's blog on Saturday for a full list of any links you missed, more reviews of the novel, or just to say hello!

Now, here is Elsie Sze telling us more about her writing and her family connection to the story:

You can find Ghost Cave: a novel of Sarawak in Hong Kong bookstores, online worldwide in paperback and all major e-book formats (Kobo, Nook, Apple), and of course on Amazon Kindle.

Sharkspotting

This weekend was the 15-year anniversary of the Handover of Hong Kong. We celebrated the three day weekend by going out on a junk boat for a day of swimming and sunbathing. While I was in the water with about ten other people, the folks on a boat nearby started yelling at us to get out because there was a shark. For a moment we thought they were joking, but climbed back onto the boat just in case. A few seconds later, I saw a fin the size of my arm sticking out of the water near the beach. The shark was over ten feet long and it hung around the three boats in the cove for about half an hour. I got a few pictures (which I'll post in my junk boat walking tour tomorrow), but the folks who first spotted the shark made an entire video! It turned out to be a harmless, filter-feeding whale shark. Enjoy this close-up look and I'll post my own pictures of the day tomorrow.

Writing Video: Critique Partner

Here's the latest video about my writing journey. Check out my critique partner's blog: Jane Cornelius. She's really cool and you guys are going to love her book! (P.S. That's my face in her March 29th post).

Writing Video: Finding Plot in Your Life

How I figured out the plot of my travel memoir. 

Interested in more videos about my writing journey? I talk about some books that have inspired me, my post-it organization strategy, and how it felt to finish the second draft of my first book.

Writing Video: Waiting for Feedback

On the most difficult part of the writing journey (for me). See my other writing videos on YouTube or the tab above.

Writing Video: Second Draft

Here is a video I recorded in October when I finished the second draft of my book. I'm a bit further along in the process now, but I wanted to share all of the little milestones that go into completing a project like this. Check out the writing video tab to see the rest of my writing journey!

Writing Video: Inspiring Books

On three of the books that have inspired me throughout my writing journey. I want to have the personable openness of Elizabeth Gilbert, the humility and thoughtfulness of Peter Hessler, and the page-turning storytelling of Susan Jane Gilman.

Writing Video: Reading Aloud

How reading your work aloud can help you become a better writer. I read the entire thing between the first and second drafts. You can visit my YouTube channel for more videos about my writing journey. Thanks for watching!

Writing Video: Feedback

On getting feedback on the first draft of my book and joining a writers' group. See the writing video tab for more about what I've learned on my writing journey.

Writing Video: Revision

As you all know, I've been having a busy week as I show my mom around Hong Kong. I'll update you all with pictures from our adventures soon. In the meantime, here is my next writing journey video about some important tools I discovered as I got into the best part of writing: revision.

Writing Video: Post-it Organization

Here's video I made a few months ago about one of the early stages of my writing journey. My book has come a long way since then, but I wanted to document the process.

Writing Video: Inspiration

Here's the second installment of my new writing videos feature. I have been recording what I've learned on my writing journey so far, and I'm releasing the videos here and on YouTube once a week.

NEW! Writing Video: Introduction

Today I'm launching a new blog feature: videos! I've been recording videos about my writing journey for a few months, and I've finally gotten up the courage to actually post them. I don't really mind sending my writing out into the world, but uploading videos on YouTube is scary! If you want to follow my channel, it's ShannonYoungHK, which is also my twitter handle by the way. These videos will go up once a week.