In Flight

…literally and figuratively

As I float above the clouds on my flight to Chicago today, I feel I’ve been flying nonstop ever since White Mulberry debuted and now Red Seal is about to launch this October. With a two-book deal and a publication deadline, time seems to flow continuously, like an endless horizon. I’m still doing events for White Mulberry and celebrating receipt of the international editions. But I also just opened my box of Advance Reader Copies of Red Seal, and am actively setting up interviews, podcasts, and events for its imminent release. Even though it seems overwhelming at times to keep all the balls in the air (literally and figuratively), I remember to be grateful that I’m able to fly at all, and to have readers like you cheering me on.

I’m headed to Chicago to attend the American Library Association Annual Conference as a library trustee and an author. The largest library event in the world, over ten thousand library professionals, educators, authors, publishers and advocates will gather to celebrate a milestone 150 years and help shape the future of libraries. I plan to attend panels on the impact of AI on library services, how to conduct outreach and advocacy for libraries, and hopefully meet some cool librarians and authors. When you get a room of book lovers together, the vibe is electric. If I hadn’t become a lawyer-turned-author, I would probably be a librarian. They are truly special people who work tirelessly to ensure our freedom to read, and need our protection and support more than ever.

Father’s Day

My father returned home from a two-week trip to Asia, just in time for Father’s Day. He visited relatives in Japan and Korea, his father’s and grandfather’s tombs in Japan, and his few remaining friends in Korea. He had cancelled his two previous trips due to his ailing health, but he rallied this time and made wonderful memories! My brother, who happens to be an ER doctor, accompanied him and took lots of photos. It was bittersweet since my father will be ninety this fall, and this was probably his last international trip. We celebrated Father’s Day with a gift of sake from Fushimi, Kyoto, his birthplace, with the two best dads I know.

My father is the one of only three cousins who are still alive. The picture below captures them as children in 1943, just before he left Japan with his mother to face an uncertain future in Korea. He and my grandmother endured the end of WWII in Manchuria, the Korean War, and struggled to rebuild their lives in the aftermath. They were uncertain whether they would make it through alive, and their relationship was often strained. The story of their bond is what I tried to capture in my novel Red Seal, and I hope you have a chance to read it.

RED SEAL Pre-Orders

You can preorder Red Seal now wherever books are sold! It would help me so much if you could place your order today. My publisher would love to see early excitement for the book! The Advance Reader Copy (ARC) is available for early reviewers and book influencers, and hopefully I can share some of those reviews with you in the coming months. If you want to read a digital copy and have access to NetGalley, I would appreciate it if you would leave a review there.

I received audition clips of three possible audio narrators for Red Seal this week! My publisher’s casting and production director had each of the potential candidates narrate an audition scene and read a short list of terms in Korean and Japanese, to demonstrate their facility with the languages. I listened to the recordings carefully and researched other books each narrator had read. I had a question for the producer about the interpretation of the male voice and am waiting to hear back. I love listening to audiobooks, and I think this one will be as good as White Mulberry!

Past and Future Events

I had a wonderful time speaking to the Southwest Manuscripters group about my publishing journey at the Redondo Beach Library earlier this month. There was a very nice turnout, including members of my writing group and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. Here is a link to my video. I also sold books at Crafted at the Port of LA, a converted warehouse for arts and crafts lovers in San Pedro, as part of its Book Lovers Weekend. The real joy of events is engaging with community, and it’s nice when it’s so close to home.

That being said, I will be hitting the road again soon! I’m building out my book tour for Red Seal this fall, and it’s growing daily. I have events in LA, San Diego, NYC, Boston, Honolulu, and San Francisco! It’s going to be busy right up to the holidays. It’s a fun time for a book to be out, just in time for Christmas. I’ll be updating my Events Page regularly, so please check to see if, and when, I’ll be in your area. I hope you’ll be able to join me on one of my stops!

I’ll be flying to Maine right after the conference to spend some family time at the lake. What are your plans for the summer? Please let me know! I always love hearing from you.

Thank you for following along!

Here’s a link to my previous Journey posts, and if you haven’t done so already, please subscribe to my newsletter.

I would be happy to speak at your book club or organization. Simply respond to this email and I will get right back to you!

What I’m Reading

REAL AMERICANS by Rachel Khong

In immersive, moving prose, Rachel Khong weaves a profound tale of class and striving, race and visibility, and family and inheritance—a story of trust, forgiveness, and finally coming home.

Exuberant and explosive, Real Americans is a social novel par excellence that asks: Are we destined, or made? And if we are made, who gets to do the making? Can our genetic past be overcome?