Weirdest Craigslist listing

Ever since I put my name on Google Alert, I've been getting some pretty strange alerts.  I don't think anything tops this one though, recently on Craigslist.  Apparently, two people had a James-Blunt-You're-Beautiful moment on the subway...around Crossing. Weirdness.  Here's the Craigslist post in full:

On the Brooklyn-Bound N Train (Monday or Tuesday), you were reading "Crossing" by Andrew Xia Fukuda. You stood by the train doors during the first part of your ride. The seat I was in faced you. We were gently admiring each other. When a seat opened up next to me, you sat there. This pleased me. I was curious about the book you were reading. It seemed you held the book up so that I could read the back of it. Then you opened the book wide enough for me to see and you moved a little closer. I read with you during the remainder of my ride. Thank you. I would like to see you again.

You: Asian. (I cannot guess where you are from. You are beautiful, nonetheless.)
Me: Brown-skinned female with curly hair. (I, regrettably, got off at Canal Street.)

photo recap of the Hong Kong Book Fair

It was a flurry of activity over the few days I was there, filled with books, food, books, food, books...  it was the best of times.  Here's a brief photo recap:

Day/Night view from my hotel room:

Interview with NHK World:

Interview with the South China Morning Post and the Monocle Magazine:

I was featured in Time Out Hong Kong magazine:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The venue for my presentation at the Book Fair was classy.

Before the presentation, the moderator (Peter Gordon) and I discussed a game plan; in the VIP room collecting my thoughts.

Book signing afterward.

Two souvenirs from the presentation:

The Book Fair was like nothing I'd been to before: one week, thousands of books, 920,000 visitors:

I squeezed in a radio interview on the Morning Brew at RTHK (listen here):

 

 

 

 

And last, but certainly not least, the food in Hong Kong!  Oh, how I miss the incredible food:

a timeout in hong kong

In Hong Kong.  Jet-lagged.  But had a great time late last night:  checked in to hotel, quick video interview with NHK, strolled around Tsim Sha Tsui, and ate a fab bowl of soup noodles.  Then grabbed a copy of TimeOut Hong Kong magazine from a street vendor and found the piece they did on me  (forgive the poor quality of the photo, a blackberry was all we had).  I was so ecstatic about seeing my mug in the mag that I pointed it out to the vendor.  He didn't get it, not even after I kept pointing at myself.  But he did give me his toothless smile, strangely charming.

Hong Kong Book Fair

Some weeks ago, I was invited to the Hong Kong Book Fair as one of their international authors.  I jumped at the opportunity: nearly a million visitors attend this mega-event, I'd have a chance to rub shoulders with fellow-invitees Frederick Forsyth, Stephen Fry and Andrew Roberts, and it's in Hong Kong, my beloved city I grew up in.

The Hong Kong Book Fair organizers recently interviewed me regarding my upcoming visit.  Here it is.

a great time was had by all!

Flushing library asked me to do an event for their Teen Author Talk series, so this past Saturday I had the pleasure of going down to their library.  I was expecting a low turnout (like 2), but I was surprised to see about 20 teens there.  I loved every minute I spent there.  These were teens who were there because they wanted to be there - nobody forced them, nobody even asked them.  Fact is, they could have been home playing on their PS3 or Wii or on Facebook or any number of non-literary activities.  But they were there on their own.  And they were simply thrilled to listen to me! It was such a pleasure to be in their company, and to speak to them about the joys of reading, writing, and Crossing. Really, I was preaching to the choir.

It was such a wonderful time of back-and-forth discussion and sharing, I couldn't have asked for a better time.  A few of them had already read Crossing and hearing their thoughts and impressions of the book was priceless.  When one girl told me (shyly, eyes turned down) that she was so moved by the book that it had made her cry, it was the perfect kind of compliment.

An hour and a half breezed by in no time.  I was such a fan of these youth who so love books and seemed so interested in Crossing that I couldn't help but just give away all the copies of the book I had on me.  Check out the photos below, low res, but hi fun.  Favorite book event so far!

Starred Review from Booklist!

I've known about this for awhile, but today it went public so I can share this great news with you.  Crossing received a Starred Review from Booklist!  As I've been telling some people, before I felt lucky to get published, but now I feel legit.  Surprisingly, Booklist put it under the Adult category as opposed to the Young Adult category.  Anyway, here's the review:

It’s freshman year for Kris Xu. But those annual fantasies of remaking himself from the quiet Chinese kid with the voice that is “Jackie Chan cumbersome” are dashed when the usual indignities resume: bullying, racism, and underestimation. Even his best friend and secret crush, Naomi—the only other Chinese student—seems to be pulling away. Then two things happen: he stumbles into an audition for the school musical and finds the glorious voice he thought he left in China, and other students start showing up dead. Although it has the plot outline of a thriller, this semifinalist in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest has the careful language and fine observations of a book with much more on its mind. Wrapped up ever more tightly in the plot is Kris’ sense of racial and emotional identity, and his battle with self-loathing begins to test his reliability as a narrator. Even his name is a feint; those who know him call him Xing—but who really knows him? There are a handful of suspects to the increasingly grisly crimes, and though the ultimate revelations are a tad rushed, they contain enough heartbreaking truths to deliver a significant punch. Sad, elegant, and creepy, this is a deft debut.

book launch

I recently attended my first-ever book-signing.  It also happened to be for Crossing, my debut novel!  Being the first book signing I'd ever been to, I went in a little blind, not sure what to say or do.  My plan was to keep it casual and as engaging as possible.  The audience - made up of friends from every arena of my life - was very supportive and encouraging.  The book store, Book Revue, were amazing and gracious hosts - they usually host celebrities, so I really appreciate their helping out the little guy in my case.  Here are some photos, taken by photographer extraordinaire Justin Ong (www.jongphoto.com) who took all the author shots on this website (he also does weddings, portraits, etc.):