Writing Hieu Tran’s memoir is an intimidating project for me as a writer. In order to truly write a book about a child who leaves Vietnam alone in search of a place called “America,” I need to understand the Vietnamese people and how the Vietnam war affected the people of Vietnam, especially after the war. […]
This announcement really belongs more to Hieu Tran than to me. He and I are collaborating on his memoir. Hieu escaped Vietnam, alone, when he was twelve and came to live in the United States. His book is about his life, especially his experience getting to the United States and what happened after he got […]
I have a big announcement to make about a project. I will be posting about it on Monday.
I just entered two stories in the Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition. I will know on or before February 28, 2017, if either of my entries place. I worked on setting and character development with these two, so they should stand a better chance than last time. I will keep you posted.
I am hooked on this book series. It has really dark humor. I have laughed out loud a few times while reading the first book–and I don’t generally laugh out loud when I am reading. It is a great adventure story for kids 6th grade and up.
I did not win the contest, or even place in one of the categories. I hypothesize three reasons: I did not establish the setting well enough. I did not describe the characters well enough. I do not have a big enough audience to win a prize of this size. What do we do when we […]