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An interesting morning was had
Aug. 4th, 2007 04:17 pmI was invited to to a reading for the local chapter of the Northwest Chinese Cultural Association today, in an Asian-food bistro/restaurant at 11 o'clock with lunch to follow. This would be a reading of the "Chinese" books, "Jin SHei" and "Embers" - and in a way it was a baptism of fire, reading these books to this audience, telling them how their country and their culture and their history inspired me to write these novels.
It went very well, with some eighteen to twenty people showing up, and the discussion was lively and interesting, and at least six people "bought" a book, three of them on the spot from me and the others saying they were going to stroll down the street to the local bookstore and pick up a paperback copy of "Jin SHei" from there. I always thoroughly enjoy talking to readers about my stuff, but this morning, in this company, was particularly wonderful.
I also ate *the entire meal* with chopsticks, putting in some practice for Japan - and I actually managed to get myself fed without making a total prat of myself in public, and learned some philosophy lessons at the same time - "you have to hold it lightly, hold it too tight and it will slip out of your grasp", one lady instructed me when a piece of chicken was proving particularly recalcitrant to pick up - talking about the chicken or any other treasure you're reaching for, it's good advice.
In other news, no UPS package today [grin] Just in case any of you were waiting for news on that front.
No chipmunk, either. I guess he'll be back when the squirrels kick enough of the birdfeed out of the upstairs feeder.
Beautiful day in paradise. As always.
It went very well, with some eighteen to twenty people showing up, and the discussion was lively and interesting, and at least six people "bought" a book, three of them on the spot from me and the others saying they were going to stroll down the street to the local bookstore and pick up a paperback copy of "Jin SHei" from there. I always thoroughly enjoy talking to readers about my stuff, but this morning, in this company, was particularly wonderful.
I also ate *the entire meal* with chopsticks, putting in some practice for Japan - and I actually managed to get myself fed without making a total prat of myself in public, and learned some philosophy lessons at the same time - "you have to hold it lightly, hold it too tight and it will slip out of your grasp", one lady instructed me when a piece of chicken was proving particularly recalcitrant to pick up - talking about the chicken or any other treasure you're reaching for, it's good advice.
In other news, no UPS package today [grin] Just in case any of you were waiting for news on that front.
No chipmunk, either. I guess he'll be back when the squirrels kick enough of the birdfeed out of the upstairs feeder.
Beautiful day in paradise. As always.
