January, 2010

Study of Body Language and Its Implications

Okay, I’m going to cheat a little this morning and direct you to a recent study, a book and fellow author’s site: All That You Desire.
The topic of the article is the difference between how Asians and Caucasians read body language and may well force me to change some things in my ms.
The book is on a related topic in that the author is a former FBI agent and an expert on reading body language. He will tell you there are many universal tells of human body language. Apparently there are Cultural differences in how we read and interpret that language, though, some of which Jeannie Lin discusses on her blog. Pretty cool and thanks for the heads up, Jeannie!

Book Give Away Quiz

Okay, as promised, we’re going to play a game and do two give aways. The first person to answer either question correctly gets their choice of two books.

Question #1.Who can tell me which book of Amy Tan’s features two sisters and a tale of rebellion, previous lives and self sacrifice during both modern day and the Taiping Rebellion?

Question #2. What Lisa See novel involves dark fantasies, opera and women of seventeenth century China?

I’ve got two books to offer as a prize:
“Born Confused” by Tanuja Desai Hidier or

“Saving Fish From Drowning” by Amy Tan.

Hidier’s novel is a paperback edition and Tan’s is in hardback, for those of you who care about such things. ;D

I have a confession to make: I haven’t read either novel yet. So whichever book is chosen, I’d love to hear the winner’s opinion on the book, or (dare I hope?) a book review with the winner as a guest blogger.

For My Fanatical Followers On My Anniversary

Okay, maybe you’re not fanatics, but there are twenty five of you in less than a year online. I’m so grateful for your interest, I’d like to do a give away prize. I’ll have it ready by Wednesday, so stay tuned, true believers! ;D

Tips on Book Trailers

Well, if anyone wanted a plethora of links and suggestions on how to make a book trailer, head over to http://www.nathanbransford.com. Yesterday’s guest blogger did a fabulous job of giving all sorts of information. I’ve got images now for my computer graphics genius of a husband to base images of my hero on. I need more, but that’s ok. If anyone knows of a website featuring kick butt martial artists in traditional Chinese garb, that would be a bonus. LOL

In more personal data, I do apologize for being out of the internet picture recently. I’m trying to prepare my ms for entry into the Amazon Breakthrough Novel competition at the end of this month. I don’t have too many more reader-suggested corrections to wade through, but I’m also reading the whole thing aloud and that takes time….

"A Tiger’s Heart: The Story of a Modern Chinese Woman" by Aisling Juanjuan Shen

Many thanks to guest reviewer, Susan Blumberg-Kason for today’s book review:

If your parents physically and emotionally tormented you when they weren’t plain ignoring you, how far would you go to escape and live on your own terms? The author’s honest and eye-opening memoir takes the reader on a highly emotional journey starting from when she’s born to a poor peasant family in rural China. As if frigid winters with no heat and long days with little food weren’t bad enough, Juanjuan’s mother at one point dares her daughter to kill herself. When she’s lucky enough to attend school, she finally finds something that keeps her going. Staying late to finish her homework and avoid her dysfunctional family, Juanjuan dreams of something no one else in her hamlet has ever done–to go to college. The book takes us through the many incarnations of Juanjuan, as she goes from working as a middle school teacher, to being a secretary, an Amway saleswoman, a translator and finally a businesswoman for a knitting machine factory.