My husband and I were having dinner tonight, and I don’t know what triggered it, but I broke down. Maybe it was because the holidays are always stressful, and I wanted to make sure everything was perfect when my adult children come home for the holidays soon. Maybe it was because I have an editing deadline shortly after Christmas, and I wanted to make my second novel the best it can be. Maybe it was because I wanted to get this newsletter out to my readers who have been supporting me on this long journey, and I didn’t know how to thank them enough. Regardless, I blew my nose into a tissue and here I am writing this last post for the year.
As I looked back on my debut year, I found hope again. I have so much to be thankful for, despite my own worries and all the heaviness going on in the world right now. It’s hard to distill this past year with five highlights, but I drew on all the years I wrote a Christmas letter when my children were growing up, and here is my latest edition. Thank you to my dear writer friend Nancy J. Fagan who sent me her newsletter and inspired me to do this.
5 Highlights
1 Dancing to Dreams by Fleetwood Mac as my walk-up song at my first book tour event with Sunday Salon NYC. I was blessed to have a crowd listening to me read an excerpt of WHITE MULBERRY in a hazy bar in the Village.
2 Attending an artist residency for the first time in Monson, Maine to write my sequel RED SEAL. I saw the passion my fellow artists had to their craft and realized I could have the same.
3 Having the Korean American Story crew come to my house and interview me interviewing my parents about their memories of North Korea before the country was divided. I inherited that experience in my DNA and am now trying to write about it.
4 Opening the box to the Hungarian edition of WHITE MULBERRY and marveling at how beautiful it is. I always dreamed of having my novel make it out into the world, and here it was.
5 Meeting Horace, a 103-year-old fan of my book and playing ping pong with him. I was so moved when he told me that he had served as a US Naval Officer in Saipan during WWII, the island my grandmother was to be sent before she made the decision to escape the Japanese draft.
And I’m cheating here with a sixth highlight, but a gift just arrived in my email this past week. Eddie Cai, a graduate student in the Antioch University MFA program (quoted in the brochure, no less), chose an excerpt of WHITE MULBERRY to read as his final project. Thank you to my friend Jacqueline Chang, another talented Antioch student, who so generously connected us.
Here is the excerpt that Eddie read, and his email to me:
“For context, I chose this paragraph to talk about for my graduating student presentation and also one of my annotations:
‘Counting birds on her two-hour walk to Father’s house, Miyoung tried to forget about Bohbeh leaving home soon. She wiped the sweat from her brow with her jeogori sleeve and squatted against the beige stone wall outside Father’s front door. Scents of sugar and sesame drifted from her bag, making Miyoung’s mouth water. Mother had carefully wrapped sweet rice cakes in a colorful bojagi cloth for her to bring to Father’s first wife as a gift. There was only enough for each member of Father’s family. Out of his six children, three had married or moved away for work, so only three were still at home. Miyoung would probably have to wait until she got home to eat, since Father’s first wife rarely offered her anything.’ (20)
My presentation was about how we can apply techniques and philosophies from the visual arts to writing. In this section, I spoke about composition and compared the excerpt with a still from the movie Taste of Tea (2004), which I’m also attaching below. I thought you were incredibly clever with how you divulged so much information in such a short paragraph and talked about what I think made it successful.
I wish I had more time to do a deep dive during the presentation in person, because I think I had to rush it a bit to fit everything in. I grew up drawing and painting from a very young age, so I’m always fascinated by colors and vivid imagery in writing and thought you did an excellent job.
Thank you so much Jackie for connecting us! Believe it or not, I think you have a big fanbase in our program. I was actually recommended White Mulberry by another student who couldn’t rave enough about it.”
If this isn’t the best Christmas gift, I don’t know what is. Thank you, Eddie and Jackie for making the end of my year so special.
What are the ups and downs for you this holiday season? Please leave a comment here. To all who have followed me this year and the many years before, thank you!
May peace be with you this holiday season.
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