“Bringing you some hopefully ever after!”
Seventeen-year-old Saga is determined to uncover the threat to The Veil that has kept her islands concealed for centuries. The Veil grows weaker everyday and a life of certainty and peace transforms into one of fear and chaos. As she embarks on a quest for answers that separates her from her beloved family, she faces devastating loss and the bittersweet pangs of first love before she finally uncovers the truth behind the destruction.
I have no doubt that my eclectic upbringing sparked my early imagination. My dad, a struggling Vietnam Veteran, lived only a state away. But, it often felt like another world when we visited his woodshop/home in the most drug-riddled, impoverished neighborhood of San Francisco. My mom remarried a South Vietnamese refugee and much of our family time was spent immersed in his unfamiliar, yet intriguing, culture. I saw American poverty juxtaposed with newcomers pursuing the American dream.
Those experiences forged in me an understanding of cultural nuance and sensitivity, which led to my selection for a sister-city trip to Japan when I was thirteen years old. A passion for Japanese language and culture took root, bloomed, and grew for the next decade of my life. I earned my bachelor's degree in Japanese, not English or creative writing.
When I became a mom, nothing mattered more to me than the care and tending of my three daughters. I delighted in raising and immersing them in a steady diet of nature, books, travel, and love. From our home in the forest, I read fantasy books out loud to them until they were old enough to read themselves. They embraced my passion for the written word and, together, we shared a specific love of all things fantastical.
I am grateful for these experiences: the child exposed to diverse cultures, the young woman intrigued by a far away land, and the mother fully committed to her children — because together they formed the core of who I am as a writer.
My stories incorporate Asian folklore and tradition with Western nature conservancy. Through a cinematic lens, I weave together characters with strong family bonds, an acute awareness of the world around them, and a fierce desire to fight for a better future.