Lisa See and Jean Kwok are both on my “READ EVERYTHING THEY PUBLISH” list. Obviously, both are Chinese American women telling Asian American stories. Those stories happen to be fun romances anchored in universal truths about family and heritage, so I’d read them anyway. But it’s particularly meaningful to see …
No More Hiding
You would think it would be hard to forget that I’m not white. I’m a Chinese-American woman, born, raised and educated in the Midwest. I was one of maybe a dozen Asian students in my high school graduating class of 400. I didn’t have a single Asian(-American) teacher until I …
The Most Memorable Thing That’s Happened to Me in a Bathroom #OrdinaryStories
It was finally Friday night, two weeks into the new school year. At nine o’clock, I was already exhausted. I had also realized that day that my period was late. Very late, in fact. I figured that the stress of a new school year had thrown off my cycle. But …
Mom Jeans, Mom Bod, and Other Insecurities
I went to New York last weekend to meet with the incoming and outgoing executive teams of Mochi magazine, where I have somehow found myself as editor in chief. Besides my standard imposter syndrome (I’ve never taken a single journalism, marketing, or business class, I can count my published bylines …
Year of the Asian Reading Challenge 2019
My favorite challenges, of course, are the ones that reward me for something I’m already doing. (This is one reason I sometimes write finished tasks on my to-do list so I can pre-emptively check some off.) So I’m participating in the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge 2019 to try …
As I Am: How I finally became an Asian American writer
h/t my pal Chris Paek for the genius wordplay “As I Am” You would think that being an Asian American writer would come naturally to me. After all, my parents are Taiwanese immigrants, l was born and raised in the U.S., and I write things. But accepting that identity and …
You Can Do Anything for 20 Seconds: How HIIT Helped Me Recover From My Eating Disorder
Eating disorders are not a choice, let me be clear about that. But l have found that traveling the road to recovery requires a constellation of big and small choices every day. I have been able to gain the mental endurance for those choices–somewhat ironically–through workout routines known as high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
2018 Year in Review
Looking Back What one event, big or small, are you going to tell your grandchildren about? Getting my vision corrected permanently! If you had to describe your 2018 in 3 words, what would they be? Really. Damn. Difficult. What new things did you discover about yourself? I have a great …
Buckets Full of Rebranding
l just finished my semi-annual business identity crisis and as a result, I both rebranded and redecorated. While l don’t recommend the large quantity of identity crisis navel-gazing l seem to do, l do suggest occasionally stepping back and asking yourself a few questions. These could apply to freelancing, traditional …