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Though "Bitter Melon" is my debut novel, my first publishing experience actually occurred in 1991 when I was a student at UCLA. In 1990, I wrote and illustrated "Waffles," a picture book story about my seven year old cousins obsession with Eggo Waffles. Because I had no professional art experience and because the story was written specifically for my cousin, I had drawn the pictures using ball point pen and crayons. About a year later, another student, who was the editor of UCLA's Amerasia Journal, asked me if I had done any creative writing recently. I innocently mentioned "Waffles," not realizing that he was soliciting material. When he asked me to submit my story, I was so embarrassed about my crude pen and crayon drawings. I evaded this editors repeated invitations and avoided him on campus. He was persistent, however, and eventually persuaded me to submit my original manuscript. I held my breath, anticipating laughter and derision. Instead, the editor asked me to redo the drawings in black pen and ink because the journal was printed in black-and-white only and the printer couldnt pick up the crayon. The next thing I knew, I was doing my first reading along with other Amerasia Journal authors at a bookstore. By then, my cousin had forgotten about Eggo Waffles and had moved on to Yoplait yogurt.
My second publishing experience occurred without my knowing it. In 1992, I had written a poem and submitted it to a literary journal published by UCLA's English Department. I never heard back from them, so I assumed that my poem had been rejected and soon forgot that I had ever written it. So imagine my surprise several months later when a student I had met for the first time said that he liked my poem and started describing and reciting parts of it.
You would think that experiences like these would give me lots of confidence in my ability to succeed as a writer, but that was not the case. In my family, there was tremendous pressure on me to become a doctor or lawyer, and there was not much encouragement to pursue creative careers. As a result, it never occurred to me that I could become a writer. It was my husband who encouraged me to take writing more seriously. Because of his support, I began writing "Bitter Melon" in 1999. Eleven years and thirteen drafts later, it is finally being published.
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