{"id":1719,"date":"2014-06-01T05:06:19","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T12:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/?p=1719"},"modified":"2014-06-20T15:23:08","modified_gmt":"2014-06-20T22:23:08","slug":"tiger-tail-soup-the-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/tiger-tail-soup-the-novel\/","title":{"rendered":"Have I Piqued Your Interest Yet?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"my<\/a>Have I succeeded, dear readers of my blog, in arousing your curiosity? Over the past ten months, have I been able to spark your interest in topics related to my novel? Have I stimulated your hunger for more? Because–I cannot lie–that’s exactly what I’ve been hoping to do.\"storytellerEugene<\/a>First, I introduced you to my late husband Eugene, \u201cthe storyteller<\/a>,\u201d who was the inspiration for my novel.<\/p>\n

\"Gulangyu,<\/a>Then, I described a trip we took to Gulangyu<\/a>, the little island which is the setting for my novel, and I told about the Hotel for Overseas Chinese <\/a>that didn\u2019t want to allow a foreigner like me to check in.<\/p>\n

\"Taking<\/a>

Taking of Amoy, Aug. 26, 1841<\/p><\/div>\n

I wrote about Gulangyu\u2019s history<\/a>, hoping to enrich the reading experience for future readers of my novel.<\/p>\n

\"tigers2\"<\/a>The tiger\u2019s tail of my title actually does show up in the soup pot of my characters, so naturally, I wrote a post called \u201cTiger Love.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"qipao,<\/a>The protagonist of my novel, An Lee, often wears a cheongsam, a dress that came into fashion in China more than a decade before the start of my novel. (I have a post coming up called \u201cThe Chinese Cheongsam: All Is Revealed.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>

photo courtesy of Dr. John C. Bullas<\/p><\/div>\n

An Lee\u2019s mother has bound feet, a fashion statement that is better described as a physical disability, so I wrote a little piece called \u201cFashion Torture<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the months, I’ve written many other posts with topics related to my novel. I wrote about:<\/p>\n

Chinese food in \u201cChinese Food Love<\/a>,\u201d<\/p>\n

The attack on Pearl Harbor in \u201cDecember 7, 1941<\/a>,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cResistance Fighters and Collaborators<\/a>,\u201d<\/p>\n

Wet nurses in \u201cThe Magic of Mothers\u2019 Milk<\/a>,\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLive-in Maids<\/a>,\u201d and<\/p>\n

The Chinese Civil Service exams in \u201cAce-ing the Test<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

So after all these months, I really do hope I\u2019ve piqued your interest, because now you can buy my book, Tiger Tail Soup<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You can buy a paperback copy from the publisher, Dog Ear Publishing<\/a>, Amazon.com<\/a> or barnesandnoble.com<\/a>. If you like to support your local independent bookstore, they can order it.<\/p>\n

Or if you prefer an ebook, the Kindle, Nook, Apple iBook, and Google editions will be available in a few weeks.<\/p>\n

This book, dedicated to my late husband, has been a long time in the making. I hope you\u2019ll enjoy it. If you do, I would really appreciate it if you\u2019d tell your friends. You could also write a review on Amazon or Goodreads or on your blog or Facebook page. That would be fantastic!<\/p>\n

\"my<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have I succeeded, dear readers of my blog, in arousing your curiosity? Over the past ten months, have I been able to spark your interest in topics related to my novel? Have I stimulated your hunger for more? Because–I cannot lie–that’s exactly what I’ve been hoping to do.First, I introduced you to my late husband […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[317,13,16,87,4],"tags":[32,383,395,396,392,8,393,20,394,925],"class_list":["post-1719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging","category-china","category-visiting-gulangyu","category-war","category-writing","tag-bound-feet","tag-cheongsam","tag-chinese-civil-service-exams","tag-dog-ear-publishers","tag-eugene-chen-the-storyteller","tag-gulangyu","tag-history-of-amoy","tag-hotel-for-overseas-chinese","tag-resistance-fighters","tag-tiger-tail-soup"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-rJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":193,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/visiting-gulangyu\/you-cant-go-home-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":0},"title":"“You Can’t Go Home Again”","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Locked out. \"You can't go home again\" is the title of a novel by Thomas Wolfe. It's meant metaphorically. But for many years it was literally true for my husband. His hometown was locked away behind the Bamboo Curtain, off-limits to outsiders. Maybe that\u2019s why my husband kept his childhood\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Visiting Gulangyu"","block_context":{"text":"Visiting Gulangyu","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/visiting-gulangyu\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gul-5","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gul-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gul-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gul-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1014,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/gulangyu-a-chinese-island-with-a-storied-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":1},"title":"Gulangyu, a Chinese Island with a Storied History","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"March 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Western-style houses on a Chinese island. In 1983, my family visited my late husband\u2019s hometown in China. We arrived by ship from Hong Kong. After a small kerfuffle about our reservations, we checked into the Hotel for Overseas Chinese in Xiamen. The next morning we boarded a ferry for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/640px-18th_Royal_Irish_at_Amoy.jpg?fit=640%2C462&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/640px-18th_Royal_Irish_at_Amoy.jpg?fit=640%2C462&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/640px-18th_Royal_Irish_at_Amoy.jpg?fit=640%2C462&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1940,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/a-mothers-ashes-and-a-chinese-soldier\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":2},"title":"A Mother’s Ashes and a Chinese Soldier","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"June 29, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It was 1983, our first trip to China, and though my husband had been born a few miles from where we now stood, he wasn\u2019t entirely at ease. Let\u2019s just say that until he knew the situation better, he preferred to act with judicious caution. His cousin Andy, it seemed,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gul-2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gul-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gul-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gul-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":894,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/visiting-gulangyu\/the-fall-of-the-bamboo-curtain\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":3},"title":"The Fall of the Bamboo Curtain","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"China, out of reach When I was growing up, large portions of the earth were simply off limits to us\u2014the Soviet Union, cut off by the Iron Curtain; East Germany, blocked by the Berlin Wall; and China, hidden from view behind the Bamboo Curtain. And we just accepted it. Didn\u2019t\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Visiting Gulangyu"","block_context":{"text":"Visiting Gulangyu","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/visiting-gulangyu\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bamboo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Gul-4.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":187,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/writing\/187\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":4},"title":"Storytellers and Writers","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"August 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome to \u201cBehind the Story,\u201d a writer\u2019s blog for readers and writers. In the coming weeks and months I'll be writing about \u00a0such varied topics as tigers, fashion, food, art, war, maids, inter-racial marriage and Gulangyu,\u00a0the small Chinese island where my late husband was born. I hope you'll join in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "writing"","block_context":{"text":"writing","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/writing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo courtesy of Carlos Xavier","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/DSC_0092-e1374083299256-1024x587.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/DSC_0092-e1374083299256-1024x587.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/DSC_0092-e1374083299256-1024x587.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6275,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/my-husbands-hometown-named-a-world-heritage-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":1719,"position":5},"title":"My Husband’s Hometown Named a World Heritage Site.","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"July 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Kulangsu is known for its beaches, its mild climate, and its longstanding prohibition on the use of wheeled vehicles. They don't allow cars or even bikes on the lanes of Kulangsu (also known as Gulangyu). But UNESCO had something else in mind when they named Kulangsu a World Cultural\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/e-Ah-Pok-001-e1499817347715.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1719"}],"version-history":[{"count":69,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1978,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1719\/revisions\/1978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}