As an immigrant growing up in San Francisco, I lived in a small enclave of tradition, language, and superstition handed down through the generations. But I knew little about a not-so-distant past, the stories of my father’s life in China before his escape during the Communist Revolution. The snippets of story have revealed themselves over time, but the door closes quickly. “I have closed my heart to China,” he once said, a profound statement for a reticent man.

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I am less reticent to tell these stories. Fiction allows me to explore the realm of what is possible, even when the stories are set in the past. I am intrigued by flight, whether it’s the forced migration of the masses, as portrayed in my first novel, or a bold escape from one’s own circumstances.

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It took a 600-mile backpacking journey on the Appalachian Trail, in the company of mosquitoes and compulsive poets, to set me on the writing path. I’ve been a contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle, China Rights Forum, Narrative Magazine, Earth Island Journal, New America Media, National Radio Project's Making Contact, and KQED public radio. I’ve organized readings for Words Without Borders as an advocate of literature in translation, bringing together authors to share works of Literature from the ’Axis of Evil’ and other wickedly intriguing places.

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IN THE LAP OF THE GODS, my first novel, is dedicated to the men in my family - the youngest of all, my son Alex, who is discovering how powerful words can be.