Books I'm writing...

Since people are asking when the next Phoenix Mountain book is coming out, I thought I would share my upcoming book writing projects that are in the works. Here they are in the order of planned completion:


Copper's New School - 40% complete


Copper's a little Taiwanese American girl who just started first grade at a brand new school. She's the only Asian kid in the entire school, and that causes her have a tough time trying to figure out who or what she is, but eventually, she travels full circle and finally comes home.

The Writing Teacher's Toolkit - 20% complete


Writing is an extremely important skill to master, but it's one of the hardest subjects to learn and teach. This book is a collection of practical strategies for teaching writing based on over a decade of experience teaching writing to students of all ages as well as on the existing literature on writing pedagogy, including a theoretical framework to help teachers understand and manage the complexities of the the writing process and human learning. Reproducibles included.

The Return to Phoenix Mountain - 15% complete


Qi script power is awakening all over the world creating panic and fear. Authorities start to take drastic measures to try to control the situation, and Kyle and Tai find themselves having to battle people who are using their qi script abilities for selfish purposes. They then find themselves summoned back to the world of Tian to face a new and unexpected enemy.

NIN - 20% complete


In a United Earth society with its central government located on the moon, Siraya is an average 8th grade girl from a unremarkable neighborhood who is accepted at the NIN Academy, the most exclusive high school in the world that is located on the moon itself. Only the best, brightest, strongest, and fastest are accepted to the Academy, and Siraya is the first from her family to gain entrance. Graduates of this school are destined to become leaders of humanity, but as Siraya starts her first day, she finds out that she's out-classed, out-run, and out-smarted by everyone in her class. Not used to being the dead last worst student at school, Siraya struggles with homesickness and failure as she tries to decide whether she's cut out to be a NIN.

COWBOY NINJA - 5%

In the old west, a young writer Eowyn and her older brother Aidyn find themselves surrounded by a band of outlaws. All seems lost when they miraculously are rescued by a mysterious young cowboy who throws sheriff stars like daggers and takes down the bad guys with super human fighting. Eowyn quickly puts pen to paper as she begins to record the tall tales of the Cowboy Ninja.

I can't wait to finish all these books ^_^

Chaos Theory

I ended up watching Chaos Theory because I was looking for another movie like The Proposal and I'm a student of chaos/systems theory.

What a pleasant surprise! This one had me cracking up and crying at the same time.

Ryan Reynolds really outdid himself in this one, bringing the main character, OCD afflicted Frank Allen, to life with a vengeance. I couldn't help but join the poor guy on his tragic journey of self-discovery while at the same time laugh at his quirky stress responses.

Favorite Quote: "Speech...my wife...the movies...TSH GAH!"

The Proposal with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds

My first impression of this movie when I saw it on billboards was that it was just a rehash of a same-old same-old tale of green card marriage scams, but I was interested in watching it because of Sandra Bullock. When I had chances to watch it, though, I didn't follow through, thinking I probably wouldn't enjoy it. Finally, while folding laundry one day and cleaning up my desk, I figured, what they hey, it's on my netflix streaming. I'll just let it play while I work.

This ended up being one of the funniest romance comedies I've seen. There were three elements that made it a great film.

First, Sandra Bullock is always fun to watch. She did a great job of playing a real pain in the neck, matriarchal boss and then showing the small emotional changes the character goes through as she develops.

The Green Hornet (2011)

I hardly get to go to theaters to watch movies anymore, but thanks to some friends who have been long time Jay Chou fans, I ended up watching this one on the opening weekend. 

I went into watching this film with very low expectations. I didn't expect to be laughing and smiling the whole way through. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This ended up being one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. 

The chemistry between Jay Chou and Seth Rogen worked out really well. Overall, it was great storytelling, cutting edge but basic at the same time. 

Response to Amy Chua’s “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior”

This article was originally published on ASIANWEEK.COM

On January 8, Yale professor and writer Amy Chua published an article entitled “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior” in The Wall Street Journal. It caused what has been called “a firestorm of controversy“.

Chua’s article has brought an important issue to light, though I haven’t seen it mentioned in any of the scathing comments I’ve read so far. I haven’t read all of them (3397 comments at the writing of this).

The important issue is: What’s the point of all this achievement anyways?

Back to the Future...again!

I just watched the Back to the Future Trilogy on the 25th anniversary blu-ray release, and I hadn't cracked up that much in a long, long time.

I was seven years old when the movie came out in theaters in 1985, and there are so many reasons why watching the whole triology again was so much fun.

First of all, it's just such a great film series to watch. It's just as much fun today as the first day I saw it (and then proceeded to watch again and again and again). The acting is just fabulous. The story is really character driven. Even though it's got time travel and some cool effects, it's really about the character Marty, Doc Brown, and the whole gang. The actors really make the characters come to life, but also take it a step further so that they're almost caricatures but at the same time grounded, realistic, and believable. Marty is just that typical teenage kid that any American adolescent can connect with, so you just can't help but join him on his wild and crazy adventures. Doc Brown is totally that fun crazy scientist that every kid wishes was their uncle. Biff and all his incarnations is that burly and perfectly stupid bully that everyone just loves to hate. Then there's Marty's parents, so very Mom and Dad yet so vulnerable and human at the same time. The soundtrack is just so epic and perfect. I think putting this big-sound, epic-fantasy music mixed with 80's hip style really made it feel like an adventure in your own backyard.