Writing, "Expating," A Question For Me, A Question For You

WRITING

Every day I wake up with two thoughts:

• Tully (my 2-year-old)--love, love, love

• my novel--this story that has consumed me for 3+ years now...the one that has REALLY consumed me (gulp, gulp, gulp) in the past 8 months...the one that I cannot stop working on, thinking about, writing, tweaking, dreaming about, etc. I walk down the street in Shanghai watching the recycling guy, snapping shots of the chicken man, trying my damnedest not to get plowed down by one of the gazillion totally insane drivers on the road...but the whole time I'm thinking, "Now...what is M going to do when S does this? How long will she stay in that tree? (Yes, I have a character who spends a good bit of time in a tree...but for a good reason...love.)

EXPATING

A new friend recently asked me, "Do you love China?

Wow...I thought...what a question. A complicated, layered question that deserves some real thought. (Perhaps it should fall in the "QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP FOR ME THIS WEEK" category.)

This is a question that might be better directed at travelers...folks who spend three weeks touring all of China's hotspots (Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Hainan, Shanghai, etc.)...not necessarily folks that LIVE IN China.

But then again, why not ask us/me this question?

So...

I'll get back to you on it.

QUESTIONS THAT CAME UP FOR ME THIS WEEK:

• What do you have faith in? (See this weird, cool, driven guy's current adventure...you'll see why I'm asking myself this.)

And you? Yes, you. What do you have faith in?

Comments

[Carol]

Please don't over-think your new novel too much! Can't wait to read it. Of course you love China for its ability to spark creative juices! Let me know how we can help get your word out in the U.S.

[Kim]

It has been said that there are 2 types of people in the world - those who've been to India and those who haven't. The first group can reliably be subdivided into those who absolutely love it and those who hate it.

I don't think that you can be that extreme about China - especially as someone who lives there. Traveling there is amazing and the quirks of the place are cute and fascinating. After living there for a while, they become annoying and frustrating. I recall reading an EXTREMELY long rant written by a blogger who had lived in Japan (which has other issues to those faced in China) for 5 years. It wasn't that he didn't like the place and was planning on leaving, but he just had to vent!