Thursday, December 19, 2013

iUniverse debut author, Milena Banks, is seduced by history 2

“Now, the Chinese believe it’s vital to know their ancestors—for without knowing where their graves are they can’t appease their spirits and will therefore be tormented by their hungry ghosts. Jardine, who is a Chinese orphan, absolutely desperate to know everyone in her past, is about to discover she should be careful what she wishes for. She makes a living jumping out of party cakes and arrives at a would-be client’s flat, decked out in her costume, dancing.”

A short extract from the award winning iUniverse novel, Riding the Tiger, by debut author, Milena Banks; now see more about how Milena wrote the book:

“I began thinking about writing this particular novel in 1993 when I first moved to Hong Kong. I found it terrifically hot, unbearably humid, the streets crowded, the air polluted and worse still—everyone spoke Cantonese; I was overwhelmed. I locked myself in my flat and turned the A/C up to Frigidaire. I had painfully studied Mandarin and had just come from three years in Tokyo where I’d learned Japanese—I now deemed my studies worthless and yet another uphill cultural climb threatened to capsize me. Worse still, I had no job, but my husband rushed off to work in his suit every morning with a cautious look back at me as I stood dolefully staring out frosty windows at amazing high-rises, lush vegetation, and the sparkling harbor. It was ridiculous. My curiosity quickly overcame my stubbornness. I could not stand there for three years doing nothing.”

Read more . . .

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