Soon: A Wayfinder’s Wondrous Map to the Tao
Soon is an immigrant family story about a neurodivergent fifteen-year-old Chinese American boy whose mathematician-physicist grandfather passes away, leaving him two heirloom gifts – first, a wayfinder with a clock-like face on one side and a compass-like face on the other side but neither points to conventional understandings of time and directional space; and second, an infinity book that delivers messages from the great beyond.
On the night he passes away, the grandfather appears to Soon in a dream to charge him with a family mission. If Soon fails, the grandfather would fail to incarnate to his next life, and would suffer eternity as a hungry ghost. Soon has only seven days to act, but this mission grows more daunting as he learns that the stakes are higher than saving his grandfather – in fact, he has been charged with helping the diaspora rediscover the hidden genius and cultural treasures of the Tao.
Induced by magic or Adderall, unexplainable dislocations in time and place (as in Everything Everywhere All At Once) take Soon to turning points in China’s history that help him understand how they shaped his family.
In these seven days, Soon discovers new ways to think about time, history, memory, physics and metaphysics, his ancestry and himself. He gains new appreciation for the richness of his heritage, his connection to family, and his inner world to reach for the greater GPS within.
Confined by model minority conditioning, Soon breaks free when he sees himself in a bigger cosmology. Like American Born Chinese, this is a coming-of-age of a teen breaking free of the model minority myth. Like Real Americans, family trauma from the Cultural Revolution sets into motion challenges for a character born sixty years later. At 70,000 words, this work of speculative fiction is a standalone book with series potential and crossover appeal. Its philosophical elements, like The Alchemist, are made accessible to a mainstream audience.
Soon relives turning points in his family’s history, as well as China’s history, that shaped his present-day family. Through a retelling of legends and myths, he uncovers a mathematical foundation at the root of Taoist philosophy and forgotten works of genius that bring physics to the edge of spirituality.
In these seven days, Soon discovers new ways to think about time, history, memory, physics and metaphysics, his ancestry and the Tao. He gains new appreciation for the richness of his inner world especially as someone diagnosed with ADHD, to reach for the greater GPS within.
As if American Born Chinese met The Alchemist, Soon is a quest for hidden wisdom aided by surprising guides in a family struggle to protect the Tao.
Genres: Adult-YA crossover fiction / Speculative / Metaphysical / Philosophical / Immigrant family fiction
Pitch Lines: American Born Chinese meets The Alchemist
70,000 words – standalone with series potential
Comp Titles
Real Americans by Rachel Khong (choices during the Cultural Revolution set into motion challenges for a character born sixty years later)
A Tale For the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki (collective memory prevails over the laws of physics)
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (a Chinese American teen shatters the model minority myth)
(300-Word Synopsis) Soon is a neurodivergent fifteen-year-old Chinese American boy who, upon the death of his grandfather, receives a wayfinder – an instrument that tells time and direction in unconventional ways – and an infinity book, whose magic transports him to turning points in Chinese history that shaped his family and leads him to discover the meaning of the Tao.
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Bea: The Wayfinder’s Inheritance (Book 2 of a Trilogy)
Whereas Book One is a patrilineal story of Soon’s discovery of the Tao, Bea is a matrilineal story of Soon’s twelve-year-old niece, who needs help finding her way after the loss of her mother. Soon, now a 36-year-old computer scientist, must pass down the wayfinder and guide Bea toward her path of knowing herself and her connection to the outer world. As Soon becomes Bea’s legal guardian, he meets and falls in love with Grace, a museum curator. Together they uncover secrets from ancient artifacts that uncover a lineage of maternal ancestors on Nai Nai’s side — Soon leveraging aritificial intelligence as Grace leverages her historical knowledge. As they fill in the blanks of this secret lineage, they discover that the wayfinder actually came from Nai Nai’s side of the family, as a means to share with others the special sensibilities that Nai Nai and Susi were born with, and which Bea begins to discover in herself. In a full circle, the wayfinder ends up helping Soon’s father (Baba from Book One) — Bea’s grandfather — finally find his way back to the family mission.
Will: The Wayfinder’s Resistance to AI (Book 3 of a Trilogy)
Although multiple episodes in history have caused the wayfinder to go underground, none has been as daunting an adversary as an artificial intelligence named Will, which threatens to rewrite the Tao wisdom passed down through the ages. As a scientist nearing the end of his career, Soon looks back on how he had inadvertently trained AI to become the wayfinder’s worst enemy. He desperately searches for a way to undo what he unwittingly unleashed, in order to save the Tao from being misunderstood forever more. Will challenges the authenticity of what Soon knows to be true. How will Soon preserve the truth, and help the world discern truth from lies?
STANDALONE BOOKS IN MY PIPELINE
The School For Fortune Telling
Born to a family with a long line of fortune tellers, Mae is unable to access the talents that her mother is sure she has. She questions whether she has the gift, and whether she even wants a life as a fortune teller.
When she meets Ran, a new boy in school, and learns that he has supernatural abilities, she doubles down on her education as a fortune teller to keep up with him, if only to learn what role he would play in her life and for how long.
The Magic Square
Vera is a 13-year-old savant who encounters a very special magic square. As she explores its complete unity, she unlocks its mysterious magic, which gives her powers of intuition and second sight that go beyond her years. Each turn of the magic square unlocks a new portal, in which she is able to enter new worlds forbidden to the ordinary human. She discovers that she is able to channel old masters with hidden knowledge, who download to her archives of knowledge that have been lost for generations.
The Big See: Unpacking the Gift Called Cancer (completed, unpublished memoir)
A memoir about recovery, resilience, and renewal, and discovering the true power of the universe.
This is the story of an unconventional healing journey from cancer back to perfect health, that can help people look at cancer and healing differently. Like many moments of crisis and adversity, illness can be eye-opening, inviting in demons and angels, as well as profound messengers. This story reveals the limitations of modern medicine, and shares some hidden yet widely available approaches to healing that can make a dramatic difference in directing and enjoying the process of healing. It contains some useful coping techniques that help readers navigate the most terrifying moments. It also contains some astonishing moments that connect all of us more fully with the mysteries of the universe. It’s a reality story giving people an inside look at how one woman coped, and it contains an appendix of many unconventional healing modalities that can supplement conventional treatment.