Soon (first novel)

As he turns thirteen, a Chinese-American boy with a photographic memory is drawn into a mystical dream realm that forces him to uncover his Chinese ancestry. His name is Soon, and his journey is aided by mysterious gifts from his grandfather. These special gifts help him navigate the seams of the ordinary and the extraordinary, past and present, and challenge him to find his inner compass. 

Throughout, Soon is confronted with questions of what is real and what is illusion; what is true and what is fabricated; until he learns to discern the false narratives of family, heritage, and generational anxiety. With the aid of two magical objects and anachronistic guides, Soon finds his way to his true self, and learns to break out of an illusion of someone else’s making.  

An allegory about living wakefully, Soon is a coming-of-age story as much as it is the story of a whole generation of young Asian-Americans waking up to the forces that keep them boxed in as a model minority. It is a hero’s journey home, to the core of what it means to live a life well lived, and ensure that these gifts will be passed to future generations.

Fear of Forgetting (short story)

A psychological thriller about a woman with dementia who witnesses a crime.  No one believes her as she tries to communicate that something terrible has happened.  Her cognitive disabilities cause everyone around her to conclude that she is hallucinating, until her daughter starts to wonder if she could be reporting something real.  She starts to understand that while her mother has lost her intellectual and communication faculties, she has not lost her moral compass, her compassion, her sense of justice, or her emotional self.  Through twists and turns, this is a story that challenges every reader's sense of reality, and draws everyone into the tunnel that is dementia.

Like a Kurosawa film, the novel makes the reader question, whose narrative is reliable?  Can anyone ever find enough objectivity to be absolutely certain of the truth? 

The Big See:  Unpacking the Gift Called Cancer (non-fiction)

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.   

Dual:  Breaking Through 50/50 in Dual-Career Marriages (non-fiction)

A contemporary parable, Dual is the story of Mike and Jackie, a dual-career couple who get their MBAs together, then have to learn through raising kids, caring for elderly parents, and balancing dueling ambitions what it really means to be the CEO of your life.  The story is about two people of equal potential, who both lean in and stay in, and whose journey reveals the true meaning of leadership in a modern world that demands too much of us every day. 

Using a teaching model of D-U-A-L,and offering the dual perspectives of the two protagonists, Dual provides takeaways for busy couples to put down their duel mindset, and adopt a dual mindset. This is the story that every busy dual-career couple should read if they want to stay together.