#Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month!

May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.  As you know, the Chausiku Series is about 6 secret clans across the world with supernatural powers and the Qiáo clan is Asian.  So I thought that I would check out what my hometown, Chicago, is doing for Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.  If you live in Chicago or are visiting this month, join us as we celebrate!

Linda Yu will host ABC7 presents Asian Influences and will focus on stories about Chicago's Pan-Asian community.  Beginning at noon today, May 18, through Friday, May 22, several cultural groups will perform at Daley Plaza for the 14th Asian American Festival so be sure to stop by Daley Plaza.  Columbia College Chicago's president, Dr. Kwang-Wu Kim was honored at the 2015 celebration at the Thompson Center where he served as the keynote speaker and ABC7 Chicago anchor Judy Hsu was the emcee.

Silk Road Rising celebrates Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month with this Salute Video. http://www.silkroadrising.org/pages/asian-pacific-american-heritage-month.  Silk Road Rising creates live theatre and online videos that tell stories through primarily Asian American and Middle Eastern American lenses.  Performances are held at 77 W. Washington Street, Chicago.

On May 29, join the International House at the University of Chicago to celebrate with Tsukasa Taiko Performing Arts.

Events for all ages are being held by the following:
Families with Children from China-Chicago
Chicago ChinaTown chamber of Commerce
Asian American Coalition of Chicago
National Association of Asian American Professionals-Chicago Chapter

If you would like to learn more about Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, visit the Smithsonian Education this webpage provided below.  Each year, the Smithsonian honors Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month with a calendar of events.

Enjoy the celebration of Asian-Pacific Americans!

Asian American Resources


#AsianPacificAmericanHeritageMonth, #Asian, #AsianPacific, #AsianPacificAmerican, #Chausiku, #Chausikuseries

Science Fiction Books Are For Fun…Aren’t They?

The main character and supporting characters in my series are diverse.  Chausiku is an African American teenage girl living in Chicago.  She has supernatural powers, is being chased by a crazed killer and has a streak for torture (read the books to find out why!) but otherwise she’s just like many other African American girls living in Chicago.

She is motherless but not abused and beaten by her father, a teen prostitute, a drug addict, a sex addict, or abused and beaten by a boyfriend.  She doesn’t live in poverty, isn’t struggling to overcome_____ (pick a serious issue here) or struggling with racial identity.

The same is true for my Chinese and Latino teen characters and their respective cultures.

So if you are looking for a book taking a serious look at the issues facing minority teens today I can recommend many excellent books that you should read.

My books are for those that like the supernatural…science fiction…and books that are just for fun!

#sciencefiction #TeenSciFi #YASciFi #diversity