Two books were essential in my research for this novel, as both guidance and inspiration: The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period, by Patricia Buckley Ebrey, and A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas, edited and translated by Richard E. Strassberg.
I’m grateful for the friends I’ve made online through my blog and various forums. You’ve made me laugh, cheered and motivated me. I invite readers to visit my website, cindypon.com, to learn more about this novel, my writing, and my art. Click on my blog and leave a comment! I would love to hear from you.
And finally, chocolate kisses to my love, Mark, who watched after Sweet Pea and Munchkin for countless Saturdays, so I could write and chase my dreams.