Book Deal News!

Back in August, which seems like ages ago, I received some amazing news.

Yes, I have a new book out in January 2024 and have been working on it for almost four years. Can you remember four years ago? It seems like that was different lifetime for all of us. I feel so fortunate that I was able to take three important research trips in 2019 for this book: Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Northern California. If I hadn’t had these opportunities, I don’t know how I would have ever been able to gather as much material as I did or see as many of the places Bernardine lived in 1930s Shanghai.

Publishing is a unique industry and when it comes to publishing books, it can take a long time. I think that’s why so many people turn to self-publishing. There just isn’t the wait there is in traditional publishing. But for me there are so many advantages to traditional publishing, not to mention how difficult it is to get a book deal. I was so fortunate to find not just an agent who fell in love with Bernardine as soon as she received my query letter, but also an editor who is equally enthusiastic about Bernardine.

I’ve been working on finessing my manuscript, which I mainly wrote during my kids’ remote learning year of 2020-21 and will thank their school administrators and teachers in my acknowledgments for doing such a fabulous job with the kids that I could devote so many uninterrupted hours each day to Bernardine and my writing. I swear I got in five years’ worth of writing in those 18 months.

Stay tuned for more news about Bernardine’s Shanghai Salon. It’s an exciting story in an exciting place at an exciting time.