to make sure I got it absolutely correct. Tis took about a year and then on my 60th birthday last December, I put on my favourite opera, sat down at my desk in Kuala Lumpur and wrote my heart out! Whenever I could, juggling my activities and travel, I just wrote and wrote - all the time in KL, in HK and even in London (and was quite impossible to live with says my husband Terry). It was with such joy that I typed “Te End” on my manuscript and sent it to the printer in August.
How much of the book did you draw from personal experience?
A lot! Te inspiration and impetus for the book was my grandfather’s own very romantic and international love story. I felt that with this very personal family history as a base and my own unusual experiences in Tokyo where I lived for 10 years, I was the perfect person to write this love story which takes place in my twin cities of George Town and Tokyo. Te many lives and characters woven into the story are drawn from people I actually know. As for my own personal experiences, I grew up in George Town in the same angsana-shaded Macalister Road and played on the beaches of Tunjung Bungah. As a young working lady, I lived in Tokyo for 10 years. I have walked along the beaches of the Kamakura as featured in my book; and I have most certainly strolled hand in hand with my own version of the hero Toshio in the streets of Tokyo and yes, I have experienced much love and passion in Tokyo too – which I am grateful for! And before you ask, no, it was not with Terry, my husband as I was not fortunate enough to have met him then. Tis was the seventies in Japan and I was sort of between husbands (my first husband, a German was the reason I went Tokyo) but that marriage did not work out. In any event, I believe that to write fiction, one must actually have experienced life with a BIG capital “L”; otherwise, it would not be ‘real’?
Your first book was on Qi Gong. What is your background in this Chinese form of Martial Arts?
Ah, Qi Gong for me is not martial arts. It is a holistic approach to acquiring and maintaining good health using the ancient Chinese art of cultivating one’s “qi” or internal energy. I was first introduced to Qi Gong around 1990 in Hong Kong when I was told – I was in my late thirties then – that I had a rare hormonal imbalance which caused my body to reject and not absorb calcium. I was suffering from advance osteoporosis (with the bone density of a ninety year old woman) at a very early age. Tis was terrible news for me as I live a very active lifestyle with my sailing, trekking and skiing. It was then that I met Master Mak Chung Man in Hong Kong, a wonderful and gentle qi gong master who taught me how to use qi gong to get well. Master Mak also showed me a very simplified way to practice qi gong all day and that there was no mystique about it. Tis information was too precious not to share it with the world, so I asked Master Mak’s permission to write my book, where the busy person can do qi gong on the run, anytime – in small blocks
74 FENGSHUIWORLD | JAN/FEB 2011
of time throughout the day. I called it “Indispensable qi gong”.
Many of the elements in Qi Gong are similar to what we in Feng Shui term the Dragon’s Breath. Can you tell us more about your philosophy on Qi (energy)?
Qi means “internal or life energy”. It is invisible. You cannot see it. In the same way that you cannot see air. When you do the qi gong exercises, these are NOT mere physical exercises; otherwise, you might as well do aerobics. Qi gong “exercises” (for want of a better word) are actually the physical or external aids to developing the internal art of cultivating your qi or life or vital energy. Indeed, it is similar to the Feng Shui term – the Dragon’s Breath. Just as in the case of the Dragon’s Breath, if we know how to harness, store it and redistribute our “qi”, we will “unblock” all the stagnant energy that causes illness. Like Feng Shui, qi gong practice is ancient (more than 3,000 years old). I believe very much in qi gong and the body’s own innate ability to heal itself and most of all, the power of the human will. I also believe that by practicing qi gong, one will discover a tranquil, limitless place in our lives – beyond the mere physical dimension.
Do you have plans for further novels? What are you working on next?
Ask any author and they will tell you that after they finish one book, another one is not far behind! Yes, I have already begun the research for my next book which takes place in India, another place which is very close to my heart. It is about a dancer, her search for her spiritual compass, gods, gurus, my beloved mountains and so on. I cannot wait to sit down to write this book, but I need to complete the research first!
What is your advice to budding writers?
If you have a story, if you believe you can write, then all you need is paper and a pen or in these days, just a laptop! I don’t think that fame and fortune should be the reason because that can be very, very elusive and I would always recommend that all budding writers keep their day jobs! However, unless you take the leap of faith in yourself and try, you will never know. But it is hard work. No doubt about that. When I started writing, I was already retired from legal practice and I had the luxury of not having to work for a living. But still I had to fit in my writing between running 3 homes, traveling and maintaining a busy social life, so it was hard. I used to wake up very early around 5 am each morning (after going to bed around midnight or later!) just to be able to write undisturbed. So there is sacrifice for sure. But when you receive letters and emails from people who have read your book and whose hearts and minds you have touched – wow that is so worth it!
www.fswmag.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108