pocket pacy in barcelona!

The wonderful Dim Sum, Bagels, and Crawfish family took Pocket Pacy to Barcelona! You can read about Pacy's Barcelona travels HERE, but here is a sneak peek:

isn't this a neat photo?

I was told that Pacy loved the tapas so much because it was so similar to dim sum...

baby picture

Please excuse this baby photo indulgence but I am so enamoured with Rain Dragon's grey eyes that I wanted to share. Aren't they pretty? I know they won't stay this color, but I love seeing them (and I rarely do because she is sleeping most of the time).

She also has Brian Eno hair (long on the sides and balding on top):

p.s. I promise I won't fill this blog with baby photos!

on my desk monday

So I've been hard at work on the art for Starry River of the Sky. It starts with a sketch:

my sketches are actually drawn very small

This I scan into the computer and adjust to the right size, adding the border and cropping as needed:

the border is just for placement,  I paint a different border with each painting--the  corner icons will be different

I transfer the enlarged drawing onto watercolor paper:

I use graphite paper but it usually only transfers the main image and I have to redraw the details on the paper

It's a lot of prep work before painting:

Here you can see the sketch in scale to the prepped painting

But after a about week of hard work, the finished painting! Voila!

Hope it looks good in the finished book!

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!

Today's word is:
baby
yīng'ér
婴儿

fortune cookie friday

"Misfortune is not that which can be avoided, but that which cannot. "
-Chinese Proverb

pocket pacy in chicago

Another reader sent in this photo of Pocket Pacy:

She is resting atop a deer statue in Aon Park on Lake St in downtown Chicago!

booktalk tuesday

Things have gotten rather busy here as I am adapting to life with a Rain Dragon. So, my niece Lily has taken over some of my Booktalk Tuesday reviews! Today, she is reviewing the early reader Poppleton in Spring, by Cynthia Rylant.

Welcome, Lily!

on my desk monday

It was my birthday! You know it's your first birthday as a new mother when your cake and flowers come with diapers and baby wipes:

However, Rain Dragon gave me an especially sweet gift:

it's a pendant made from a hazelnut  carved with a heart!

It was a lovely birthday!

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!

Today's word is:
birthday
shēngrì
生日

pocket pacy at the theatre!

Lovely reader Naomi, who celebrated Lunar New Year with Pocket Pacy, recently brought Pocket Pacy to the Where the Mountain Meets the Moon theatre production:

She even met the the actor who played Dragon!

Sunday, May 20th, is the last show! See it if you can (more info HERE). I hope it was a great run!

fortune cookie friday

"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends whom we choose. "
-Chinese Proverb

Pocket Pacy Picture of the Week

Reader Brynn would take Pocket Pacy to Atlantis!

*Don't forget, you can win your own Pocket Pacy by doing a drawing just like this! See details HERE!

on my desk monday

On my desk today is the Little, Brown and Company Fall catalog:

With Starry River of the Sky in it! So excited!

The most exciting thing is that they are offering a display for stores that order 7 copies! I've always dreamed that one of my books would get one of these displays, but they'll only make it if enough stores order it. Cross your fingers for me!

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!

Today's word is:
cake
dàn'gāo
蛋糕

May showers...

May Showers

makes my Rain Dragon sleep

 for hours and hours... 

Happy Mother's Day, all!

fortune cookie friday

"Happy people never count hours as they pass."
-Chinese Proverb

Pocket Pacy in San Diego and April Winners!

Lovely reader Miranda took her Pocket Pacy to San Diego!

Pocket Pacy got to see beach at the Cabrillo National Monument at low tide:

and explore all of the cool marine life found in the tidepools:

I think Pocket Pacy is really lucky to have a friend like Miranda, don't you?

Don't forget, you can win your own Pocket Pacy, just like Miranda!  The Pocket Pacy Giveaway is still going on (click HERE for more info). In fact, I would like to announce this month's winners! Drum roll, please...

Isabella Tan

Margaret Theresa Schwartz

Jenna Mar

Yay!  If you see your name and do not hear from me this week, please feel free to contact me with your name & mailing address and I'll send your Pocket acy out to you!  Winners have been chosen at random  (though, I will be posting my some of my favorites on my blog every week). If you have sent me a picture and your name was not chosen this month, you don't have to send me another picture--your name stays in the hat for the next drawing.

hello, rain dragon!

It's no secret that posts on my blog are almost always a week to two weeks behind the real event. And it's the same with this one. But I've been busy, really!

Because I'd like to announce the arrival of Rain Dragon!

 Welcome, Hazel Maisy! 
(Maisy is our Americanized version of her Chinese name Mei Zhi, meaning beautiful and wise)

The Art of Grace Lin

As LM Montgomery writes Anne's House of Dreams, I'm starting to count my days "like silver beads on a rosary," which means my traveling days are over for the immediate future. But when the Katonah Museum, who is putting on an exhibit of my work "The Art of Grace Lin," wanted me to be a part of their program how could I say no?

Enter in the magical technology of Skype! Now, I have done a limited number of Skype visits in the past, and I have to say I'm not really a fan. Right now, if I do them,  I only do 15 minute Q&A sessions for free because they tend to be more frustrating than valuable (for me or the students). I always feel like I am shouting into the computer and the connection usually freezes 2 or 3 times.

However, this time, the internet behaved and the visit went flawlessly! I could feel the friendliness of the visitors across the interwebs, everyone had great questions and I even read some of my book. Perhaps I'll have to consider doing Skype visits as more of a regular thing, they certainly are convenient...

The Art of Grace Lin exhibit shows until September 2nd at the Katonah Museum, 134 Jay Street - Route 22
Katonah, NY 10536 call (
914)232-9555 for more info.

on my desk monday

They say when you're expecting, the "nesting instinct" comes on strong. Well, it's true in my case. Because even though it is 70 degrees, I am shopping for afghans and blankets. Which is why when this gift came in the mail, I was especially thrilled:

It's a beautiful, homemade quilt made by Winifred Weng (a friend made by her daughter, Charlotte's enjoyment of Year of the Dog).  There's a little inscription sewn in:

as well as a dragon quilted in it! In honor of Rain Dragon!

Isn't it gorgeous? I love the colors.  And if that wasn't enough, the cutest hedgehog was also included:

Wow! Thanks so much, Winifred and Charlotte!

Sunday Chinese School

Welcome to Sunday Chinese School, where we learn a Chinese word (or phrase) a week with my mom!

Today's word is:
butterfly
húdié
蝴蝶

on the way to the grocery store

This was actually on the way back from my school visit at Cape Elizabeth:

A missing 11th commandment, you think?

fortune cookie friday

"A one hundred yard high tower still has its foundation on the ground."
-Chinese Proverb

Pocket Pacy Picture of the Week

Lovely reader Margaret sent this picture in:

She would take Pocket Pacy to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee!

*Don't forget, you can win your own Pocket Pacy by doing a drawing just like this! See details HERE!

winding down in Cape Elizabeth

With just a handful of visits left (I tried to squeeze as many in now as I won't be doing so many after Rain Dragon arrives), one of my last visits was at the picturesque Cape Elizabeth in Maine:

The Sasquatch actually didn't mind accompanying me on this one as we got to take a morning stroll on the beach:

I even found a piece of seaglass! It's funny, last summer I searched the whole time during our beach vacation for sea glass and only found a couple pieces (and I was so disappointed that the Sasquatch bought me a seaglass necklace for my birthday). And here, I found a piece in 10 minutes!

And my good luck continued, because when I went to the school I was welcomed with smiling dragons:

hanging lanterns:

and dragon parades:

Here's a video of one of them:




Also, a whole table of fortune cookies:

With hilarious fortunes:

"You will get 6 Golden retriever puppies"

"Beware never believe advertisements and commercials espeshally bobs furniture"
(Methinks someone got a bad deal at a Bob's furniture store)

"You will never die"
"You will get a rootbeer."
(I particularly liked the juxtaposition of these two)

I hope this one comes true:

"You will get something you wanted this year."

But I already feel pretty lucky after visiting such a fun school! Thanks so much, Cape Elizabeth!