Kampung Kreepy

Happy first day of summer! The Geomancer’s Apprentice series is on sale for U.S. and U.K. readers from today until June 24. The first book, The Geomancer’s Apprentice , starts at $0.99. Please check the stores for U.K. prices.  The series features two underdog feng shui consultants who find, to their dismay, that they must save the world (or at least the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area). The magic system is based on feng shui, the monsters are terrifying and straight out of Asian folklore, plus there are ghosts!  These books are for you if you like stories with high stakes, magical bloodlines, monster slaying, fast-paced action, family drama, and redemption and second chances.  What readers are saying ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ~ “Empowering, fun, and excellently written” ~ “non-stop action, that will leave your heart racing” ~ “truly original urban fantasy” ~ “An absolute page turner” ~ “These stories really are some of the most wonderful urban horror I've ever read and the way Taoism i...

It's always lovely to find a new reader review. It's even more wonderful when the reviewer loved all five books in your series! Thank you so much, kind reader! I'm glad you enjoyed the monster-slaying adventures of Joe and Junie, my underdog feng shui consultants. If you haven't read The Geomancer's Apprentice series, check it out here .  Why you should leave a review if you love an author’s work It’s one way to make an author’s day, maybe even her week! It encourages your favorite authors to keep writing. You’re giving your favorite authors more visibility. You’re sharing good books with other readers. You’re helping your favorite authors to reach new readers. The more, and better, reviews a book has, the higher Amazon’s algorithms will rank it in search results. Even a rating helps! Make an author happy. 😄

Patrick Greenwood, a fellow author and host of the Writers on Writers Over a Triple Espresso podcast, recently reviewed my Geomancer's Apprentice urban fantasy books to discuss how to write a series.  Please check it out below or on YouTube .  [Patrick's review starts at 0:50 minutes]

I’m excited to share that The Geomancer’s Apprentice , the first book in my urban fantasy series, will be free as part of Stuff Your Kindle, Fantasy Edition , from Oct. 18 to Oct. 20.  In addition, I’m holding my first-ever series sale ! From Oct. 17 to Oct. 21, Amazon.com customers will be able to buy my entire Geomancer’s Apprentice ebook series for half the price. Book 1 is free all over the world during those dates. This is a great time to start the series, or to buy the next book if you’ve already started. It’s spooky season, so what better time to read about two underdog feng shui consultants who must save Washington, D.C., from ghosts and monsters. And please check out Stuff Your Kindle, Fantasy. More than 400 books in the fantasy genre are free during this fantastic event. There’ll be some familiar names, as well as new authors you can discover.  If you do pick up any of my books, I have a favor to ask. If you enjoyed the book, I hope you can take the time to leave a ...

A failed barista, a struggling geomancer, feng shui, Washington, D.C., ghosts and monsters. What could go wrong? EVERYTHING!! Who knew feng shui would be this dangerous? The Geomancer’s Apprentice urban fantasy series features Asian mysticism and magic, and terrifying monsters from Asian folklore. Reader reviews on Amazon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Five-Out-Of-Five-Star Fantasy Page-Turner!!" "A roller coast ride of a novel" "Folklore based UF at its finest!" "A breath of fresh air" 🎄 Join the adventure now Holiday destinations. Sun-drenched beaches. Pristine rainforests. But what comes out to play when the sun sets? Vengeful spirits. Horrific creatures from Asian folklore. Sometimes the old wives’ tales are real. 🎄 Joss Paper : It's time to chill …

The Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month draws to a close today. I thought it might be interesting to discuss how my Geomancer’s Apprentice books reflect the experience of Chinese immigrants in the United States. First off, it’s important to note that the Chinese diaspora encompasses millions of disparate experiences based on the time period in which it took place, as well as family and individual circumstances. I wanted my characters to reflect this diversity. To recap, my protagonists are Junie Soong and Joe Tham, a pair of feng shui consultants from Chinatown, Washington, D.C. The books—especially The Forgotten Guardian , the second book in the series—focus mainly on how Joe’s family came to America. Joe’s grandfather Tham Tiar Lung (placing the family name first, as is the custom for ethnic Chinese people) came to the U.S. in the early 1930s. Like many others before and after him, he used his connections to find a way around the Chinese Exclusion ...

2022 has been a good year for my writing and publishing. For one, I released  The Corpse Ritual , the third book in my urban fantasy series, in August. It made my day when a reader told me “it’s the best” yet of  The Geomancer’s Apprentice  books. Another highlight: I reached over 120,000 page reads on Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited this year after I loaded the entire series onto the service in May. That translates to around 280 books, not taking into account my ebook and print sales. Thank you so much, dear readers, for your interest in my series. The numbers aren’t a lot for some writers, but amazing to this one. When I released my debut novel in February 2021, it was the fulfillment of a long-cherished dream to write fiction. I can’t believe I’m actually living the dream today. So what’s the plan for 2023? I’d like to release two more books in the series, the fourth and the fifth—and final—installments. Yes, Joe and Junie’s journey comes to an end, or at least this part...

I found this old Christmas promo for The Geomancer’s Apprentice series. It made me smile. What a difference a year makes.  My dog Oreo is now 14. A little older, a little stiffer. I'm not sure he's any wiser, but he's as lovable as ever. He’s a rat terrier, beagle mix. We got him from a dog rescue group when he was six months old. He’s good-natured and smart, and quickly settled into our household routine. He doesn’t always listen, but he’s one of the most loyal dogs I’ve ever had. As for the books, I’ve updated the covers for Books 1 and 2. I also released Book 3, The Corpse Ritual . By this time next year, Books 4 and 5 should already be out. Here’re some of the Christmas ads I'm running this year. They make me feel merry. Writing my books and seeing them in print is a dream come true for me. Cheers!

A short note about the mummies in The Corpse Ritual , the latest book in   my   Geomancer's Apprentice series .  Wen Dou and his family are wholly imaginary. Lady Dai and her funeral banner, however, are very real. And there is something very remarkable about her mummy that brings to mind the vampire lore. Lady Dai, or Xin Zhui, was a wealthy noblewoman married to a high-ranking Chinese official. She lived during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE to 9 CE). Her tomb and those of her husband and son were discovered in the early 1970s near Changsha in China’s Hunan Province. It is one of China’s most important archaeological discoveries. Archaeologists excavating her tomb had to open four coffins—nestled inside each other like nesting dolls—before they found her body in the last, and smallest, coffin. When she was brought out, her skin was soft to the touch and her limbs could bend at the joints. She had all her hair, including her eyelashes, brows, right down to the hai...

When it came to writing The Corpse Ritual , it was a no-brainer to set the book in a museum. For one, I’d already decided the book would feature mummies and jiangshi. I also love museums, especially natural history museums. In addition, you can’t set a series in Washington, D.C., without mentioning its museums. After all, D.C. is known for its museums. The district’s National Air and Space Museum and National Museum of Natural History are two of the most visited museums in the United States. Both museums are part of the Smithsonian Institution, which was created by an act of Congress in 1846 to be “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” The Smithsonian has since become the largest complex of museums and education centers in the world. I’ve long thought of natural history museums as a great setting for urban fantasy stories. Many of their exhibits relate to magic, ritual and superstition. One good example of this is the British Museum’s ancient Egypt collecti...

Did you know that China had its own mass hysteria over witchcraft and sorcery, 75 years after the Salem, Mass., witch trials? The Corpse Ritual , Book 3 in my Geomancer’s Apprentice series, references a year during China’s Qing Dynasty when many people were accused of “soul stealing.” In January 1768, rumors began to arise in eastern and central China that a secret network of sorcerers and master sorcerers were stealing souls and using them for nefarious purposes. The soul stealing generally was thought to take two forms. One was by obtaining a personal item (such as somebody’s hair) and reciting spells over it. During this time, men wore their hair in a long braid known as a “queue.” The most common allegation under this form of soul stealing was that sorcerers were cutting off men’s queues to obtain control over their souls. The other form of soul stealing was by writing a person’s name on a piece of paper and attaching the paper to the foundations of a building or a bridge. A ...

My latest book  The Corpse Ritual features a vampire-like Chinese folklore monster that some of you may recognize. It’s a “jiangshi,” which means “stiff corpse” in Mandarin. Those of you who’ve watched the Mr. Vampire Hong Kong comedy movies from the 1980s will be familiar with this creature. It’s basically a reanimated corpse. Its appearance depends on how long it’s been dead. It hops because its limbs are stiff from rigor mortis.  In Chinese popular culture, the jiangshi usually is shown wearing clothes from the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911). Although it’s called a “vampire” in the movies, there are major differences between a jiangshi and a vampire.  A jiangshi— doesn’t drink blood. It sucks a person’s life essence, or qi. isn’t good-looking or suave. behaves more like a zombie. doesn’t turn into a bat. doesn’t command other creatures of the night. doesn’t sparkle in daylight and won’t ever get the girl (or guy). The hopping corpse folklore supposedly dates b...

The Corpse Ritual , Book 3 of my Geomancer's Apprentice series, is now available as an ebook and on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited. The paperback version is coming soon.  In their latest adventure, underdog feng shui consultants Joe Tham and Junie Soong investigate the theft of a mummy from the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.  The full blurb is below.  The Smithsonian Natural History Museum is full of dead things. Now some may be undead … A brazen robbery takes place at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum at the height of the pandemic. The robbers make off with a 250-year-old Chinese mummy from the museum’s forthcoming exhibition. Soon, the dead bodies are stacking up.  Joe Tham and Junie Soong’s feng shui business is limping along, not helped by the D.C. government’s Covid restrictions. Joe is still trying to solve his father’s murder, while Junie is leaning into her special powers.   The two underdog feng shui consultants are roped into the museum case...

I’m excited to reveal the cover for The Corpse Ritual , the upcoming third book in my Geomancer’s Apprentice series. There are still a few issues to sort out. I hope to release the book later this month. I’ve also overhauled the covers for the first two books to reflect a more cohesive look for the series. In addition, I wanted to add more elements in the covers to make it clear to readers that the books are in the urban fantasy genre, and feature Asian magic. The ebooks and paperbacks now come with the new covers.  That’s the beauty of indie publishing. You have the flexibility to make changes that you might not otherwise have in traditional publishing. It’s been one and a half years since the publication of The Geomancer’s Apprentice , my debut novel. It’s been a blast so far. The learning curve is steep for an indie author in terms of the craft and what constitutes good marketing. I’m still learning, and I hope you’ll keep reading.