Year of Fire Dragons: An American Woman's Story of Coming of Age in Hong Kong by Shannon Young

Title: Year of Fire Dragons: An American Woman's Story of Coming of Age in Hong Kong
Author: Shannon Young
Publication: Blacksmith Books (15 Jun. 2015)  
Summary: In 2010, bookish 22-year-old Shannon follows her Eurasian boyfriend to Hong Kong, eager to forge a new love story in his hometown. But when work sends him to London a month later, Shannon embarks on a wide-eyed newcomer's journey through Hong Kong – alone.

She teaches in a local school as the only foreigner, explores Asia with other young expats and discovers family history in Hong Kong, all while trying to hold on to her thwarted romance. The city enchants her, forcing her to question her plans. Soon, she must make a choice between her new life and the love that first brought her to Asia.

What I Think

Living in Hong Kong I have a particular interest in reading books set in this little pocket of Asia and it's an extra special treat to read a book that reminds me what a vibrant and exciting city this is. Hong Kong is multifaceted and each morning Shannon Young leaves "behind one world and enter[s] an entirely different, more Chinese one." 

"The time was right for an international long distance relationship," writes Young about her relationship with Ben, managing to stay in daily contact via Skype, phone, email and instant messaging. This is in stark contrast to the annual letters Young's grandmother sent back to the U.S. She had also moved abroad to teach, met her husband, got married and started a family. In the 1950s they were stationed in Hong Kong. Including fragments of these letters evokes not only the feeling of a different world, but draws comparisons with the physical changes in Hong Kong. 

Living abroad isn't always easy. "Friendship is fast, cheap, and interchangeable in the expat world." Young's writing is full of such insights as she delves further into the Chinese culture, language, her teaching position as the only Native English Teacher and whether she wants to stay in Hong Kong without Ben, or move to yet another foreign place to be with him.  

Shannon Young's writing is as full of life as this city and I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in travel, living abroad, teaching or a good old-fashioned love story. 

About the Author

Shannon Young is an American writer currently living in Hong Kong. She is the author of a coming of age travel memoir called Year of Fire Dragons (Blacksmith Books) and a Kindle Single on student debt. She has edited an anthology of creative non-fiction by expat women in Asia and written e-books including a mini travel memoir, The Olympics Beat, and a novella, The Art of Escalator Jumping.

A graduate of Colgate University in New York, Shannon's writing has appeared in the Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society's anthology, on numerous websites, and on an iPhone travel app. She writes a blog called A Kindle in Hong Kong and likes to spy on other people's books on the train.


You can follow Shannon's work and join her email list at the following sites:

Website: shannonyoungwriter.com
Blog: akindleinhongkong.blogspot.com
Twitter: @ShannonYoungHK

Three Summer Expat Memoirs

Click here to enter a giveaway!

The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, & Home on the Far Side of the World 

By Tracy Slater 

The Good Shufu is a true story of multicultural love, marriage, and mixups. When Tracy Slater, a highly independent American academic, falls head-over-heels in love with the least likely person in the world--a traditional Japanese salaryman who barely speaks English--she must choose between the existence she'd meticulously planned in the US and life as an illiterate housewife in Osaka. Rather than an ordinary travel memoir, this is a book about building a whole life in a language you don’t speak and a land you can barely navigate, and yet somehow finding a truer sense of home and meaning than ever before. A Summer ’15 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, The Good Shufu is a celebration of the life least expected:  messy, overwhelming, and deeply enriching in its complications.

Putnam/Penguin, June 30, 2015

Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras

By Leza Lowitz

At 30, Californian Leza Lowitz is single and traveling the world, which suits her just fine. Coming of age in Berkeley during the feminist revolution of the 1970s, she learned that marriage and family could wait. Or could they?
When Leza moves to Japan and falls in love with a Japanese man, her heart opens in ways she never thought possible. But she’s still an outsider, and home is far away. Rather than struggle to fit in, she opens a yoga studio and makes a home for others. Then, at 44, Leza and her Japanese husband seek to adopt—in a country where bloodlines are paramount and family ties are almost feudal in their cultural importance. She travels to India to work on herself and back to California to deal with her past. Something is still not complete until she learns that when you give a little love to a child, you get the whole world in return.
The author’s deep connection to yoga shows her that infertile does not mean inconceivable. By adapting and adopting, she transcends her struggles and embraces the joys of motherhood.

Stone Bridge Press, June 9, 2015

Year of Fire Dragons: An American Woman's Story of Coming of Age in Hong Kong

By Shannon Young

In 2010, bookish 22-year-old Shannon follows her Eurasian boyfriend to Hong Kong, eager to forge a new love story in his hometown. She thinks their long distance romance is over, but a month later his company sends him to London. Shannon embarks on a wide-eyed newcomer's journey through Hong Kong—alone. She teaches in a local school as the only foreigner, explores Asia with other young expats, and discovers a family history of her own in Hong Kong. The city enchants her, forcing her to question her plans. Soon, she must make a choice between her new life and the love that first brought her to Asia.

Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of Good Chinese Wife, has called Year of Fire Dragons "a riveting coming of age story" and "a testament to the distance people will travel for love." 

Blacksmith Books, June 7, 2015

Three Summer Expat Memoirs

Click here to enter a giveaway!

The Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, & Home on the Far Side of the World 

By Tracy Slater 

The Good Shufu is a true story of multicultural love, marriage, and mixups. When Tracy Slater, a highly independent American academic, falls head-over-heels in love with the least likely person in the world--a traditional Japanese salaryman who barely speaks English--she must choose between the existence she'd meticulously planned in the US and life as an illiterate housewife in Osaka. Rather than an ordinary travel memoir, this is a book about building a whole life in a language you don’t speak and a land you can barely navigate, and yet somehow finding a truer sense of home and meaning than ever before. A Summer ’15 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection, The Good Shufu is a celebration of the life least expected:  messy, overwhelming, and deeply enriching in its complications.

Putnam/Penguin, June 30, 2015

Here Comes the Sun: A Journey to Adoption in 8 Chakras

By Leza Lowitz

At 30, Californian Leza Lowitz is single and traveling the world, which suits her just fine. Coming of age in Berkeley during the feminist revolution of the 1970s, she learned that marriage and family could wait. Or could they?
When Leza moves to Japan and falls in love with a Japanese man, her heart opens in ways she never thought possible. But she’s still an outsider, and home is far away. Rather than struggle to fit in, she opens a yoga studio and makes a home for others. Then, at 44, Leza and her Japanese husband seek to adopt—in a country where bloodlines are paramount and family ties are almost feudal in their cultural importance. She travels to India to work on herself and back to California to deal with her past. Something is still not complete until she learns that when you give a little love to a child, you get the whole world in return.
The author’s deep connection to yoga shows her that infertile does not mean inconceivable. By adapting and adopting, she transcends her struggles and embraces the joys of motherhood.

Stone Bridge Press, June 9, 2015

Year of Fire Dragons: An American Woman's Story of Coming of Age in Hong Kong

By Shannon Young

In 2010, bookish 22-year-old Shannon follows her Eurasian boyfriend to Hong Kong, eager to forge a new love story in his hometown. She thinks their long distance romance is over, but a month later his company sends him to London. Shannon embarks on a wide-eyed newcomer's journey through Hong Kong—alone. She teaches in a local school as the only foreigner, explores Asia with other young expats, and discovers a family history of her own in Hong Kong. The city enchants her, forcing her to question her plans. Soon, she must make a choice between her new life and the love that first brought her to Asia.

Susan Blumberg-Kason, author of Good Chinese Wife, has called Year of Fire Dragons "a riveting coming of age story" and "a testament to the distance people will travel for love." 

Blacksmith Books, June 7, 2015

The Olympics Beat by Shannon Young

About the Book

With the Summer Olympics coming up, now is the time to read Shannon Young’s, The Olympics Beat! This is a travel memoir about the Beijing Olympics in 2008. 

What I think

This is a short book, but it packs a lot in. It's extremely descriptive and the excitement of the Olympics really comes to life. I'm not a massive sports fan, but Young describes the events wonderfully and makes me want to tune in in a couple of weeks' time!

This book is also about travelling to Beijing. Being a keen traveller, I'm always on the look-out for books about different places and cultures. Young describes Beijing in a kind and sensitive way and you get the impression that she's fallen in love with the place.  

About the Author

Shannon very kindly agreed to do an interview, so read on to find out more about this young author based in Hong Kong.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m an American twenty-something currently living in Hong Kong. After growing up in a family of nine kids in Arizona, I studied English literature at Colgate University in New York. In 2010 I moved to Hong Kong to be with a man I met at a fencing club in London. I like to read, travel and spy on other people’s books on the train. My work has appeared in the HK Women in Publishing Society’s anthology, numerous expatriate websites and on an iPhone travel app. I write a book blog called A Kindle in Hong Kong and tweet @ShannonYoungHK.

2. Tell us about The Olympics Beat

The Olympics Beat is an 80-page travel memoir about my experiences as a spectator at the 2008 Beijing Games. Four years ago, I received a fellowship from my university to travel to Beijing and study the effects the Olympics had on the city. I spent ten days being awed by the spectacular performances, the drastic infrastructure developments and the excitement of the people of Beijing. When I wrote my research paper, it seemed so dry and academic compared to the energy I had experienced. The memories and impressions stuck with me, and I decided to write the story of the Games with the freedom and creativity of a memoir during NaNoWriMo last year. It’s the only book written about the Olympics from an average spectator’s perspective, so I hope it will give people some insight into what it’s like to actually be at the Games. I decided to release this piece as an e-book exclusive because of its length and the timeliness of the subject.

Beijing

3. What are you working on at the moment?

I’m finishing up the first draft of my first (complete) work of fiction. It’s a novel in which most of the action takes place on or around the Escalator, which I think is one of the most magical places in Hong Kong. I’ve also written a travel memoir about the year I moved to Hong Kong to be with my long distance love, only for him to be sent back to London a month later. A few literary agents are reading the manuscript right now, so I hope I’ll be doing more work on that soon.

4. Have you always considered yourself a creative person?

I’ve always been more of a reader than a creator. My goal was to become an editor and help the ‘real’ creative people bring their stories to the world. However, when I moved to Hong Kong I felt inspired to work on my own writing projects too. I just needed a story to tell.

Opening ceremony of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

5. Do you have a ‘day job’ as well as writing? How do you find/make the time?

Yes, I am an English teacher in a local primary school. As the only non-Chinese person there, I have ample opportunities to observe and learn about the people of Hong Kong. I write on the weekends, some evenings and while my students are taking their exams, which in Hong Kong happens four times a year.

6. How do you write?

I prefer big chunks of time and get my best work done when I go to coffee shops. I find it very difficult to write at home, so it’s useful to have designated time and space far away from my couch. I have a writers’ group that meets at a local coffee shop every Tuesday night. Sometimes we critique each other’s work and sometimes we just spend time writing with company. It’s great motivation.

Water Cube in Beijing

7. What, if anything, influences your writing?

Hong Kong definitely influences my writing. There are so many different worlds within this one city, and it’s always providing a new type of inspiration. The outsider’s experience has provided fodder for literature throughout history, and I’m discovering that it’s a boon for my own writing as well.

8. Who, if anyone, has influenced your writing?

Some of my influences are Peter Hessler, Torre DeRoche, Caitlin Shetterly and Janet Finch. Stephen King’s On Writing made a big impact on me, though I don’t really read his novels. My critique partner, Jane Cornelius, helps me to pare down my writing and focus on the most important words when I have a tendency to overwrite.

9. Can you name three things you’d like to achieve in life?

I’d like to live in London, ink a book deal with a traditional publisher, and one day be accomplished, educated and articulate enough to give a TED Talk.

10. Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

Read. Read. Read. Explore different genres and develop your tastes so that you know how to write the kind of stories you would want to read.

Thank you for the opportunity to answer these questions on your blog and for taking the time to read my e-book!