london calling

i was very lucky in that i got to spend
my birthday at the end of august in my
favorite city, london! i traveled quite a lot
before i had the bubs, and have visited over
a dozen countries, but london always holds
a special place in my heart because i fell in
love for the first time there. then i married him. 8)
and here we are... sixteen years later.

since the hub's family is in england, we visit
annually. i've stopped taking as many fotos
of the sights and my favorite places to visit, shop
and eat. but i thought i'd share some fotos of
a previous winter trip there. enjoy!

*if you've read my novels, you'll guess
pretty easily that i love food! and i love me
a good english breakfast. (except the bacon.
i just don't like bacon--and english bacon is
scarier than american!) grilled tomatoes,
fried mushrooms, eggs, beans, sausages,
bacon and hash browns (english version).

*we were lucky enough to stay in my best
friend's flat in the primrose area. such a
beautiful neighborhood.

*a market on the tiny high street
selling cheeses, etc.

*open air markets are an absolute
favorite of mine and i try to visit them
in every country i go to! this one was
selling breads and pastries. yum!

*a cold morning and long lines after
christmas outside the london natural history
museum.

*we always do a proper afternoon
english tea as well. finger sandwiches,
cakes, and scones with jam and clotted
cream. (that's the small cup you see filled
with what looks like butter. i love the stuff.)

i hope you enjoyed these london fotos i've shared!

finally, congratulations to kate (kayko) for winning
a signed paperback of Silver Phoenix. thanks to all
those who entered the giveaway last month.

until next time, undies! =D

let's talk about sex... and giveaway! =)

*a portrait of Silver Phoenix and Zhong Ye
from Fury of the Phoenix.

yes.

i've had sex on my mind a lot
lately, as i'm rough drafting my third
novel. it wasn't until i actually finished
writing Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix
that i realized how much sex played as a theme
in my series. in the Kingdom of Xia that i created,
girls, once they were of age (when their monthly
letting began), were immediately shown The Book
of Making by their mothers, an illustrated tome
educating the girls on how to pleasure their future
husbands, and how best to get with child.

because this was their place in the world, to stay
within the inner quarters and make babies.

it's not much of a leap. this type of thinking
is part of many cultural histories, part of, perhaps
some cultures and thinking to this day.

so much of my stories are about how the girls
navigate this culture and these expectations of
them:

ai ling, my heroine, who runs away from home to
avoid a betrothal to a vile merchant in his fifties
looking for a third wife. she's terrified by the very
idea of being sequestered in the inner quarters for
the rest of her life, embroidering and minding children.
and throughout the two novels, sex is expected of
her, forced upon her, and used by her as a weapon.

silver phoenix, a handmaid to mei gui in the imperial
palace, given away at twelve years as a song girl
(prostitute) because she was a third daughter. she
yearns for children, and a family of her own.

mei gui, an imperial concubine, one of thousands
in the imperial palace. most never cross paths with
the emperor their entire lives, much less make it to
his bedchamber. her best hope of rising in status is
to bed the emperor, and bear a son for him.

each of them feel very differently about sex,
and each are strong and heroic in her own
ways in dealing with sexual expectations.

sex as a theme rose subconsciously for me in
these two novels. but i shouldn't be surprised,
as i've always been intrigued by the notion of
sex as something a woman can give or withhold.
be forced upon as a duty. to use (or not use)
to her advantage.

which is also why strong female leaders in history
fascinate me, such as Elizabeth I and Cleopatra,
how these women were portrayed and how they
portrayed themselves. and how sex always tied in.
Elizabeth I, refusing to take a husband to become
The Virgin Queen. Cleopatra, famous for her affairs
with both Julius Caesar then Mark Antony.

now, as i'm drafting my third novel, the theme of
sex crops up again in a very different way. my
heroine is a shape shifting serpent demon,
very well known in chinese folklore, similar to a
succubus. and i'm faced with an entirely new
set of rules and issues here. haha!

it's going to be interesting. 8)

giveaway:

if you want to read about the serpent demon
who makes an appearance in my debut, Silver
Phoenix, simply comment to enter. i'll give away
a paperback copy for every 38 individual entries.
contest is open to US mailing addresses only. i'll
announce winners in my september post. good luck!

cindypon.com
follow me on twitter!

i heart fan art!

i'm alive!
you say, of course you are cindy,
why wouldn't you be? well, i did
in fact indeed verily survive the release
of my second novel, Fury of the Phoenix,
AND a super duper mega grandiose book
tour with my gay twin, malinda lo, and our
Diversity in YA fiction signings! more on that
on my next post here at the underground!

today, i wanted to share some fan art with you.
there are many many wonderful things about
being an author, but one of the raddest ones
(i'm working on bringing the RAD back, why
does awesome get to have all the fun?) is fan art.
not only are they wonderful to receive, but the
best part probably is knowing that what you've
made up in your head and written has inspired a
reader artistically. i don't get much fan art but i
treasure each and every one of them!!

**click for full image! 8)

*here is li rong by philomela!

*and a portrait of my heroine ai ling, by annie in calgary.

*a really cool interpretation of ai ling twined with
a chinese dragon by haricha in the uk.

*another portrait of ai ling. i love the loose lines
but how it captures her so well in the expression
and the eyes, by marie.

*and finally, a personal favorite because not only
is it stunning, it shows my hero chen yong with
my heroine, ai ling. =) by the multi-talented
natalie. i was VERY lucky in that natalie parted with
the original and this is now a framed piece in my bedroom!

now you can see why i treasure each and every one
of these unique pieces created by my readers. i hope
you enjoyed them as much as i do.

till next time, super undies!! =D

giveaway winners and diversity tour

hello undies!!

do forgive me that i had to close the
contest early as i realized i'll be leaving
on the diversity tour this week and wanted
to be able to mail out the book prizes before
then. thank you so much for the tremendous
response! in the end, i'm giving away NINE
sets of Silver Phoenix and Fury of the Phoenix
and the books are headed to NC, Ontario, WI,
LA, GA and Portugal, from responses so far!

the winners:

sharon s.
yzhabella
lori lee
shanna clemens
a. j.
lauren
mairead
minhchieu
mikabooks

i've contacted all winners as best i can
but please email me your mailing address
if you haven't responded! pon.cindy@gmail.com





as for the diversity tour, it's something that
malinda lo (Ash and Huntress) and i spearheaded
together when we realized both our asian inspired
fantasy YA novels were going to be released within
a week of each other. we decided to celebrate diversity
in young adult books (which is inclusive of people
of color and lgbt protagonists) and invited other
authors to join us at each stop. if you're near the
san francisco, austin, chicago, boston or new york
city areas, do stop by! it's going to be an amazing tour.

for full details, check out http://diversityinya.com.

i can't wait--it's my first official book tour. wish me luck! =D

San Francisco, California

Saturday, May 7 at 3 p.m.
San Francisco Public Library (Main Library)
Latino-Hispanic Room
100 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA 94102

Highlighting Asian American YA books with authors Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, Gene Luen Yang, and J.A. Yang.

Austin, Texas

Monday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.
BookPeople
603 N. Lamar
Austin TX 78703

With authors Bethany Hegedus, Malinda Lo, Guadalupe Garcia McCall, Cindy Pon, Dia Reeves, and Jo Whittemore, and moderated by Varian Johnson.

Chicago, Illinois

Tuesday, May 10 from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Barbara’s Books
1218 South Halsted Street
Chicago, IL 60607

With authors Malinda Lo, Claudia Guadalupe Martinez, Nnedi Okorafor, and Cindy Pon.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thursday, May 12 at 7 p.m.
Cambridge Public Library (Main Library)
Lecture Hall
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138

With authors Holly Black, Sarah Rees Brennan, Deva Fagan, Malinda Lo, Cindy Pon, and Francisco X. Stork, and moderated by Roger Sutton.

New York, New York

Friday, May 13 at 6:30 p.m.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center
208 West 13th Street
New York, NY 10011

Highlighting LGBT YA books with authors Cris Beam, David Levithan, Malinda Lo, and Jacqueline Woodson.

Saturday, May 14 at 1 p.m.
Books of Wonder
18 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011

With authors Matt de la Peña, Malinda Lo, Kekla Magoon, Neesha Meminger, Cindy Pon, Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, Rita Williams-Garcia, Jacqueline Woodson and moderated by Cheryl Klein.

Fury of the Phoenix release giveaway!

mea culpa! i totally forgot about my actual
posting day on the eighth because: 1. it was
spring break with my bubs and i was trying to
keep my head on straight 2. Fury of the Phoenix had
just released and the signing party was the next day!

but please, won't you let me make it up to you?
you look stunning today. did you get a haircut?
i love that new outfit on you. 8)

and here, have some delicious mini pastries, please.


*i had to cater from Extraordinary Desserts
as it's my favorite place for sweets here
in san diego. so yum!

and look! i even got dressed up for you. and put in
my eyeballs--i don't even do that for my husband! ha

*debuting my lovely betsy johnson dress posing
with karaline, an awesome fan who told me she
stayed up till 3am that same day to finish Fury.
woohoo!

and finally, a giveaway! for my favorite undies!

i'll be giving away a SET of the Silver Phoenix paperback
and Fury of the Phoenix hardcover for every twenty
individual comments i receive. they will be signed and
shipped with swag. open international! giveaway is
open until tuesday, may 3rd. i'll announce winners on
my may 8th post.

if you tweet, fb status, or blog and link to
this giveaway post, you'll receive +3 chances
in the giveaway. please comment with that link.
good luck!

there's a hole in my head!

why you ask? because my sequel, Fury of the Phoenix,
is releasing THIS month, in 21 days to be exact.
i'm so excited, yet a little overwhelmed
by everything that needs to be done before, after
and the rest of this year. i'm being an ambitious
author you see, and have quite a few signings and
major conventions set up. so exciting! but a little
intimidating, while trying to be a mother to a 6
and 7 year old at the same time!

since it's Fury release month, it also means i'm
in full on self-promotion mode. self-promotion
can be challenging. and what i've learned in my
brief time as a published author is this:
only do what you enjoy doing when it comes
to publicity.

because really, life is too short. if you don't like
blogging, don't blog. if you don't like twitter,
don't tweet!! i happen to love social networking,
(i met my husband online after all, back in 1994,
when there was barely an "online") and dressing
up in silly costumes like chun li at comic con.

exhibit A:

(it was awesome. i actually knew what it felt
like to be almost-famous. they were calling my
name! and how cute is this little bub clinging to
me? too cute!! lots of parents were chun li fans!)

i also love to spend money on pretty trailers.
this is the one for Fury of the Phoenix, and i hope
you enjoy it!

exhibit B:



and finally, thanks to all 61 of you who
entered to win a copy of Silver Phoenix in
paper back. the winners are:

valia lind
beverly
debra s

i've sent an email to all three winners.
congratulations, i hope you enjoy the read!!

cindy on twitter
cindypon.com

Silver Phoenix Paperback Giveaway!

on the day of her first betrothal meeting--and rejection--ai ling discovers a power welling deep within her. she can reach into other people's spirits, hear their thoughts, see their dreams...and that's just the beginning.

ai ling has been marked by the immortals; her destiny lies in the emperor's palace, where a terrible evil has lived, stealing souls, for centuries. she must conquer this enemy and rescue her captive father, while mythical demons track her every step. and then she meets chen yong, a young man with a quest of his own, whose fate is intertwined with hers. here is a heart-stopping, breathtaking tale for fans of action, fantasy, and romance--of anything with the making of legend.
...

hi undies!
it's my turn to ramble here at the
underground and i've exciting news!
Silver Phoenix has released in paperback
and should be available at your local barnes
and noble and hopefully some indies as well.
last week, i found out i was fortunate enough
to be included as cassandra clare's favorite reads
(among some fantastic YA company!) so many of
my paperbacks are featured on end caps at bn.

fyi, these end caps are prime real estate
space usually saved for big time authors, so
to be placed thus is a real thrill!

so in celebration of all this happy news, i'm giving
away copies of Silver Phoenix! how many i give will
depend on how many entries i receive. =) i will give
one paperback for every 20 individual participants.
so if we get 68 entries, i will give away three books, so
on and so forth.

to enter, simply comment.
if you take the time to tweet, fb, blog and
link to this giveaway, you will receive (+3) entries,
increasing your chances to win. simply comment
with a link to your post, twitter, etc. this giveaway
will run through until my next post on 3/8, when
i'll announce the winners. this is open internationally!

good luck, undies!!