my debut, Silver Phoenix : Beyond the Kingdom of Xia,is a young adult fantasy inspired by ancient China. The novelhas received starred reviews from Booklist and VOYA and wasnamed as one of the top sf/fantasy reads for youth in 2009 byBooklist.i'm a fan of iris murdoch. i also love ursula le guin. she ismy favorite fantasy author-i really admire her quiet storytellingstyle. megan whalen turner with her queen's thief series is comingin at a close second! i am a puddle of fan girl for neil gaiman.some of my favorite books include anna karenina, LOTR, a fairlyhonourable defeat, gifts, tehanu, the other wind, the queen/kingof attolia, and the graveyard book. childhood favorites include :a little princess, island of the blue dolphins, a wrinkle in time,dancing shoes and ballet shoes.when not writing, i'm also a student of Chinese brush paintingand love to eat, sleep, dream and travel.