Much gratitude to the fine folks at Booklist for giving a starred review for Lines! ❤️❤️❤️
Starred Review from Booklist for Lines
Author Archives: admin
A Second Act for Skin Deep and Deep Roots: Datura Books
F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote that “there are no second acts in American lives.” That may well be true, but you know what? There most certainly is a second act for an American book, or in my case, two books.
Skin Deep and Deep Roots, my series of mystery novels, was published through Polis Books. Skin Deep came out in 2020, during the pandemic — which made promotions difficult. Deep Roots was supposed to be published two years later, but it took another year, and by then, Polis was a shell of itself. This spring, its doors were officially shuttered, and I thought that was the unfortunate end-of-life for Siobhan O’Brien, my intrepid private eye.
Except that wasn’t the case at all. Jason Pinter, Polis’s publisher, was able to find a new home for my novels, and goodness, what a beautiful home it is. To really drive the point, the books themselves got a makeover. The new editions can even be preordered from Datura Books, an imprint of Angry Robot, a UK-based publisher who distributes through Penguin Random House. Voila!
The books won’t come out until June 2025, but they can already be pre-ordered:
Skin Deep | Deep Roots
Of course, they will be available via the usual outlets such as Bookshop, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble as we near the pub date.
You can read the official news in Publishers Weekly — there’s even a quote from me at the end of the article. Happiness and authorship are rare combos for me, but there are very bright days like this one that makes the struggle worthwhile.
Dream: Paul Giamatti, Shoe Salesman
I’m in a shoe store, trying to buy sneakers. (The last time I bought sneakers in a store…I guess Foot Locker, most likely…was maybe thirty years ago, if not longer. And yet here I am.) Nothing fits — my feet are too wide, not to mention the prominent bunion on my right foot (which is unfortunately not a dreamed-up condition!). And there’s Paul, looking at me with sad, understanding eyes. Then speaks in that beautiful raspy voice of his.
“You know, I’m about to break for lunch, and I know you’re busy, but I think we can take care of this. My father is a podiatrist and we can just go over there, and he’ll see you and fix you up.”
(FYI, Paul’s father in real life was definitely not a shoe salesman.)
So we go. And there’s Mr. Bart Giamatti, standing behind a gas grill, cooking up a variety of meats. I’m lost for words — why is the podiatrist not…podiatristing, and instead, grilling? But now that I’m here, what can I do? I wait, because that’s what you do in a doctor’s office. You wait for the doctor to see you. Eventually.
I wait a long, long time. So long that I eventually wake up from this dream.
Fifth Novel: Lines
October 29, 2024. Book #5. Lines.
Publication is still many months away, but you can read it early via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program:
https://www.librarything.com/ner/publisher/1944/Unsolicited-Press
This book incorporates paintings by Dina Brodsky! Read all about it.
Everything Asian in NHPR Reads: May 2024
As the piece below informs, May is indeed Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month — and how lucky am I to have a friend who also happens to be an avid reader at NHPR, New Hampshire Public Radio? Very lucky indeed. Huge thanks to Jim for including my first novel, Everything Asian, to this extremely storied list! To paraphrase Wayne and Garth, I am not worthy!
Everything Asian by Sung J. Woo
My friend Sung emigrated from South Korea to New Jersey as a young man. So has the protagonist of this novel. The funny moments and the sad ones will be familiar to anyone who’s no more than a remove or two away from the immigrant experience – which is most of us. And anybody who’s ever cringed at their parents’ behavior will see their teen years brought to life in this slyly serious picaresque.
– Jim Schachter
For the rest of the recommendations by NHPR, please click through and read on.
From the Department of Tortured Poets
Roundup of 2023’s Best Books by Korean Americans
Turns out there were a whole bunch of novels and short story collections by Korean American authors last year, quite likely the most ever — and I was one of them! Super cool news — read all about it.
Best Songs of 2023
Here’s a list of my top songs for this year, in an order that might be surprisingly mixable. These are not necessarily from 2023; I just happened to have heard them in the last twelve months.
- The Grants, by Lana Del Rey on Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd
- Right Hook, by Corvair on Bound to Be
- The Loneliest, by Måneskin on Rush!
- vampire, by Olivia Rodrigo on GUTS
- Million Dollar Baby, by Ava Max on Diamonds & Dancefloors
- Dream to Me, by Dario G on In Full Colour
- Devastatingly Mediocre, by Deanna Petcoff on To Hell with You, I Love You
- Truth About You (Live), by The Particles on 1980s Bubblegum
- While Without, by Annie Hart on The Weight of a Wave
- Give Me Your Love, by Girl Ray on Prestige
- Mine, by Kelly Clarkson on Chemistry
- Juliet, by Passion Polka on Musik Music Musique 3.0
- Finding Paradise, by Petite Noir on MotherFather
- Yesterday, When I Was Mad (Jam & Spoon Mix), by Pet Shop Boys on SMASH The Singles 1985-2020
- Blame Brett, by The Beaches on Blame My Ex
- Sour, by Echosmith on Echosmith
- Arm’s Length Away, by Tanlines on The Big Mess
- Nothing Left to Lose, by Everything but the Girl on Fuse
- Burn Away, by Patrick James on All About to Change
So many good songs here, but the one that most surprised me was Give Me Your Love by Girl Ray. It clocks in at almost eight minutes, and usually I find four-minute songs to test my patience. And yet this one is full of so many gentle twists of the melody and style that I felt like I could listen to another eight minutes. It’s also just very mellow. I’d never heard of this band before, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
The poppiest song of the year has to go to Olivia Rodrigo’s vampire. It’s hard to believe she was able to top her debut album, but she did.
Shepherd: My 3 Favorite Reads in 2023
Is it too early to do a “best of 2023” list? I don’t think so, not when I’ve been seeing Christmas trees at Costco since September. Drum roll, please!
Sung J. Woo’s 3 favorite reads in 2023
And here’s what 883 authors and many readers considered their best of 2023.
Deep Roots review: “Modern complications in family succession”
Another review for Deep Roots, but this one has quite a few spoilers, so you might not want to read it until you’ve finished the book. 🙂 Thank you, Korean Quarterly, for covering my second Siobhan novel! I should also thank them for using a photo of mine that dates back a decade and change. Nary a single gray hair to be found back in those youthful days…
