Christine H. Lee

Author: Christine Lee (Page 3 of 6)

Wants to be Gryffindor, but is Hufflepuff. I should be writing.

My writing playlist

May 9, 2017 /

In case anyone is wondering…this is my writing playlist.

There are a lot of Jonsi and Sigur Ros tracks. I’m indebted to Jonsi and Sigur Ros for the bulk of my writing, as you can see.

Also, while I love lyrics (in my non-writing life I love Journey and Sia and Kate Bush and New Order and the Killers and Houndmouth and Imagine Dragons and Postal Service and Blondie and David Bowie and Adele, etc., etc), I bend towards ambient or non-lyric-based songs for my writing (the words from the song get mixed up with my own words). You’ll see at the tail end of the list, I have some songs with lyrics; that’s me coming out for a breath of air from a deep dive into my own writing. The beginning is mood-setting, and the middle is pensive and slow.

It’s a 4 hour long playlist, which is about the maximum amount of time I can sit at any one time to write. I rarely make it to the end.

And sometimes yes, I do skip around.

(I’ve only very very recently discovered Standing At Last–recommended to me by a superior friend who suggested them after I shared my general predilections with her). Always looking for more. Always looking to lengthen my writing time.

What is your writing playlist? What do you like to hear while writing? Anything I might be missing, based on what I’ve got?

—+—+—+—-

(In case you’re averse to itunes, here is a list of the songs):
1. Anthem by Moby
2. The Newsroom Main Theme
3. Hymn by Moby
4. Myth by Beach House
5. Chasing Cars by Sleeping At Last
6. Around Us by Jonsi
7. Growing Till Tall by Jonsi
8. Hengilas by Jonsi
9. Untitled 4 by Sigur Ros
10. Indian by Sleeping At Last
11. Marl1 by Tsewer Beta
12. The Hunt by Youth Lagoon
13. Holocene by Bon Iver
14. Montana by Youth Lagoon
15. Flume by Peter Gabriel
16. Why Not? by Jonsi
17. VCR by The xx
18. Building the Barn by Maurice Jarre
19. Boy Lillikoi by Jonsi
20. Mariner’s Song by Cowboy Junkies
21. AEvin Endar by Jonsi
22. So Long, Lonesome by Explosions in the Sky
23. Sun by Jonsi
24. Cannons by Youth Lagoon
25. We Bought a Zoo by Jonsi
26. Hoppipolla by Jonsi
27. Viva La Vida by Coldplay
28. Snaerisendar by Jonsi
29. Into the Blue by Moby
30. Opus 26 by Dustin O’Halloran
31. Southern by Sleeping At Last
32. Whole Made of Pieces by Jonsi
33. Sweet Jane by Cowboy Junkies
34. All Through the Night by Sleeping At Last
35. Hallelujah by Jeff Buckley
36. Your Hand in Mine by Explosions in the Sky
37. Knife by Grizzly Bear
38. The Book of Love by Peter Gabriel
39. Poison & Wine by The Civil Wars
40. A Whiter Shade of Pale by Annie Lennox
41. On the Sea by Beach House
42. Youth by Beach Fossils
43. The Others by Birds of Tokyo
44. Yellow Roses by Animal Hours (my boyfriend!)
45. Entropy by Grimes x Bleachers
46. Everything Little Thing She Does is Magic by Sleeping At Last
47. Simple Things by Miguel
48. Lo Boob Oscillator by Stereolab
49. What a Pleasure by Beach Fossils
50. Cybele’s Reverie by Stereolab
51. The Story by Dolly Parton
52. Still Falling For You by Ellie Goulding
53. Two Weeks by Grizzly Bear
54. Train by Niklas Aman
55. Daydream by Youth Lagoon
56. I Drove All Night by Cyndi Lauper
57. True Colors by Cyndi Lauper
58. Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler
59. I Will Always Love You by Dolly Parton
60. Anthem by Moby

Tote Bags

April 30, 2017 /

I found a stash of tote bags for TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DON’T REMEMBER. I thought I’d given all of them away by now!

What to do, what to do?
GIVE. THEM. AWAY!!!!

So.

  1. Tweet or Facebook or instagram or email me a picture of yourself with your copy of TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DON’T REMEMBER, You can tag me (@xtinehlee on twitter and @xtinehlee1 on instagram)
  2. Then email me your mailing address to: xtinehlee AT gmail DOT com (so that I can get the tote bag to you).
  3. The first 30 people to do the above will receive a free tote bag.*

Thank you for reading. I’m blown away by your response, and love hearing from readers. And the best thing about all this are all the new connections in my life**–so I’m looking forward to building more.

*I haven’t counted, but I’m pretty sure I have more than 30 bags, so I may be able to go over this number.
**Also, I love seeing pictures of readers + TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DON’T REMEMBER out in the world. 😉

(how to buy) Personalized/Signed Copies of TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DON’T REMEMBER

March 20, 2017 /

I’ve been getting a number of requests for signed and/or personalized, signed copies of TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DON’T REMEMBER. I’m not going on book tour, but WANT to fulfill your wishes (without having to live at UPS or FedEx or the US Postal Service office).

So–here’s the deal: DIESEL, A Bookstore in Oakland will send out signed copies to you, when you purchase from their site. This is the direct link to Tell Me Everything You Don’t Remember on their website.

In the “notes” section of your order as you check out, PLEASE INDICATE TO WHOM YOU WOULD LIKE THE BOOK SIGNED (otherwise you’ll get a generic signature-only copy), and they will work with me to make that happen and ship it out to you!

Hopefully, this makes it easier for you and for me, and everyone is happy, and a local bookstore wins! They’re the only place from which you can buy a signed copy.

Guys, Scott Simon of NPR Interviewed Me

February 13, 2017 /

I had the privilege of being interviewed by Scott Simon at NPR Headquarters in D.C. last week. Scott Simon was an incredibly handsome and poised gentleman. NPR Headquarters was amazing–there is a huge news board in the lobby and a newsroom in the building’s atrium and so many wonderful recording rooms. Also, it felt like one of the safest places in America, at least psychically speaking. So I felt comfortable and welcome and ready to share my stroke recovery experience, living with a 15 minute short term memory, and the writing of Tell Me Everything You Don’t Remember

My interview aired on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday this past weekend. You can listen to it here. Also, there is a written transcription of some of the interview.

Where I’ll be at AWP 2017

February 7, 2017 /


Friday
February 11, 2017 // Washington, DC
Beyond the Hospital: The Memoirist on Writing About Health, Illness, and Injury
Monument, Marriott Marquis, Meeting Level Four
Friday, February 10, 2017
4:30pm-5:45pm


Friday
February 11, 2017 // Washington, DC
In Praise of Junot Díaz and Claudia Rankine: Furthering the MFA vs. POC and AWP 2016 Keynote Conversations
Room 207A, Washington Convention Center, Level Two
Friday, February 10, 2017
10:30am-11:45am

And at the hotel bar + book fair!

Christine’s Favorite Things: Instant Pot

November 29, 2016 /

THE INSTANT POT.

Guys. This thing. Get it.

And right now, for at least this week, it’s on sale at Amazon for $68.95. That’s about 50% off its usual price tag of $119.95. (And even at that full list price, it would be worth the purchase).

The instant pot is all these things:

  1. A pressure cooker
  2. Rice cooker
  3. Slow cooker
  4. Sauté/browning pot
  5. Yogurt maker
  6. Porridge maker
  7. Steamer

The pressure cooker function (followed by the sauté function) is what I use most. I am SCARED of conventional pressure cookers. HOT EXPLOSIONS: nope no thank you. But this thing makes pressure cooking what it is (fast, efficient) without the primordial fear of having to REMOVE THE TOP OFF OF SOMETHING FILLED WITH BEYOND BOILING CONTENTS. It’s the BEST.

I noticed the Instant Pot first when a friend kept mentioning her instant pot on Facebook. WHAT IS IT, I asked.

I hesitated–because you know: pressure cooker. SCARY. But then I started imagining EATING.

And while I love reading instruction manuals (really, I do)–the instructions for this thing fit on one page. Like, you hit “soup” for your soup contents. Or “stew” for your stew contents. You adjust for time. Then you wait for the thing to beep and it…just…starts. And it’s amazing.

So far, I have made the following things (in a span of 3 weeks):

  • Korean braised short rib stew (aka galbi jjim)
  • Braised oxtail stew
  • Chicken soup
  • Chicken jook
  • Beans
  • Bean soup
  • Korean sullungtang soup
  • Stock. Lots of stock.

All under an hour. I don’t know about you, but when I want to eat, I WANT TO EAT NOW. I also don’t want to mess up more than one pot. And while I love love love braised meat, I’m really not into waiting four hours while a meat braises.

It’s winter now–and so I appreciate warmth in the house–but in the summer, I like imagining using the instant pot and NOT having the house turn into a heat ball. Because all the heat is CONTAINED in this appliance. If I lived in the dorms or a small apartment with a tiny kitchen, this thing would be a core necessity–it relieves stress off the stove and makes it so you can make a great meal in one receptacle. Even though I’ve got a full kitchen, this thing has become such a core part of our household cooking.

For more recipes, I highly recommend nom nom paleo (scroll down to the pressure cooking /instant pot section).

Feel good.
Eat good well.

Christine’s Favorite Things: Poo-pourri

November 6, 2016 /

I was at the park with my friend C, telling her about how matches don’t quite cut it in the bathroom. I mean, I went into more details, but I don’t want to throw the members of my household under the bus here on the blog.

“Poo-pourri,” she said.

What?

“Poo-pourri.”

What?

It’s a clever spray product–you spray the product into the boil BEFORE you go. All the fragrances have a citrus oil base that coats the water in the bowl and then basically kills the smell of poop. Also, the packaging is cute and not at all industrial looking, even though it’s pretty industrial strength.

We’ve tried everything in our household to hold off the odor in the bathroom. We had a lavender air fragrance that would just mingle with the effluvium, such that I now no longer like the smell of my previously beloved smell of lavender. Same with roses. We’ve used matches galore, but the smell of sulfur drove my daughter nuts.

Poo-pourri is as effective as lighting a match, but WITHOUT the smell of sulfur dioxide. I think it’s even better than a match, because instead of poop, you smell lemons. It really works.

My friend C owns a housewares shop in Berkeley.

Do you carry it? I asked.

“No,” she said, “but I could.”

And she did. It’s now my go-to spot for restocking Poo-pourri (I like the original scent, but all of them are fabulous, with awesome names like “Ship Happens” and “Potty On.” Check out Ellington and French for poo-pourri products. They’re an official “Poo-tique.”

I can’t recommend this product enough. Poo-pourri is amazing.

Feel good.
Smell good.

How to Ask Authors for an Interview

September 6, 2016 /

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I used to be a technical recruiter. This meant that for over 15 years, I left voicemails and email messages with the intention of opening a dialogue, with the hope that I sounded both professional and engaging. And ultimately, with the hope of a reply.

Additionally, once people called, I interviewed people. My goal was to get to know each person’s motivations and assess skill set and gain insight into their character to determine fit for the companies at which I worked.

I often wondered how this career experience would at all dovetail with my dream of becoming a published writer.

But then when I became a fiction editor at Kartika Review, my past and present jobs began to converge. Part of my responsibilities included seeking out writers for interviews and then interviewing them in the most rewarding way I could muster. I felt like finally my past life was making sense in my present life!

Now that I’m officially an author (!!!)–wow, that sounds weird and amazing to write–I’m on the other end of all this business. I’m the one asked for interviews. And I’m experiencing an entire range of queries.

I can’t say yes to everything. My publicity team is curating requests for me. But I thought I’d take some time here to offer up what I’ve learned (on and off the job) to more effectively ask authors for interviews. It’s “how to get to yes” for author interviews…

In the query emails…

  • Introduce yourself. If you know the author or were referred to her/him or have a friend in common, now’s the time to make that known.
  • Disclose affiliation–are you interviewing him/her for your blog? For a journal? For a magazine? If your publication isn’t nationally recognized (i.e., the New York Times), then share a little about your publication. Provide a url to your publication. Perhaps an example of a past interview. Who’s your readership? Your audience?
  • Compliment. Flattery gets you everywhere–make sure it’s authentic. I am going to assume you’ve read their work. If not their recent book, please make sure you’ve read SOMETHING they’ve written. Then say something about how that work was meaningful to you. This will give the author/writer an indicator of how thoughtful the interview experience will be.
  • Mention the impact their interview might have on you or your publication. If you have a smaller audience, this is a crucial addition–because psychic income counts. Established authors will engage with you if they feel
    your passion or social messaging or whatnot. How would their participation help you or your readership?
  • Then–and this might be the hardest part, tell them in what ways participation would help the author out. Will s/he gain readers? Will this be good community service? How might you help sell her/his book or elevate her/his social presence? Or darn it, will it just be an awesome good old time? Having fun is also a part of the decision equation. Authors are people too. 🙂
  • Also–maybe a quick note on the format of your interview. Will it be via google docs? IM chat? Phone? Email? Or list possibilities and let the author choose (many of us have a preference–I myself prefer google docs or email).
  • If there is a reply…a followup email after your THANK YOU I’M SO EXCITED, be clear about timeline–by when would you like this interview done? And how long will they have to answer questions? How many rounds of questions? How many questions will there be? Make sure you give authors at least a month out of courtesy.
  • And follow up. You can end your first query email by suggesting you will followup in a few weeks if there is no reply. And then follow up. Follow up Follow up Follow up. This is for you. And do it kindly but firmly. I once asked a writer for 18 months for an interview–by checking in every 3 months (politely but consistently) until I got a yes. Now that Famous Author and I are friends.
  • If the author agrees to the interview–they’ve made time in their schedule for you. Make sure it HAPPENS. A disappointed author makes a cynical author makes an author less likely to say yes to future interviews.

I hope this helps!!!

Mailing List

July 14, 2016 /

IMG_1284 (1)

I am starting a mailing list in anticipation of the release of my memoir TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DON’T REMEMBER (and of course, after that–my novel, THE GOLEM OF SEOUL).

I welcome you to sign up for monthly-ish updates from me.

The updates will have some personal content as it pertains to writing. I’ll also be sharing my writing process, my publishing experience, favorites, travel, etc. A little like this blog, but also different.

And hopefully more exclusive–for instance, when my book trailer is released, my mailing list readers will be the first to see it!

Additionally, I plan on holding giveaways to members of the mailing list–for example, signed books…and possibly tote bags or other schwag I might dream up.

Please sign up below. And thank you for becoming a part of my inner circle of readers.

Subscribe to my mailing list

* indicates required




The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

June 20, 2016 /

90EBDD91-4E48-4C35-8322-9C9189252A97
(A picture of me in 2013)

In 2013, I lost everything I’d built my life upon. My marriage. My previous identity. Money. I was heartbroken and dealing with postpartum depression. I was struggling with motherhood, and the challenges of this new life.

But unbeknownst to me at the time, I found my identity and strength and friends and love and I began a relationship with my newborn daughter. Everything was gone but I had the opportunity to replenish my life with things and people most important to me as a newly untethered individual.

I remember telling O that I had one year to really make a change. That for a year I would be at home as a new mother and I would have no money and that that would be the year I would double down on dreams. Everything’s gone to shit, I told him. I have nothing else left to lose. I have to do only the things I love to do and see where they lead me.

I felt helpless and so I did the one thing that did not make me feel helpless. I doubled down on writing.

In 2013, I wrote the essay that was a turning point in my career, MINT and it was published in The Rumpus by Roxane Gay. It was not as widely read as some of my future work, but this was the publication that changed my life.

That essay led to an opportunity to write something for BuzzFeed in 2014. I wrote an essay about my stroke and recovery. The essay went viral and led to a 2-book deal with Ecco.

All I did in 2015 was write my memoir. I wrote and wrote and wrote.

Two months ago, I turned in my memoir manuscript. Yesterday, I finished copy edits.

In 2017, on February 14, TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU DON’T REMEMBER will be published and out in the world.

I did not do this alone.

Thank you.

2013 was an enormous fall. Here is a picture of me in 2013, sliding down the Codornices park concrete slide. On that day, I decided that as miserable as I felt, I would seek a minute of pure joy, somehow. My thinking was that I could hold on to those few seconds and say, “Today I felt good, even if for ten seconds.”

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(Also, falling can feel good–as evidenced by the slide).

That is how I clawed my way back. I would hold on to the small parts of good. Even if the good was just one percent of my day. I would make that one percent, larger, somehow. I would hold on to any part of happiness, even if fleeting.

I would focus on happiness. I would be aware of misery and I would try to deal with the bills and legal paperwork one by one. My worries were many–at one point I wondered how it was that I would pay for diapers. I would not ignore these concerns. But I would look at a sliver of happiness while dealing with the unpleasant.

And eventually, the happiness would dominate.

And yes, it has.

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Contact

email: christine DOT zilka AT gmail DOT com
twitter: @xtinehlee

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