My new novel, Song of the Silk Road (Kensington Books, 2011) is a romantic adventure on China’s fabled route and the Go-In-But-Never-Come-Out Taklamakan Desert with the lure of a three million dollar reward.
In the beginning of the novel, Lily Lin’s life is going nowhere. An aspiring writer, she is stuck in a relationship with a married man and works as a waitress.
One day out of nowhere, she receives a letter from a lawyer telling her she is going to inherit three million dollars from her aunt – a relative she never even knew existed. Hoping to escape her strained relationship and to try her luck, Lily decides to go.
However, to receive the money she must set out on the Silk Road to retrace her aunt’s earlier journey there along the desert and onto the high Mountains of Heaven. She must meet the same people the aunt met, and repeat her adventures there, some quite dangerous and one very perverse – to seduce a monk and have sex with him in a certain beneficial tantric position. If she completes these tasks in this remote and harsh land Lily will get her fortune -- if she survives.
On this treacherous journey she meets an Uyghurs healer who loves and protects her. Upon learning his tragic story she discovers she can open her yin eye to see beings from the realm of the dead.
Early on, while bathing nude in a hidden garden pool, Lily is spotted by Alex Luce, a man eight years her junior. Attached to her married lover, Lily foolishly fails to realize that Alex is her true love and tries all sorts of stratagems to ditch him as he pursues her along her thousand mile journey. Only when Alex almost drowns in a lake trying to retrieve her necklace does Lily recognize the depth of his love for her.
I got the entire idea of this novel from a dream. Later I remember the dream, but not when it came to me. The young woman was not me but she had a strong personality and adventurous spirit, and I knew she wanted me to give her a voice. The result is this adventure and love story, Song of the Silk Road.
Win an autographed copy of Mingmei’s Song of the Silk Road! Note: You need to leave a comment and your e-mail address to be eligible.
- Mingmei Yip, http://www.mingmeiyip.com
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Hi Susan
You won the contest (random drawing), congradulations!
Please forward your address to my personal email mingmeiyip@aol.com so I can send you a copy of Song of the Silk Road, enjoy!
Posted by: mingmei yip | May 17, 2011 at 10:16 AM
Gosh, it sounds like an amazing book. I don't get too many Chinese adventure English books here. To be honest, I haven't had the chance to read any of yours. Bookstores here in Malaysia don't seem to have them or at least the ones I've checked. Well, hopefully I would get to read this one.
Posted by: Elisabeth Shen | April 02, 2011 at 06:18 PM
Your new novel sounds fabulous and I love how you found inspiration for it from a dream. The cover is beautiful, by the way.
Posted by: Susan Blumberg-Kason | April 02, 2011 at 04:40 PM
Haven't made it into town while the bookstore is open yet, but my copies (ordered one for a friend's birthday, too) are in and I'll be getting them soon. I'm very excited about this one. Loved your first two. That is very interesting that the third was born of a dream. Kudos on bringing out number three!
Posted by: Sharon Cousins | April 02, 2011 at 02:13 PM