I grew up in Southeast Asia. My first experience with America was when I was six years old. Sometimes I amuse my friends by telling them stories of my first impressions of this country (clean bathrooms, Toy Story, Taco Bell, getting lost in department stores). My family moved to California when I was eleven and completely changed the course of my life. On the outside I'm a well-adjusted American adult, but in all honesty some days I still wake up to the sound of the grass being cut by machetes. I have traveled a fair amount and lived in four separate countries. I see the world very differently from most people that I know. And because I am an analytical introvert I try to understand everything in my life. I pour this into my writing. Everything I write is deeply personal to me. People who know me well recognize the shadows of people I've met, experiences I've had, and emotions I've walked through in my writing. My goal is not just to entertain and explore imaginary worlds, but to take the reader on a journey that explores difficult questions and instills some sort of hope.