C.L. Hoang's Blog, page 3

A Summer Place

In July, a friend and I went to Yosemite for a few days, my first time back there in over a decade. The above picture is of Half Dome and, at the bottom right, Nevada Falls, as viewed from Glacier Point.

A day after we returned from our visit, the Ferguson Fire broke out just a few miles west of the park and threatened it, eventually shutting it down for three weeks. It was nerve-racking to watch on TV the fire raging ever closer to the famous valley, with one access road being closed after another. News of the death of a fireman and eerie pictures of the Tunnel View Point engulfed in smoke under a red sky were disturbing, to say the least. So it was great relief when I learned in mid-August that the fire had been finally brought under control, after a full month of unabated havoc.

Yosemite, and the Sierra Nevada in general (King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, Whitney Portal, Mammoth Lakes, Lake Tahoe), have become much more to me than mere scenic vistas and tourist attractions, ever since a dear friend introduced me to the wonderful writings of John Muir and to the joy of hiking and camping, a quarter-century ago. For many years afterward, I went camping there every summer, until life got a bit too complicated and hectic for such simple pleasures anymore. Still, I returned at every chance I got---always in the summer and mostly to the Eastern Sierra, which is not as swamped with tourists as the national parks on the western slope.

But this year I decided to just brave the crowd and return to Yosemite, the special place that holds some of my fondest summer memories. Despite the extreme heat that was blanketing California, the park teemed with visitors from all over the world, a much larger crowd than I'd ever witnessed before, and the valley resounded with all manner of foreign-sounding languages---a lively testament to its universal appeal.

One of my favorite spots in the park is a stretch of land along the Merced River, behind the former Ahwahnee Hotel. It is where the Upper River Campground used to be, back in the days (in the early nineties) when camping was still allowed there. I used to pitch my one-man tent in the shadow of a blooming dogwood tree, just a few steps from the river where one could watch the water ouzel (aka the American dipper) take long dives into the rushing stream in search of food. The view there is as magnificent as anywhere else in the park, with the Royal Arches looming over the stone bridge that leads to the iconic hotel. Another unforgettable memory is of a freak snowstorm in early September one year that sent us packing our tents in the driving sleet and fleeing down the mountains before all access roads were closed.



The campground is long since gone, returned to its natural state. But the stone bridge still leads to the back entrance of the hotel, whose name has been changed (unfortunately, I think) to the Majestic Yosemite Hotel. A short walk from there, Camp Curry (or Curry Village) where we used to go to shower and clean up after long hikes, has also had its name changed. It's now called Half Dome Village. Personally, I'm not sure what all the name changes were about; they simply erase a lot of tradition and old history without adding any special value in return.

Name changes and larger crowds notwithstanding, Yosemite will always remain one of my favorite summer places. And I hope with all my heart that its timeless beauty will endure against any disasters and continue to nurture and inspire for generations to come.


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

The Paths Unknown (Cont.)

Recently, some six months after the publication of my Vietnam travelogue Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees, I went online and did a quick search on the title to see if there had been any news about it.

To my delight, a book discussion notice popped up, the one whose image is shown above. It announces that my travelogue has been selected for discussion at the upcoming July meeting of the Around the World Book Club, which is associated with the Washington D.C. Public Library. (On a side note, the May selection had been Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen, the 2016 Pulitzer Prize winner.) A few additional keystrokes further revealed that the library currently carries copies of the travelogue in 12 of its branches. Needless to say, that totally made my day!

I was also thrilled to find out that Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees has been adopted by libraries in such diverse locations as Fairbanks, Alaska; Dickinson, North Dakota; and Marble Falls, Texas (pop. 7,200), to name a few. The Marble Falls library also carries Once upon a Mulberry Field, which has been checked out a whopping 11 times!

My quick search also unearthed another great surprise: The travelogue has been picked up by the Cornell University Library and included in its Asia Collections at the Kroch Library. Hopefully the book can offer some up-to-date and useful research material to the faculty and student body there.



It gives me such pleasure to learn that my books have somehow made some headway---however insignificant---to a larger audience out there. That alone means so much more to me than any impressive sales numbers.

And while sales have tapered off, the report from the most recent 4 weeks indicated that the book was still being purchased in places as far apart as Fresno, California and Minneapolis, Minnesota. I wish I had an insight into how it all works, what brings about all these fortunate happenings, and what I can do to keep them coming. One thing is certain, none of this would have been possible without the steadfast support from my friends and readers. So a heartfelt THANK YOU to you all!

A footnote: Amazon.com seems to have an extra supply of the travelogue that they wish to dispose of. At last check this morning, the book is being offered at a phenomenal discount (now selling at $1.97 instead of the regular price $12.95). It's impossible to know with such special sales how long they will last, so please pass the word along to people you know who might be interested.

The Summer Solstice has come and gone, so I hope you all get on out there and enjoy the long days and balmy weather!


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

The Lost Tribes

With the Korean Peninsula figuring prominently in the news in recent months---from the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games to the nuclear threat and diplomatic negotiations---I've been reminded of a long-standing historical link between Korea and Vietnam.

It all began in 1958 during the state visit to South Việt Nam by then-South Korean president Rhee Syngman. The surname Rhee is sometimes recorded as Li, Lee, or Yi when phonetically transcribed into English. For my Vietnamese friends who may still remember, his name, as transcribed from the equivalent Chinese characters into the Vietnamese alphabet, is Lý Thừa Vãn. Anyway, the South Korean president made big news at the time when he disclosed that his family actually descended from the Vietnamese royal dynasty Lý, which ruled Đại Việt (as Việt Nam was then called) from 1009 A.D. to 1225 A.D.

According to historical records, in 1225 when the Trân family usurped the throne from the Lý and set out to exterminate all its descendants, the seventh son of King Lý Anh Tôn, Royal Prince Lý Long Tường, escaped from Việt Nam with his family, some mandarins and soldiers on three large ships. After months of getting battered by typhoons on the South China Sea, they ran aground on the western coastline of the Korean Peninsula. The Korean king allowed the self-exiled party to stay and even granted them some land to settle. Years later, when the Mongols launched multiple attacks on the peninsula, Prince Lý Long Tường, then in his seventies, led his own clan and the local people to successfully resist the invaders. It was said he used to ride a white horse to battle, which earned him the title "White Horse General."

The location where the Mongols were defeated was named the "Gate of Surrender Acceptance," and the Korean king had a pillar erected on the site in honor of the Vietnamese hero. The pillar, along with the Lý family's tombs and worship hall, have survived until this day in the Hwasan region in North Korea. On a hillside nearby, there's a flat rock where Lý Long Tường was said to have frequented so that he could gaze south over the open water and remember his old country. It's now known as "Nostalgia Peak."

Thus was the origin of the Lee clan from Hwasan (Hoa Sơn in Vietnamese), of which the former South Korean president, Rhee Syngman, was a 25th generation descendant. During the Việt Nam War, South Korea was a free-world ally that sent troops to assist South Việt Nam in its fight against communism. Among those troops was the 9th Infantry Division, nicknamed "The White Horse." This was deemed a nod of acknowledgement to the historical link between the two countries that went back 700 years.

Fast forward to the 1990's. Research conducted by a respected South Korean genealogist and university professor uncovered evidence that another Lee clan, this one from JeongSeon (Tịnh Thiên in Vietnamese) in South Korea, was also the progeny of a Vietnamese Lý royal. Ancient family records and state archives show that this clan descended from Royal Prince Lý Dương Côn, who had arrived in Korea with his family and followers even a century before Lý Long Tường and his own clan. The circumstances under which this event took place were unclear, although it is thought that this second (or first, in chronology) self-exiled party had left Đại Việt following a war of succession.

At any rate, both of these Lee clans are still known to preserve and honor their Vietnamese heritage today. In fact, starting in the late 1990's many of the clan members have visited Việt Nam and gone to pay their respect at the original Lý house of worship in Đình Bảng District (Băc Ninh Province, North Việt Nam). Many have even adopted Vietnamese citizenship, and in 2017 one of them, Lee Cheng Kun (Vietnamese name: Lý Xương Căn), a 26th generation descendant of Lý Long Tường, was appointed Việt Nam's tourism ambassador to South Korea.

Another surprise wrinkle surfaced in 2015 when it was revealed that then-UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon from South Korea, had paid a private visit to the Phan family in Quôc Oai District in Hà Nội during his trip to Việt Nam. This is a well-known family of Vietnamese scholars (Phan Huy Ích, Phan Huy Chú) going back many centuries. During this private visit, Mr. Ban burnt incense at the Phan ancestral altar and wrote a commemorative note before he and his wife posed for photos with members of the family. It turned out that Mr. Ban, whose last name in Chinese characters is spelled the same as the Vietnamese name Phan, actually considered himself a member of the family. In his note, written in English, he said:

“I am deeply humbled to visit and pay my deep respect to this house of worship of Phan Huy Chu [which he wrote in Sino-Vietnamese] and other [Phan] family members. Thank you for preserving this house of worship.”
“As one of the [Phan] family, now serving as Secretary General of UN, I commit myself that I will try to follow the teachings of ancestors.” (Source: Thanh Niên News).

Below is the picture of the note (with Vietnamese translation), from the same source. 

After the war ended in 1975, the Vietnamese diaspora has grown to 3 million strong, spread all across the world. Is it too much to hope that 800 years from now some of their descendants will still remember their ancestral origin and retain an appreciation for their cultural heritage, the way the Korean Lý and Phan descendants have?

C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

A Time to Remember

For people of Vietnamese heritage, no traditional holiday is bigger than Têt, the lunar calendar New Year's, which is also celebrated in other Far East countries (Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan). The exact date varies from year to year, usually between mid-January and mid-February. In 2018, Têt will usher in the new Year of the Dog on Friday, February 16.

Viêt-Nam is unique among all the countries that celebrate the lunar calendar New Year's (aside from southern China) in that it is situated in the tropics. And so when New Year's rolls around, while most of those places still find themselves deep under winter's snow---PyeongChang comes to mind---Viêt-Nam alone welcomes Têt as the return of spring. Fruit trees and flowers are in bloom, and flower markets sprout up on street corners weeks before the big day, bursting with colors that herald a new cycle of seasons.

The Vietnamese expression "ăn Têt" literally means "eating Têt," because New Year's is always celebrated with the most elaborate feasts that one's situation can afford. The delicious foods, most of which used to be prepared at home, are first presented on the familial altar in remembrance of the ancestors, before being partaken by the family and guests. Along with tiên lì xì (lucky money in red envelopes), these scrumptious meals are easily the favorite Têt traditions among children.







Recently, a long lost art form is making a comeback: calligraphy. In centuries past, around Têt time people would pay calligraphists to write good wishes in Chinese characters on strips of lucky-red paper, which they would hang around their houses or beside their ancestral altars. By the early twentieth century, however, Chinese writing fell out of favor and was quickly replaced by the Vietnamese alphabet, and the traditional calligraphy just disappeared, apparently forever. But it seems to have reemerged in recent years, but using the alphabet instead, and scripted in flowery cursive to make the characters resemble Chinese. It's a sentimental throwback to the olden days, more for decorative purposes than to bring good luck as in the past.



Aside from the traditional aspect of the lunar calendar New Year's, 2018 Têt also marks the 50th anniversary of a tragic event in Vietnamese history: the 1968 Têt Offensive. That year, the Communists violated a 36-hour ceasefire and launched a surprise attack all over South Viêt-Nam. They eventually failed in their blatant attempt to take over the South, but not before wreaking tremendous havoc and death on the innocent population at the most sacred time of year. To this day, many families still mourn the untimely passing of their loved ones during that bloody chapter of the war.

And so, on this special day when we customarily remember and pray for the deceased, I say my prayers for all the victims of senseless massacres, from half a century ago as well as now.


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

Every Little Step

In today's highly competitive publishing world, I've long since learned to appreciate and rejoice in each and every little progress along the way, to keep myself motivated and moving forward, one small step at a time. It also gives me great pleasure to share the good news as they happen with my readers, friends, and supporters, who lend purpose to my efforts and without whose encouragement scant result would have been possible.

And so, allow me to share a couple of exciting news that have just arrived in the first days of the brand-new year.

For starters, I was bowled over and humbled by a wonderful review of Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees from the Midwest Book Review, which appeared in the Small Press Bookwatch January 2018 issue. It reads:

"Filled from cover to cover with historical and cultural tidbits and personal reminiscences (and illustrated with over forty photographs), "Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees" offers an insightful and fascinating glimpse of a tropical Southeast Asian country that is now fading from the awareness of the American public. Impressively informative, exceptionally well written, and an inherently fascinating read, "Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees" is an especially recommended addition to both community and academic library Contemporary Travel & Travelogue collections."

And then a few days ago, the book hit #1, #2, and #3 in three different categories on Amazon France (amazon.fr): Southeast Asia History, Southeast Asia Travel, and Travel Reference & Tips, respectively. This was the second time it had hit #1 in its category (having done so for the first time back in early December), but it was the only time so far the book had simultaneously occupied the #1, #2, and #3 spots in three different categories. As fleeting as rankings go (these exciting numbers only lasted for a day), I've been over the moon since.



I'm thrilled to share these little successes with you as a token of appreciation for your continued support and encouragement. I wish you all A Successful and Happy 2018!


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

More Great News

Amazon has named my new book Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees the #1 New Release in Vietnam Travel Guides (paperback edition).

This came on the heel of the book recently hitting #1 on amazon.fr (France) among Books in English and Foreign Languages on Southeast Asia History, and #4 in Travel References.

I feel truly blessed. All this wouldn't have been possible without the support of all my friends and readers. I appreciate it so much more than I can express in words. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, and please help me continue spreading the word.


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

An Early Christmas Present

This is a happy addendum to my recent post on Friday Dec 8.

A day after I published the post and three weeks removed from the release date, Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees hit #1 on amazon.fr (France) among Books in English and Foreign Languages on Southeast Asia History, and #4 in Travel References. I was ecstatic beyond words. The book remained at the top of the list just long enough for me to capture a screenshot so I can remind myself later that yes, it did happen for real!



As an independent author not associated with a big traditional publishing house, I've learned to celebrate and learn from each and every milestone, no matter how big or small, so I'm thrilled to share this exciting news with you, my friends and supporters. My guess is I owe this to a small group of high school friends from Saigon who now live in France and are kind enough to help me spread the word over there. As always, word of mouth is still the best advertisement.

Christmas has come early for me this year. I wish all of you a Jolly Holiday Season filled with the best things in life.


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

The Paths Unknown

In a post back in April, I shared with you some of the surprising paths that my earlier book, Once upon a Mulberry Field,  had found itself on since its release in 2014 (click HERE to read again). As the author watching its progress, I felt like an empty-nester watching his grownup child making his/her way into the world---with a mix of awestruck pride, nervous excitement, and sometimes, disappointment. I had done everything I could to nurture it and give it the best preparation before its launch, and now that it's been released, it's truly out of my hands---following uncharted paths to far-away destinations.

It is with the same palpitations that I've followed the post-launch progress of my second book, Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees: A Travelogue of Vietnam. Just as a parent hoping to have learned from the first go-round and done a better job with his second child, I was curious to see if experience actually paid off. As all parents can attest, however, every child is unique in his/her own way, and experience, oftentimes over-rated, can only stretch so far. My second book, indeed, is a non-fiction book with pictures and a totally different creature from Mulberry Field, which is a historical novel. Right off the bat, that requires a different printing outfit with a whole new process altogether. But why don't you judge for yourself.

The first weekend immediately after the launch, Tamarind Trees already managed to surprise me: As sales in the U.S. were just beginning to ramp up (following an extensive social media and email campaign), the book scored a first-ever sale in Italy, followed by sales in Australia and France. In France, it raced up the chart to No. 2 in Books in English and Foreign Languages in the category History-Southeast Asia, and to No. 4 in the category Travel-Reference and Tips. Who knew? Even though it didn't stay there very long, it gave me such a thrill.

Meanwhile, all was quiet on the UK and Canada fronts and remained that way until just yesterday, when I first saw the book's ranking recorded on amazon.ca, indicating sales in Canada at last.  Back here in the U.S., as sales begin to build up, I've noticed the continuation of a somewhat puzzling trend with my books. The paperback version of Mulberry Field has always outsold its Kindle version by a ratio 3:1, which flies in the face of what I've heard from my writer friends, namely that the bulk of their sales are in eBooks, not paperbacks. Now, with Tamarind Trees, despite the fact that the pictures in it can be enlarged and displayed in beautiful high resolution on color e-readers, the paperback edition still outsells the Kindle/epub versions by a wide margin. Maybe that's saying something about my support base?

It's still quite early in the life of the book to tell how it will fare down the road, and holiday shopping is further confusing the overall picture. But no matter in paperback or electronic format, I dearly wish to see my new baby, Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees, do well. Of course that's only possible with your help and support, so I hope you would mention the book to the readers (and in this case, the travelers and history buffs) in your life. And please don't be shy about leaving a short review on my amazon book page: Word of mouth still means a great deal in this book world of ours.

Thank you so much for your support. I wish you and your family Peace, Love, and Great Health; a Wonderful Holiday Season, and a Prosperous New Year.


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

My Travelogue of Vietnam

As mentioned in an earlier post, in late 2016 I had a chance to go back and visit Vietnam, my ancestral homeland. It was my first trip back in over four decades, and it touched me deeply. And so, upon my return to America, I immediately set aside all other projects to start recapturing the memories of that visit before they slipped away.

Now, a year later, I'm ecstatic to report that the work is finally done. On Saturday November 18, 2017, my travelogue of Vietnam, titled Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees , will be released on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all online bookstores, in paperback and eBook editions. It can be previewed before that date on most of these sites, and I hope you will take a minute to check it out.

The travelogue is illustrated with over forty photographs. Due to the high costs of color printing (for paperback) and wireless delivery (for eBook), I was limited in how many pictures to include and how long to make the book, in order to keep it reasonably priced. However, I believe I managed to include essential historical and cultural background of all the places we had visited on the trip: my former hometown of Saigon in the south; Hoi-an, the best preserved medieval port in Southeast Asia; Hue, the ancient capital of imperial Vietnam, on the central coast; Halong Bay, a world-renowned natural wonder; and Hanoi, the country's thousand-year-old capital, in the north. Wherever appropriate, I was also happy to share my personal reminiscences.

If you have visited Vietnam before, there's a good chance you've made a stop at some of those special locales; the book will refresh your own memories of them. If you haven't been there, I hope the book will give you an intimate glimpse of this tropical land, which shall always remain near and dear to my heart. And if you happen to have read Once upon a Mulberry Field,  you'll be able to retrace some of Roger's and Lien's footsteps around Saigon and get a feel for Hue, the hometown of beautiful Elise.

To read an excerpt from the travelogue, please click HERE. You can also find advance reviews for the book HERE.

It's such a thrill for me to be able to share this exciting news with you. As always, thank you for letting me be part of your reading adventures, and for your friendship and support.

A footnote about eBooks: I've always recognized their convenience and their important role in the growth of general readership, but to this day I've personally remained partial to print books. There's just something special about holding a physical book in my hands, turning it over to the back cover, or leafing through the printed pages in anticipation. But with Rain Falling on Tamarind Trees , I discover a feature unique to eBooks that makes me sit up and nod my head in awe:

By first selecting then clicking again on any picture embedded in the book, I find that I can pull it out from the text and display it by itself in all its colorful (or black-and-white, depending on your e-reader) glory, much as I would a stand-alone picture a friend has just texted or emailed to me. How amazing! Of course, the full benefit of this feature is best enjoyed on a high-resolution color screen, which nowadays comes available with just about any cell phone, tablet, or e-reader; free apps provided by most eBook vendors (Kindle, Apple, Nook, Kobo) now allow these digital books to be read across various reading devices.


C.L. Hoang

Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2hHGXxi

The Gift of Sharing

We all have our ups and downs, and it's only natural that we'd like to share most of them with our family and friends, our so-called support network. It's especially more fun and exciting to share those moments of triumph, big and small, with the people who always stand by us.

From a writer's perspective, my most rewarding moment comes when I'm finally able to share the product of my effort with readers at large, beginning with the readers in my life. They, the latter, are the ones who have been supportive of my pursuit from the start, who have encouraged and nurtured the dream from a germ of an idea to a physical book in hand. Of course I would want them to be the first ones to read and critique it.

But sometimes that simplest of gifts, the gift of sharing, can also be the most elusive.

Looking back on how it all started for me, this endeavor called writing, I can think of two special people who had an early and profound influence on my desire to pursue it.

The first one was my dad. As far back as I can remember, he had always been a true book lover. We had an attic in our house filled to the rafters with books of all types, in Vietnamese, French, and English---an inexhaustible treasure trove that we kids began rummaging through as soon as we discovered the joy of reading. And on those weekends when Dad took us downtown (in Sài-Gòn), we all looked forward to a must-visit to our favorite ice cream parlor---but also to a long stop at one of the bookstores there. It became a fun weekend routine for us, until we all grew up and wanted to do our own things. By then, in various degrees, he had imparted his love for books to us, a wonderful gift that has lasted us a lifetime and still keeps on giving. Dad himself continued to read avidly well into his later years, until his eyesight began to desert him. I also learned that in his early life he had finished translating an English book into Vietnamese and had even managed to have the first volume published. But then the war happened and disrupted everything, and then with us kids on the way, Dad set it all aside to concentrate on earning a living for his growing family. I've always had a gut feeling that my own desire to write at least stemmed in part from him.

In the late 70's, fresh out of college and just starting work as an engineer in the U.S., I got sucked into the world of high technology where one pretty much lived to work and compete. Remember the 80's when Japan's technology surged ahead of the rest of the world and the country seemed unstoppable? Well, I remember working 60- to 80-hour weeks back then and reading almost nothing but technical journals and research papers, as Silicon Valley hustled to play catch-up. And it appeared my life would remain indefinitely on that single fast track, if not for a great friend and mentor.

My friend Roger was the person who reminded me of the notion of a balanced life, having acquired it through his own living experience. A camping enthusiast and an avid reader, he introduced me to the great outdoors, and to "real" books once again. Under his friendly tutelage, I discovered first-hand the wonders of the Sierra Nevada---and was made aware again of the beauty of the inner world, through the works of great contemporary authors of all genres. It helped rekindle my desire to write, and poor Roger had to serve as the first critic of my sophomoric attempts at poetry and short story. These fell way short of even my own modest aspirations, but I knew then I was going to keep trying.

Since then, there have been many other people who have encouraged and assisted me in my pursuit, and I can't begin to express my appreciation for all of their support. But I often think of my dad and my mentor Roger because, you see, I never got to share with them my first completed novel, Once upon a Mulberry Field. During Dad's final year, I was able to talk with him about the book outline and to show him the unfinished manuscript, but that was all. Roger, on the other hand, had passed away over ten years earlier, long before I even dreamed of the story that would become Mulberry Field.

What I wouldn't give to be able to place a copy of my book in their hands and say to them "Thank you, with all my heart!"


C.L. Hoang
Amazon Page: http://amzn.to/2oJrmLO"