Self-Introduction

[Vinnie]

Greetings all,

My name's Vinnie Apicella. I'm happy to be part of this group and appreciate the opportunities available to us here on Goodreads.

I'm a teacher, writer, and entrepreneur living in Beijing, China for the past several years. I'm originally from the US, in New York. I've been writing for more than 30 years in some form or another, but recently, I've become an official author self-publishing my first book, Escape from America: An Introspective Journey from America into China.

Thus far, it's been a busy but gratifying experience with all of the self-study involved and discovering all of these many outlets available to us, such as GR. Now that my book's gone "live" on several online shops, I've moved on to my marketing plan and trying to shift into "business" mode, so to speak. So far so good.

I do enjoy reading, mainly non-fiction, but will admit most of it comes from various online research or articles, and then industry-related materials. However, when personal time or travel presents itself I'll usually grab a traditional print book or use my e-reader.

Cheers guys, I look forward to interacting here in our group!

[Koren]

Welcome Vinnie! We have an introduction thread somewhere but I think it got buried way down the list so I'm glad you started one.

[Koren]

So Vinnie, why did you leave America to go to China?

[Koren]

Escape from America: An Introspective Journey from America into China…

[Vinnie]

Koren wrote: "Escape from America: An Introspective Journey from America into China…"

Hi Karen, nice to meet you here. Well, the short answer for why I left was to pursue new opportunities that weren't readily apparent in the US, or realistic based on my life in the US. Being that China was, and still is, a developing nation, they were experiencing and welcoming of globalization and the skills and experience that foreigners such as myself could bring.

So it represented an exciting time in my life with something more to look forward to in the future, where I felt that what I was doing back home no longer resonated with me. It was time for a change. And so at that time is when the idea for starting my book took shape, and developed over the course of my years working, living, and doing business in China.

Ah, there's so much more I can say about it but I don't want to use up too much space here. Happy to add you as a friend and we can keep the lines open afterward if you'd like.

Cheers,

Vinnie.