Crawling on a Creative Mountain
by Anhthao Bui
(San Jose, California)
Yellow Flower
I love to read and write. Reading feeds my hungry mind and satisfies my bewildered heart. Writing is my breath and bread. Thus, when I came to the United States, I chose to major in English and determined to follow my heart’s desire.
Choosing the English major was a lonely path and a great challenge. However, the passion of writing urged me to overcome hardships. Writing and reading are parts of my daily activities. Writing calms my anxiety and releases my disturbance. Writing is also the way I learn English. I never thought I would write poetry in English until the year 2003 when I took the English 132 class, the Writing Short Stories and Poetry course. I noticed that writing poetry was the easiest and fastest way to express myself. However, when I decided to publish Yellow Flower, I spent a lot of time trimming my poems and putting them in good shape. Also, I was conflicted because I sold my secret to readers.
I enjoyed self- publishing Yellow Flower because I had a chance to review and apply what I learned in school: writing an epigraph, choosing the quotes, and putting the poems in categories. However, the more I learn, the more I know nothing: my knowledge is only a grain of sand on Monterey Beach.
The first time-author is not easy at all. I spent long hours on the Internet and at the libraries to find the necessary publishing information, such as finding credible publishers, marketing, and promotion. After days and months of hard work, Yellow Flower was published in July 2007. I cried when I received the first copy of my book. My professors said that was the feeling of a mother with her first baby.
Although my professors, friends, and readers praise Yellow Flower, I have not sold its copies as well. I have sent and emailed my book release to media targets, but I haven’t received any response. The book market is incredibly difficult, especially for a first time- self-publishing-authors those who try to bring their names and their work to readers. I fall in frustration and doubt. However, I am overjoyed when I see my name and my book which appear on Google and Yahoo search or I see the customer reviews on barnesandnoble.com
My professors and my friends always encourage me to keep crawling on the writing mountain where risky adventures and bitter tears are waiting for me. Furthermore, I wish to be a connection between Eastern and Western cultures because there are misunderstanding in concepts and biases in both Caucasians and Vietnamese Americans. Thus, I am working on my second book, Fish Sauce, the book of anthology, and toward the Master’s Degree in English.
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