Cynthia's Writing Blog

Working on a project right now...

2010-06-05T12:20:00.001-04:00

...can't give details, but can say that it is a play. More information soon!

So Cynthia, what else do you do?

2008-08-18T10:24:00.004-04:00

I do have a "real job." I work in the financial sector in Toronto. In addition, I'm also an avid blogger. Some of you may know about my Shorty Stories site, which talks about being petite. Women under 5'4" (even if they are like me, of "normal" height - over 4'10") are one of the most ignored and most discriminated against sectors of society. And unlike short guys, few official documentaries have been made about us. I am also the webitor-in-chief of Prospere Magazine, a lifestyle/business blog for young women in their 20s and 30s, with career-related posts as well as fashion/beauty, food and event coverage. When it comes to fashion/beauty, it specializes in profiling up-and-coming designers. A new issue of Prospere Magazine is posted every other Tuesday.

First new post in a while - and another poll

2008-03-14T08:31:00.005-04:00

So I haven't posted here in a while...I'm still here, though. I've been terribly busy working on my blogzine, Prospere Magazine. The third issue just launched this past Tuesday and as of April 1, it will go live every other week. Anyway, I'm probably going to start on my second novel pretty soon. I've been throwing myself a few ideas, but will probably stick to the chick lit genre.

Click Here if you can't see the poll

Also, I have a question for you:

My biggest fear....

2007-11-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

People have asked me what my biggest fear is when it comes to my novel...

The answer is: Big studios (or maybe even small studios) ruining Aspirations because they want to make it suit what they believe audiences want. This probably means the girls will all be portrayed as spoiled brats. After all, that's how studios think children of successful parents are often portrayed in movies (think Gossip Girl) My bigger worry is that they don't know how to, or even refuse to make Elizabeth the way I've seen her. To the movie and television industry, a child of immigrants who is "very proper" just doesn't exist. They're supposed to be rebellious!

Article from the Toronto Star: Difficult for YOUNG Canadian writers

2007-10-21T00:40:00.001-04:00

The Toronto Star's article about the difficulty of young Canadian writers to succeed is so true. In English class back in high school, I rarely read any Canadian book by authors other than the Two Margarets (Atwood and Laurence), Robertson Davies and Timothy Findley. We did have an authors' speaker series, which occured each spring, but they're usually an exception to the rule. In any case, many of the books were just plain...boring. The Powers That Be (TPTB), those who determine what is true Canadian literature, are usually older men, an old guard that really needs to think outside of the box.

From the article:

Setting is everything in Canadian fiction. Plots don't matter much. There are only a few plots anyway: recovering from historical or familial trauma through the healing power of whatever (most common); uncovering historical or family secrets and thereby achieving redemption (close second); coming of age (distant third place).

Does this mean I've fallen into that trap? Have the authors I dreaded in high school influenced me? Surely, I hope not! I'd like to think that Aspirations is different from your typical Canlit novel. I'd like to think that it isn't white bread boring. It's certainly not written the same way other "ethnic" writers typically present their novels. I don't even want to be seen as an "ethnic" writer, though I'm sure TPTB have put me there (hey TPTB, since when did "ethnic" writers talk about sororities and debutantes? Actually, since when did CANADIAN writers in general write about that kind of thing? It's something that southern belle writers or British writers might do...Canucks are supposed to talk about struggle!) Maybe we could blame the readers too. We seem to expect a certain standard out of Canadian writers. We expect Canadian writers to talk about small town life or struggle, if one lives in a big city (because the protagonist is overweight, a visible minority, gay, etc...) Anything otherwise is too British or too American (I've actually had someone ask me why Mel is a former deb and why Elizabeth WANTS to be like Mel...after all, Canada is supposed to be all about multiculturalism, right? Meaning, we aren't a "melting pot" like the US, and immigrants are supposed to "keep their culture" rather than assimilate. First of all, Reader, do we even KNOW that Aspirations is set in Canada? And second, maybe I don't intepret multiculturalism (whatever that means) like you, meaning I don't like putting people categories. This isn't Wal-Mart. This is a country.) But how do we change this? Can we change this? Do we even care?

An answer.....

2007-09-28T23:58:00.000-04:00

In a reply to an earlier post, Miss Bivigou asked me why I decided to make Katie the protagonist in Aspirations rather than Elizabeth. I mean, the story DOES have "ethnicity" in it and talks about Elizabeth's issues (it's a major secondary plot), but it's still told from the POV of Katie. Should I have done that? Or should it have been swapped? At the time I was first writing the novel, I was a graduate student, studying the History of Education and writing my Major Research Paper (can't call it a thesis because it's not long enough. Theses are around 200 pages. This paper was more than half that) on middle and upper class women's education in the English speaking world. My research plays some part in the book. Again, it would not make too much sense for Elizabeth to be the central character if I wanted to apply this research from a historical (in the sense of family) point of view. Writers write what they know, and "women and accomplishment" was fresh in my mind at the time. I just decided to spin it around and modernize it. Also, Katie and her friends were suburban-raised young women, not different from how I grew up. I don't think writing about young, 20-something "uptown girls" is really writing "outside of the box" at all. In any case, if I made Elizabeth the central character, would it mean that the typical person of Chinese descent could relate to her? There is no one Chinese immigrant/child of immigrant experience. And in any case, the publishing industry, especially the industry up here in Canada, expect all immigrant or child of immigrant stories to be about struggle (and by "struggle," I mean "dirt poor, but will dig out of the dirt to make it" struggle), not a suburban raised woman who plays tennis at the country club.

Aspirations.....supposed to be a "refreshing" change

2007-09-16T11:29:00.000-04:00

People have asked me why I bothered to write a book like Aspirations, and why my characters are the way they are. Simple answer: I wanted to be a little different. There aren't too many books out there where the protagonist is in her early 20s AND living with her parents. It's simply a reality for many these days. Someone recently posted in her blog that Katie, my main character, is "doesn't seem to be on a path to an exciting life." Well, do all fictional characters have to have an exciting life? Bridget Jones' life isn't 100% super exciting now, is it? What about Carrie Bradshaw? Hmmmmm....writing an advice column on relationships, shopping for shoes and chasing after a guy you can't ever have.......not really. And I did make my novel a little different. I didn't think I needed to bring this up again, but really, how many novels, television shows of movies have characters like Elizabeth? In the world of fiction (and often in real life, too), ethnic minorities are supposed to be poor or disadvantaged. If they are middle class or upper-middle-class, they are often portrayed as the middle class version of the nouveau-riche...you know, kind of like the stereotype of the Jewish American Princess, and they usually like their lifestyle. Rarely, would you see someone like Elizabeth. Sure, you might say that she's sort of social-climbery, but is she really, if she grew up in that lifestyle? Do you think writers don't really want to acknowledge this? Or, are many writers trying to dumb things down for the general public (I've noticed this in movies and television shows)? Or is the general public just umm...dumber today than twenty years ago? Katie, Elizabeth and the other girls are supposed to be suburban-raised, somewhat-sophisticated young women.

In the same blog, the original blogger indicated that she was "offended in fact by this 'don't "off" people at liberal-arts colleges creep you out?' underlined message you've put forth in that poll on your blog" (i.e. the previous blog entry) and asked "what the hell do you go to liberal-arts colleges for??" Well, personally, *I* went to a liberal arts school to get a good education. And I had to deal with people, both students and professors, who were "off" like that. Traditional views don't seem to be very welcome in many departments these days. I was hoping that this book would let the world see my point of view, and that because the book is slightly cleaner than most other chick lit novels (little sex, little swearing....trying to stay PGish) would be a welcome change, and clean enough for younger girls to read (i.e. this book is cleaner than Gossip Girl).

Aspirations Poll # 1- Katie's Crazy Classmates

2007-08-09T10:16:00.000-04:00

Please Click Here for the poll should you not be able to see it on screen.

Une Petite Plug from the Petite Fashionista

2007-08-04T21:55:00.000-04:00

Toronto's Christa Jean was in featured in a local Winnepeg television show recently, talking about styles for petite women. Her website, petitefashionista.com was featured on the show, and it included shot of my interview with her! Take a look!

Aspirations: The Video

2007-07-08T00:31:00.000-04:00

Just a video I made recently to promote the book. Let me know what you think.

(in case you have trouble viewing the version above, you can also find it on YouTube.)

Writers and "immigrant" culture...

2007-07-03T09:25:00.001-04:00

Recently, the Toronto Star had a series of articles about Canadian culture, and interviewed many young people, mostly visible minorities and first or second generation Canadian. Some talked about tradition and how they're going to raise their children according to culture and some said that their parents don't really care. None of the visible minority interviewees said much about being more integrated into the so-called "mainstream" Canadian culture (though a white guy said that it's important to keep old cultures AND integrate) than the old country culture. I wonder why. Maybe it's Canada's multicultural policy. You don't see media (US, Canadian or overseas) talk much about minorities who ARE integrated into so-called "white" culture all that much. Sure, there was The Cosby Show in the US, but that was in the 1980s and it was criticized by many as being "unrealistic."

So, what does this all have to do with writing and/or my book (I guess you're probably expecting me to bring up Elizabeth Chan, the Asian character in Aspirations who is kind of YASPy (a "yellow" WASP)). Well, yes, kind of, but I'm going to talk about how I, as an "ethnic" writer, am expected to write "ethnic" stories. I don't know how many people who have not seen the cover of Aspirations, ask me about the book. When I tell them that the girl on the cover is a blonde, they're in shock. Most people, regardless of ethnicity expect me to write "child of immigrant struggle" type stories. They expect me to be like Amy Tan. They don't expect a blonde protagonist nor do they expect a minority character who is rebellious, but at the same time NOT rebellious. What do you think? Do you think "ethnic" writers are expected to write "ethnic" stories? Is it all that shocking that most of my characters aren't Chinese?

By the way, writing ethnic stories isn't something that I'm going to completely abandon. It's just something that I'm not really going to explore right now.

Canadian Rankings

2007-06-19T15:22:00.000-04:00

Two days ago, there were two copies left and my ranking was somewhere in the two hundred thousands. As of 3:25 Eastern Time on June 19, 2007, my Canadian ranking (on Amazon.ca) has improved to 2,380. Of course, this could change within minutes...

Keep on purchasing 'em :)

Edmonton Journal Blog Entry/Article

2007-06-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

It wasn't really an Aspirations plug (though I was credited as an author), but I was recently interviewed by Edmonton Journal columnist David Staples on my other passion, Petite Activism. He wanted to speak with me regarding how I felt about height restrictions on Canada's Next Top Model. You can read the entire article here:

http://communities.canada.com/edmontonjournal/blogs/cultofpop/default.aspx

Transcription of Petite Fashionista Interview

2007-05-28T23:26:00.001-04:00

Since Christa posts new entries on her blog daily, the interview will soon end up on the bottom of the page. Please see below for the entire interview, minus the pictures.

The lovely Cynthia Cheng (5'2) been causing quite a stir in the petite world with her message boards and more recently her blog. I first discovered her message to the fashion industry on You Tube:"The Importance of Petite Sizes in Fashion". Cynthia is also a writer and has recently launched her first book Aspirations, which is a fun girly novel, but more interesting then your average "chick lit". In her book you'll go on the journey with Katie Hill and her friends, there's even a petite fashion designer who's journey you'll follow.

What she's wearing: Wrap dress from BCBG, shoes by Ferragamo that she bought on sale at Holt Renfrew, and around her neck was a collection of charms; a horse as her protector, jade charms, and a heart which was a birthday present from her boyfriend.

Her style is classic and feminine. Cynthia adds fun details like jewelry and mixes prints with her smart wardrobe to balance her professionalism with her youthfulness.

Most Memorable Fashion Moment: In grade 7 she found an outfit from Gap Kids that made her feel "grown up". She describes it as influenced by 90210, "very early 90's". It was a purple blazer matched with a checked purple and white skirt, she loved that it made her feel like a teenager.

What she'd wear to the Academy Awards: An LBD for sure, a longer style for extra glam.

Shopping: She shops shops at many petite shops in the city, frequenting Muskat Brown and Banana Republic Petites. She also shops at Pacific Mall and other asian malls in North Toronto where she can easily find her size.

Dream Purchase: With an unlimited wardrobe budget her first purchase would be the Kelly bag by Hermes. She chose the Kelly over the Berkin bag because it wouldn't overwhelm her small frame. For her shopping spree she would head to shop all over Europe and Asia.

The Accessory She Wouldn't Leave the House Without: I should have known she would say the watch because she wasn't late for our coffee date.

Her own style: She isn't one to be big on trends and prefers classics, often in black because they will go further in your wardrobe.

Work Style: Cynthia dresses casual and comfortable at while blogging and writing. When she's out promoting her book or researching for her blog she dresses "Smart Casual" which means she looks fashionable and put together but not like she's heading to the office.

Wardrobe Essentials: A black pencil skirt, black pants and cardigans. Also, great jeans. She just picked up a pair from Paige Premium Denim.

On Height: She considers her height to be a bit of a disadvantage professionally and has felt that she has been discriminated towards during interviews and not considered for jobs because she looks younger then she is. We all know that this will be a great thing later down the line :)

Fashion Gripes: She has always avoided calf length skirts, which is great because they are the least flattering length on most women not just petites. A "fashion no" for petites she says, is big fat belts. She also avoids anything "boxy" or "overwhelming".

Advice to Fellow PF's: "Always try things on and buy petites when you can" Cynthia thinks it's most important to buy petite tops and blouses because they are not easily altered.

Courtesy of the Petite Fashionista

Aspirations plug from the Petite Fashionista

2007-05-28T22:57:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with Petite Fashionista, Christa Jean, where I was interviewed as one of her "petite professionals." The entire interview can be found on her blog (look for the post, Cynthia Cheng: Petite Activist). While the interview has more to do with fashion issues for short women, it was a nice place for her to plug Aspirations! :-)

Christa is a Toronto area blogger/stylist with a special interest giving tips for petite women. According to her blog, she gets several hundred hits daily from petite women all over North America.

Joelle Anthony Interview (my first interview as a writer!)

2007-05-04T17:57:00.000-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of asking author, Cynthia Cheng, the Friday Five questions. Her debut novel, ASPIRATIONS, is available now at Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores. This Canadian writer, born and raised in Toronto, likes to blog about her writing here www.writergal8.blogspot.com and for a side project, she’s taking on the fashion industry, advocating for petite sizes here www.shorty-stories.com

Q. What’s on your iPod or CD player?

A. Michael Bublé, Diana Krall, Sarah McLachlan, Jewel. Broadway show tunes, some opera.Q. Do you eat right, get plenty of exercise, sleep eight hours or do you sit in front of your computer and write all the time?

A. I do both, though I think I could get more exercise. I just signed up for Pilates classes and am trying to make myself go every week. Hard to do that when you’re writing and juggling a full time job!

Q. What do you read in the bathroom?

A. J.Crew catalogs, fashion mags.

Q. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

A. Successful career in writing, communications and/or marketing; married, kids and an MBA.

Q. Do you use an outline when you write or just let it flow?

A. I just let it flow. No use using an outline, since you’re going to make lots of changes anyway. For example, I never intended Elizabeth, one of the characters in my debut novel to be Asian. I just decided to let it happen because I thought that diversity would make it more interesting.

Thanks, Cynthia for being our first author interview (except me, of course!).

Courtesy of Joelle Anthony

Aspirations on the web

2007-04-22T17:34:00.000-04:00

Aspirations has a profile on MySpace, in addition to a group. You can also find Aspirations in Facebook. Feel free to post questions/comments about it!

Question: Your story sounds like it takes place in a different time. Why?

2007-04-18T22:35:00.000-04:00

I purposely made parts of Aspirations a little old-fashioned, a little like it takes place in a different time. Young people, especially girls, see so many images that aren't that great for them. There is so much pressure to look a certain way, a way that doesn't make them look all that positive. I wanted to bring back "properness," which is one reason why I decided that one of my characters would have an interest with manners and etiquette books. You might ask me why I didn't choose Melanie, the former debutante. I didn't want to make it too obvious, and I also wanted to take a new twist over the "rebellious child of immigrants" character. Don't you find it different that someone named Elizabeth Chan would want to go to a finishing school?

-Cynthia

Immigrant Culture in Aspirations

2007-04-13T15:21:00.000-04:00

I've read many books and seen many movies and TV shows where at least one of the characters is a child of immigrants. Usually, the child acts very strangely and is considered odd by the old country parents. In Aspirations, Elizabeth is the daughter of immigrants. Do you think she's "odd"? Would you consider her "rebellious"? If so, why? She isn't exactly joining a heavy metal or hip hop band. She is just very interested in etiquette books (and is dating a man outside of her race). Is the Chan family portrayed realistically, in your opinion? Would you say that some Hong Kong parents are more likely to accept a gay son over a daughter dating someone who isn't Chinese? Also, the Chans aren't your typical "struggling immigrant family." Elizabeth and her brother never had to worry about not having food on the table or not being able to pay tuition for school. In fact, Elizabeth attended an independent school and played tennis at a country club. What do you think about that? I would love to hear from the public what they think about my view of immigrant culture as seen in the novel.

Welcome to my writing blog!

2007-04-13T12:16:00.000-04:00

This is the blog where you'll find updates about my writing! Just to let everyone know, my debut novel, Aspirations, has now been published! :)

here is a brief blurb about the story:

Aspirations is a novel about a young woman, Katie Hill, who has recently graduated from university. She has returned home to live with her parents and is attending graduate school in town. Katie has issues to deal with. First off, her mother is going through a mid-life crisis, and has started to dress like a 20 year old. Her best friend, Melanie, a former debutante, is pregnant and unmarried. Another friend, the daughter of successful immigrants, must deal with two conflicting cultures. Will she able to help her mom and her friends? What about the man who is head-over-heels in love with her? Will she love him back, even after all she did to him back in high school?

Are the girls in Aspirations nothing but snooty rich girls?
	Yeah...and their lives are really unrealistic too.
	No. It's not like they do nothing but shop and party. Paris Hilton, they ain't.
	How are these girls "rich"? Upper middle class, yes, but NOT RICH.
	Nah...they seem like a bunch of regular 22 year olds to me.
	Other (please explain)

pollcode.com free polls

Katie Hill has some crazy classmates like Tara and Kelly. Have there been people like that in any of your classes? How do you deal with them?
	Yes, I'm a liberal arts major and there are tons of "off" people. I just ignore them.
	Tons of "off" people in my class. I usually challenge their views.
	Most people in my class have similar views, so I really haven't had experiences like Katie's.
	School was a long time ago. I don't really remember much.
	I don't think Kelly and Tara are all that weird.

pollcode.com free polls