LONG STORY SHORT

WRITERS' LODGE

Mei-Li Liu

Favorite Books:

Christ Stopped At Eboli by

Carlo Levi

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann

Where I'm Calling From

Selected Stories by Raymond Carver

Falling Leaves

by Adeline Yen Mah

China Boy by Gus Lee

Sailing Alone

Around the Room

by Billy Collins

Mei-Li Liu born and raised in Taiwan, now lives in Colorado. Since her father's death, more than ten years, she has shed tears writing her first book,Ten Thousand Miles from Home. She has cherished the passion of writing which flows from her heart.  Though her writing mended her broken heart,  the healing process began to make her whole. Reminiscence of childhood memories takes her back to her beautiful island of Taiwan.

• "The Rice Fields and My Grandma Ah-Ma" published
  

         in Skipping Stones Magazine, 1999.

• "My Father Found His Dream" won in Fathers Hall of   Fame 2000.
  

• "The Victim" was awarded in the Mighty Muse
  

         community-wide writing contest in 2001.

• Author and illustrator of first book, Ten Thousand Miles from Home, published by Dragon Press, 2004.
  

• Poem, "Autumn"  published in Brave Heart magazine, 2006.
  

• Poem, "Lullaby" published in Red Hawk Review, 2006
  

• Poem, "Gentians" published in The Mid-America Poetry Review, 2006.
  

• Author and illustrator of chapbook, "Poems", published by Dragon Press, 2007. 
  

• Poems, "Hunting Wild Turkey", "He Remembers 4th of July", "I Own a Big Sky", and "Memory Bucket" published in Arabesques Review 2007
  

• Poems "Astrid" and "Garden Fence" in Barnwood Press, 2007
  

• Poem, "A Waitress" accepted publication in Long Story Short in October 2007,
  

• Poem, "Papa's Waltz" accepted for publication in Asian American Female Poets Anthology in spring, 2008
  

• Second book, Looking into the Essence of Life will be released in 2008.
  

Book Signings:

Black Cat Books Events, 720 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs. Free. Author Mei-Li Liu will sign Ten Thousand Miles from Home. Sat., April 7, 1-4 p.m. Call 685-1589 for more.

FOREWORD:

Through the delectable stories of Ten Thousand Miles From Home, Mei-Li Liu invites you to walk with her through an unfamiliar landscape that winds through a heart that reminds us of the thing we love in common--the memories of our love ones.

Since she arrived in the United States from her native Taiwan 30 years ago, Mei-Li has been lovingly haunted by the sensual memories of her childhood and the gentle wisdom of her Chinese culture. Even the mundane act of eating a bowl of

rice recalls the green vistas of rice fields and the patient labor of women harvesters. "Their hands plant the seedlings into the water like beetles dipping their heads, bowing, as if to say, "Greetings". . . their arms flapping up and down in

synchronized unity as they plant vertical and horizontal

lines that map out a beautiful geometry." Whether she is writing about her graceful grandmother plucking a Mock Orange flower for her just-brushed hair, or the astonishing feat of riding a horse for the first time at fifty, Mei-Li illumines the path of heart for the reader. She shows us the complex beauty of simple pleasures and the ordinary magic of a Universe that spins wonder and laughter in our way as much as it does atoms and stars.

A Director Mighty Muse Writing Project

-----Rebekah Shardy-----

Mei-Li's Blog