My Writing Journey

Welcome

Hi there, if you're browsing to unwind, grab your favourite drink, sit back and join author, C Fong Hsiung on a leisurely read. Find a post that catches your fancy and enjoy.

In the Beginning:

There was an accountant (CGA/CPA, MBA) who discovered her passion for writing at the pinnacle of her corporate career. She couldn't contain her writer brain any longer. Filled with this new energy, she started writing short stories. Then the itch became stronger, and she scratched her way into her first novel, Picture Bride. Fortunately a publisher, TSAR later rebranded Mawenzi House, decided to take a chance on her, not once but twice. Her second novel, New Land Same Sky, came out a few years later. Both books dive into the Hakka Chinese in India during the seventies and eighties as they struggled with political and social unrests and then migrated to Canada.

Later:

The accountant turned writer changed the theme with her next novel, Learning Dangerously - An Office Tale. It's a coming-of-age story of a young man finding his place in the corporate world even as he struggles to balance his own ambition against the expectations of his immigrant parents.

And Now:

I write these blog posts to fill the gaps between major projects, flex my writing muscles, and battle the lazy-bones syndrome. Anything and everything goes here, as long as the topic interests me... and hopefully my audience too.

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Serendipity on the Camino: Sarria to Portomarin - September 8, 2024

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Of Pigs and Bacon: Portomarin to Palas de Rei - September 9, 2024

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Introduction: While I was rooting through my writings searching for inspiration, I came upon this piece I wrote sometime in 2021 while the Pandemic still raged and before my mother passed on June 21, 2021. I’d forgotten all about it, and on this upcoming Father’s Day, it feels right to publish on my blog. So here it goes. Revisiting the Pandemic Years: My mother believes she has earned the right to die before my dad does. In 2010 when Mom was in her early seventies, she went through several back-to-back surgeries and stayed in the hospital for over five months. She wasn’t expected to recover, but she did, so now her health issues keep my dad, my four siblings and me on our toes. That is, until Dad was diagnosed with a malignant mass in one of his lungs in November 2019. Dad doesn’t want Mom to find out about his diagnosis because she is terrified he will pass before she does. So, when she asks, “Why are you going to the hospital so often?” He replies, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing major. ...
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