In a recent interview author @cpamzhang said “Write into what is most frightening in your work.... Within that uncertainty lives the most important part of your writing. The rest, anyone else can do.” Look forward to the essay @TiffTsao. https://twitter.com/TiffTsao/status/1263044925999861761

And oh yeah, I just bought the Kindle and Audible formats. Watch this space for my Trademarked (just kidding) review in 10 Tweets.

1/10 10% Full disclosure. #TheMajesties @TiffTsao Several elements already conspiring to make me LOVE this story: The Audible reader Nancy Wu, the fricken AMAYZING first chapter, my beloved memories of 5 years in Indonesia/Malaysia, and the perfect pitch of narrator Gwendolyn.

2/10 20% Double vision. #TheMajesties @TiffTsao I literally am so on edge that when Opa cries out “Lies! Nothing but lies!” I actually burst out with nervous laughter. My God, the power our secrets have over us, and Estella internalizes it all.

3/10 30% We are all expats. #TheMajesties @TiffTsao Ironic that I settled in for a tale set in Indonesia, only to find that the action has now moved to LA, minutes from our Laguna Beach home. (Also, am a tad disappointed to find that Tante Sandra is apparently not a ghost. Lol.)

4/10 40% The form love takes. #TheMajesties @TiffTsao So revealing that Estella’s mother interprets Leonard’s possessiveness as evidence of a passion she has longed for. But Leonard is not love, rather obsession, all consuming, all controlling. So sad, yet beautifully written.

5/10 50% Power distance. #TheMajesties @TiffTsao Interesting to contrast Estella’s upbeat mood during the Cali roadtrip with her trying to adjust to Leonard’s more formal and hierarchical family in Jakarta. And I think back to the conversation with Chinese-American Ray as well...