Featured Author: Hi-Dong Chai

A native of Seoul, Korea, Hi-Dong Chai was educated in the United States. He received a Ph.D. in engineering. After working for IBM for 19 years and subsequently teaching at San Jose State University for 15 years, he retired in 2002.

After retiring, as one who lost his loved ones through WWII under Japan and through the Korean War, he decided to share his life experiences through writing.

My Truest Hope was published in Guideposts magazine in 2012. He e-published Blossoms and Bayonets, a fictionalized version of his family under Japan co-authored with Jana McBurney-Lin, in 2012, and also Cindy and a Korean Boy and Shattered by the Wars in 2013.

His next project is to complete his American story: A 16 year old Korean boy comes to America in 1953. He struggles to support himself overcoming hunger and loneliness. He persists and receives a Ph.D. and establishes himself as an authority in his field. The message of the story is that in America if you are willing to give all you have, you can attain your dream.

More of his work can be found on his website and his Amazon author page. Continue reading “Featured Author: Hi-Dong Chai”

Marcia Gates: Angel of Bataan

Marcia Gates: Angel of Bataan
by Melissa Bowersock
Genre: NF Biography
Word count: 36,168

Marcia L. Gates was an Army nurse and prisoner of war during WWII. As an “Angel of Bataan,” she spent three years in a Japanese internment camp in the Philippines. This is her award-winning story, told through her letters and the newspaper clippings, photos and letters collected by her mother.

This book is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble.

Continue reading “Marcia Gates: Angel of Bataan”

Nonfiction vs. Fiction

Truth in writing, what does it mean to the writer, how important is it?

Nonfiction is a form of narrative whose assertions are understood to be factual; accurate or not. That is, it can be a true or false account of the subject in question; however it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition. I put it to you that, oftentimes, those prose are written from a highly prejudicial point of view. I can just see those nonfiction purists among you shaking your heads. Continue reading “Nonfiction vs. Fiction”

How to Keep Your Kid from Moving Back Home after College

How to Keep Your Kid from Moving Back Home after College (The Money Professors Series)
Available from Amazon in print or Kindle editions.

The book that helps parents guide their student through college from acceptance letter to graduation day. Parents will learn how to help their student manage his or her spending and finances while in college, determine the best and worst ways to pay for college, choose the right major and more.

Sadly, only a third of college students will graduate in four years and just 25% of college students have a job lined up at graduation. Even more sobering is that 80% of college students move back home with their parents after graduation. This book helps parents to help ensure their student walks across the stage within four years with a diploma and a job.

The three authors are industry leaders in personal financial education. Together, they have a combined 75 years of experience in banking, economics, and entrepreneurship. Now, they teach thousands of students personal finance concepts and decision-making skills as authors and as college instructors. The other books in The Money Professors series include The Graduate’s Guide to Life and Money and Extra Credit: The 7 Things Every College Student Needs to Know about Credit, Debt & Ca$h. Their books, lectures, and programs give students, parents, and educators the tools and knowledge to make good financial decisions all their lives.