Wuing You with Words ...

Looking for a dog or cat or rabbit to adopt? If you're in the Los Angeles area, check out the NKLA Super Adoption . Although NKLA is the main organizer, there are also many animals from other shelters and rescues. We were there today and had heaps of fun. By 4 pm, 303 animals had been adopted! The orange & white tabby on the left is one of the prettiest cats I've ever seen. The gray & white kitten on the right is named Hodor, paw dangling as if lounging on the Iron Throne. Arya is his (hidden) cagemate with her own electric fan - it was far too hot today for a maiden of the North. I'm totally humiliated . That's probably what this tolerant pup was thinking the entire time it patiently posed for a dozen cell phone pictures. Humans are always putting dogs in humiliating costumes. If you show up at the right times, you can watch a newborn kitten being bottle-fed. See that round thing on the right side of the table? That's a scale. They wei...

"Go for Broke." It was the motto of the 100th/442nd—an American Army unit that, by the end of World War II, became the most decorated military unit in U.S. history. It remains so to this day, given the unit's size and duration of service. ( Link ) "In less than two years of combat, the unit earned more than 18,000 awards, including 9,486 Purple Hearts, 4,000 Bronze Stars and 21 Medals of Honor." ( Link ) What many people don't know is that the 100th/442nd was a segregated Army unit composed entirely of Japanese Americans, mostly volunteers. One of their heroic achievements is the rescue of the “Lost Battalion,” the 36th Infantry Division from the Texas National Guard. The 36th, trapped by the Germans in the Vosges Mountains of France, was running out of time and supplies. The 442nd fought through the German lines, taking 800-plus casualties, and ended up saving 211 Texans. ( Link ) While the soldiers of the 100th/442nd bled and died fo...

I've been meaning to mention this, but I kept forgetting. Bad memory. An author interview about Morocco, Maybe is posted at Elflandia . Thanks, Avery, for the privilege. Oh, and I just started a paperback giveaway at Goodreads. The deadline to enter is April 30, 2016. Goodreads Book Giveaway Morocco, Maybe by Alex P. Wu Giveaway ends April 30, 2016. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway

Today is Thanksgiving. I am immensely thankful to be home. We left on July 14, 2015. After 3.5 months on the road, we returned to L.A. on November 2nd. Was the trip good? I dunno. My feelings are mixed. If pressed for an answer, I would say no (reluctantly), but that’s too simplistic. It fails to represent the nuances of the experience. The Great American Road Trip is heavily romanticized in pop culture. The idea is inherently enticing: the freedom of the open road, the prospect of adventure, and the hope of rejuvenation.  Those cool parts are there indeed, but romances typically sell the happy while ignoring the sucky. People want to report their travels as fun because that is the socially and self expected answer. All the road trippy things I raved and whined about in my previous post, which dated one month into the tour, still held at the end. Basically, countless beautiful sights and interesting folks, but also plenty of aggravations. The Skyline Dri...

My partner and I have been on a cross-country road trip for over five weeks, and I am homesick. Terribly. Not that the trip hasn't been interesting. It has. We have seen some beautiful sights, met many really nice people, and learned a lot. But easy it ain't. Fun? Sometimes, but not always. What were our motivations? The main one was to explore the big USA, which has many parts we know nothing about. So we revved up our little car in LA, climbed up the Rocky Mountains, cruised through the Plains, and are now dipping our toes into Lake Superior. Next we'll swing through more of Canada, see the autumn colors of New England, roll down the East Coast, dance into bluegrass country, and return through the South. (Since we already traveled through the Pacific Northwest on a previous trip, this time we're skipping that region.) The secondary reason was to scout out a new place to live. I love LA, as the song goes. It's a dynamic, fun city with an extraordinary ...

Mandy is a four-year-old pit bull mix. Life has not been easy for Mandy, a deaf dog who has survived cancer. Regardless ... She is happy. The second time I took her for a walk, she licked my face all over like a lollipop and wouldn't stop. A little gross, but I was happy too. She is calm. One time we passed a little dog that lunged and barked furiously at her. Mandy just stood there, calm as a buddha. She is curious. Mandy likes to look at all kinds of things for long periods of time. Usually I can't even tell what she is staring at. During one walk, we passed an abandoned construction site. She insisted on stopping to scrutinize some John Deere heavy equipment. For minutes. What she is not: an exerciser. Forget running. Mandy doesn't even like to walk. She is more of a lounger. It doesn't matter where we go. Whenever she gets a chance, she lies down. We were crossing a street once, and Mandy flopped right there in the middle of the intersection.

The cover for Morocco, Maybe took me forever to design. I browsed thousands of stock photos and hundreds of fonts. After narrowing down the images to two finalists, I made mockups and showed them around. About 25 people voted, and the result was close. The majority chose a photo of blue steps from Chefchaouen. That became the final book cover. The runner-up was a picture of Moroccan lamps. I liked them both. In the end, I could've gone with either one. Too bad I couldn't let my readers pick their own covers. The blue steps image has a lighter, cooler, and travel feel, even though it doesn't really evoke Morocco. One beta said it reminded her of Greece, which I agree. The lamps picture is heavier, warmer, and more evocative of Morocco. The glow of the lights amidst the background blur projects wistfulness. However, some people said that the red and green color scheme appears too Christmassy. After deciding on the image and the font, I played with them. For...