Author: jinnyv

Retired former software consultant and language teacher, blogger, memoirist.

On Remaining Somewhat Centrist?…

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The covid-19 pandemic lingered much longer than nearly any of us expected. As time went on, more of us got increasingly frustrated. It was soooo easy to look for someone to blame, whatever our ethical, religious, or political persuasions. If I’ve remained partially sane, it has more to do with the availability of outdoor recreation in the locale where I now live than with anything I’ve been exposed to via media.

Early in 2023, I reworked some of the essay-type entries in jinnyoccasionalpoems.com into a collection of “somewhat centrist” entries and made them available in either print or e-book format. My hope is that folks who may or may not share any of my perspectives will find encouragement and food for thought and discussion in Somewhat Centrist, Slightly Sexist Seasonal Rants: Musings from the Alto Section.

I am grateful to have survived covid–a couple of bouts that were blessedly mild. I hope you, as survivors as well, will muse a bit about your visions of life and of the ways we interact with each other. May you remain intrigued and hopeful, whatever comes next.

Apple Book of Poems…

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In spring 2020, during the covid-19 pandemic lockdown, I prettied up some of the poems that first appeared on jinnyoccasionalpoems.com, added a few more, and put out the Apple Book “Border Stater.” It was offered free on any Apple device. I’m not sure whether it is still available in 2023, given upgrades and changes in Apple technology. My hope is that a few of the poems may still be relevant once this pandemic is behind us.

Holiday China travel memoir promotion 2019 plus…

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Sometime during summer 2019, while I was traveling and not paying much attention, the sum in my “book bank account” for my China travel memoir Where the Great Wall Ends topped $1,000 for the first time. I realize this does not qualify the book for best seller status. Still, it was gratifying to me that enough online and in person purchasers had bought copies to put me into four figures. 

So I ordered more copies for my in-person marketing efforts, which I’ll need to ramp up as the winter holidays approach. This book, published in 2017, is one American’s evolving perception of a huge, populous, diverse, rapidly changing country at the other side of the northern hemisphere. A distillation of nearly forty years of study and of intermittent travels and extended stays in China, Great Wall profiles many of China’s regions and large cities, including both ends of the Great Wall. The book also includes vignettes of previous stays in two areas recently much in the news: the special administrative area of Hong Kong along China’s southern coast, and, in its far northwest, the “autonomous region” of Xinjiang. 

Now a whole litany of “if’s”: 

If you or a family member or friend are interested in learning more about China and some of its fascinating people and creatures (pandas among them), please consider buying a copy or two. 

If you have already purchased a copy, thank you! If you are a member of a book club, please consider having me speak to your group, either in person or virtually. Also, I could really use additional publicity via online reviews, emails, and/or social media. 

If you do not yet have a copy and would like an autographed one, I encourage you to contact me via this author page to arrange a way I can get a personalized copy to you from my low-tech, cash-or-check-only operation.

No matter where you are geographically, I encourage you to buy books from your local independent bookstores. They typically provide a range of titles and services that you are not likely to find in chain operations or mammoth online operations like Amazon. 

Thank you, and best holiday wishes to you and everyone on your gift list!   

Wanderings and Wonderings

jinnyv

Thanks for joining me!

The image above is a stock photo of Panda Lake in China’s Jiuzhaigou National Park, taken before a series of recent earthquakes altered the landscape there. You can read about one such seismic event on my blog at “When the Earth Moved” , and check out other China-related posts in my jinnyoccasionalpoems blog.