"In all of my historical novels I have tried to be as accurate as possible because accuracy gives my historical themes weight. But some have been more literally true than others. The advantage of being a novelist is having the freedom to go directly after the truth of the human heart…"

“I cultivate my Chinese garden in the middle of an American town…I love China with all my heart and soul, although I feel fortunate to have escaped it.”

“I had no expectations. I thought, “If I don’t make it, it’s my own fault.” In China I had to suffer and labour for the Communist Party – here I was given the opportunity to suffer and labour for myself and to build my own life. I chose to look at the glass half full – I think that’s a very immigrant attitude.”

“I didn't have to do the research I did for my historical novels, especially Empress Orchid, on which I labored to line up every account/record — investigative journalism, so to speak. The challenge about writing The Cooked Seed as a memoir was the issue of honesty, as how far and how deep was I willing to go to expose, examine, and dissect my life — that included doing autopsies on my flaws and personal failures.”