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'Swordbird' writer's imagination soars (II)</SIZE>[/FONT]
More on [/FONT]'s writing[/COLOR]
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<FONT font="Georgia">Like all kids, author Nancy Yi Fan loves movies. Her favorites are “Happy Feet” and “Ice Age.”
“But I’m really more of a book person,” the 14-year-old author told the Yak recently.
“I read lots of books. I go to the library even week and carry a stack back.”
(Her favorite book is “Charlotte<FONT font="Georgia">’s Web.)
Like the Yak, Nancy<FONT font="Georgia"> reads for pleasure, but also to do research for her stories. She’s written two best-selling novels, “Swordbird” and “Swordquest,” both set in make-believe forests inhabited by birds that talk, drink acorn tea and sometimes have to fight evil invaders.
“Swordquest,” the second book, was a prequel to her first. But Nancy<FONT font="Georgia"> may not be done writing about birds. She’s thinking about a third novel with some of the same characters.
“It may be a sequel to “Sword Quest” but still a prequel — something set in the middle of “Swordquest” and “Swordbird,” time-wise, he said. “I guess by and by I’ll try to write about humans.”
In yakking with her, the Yak realized he and Nancy have something else in common: they use music to write, but in different ways.
“I like listening to classical music,” said Nancy<FONT font="Georgia">. “It relaxes me. It’s easy to listen and write and the music has good rhythm. The rhythm gets into the words.”
(The Yak hums softly when he writes. He didn’t even realize he was doing it until one day, a friend said: “You’re doing it again.” It’s hard to stop and it’s harmless, right? And the Yak agrees: It does help with rhythm.)
Nancy<FONT font="Georgia"> also has a second writing aid: drawing.
“I love drawing,” she said. “It’s like acting something out. I draw out scenes, and it helps me organize. What is the logic – near to far, up and down? Drawing helps make my thoughts flow.”
For example, mapping the home territories of the various bird species in her books is a good way to figure out how they cold best escape if attacked. How far away do the attackers live? How might they be vulnerable to a counter-attack?
China<FONT font="Georgia"> and her nature adventures.
“I’m inspired by the Chinese ghost stories my grandmother used to tell me and bits of Chinese culture,” she said.
So she’s trying hard to hold onto that culture while she’s far away from home.
“I think I brought all my Chinese textbooks with me,” said Nancy, who is in ninth grade.
“I think it’s very important to keep my culture, to speak my language. I received a letter from Jackie Chan, the martial arts star. He said he was really happy, really glad to hear that I had kept my Chinese culture.”
(Chan is a famou Chinese actor whose many Kung Fu movies are well-known in the United States<FONT font="Georgia"> and around the world.)
United States<FONT font="Georgia"> at age seven.
“I could say, ‘Hello, how are you?’ ’’ she said.
But her inability to communicate had an upside.
“She was lonely,” said her father. “Not being able to speak, she read a lot of books.”
Now, she speaks and writes beautifully in English and it’s easy to make new friends.
“Like now, if I’m speaking English, it’s very strange sometimes. I can think in English and Chinese. I can switch over to either side and I don’t have to do any translating. Right now, I’m learning some French.”
In reading “Swordbird,” the Yak also thought he detected a hint of Native American influence — and he was right! Nancy<FONT font="Georgia"> said that before writing about it, she had learned about the life of the early Iroquois Indians, who were well-known to the British and French settlers. (The Iroquois Nation still exists today and has six Iroquois tribes, including the Mohawks and Seneca.)
“I learned about the Great Spirit, which I thought was a good name for the Creator,” she said. “And they had a lot of animal tales.”
When Nancy<FONT font="Georgia"> isn’t writing, her busy schedule includes keeping up with fan mail, practicing martial arts — a type of Kung Fu that uses swords — and studying for the SATs.
For more about and her books, visit www.swordbird.googlepages.com[/URL]
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