Our friend Dan Bloom who now inhabited in Chiayi, Taiwan recently published two new works, ‘My Guardian Angel Taught Me Where to Look for Love’ and ‘In the Eyes of A Child, It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again’, they are fully contained with lovely poems and illustrations. He held a press conference for these two books in the Children’s Art Museum in Taipei last Saturday. Dan posted some information about his new books in the last weblog entry, just click here for further reading, but those articles are all in Mandarin Chinese.
I began to know about Dan last winter, I went to Chiayi to participate a Taoist religious celebration in Taibow near Chiayi last December, I met Dan in the night market near in the downtown of Chiayi. He was selling his previous book My Excellent Adventures Selling Books from a Pushcart in the Night Markets of Taiwan’ with a bicycle to carry his books. I bought one and read it.
In that book, Dan said that he was traveling all around the world from west to east, but what is most impressive to him is the way people live in Taiwan and the special culture of night markets, he just want to express how he loves the outstanding living style in Taiwan and how he loves the night markets. That’s also why he wants to sell his book in the night market. I mentioned about this book in my personal weblog in an article entitled with ‘The Little Price and the Little Princess’, in that article I tried to discuss the representation of the Taiwanese children in the Taoist religious celebrations in Dan’s book.
According to the reports from the papers, Dan told the journalists that the book will be translate into twenty five different language and be published all around the world. He wants to prove that not only in London and New York, there are also great books in Taiwan. He started these two books with a sudden inspiration when he was eating somewhere in Chiayi, “It’s like an angel speaking to me.” He wrote all the poems within just ten minutes, then get helped by the Global Children’s Art Gallery to put the paints of the children and Dan’s poem together. He said these two books in not only his work but also the co-creations by the artist from New York, Oregon, Taipei and Chayi, and all the children.
I did not read Dan’s new books but I read Dan’s poem online both in Chinese and English. You may check the URL below. I cannot give any comment on Dan’s books now, but Dan wrote to me yesterday, he said:
Well, why not?
Further readling:
Thanks, Zonble, aka Wei-chung Yang, for your wonderful post above. Since you have been so kind and generous to me, I want do do something kind and generous here on your blog site.
An offer: if anyone reading this blog would like to receive a FREE copy of any of my books, I will be happy to mail them to you anywhere in Taiwan (or overseas) as a gift from me to you. FREE. Please read about my new books at http://www.tgblife.com.tw and then email me at danbloom@reporters.net here in Taiwan and send me your snail mail address to receive mail package. I will then sign the book and mail it to you, free. I am serious.
One good turn deserves another.
Thank you, Zonble!
Sincerely,
Dan Bloom in CHIAYI CITY, south of the border
A letter from friends in Japan:
Hello Dan Bloom,
Thank you very much for sending your new books to us.
Such a pretty book! It is actually a good idea to have Chinese and English together and also explanations of some difficult English words like expialidocious.
All of the kids’ pictures are beautiful. And every time we read your poem, we really think your poem is wonderful, giving us a courage and energy and “genki”!
Hoping that we some day will have a Japanese version of this book as well as other versions like French, German, Korean, Spanish, etc. etc….!
Satoru and Mitsuko Ebihara, OSAKA
NOTE: A Japanese publisher is interested in releasing a Japanese edition of these two books, but they are not sure when. Maybe next spring. And an editor in Korea has also expressed interest.
From Taiwan to the world, that is my dream for these books. — DAN
I am planning on doing several interviews with radio stations in Taiwan. Does anyone reading this know of any good radio stations, perhaps even college radio stations at NTU or CCU or Chiayi University, or pirate radio stations, or underground radio stations, or any kind of radio stations, that might be a good place for me to do speaking interviews?
I cannot speak in Chinese very well, so the interview would have to be in English or French or Japanese, and mostly just English. But I feel that RADIO could also be a good way to promote my books since radio offers an intimate kind of feeling to listeners around the island.
I am planning to do interviews on radio with Ruby Hsih at NEWS 98 FM in Taipei and with Jane Chen at her radio show in Taipei, too. I tried to ask UFO radio in Taipei, I even went to their office on the 25th floor of some tall building on Roosevelt Road but they said no.
The people at NEWS 98 said yes, please come to our show, and Ruby English has said she will invite me on her show. What other radio shows are good for listeners in Taichung or Hualien or Taitung or Kaohsiung or Taoyuan? Have you ever heard of the Richmond Hsieh show?
I want to do some TV news interviews, too, but the way TV works is they put you on the air for 30 seconds doing something silly, and that is not what I want to do for my books. Anyways, I don’t think TVBS or ETTC or PTS or FTV care about these kind of books; they are more interested in car crashes and murders and political scandals. However, I would like to appear on a good TV show that talks about books and poetry. Is there such a show in Taiwan, and who could I contact?
The United Daily News and the Liberty Times newspapers have already written nice stories about these two books, and the CHINA TIMES has promised to report the news on their culture page someday soon, so the newspapers have been kind and generous. I also did a radio interview on ICRT radio station on October 6, with DJ host Rick Monday interviewing me. That was fun. I like radio!
I checked the local bookstores today in Chiayi, and I can say that bookstore sales remain low low low. Almost zero. So I believe that unless a miracle occurs, and it won’t, bookstore sales for these two books will remain very very low. However, last Friday and Saturday nights, while I was selling the books during my regular night market sales gig, on the street, I sold 150 books. It is amazing. The night markets really support me. The bookstores are too busy selling bestsellers. So I guess I will remain a happy night market bookseller for the rest of my life.
Again, thanks to everyone for their support.
Progress report: November 31, 2003. Book selling well, media slowly reporting the story. All is well in Bookland. Feel free to email me anytime.
Inspirational picture books make great gifts
By Cheryl Robbins
Taiwan News (daily English newspaper in Taipei)
American expat writer Dan Bloom, 44, hails from Boston, Massachusetts, but now living in Chiayi City in southern Taiwan. He recently produced two bilingual inspirational prose poem picture books (in a Chinese/English format) titled “In the Eyes of a Child, It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again” and “My Guardian Angel Taught Me Where to Look for Love.”
These two books are part of the “Inner Child Series” published by Taipei-based Life Potential Publications. [www.tgblife.com.tw]
These books feature children’s artwork, which people of all ages will enjoy, but the text is meant for a young adult audience with meditations on love, relationships and fulfilling personal dreams.
Bloom says that the text of the first book, “In the Eyes of a Child”, just came to him one day when he was eating lunch in a park in Chiayi.
“In the quiet shade of that park, the words just started pouring into my head, and I wrote them down as fast as I could.”
He adds that, “I felt the pure spirit of creativity.”
Bloom notes that the second book, “My Guardian Angel”, came about in a more “normal way.
“I thought of a title that included both angels and love, then started writing, but following the same kind of formula and cadence I had discovered for the first book. It’s a completely different book, but it comes out of the same creative spirit as the first one.”
As far as the picture part of these picture books, Bloom explains that since “In the Eyes of a Child” was themed about kids, it seemed logical to match it with children’s drawings.
From a search on the Internet, he came across a nonprofit online global gallery of kid’s art on http://www.naturalchild.org, run by mother and son team Jan and Jason Hunt.
After making a donation to help with continued operation of the website, Bloom obtained the rights to use illustrations from Thailand, India, France, Italy, Israel, the US, Japan, South Korea, Holland, Lebanon, and of course, Taiwan.
The gallery currently has over 800 pictures by children aged 2 to 12 from many countries around the world, and has gained international attention including a CNN report.
Jan Hunt says that she loves the prose poem that makes up “In the Eyes of a Child”, as it is full of hope that can cheer and inspire people of all ages.
For “My Guardian Angel” the publisher wanted to focus on promoting local children’s art and worked with the Soho Children’s Art School and the Children’s Art Museum in Taipei to collect illustrations.
Stella Huang, chief editor of Life Potential Publications and the Chinese translator for these two books, says that their attraction is that they contain a universal message.
“Everyone in the world has an inner child within and can understand the love and the feelings that are expressed in these books.”
She adds that, “Some people buy these books to help them find their lost innocence. Some people buy them because they are touched by the children’s drawings. Some people buy them for their children to encourage them to learn English or art. Some people buy these books to give as gifts to friends who are down. There are all kinds of reasons to pick up these books.”
In addition to conventional sales and bookstore channels, Bloom sells his books at night markets in Chiayi. He says that this is a fun hobby that helps him to connect on a personal level with potential readers.
For those who don’t frequent Chiayi night markets, both books can be purchased at major bookstores throughout Taiwan or on the Internet from
http://www.books.com.tw,
http://www.tgblife.com.tw
http://www.naturalchild.org
(c) Cheryl Robbins [December 16, 2003]
In the Sunday edition of the TAIWAN NEWS, an English language daily newspaper in Taiwan, Rosario Dureza- Lim wrote in her weekly column a short appreciation of the two books:
Season of Hope is also the Season of Angels (headline)
by Rosario Dureza- Lim
TAIWAN NEWS,
daily English newspaper
12-21-2003
Taipei, Taiwan
Do you believe in angels? American expat writer Dan
Bloom of Chiayi City does. In fact, the popular
American author has penned a charming little book, “My
Guardian Angel Taught Me Where to Look For Love.”
Mr. Bloom writes about having loved and lost, not
giving up, and finally finding his love, with the help
of his guardian angel. He cleverly uses artwork of
children from different countries to magnify his
message of hope in our eternal search for love.
Many of us have loved and lost so many times that we
seem beyond hope. We have become so desperate that we
fall for the first bug that bites us. We do not take
the time to scrutinize the person we fall for. On the
other hand, many of us are so disgusted with love that
we refuse to have anything to do with it altogether.
When this happens, we have begun to see the world
through the jaded eyes of adults. If we could only see
the world through the eyes of little children, we
might become alive again. This message is communicated
in Mr. Bloom’s other book, “In The Eyes Of a Child,
It Never Too Late to Begin Again.” In this book, he
uses lovely children artwork from the Global
Children’s Art Gallery in Sunriver, Oregon
(www.naturalchild.com/gallery) to convey his optimism
in a world full of strife and stress. He writes about
how we should view the world through the eyes of
little children….
…It takes a childlike innocence devoid of adult
pride to accept that angels are amongst us. It is only
when we open our eyes to the possibility of angels and
miracles that we bring hope into this troubled world.
Like Dan Bloom, we must see wisdom in seeing the world
through a tiny child’s eyes. In so doing we will be
able to see “angelic” qualities of people around us.
With this frame of mind, we will finally appreciate
our loved ones. We will see them for the good persons
that they are, and not lament their undesirable
traits.
RE: UNAC in 2025
Dear Editor,
With the European Union (EU) now standing at 25
countries, with a few more to come in the near future,
and with other regional groupings around the world
also making headlines and perfect common sense, maybe
it is time now for countries in North Asia to really
start considering forming what might be called someday
the Union of North Asian Countries (UNAC), comprised
of Taiwan, China, Japan, South Korea and North Korea.
Of course, this cannot happen until both China and
North Korea become free and democratic countries, and
this will not happen overnight. However, just as the
Soviet Union collapsed, someday the dictatorship of
the Communist Party in China will also collapse. It
might happen next year, it might happen in 25 years,
but it will happen. It is is inevitable as the coming
of the dawn. North Korea will also become a democratic
nation, too. someday.
So it is not too early to put this term — UNAC — out
into the media world and cyberspace. Once people
conceive of something with a term or concept, it will
be easier to make it happen. A strong and united UNAC
will possess great purchasing power and sophistication
for people in this region of the world, while also
ensuring that the values of democracy and freedom
endure.
Sincerely,
Dan Bloom
Chiayi City
Taiwan
danbloom@reporters.net