In The Typhoon’s Eye is a memoir of your young life and shows you overcame many obstacles. Why was this an important book for you to write?

Initially, I considered the idea of writing this memoir because I felt it important for me to share my beginnings with my adult children and my siblings. Then this idea snowballed once friends and colleagues added their encouragement. I found it personally satisfying to capture in writing the culture of my hometown, especially since many of these aspects are now fading. Despite the unpleasant realities of my upbringing, I also wanted to offer tribute to my parents and present what they saw as sacrifices for our own good and a future better than their own. Years later as an adult, I understood that everything they did for me was an expression of a love only they knew.

What is one piece of advice that you wish someone had given you when you were younger?

One piece of advice that I wish someone had given me when I was a young adult was to never self-doubt myself as far as my intuitive ability was concerned, and to withhold trust in people until trustworthiness is proven. It’s a big part of my nature to easily trust people, in general, when I was younger. As an older adult, I realized that that attitude may have come from seeing the world through my own vision as an optimist, or relying too much on my unrelenting faith. I know now that that trait can be a double-edged sword.

I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?

The hardest thing for me to write about in my book was the scenarios when my father was drunk and violent towards my sisters and me, the worst of them was when he tied my 11 year old sister to a post while he whipped her with a leather belt until she passed out. I felt helpless because I was not there, and yet it was harrowing for me to hear it from my mother who told me how it happened. Rage and extreme sadness about that incident stayed with me for a long time. Writing In The Typhoon’s Eye has not only made me realize that I buried those emotions deep for many years but has also offered catharsis and healing.

What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your story?

I believe that my story will benefit anyone facing a difficult change in life. Dilemmas related to generational and cultural expectations often conflict with personal goals and create needs for adjustment. I hope to offer relatable lessons in coping with and widening one’s extremely narrowed options. I want to reach out to my fellow nurses who have silent dreams and tell them that anything is possible. To everyone who sacrifices being away from loved ones, that it is okay to do it for a greater purpose. To anyone who finds himself trapped in an endless cycle of work to survive, that there is always a better option, if you open your heart and mind and conquer your fear of the unknown.

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