By and large we researched and wrote Formosa Moon in the first half of 2017, turning it into the publisher in August of 2017 for publication about a year later. Though not through design, a major character in the book turned out to be the neighborhood we lived in during this period, a strange little corner of New Taipei City called Garden City.
Though beautiful, Life in Garden City was a challenge, for a number of reasons. On the day we moved out, I shot this short video from our home there, figuring that when the book came out readers might think we were exaggerating the, er, unusual conditions of the place. (One chapter was called “BARK! BARK! YIP! YIP!” – which was a compromise from the original “Fucking Dogs!” )
I had actually lived in Garden City as a younger man, back in 2002, so I guess I should have known what I was in for. Anyway, it’s been almost two years since we left, and the experience is taking on something of a rosy hue.
Read Bark! Bark! Yip! Yip! ~ Now We Own a Chicken ~ We Are Not Gardeners ~ Late Night Scavenger Hunt and many, many tales from other parts of Taiwan not part of New Garden City in Formosa Moon! Purchase your copy from Amazon, Barnes And Noble, or Powell’s City of Books.
