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Madelyn Postman

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madelynpostman

Staring into the Sun, May 2026 @ten16press memoir & nonfiction: my Chinese American family | @hopeprize @oxford_flash | The Spark podcast & newsletter

Can’t believe it—Staring into the Sun is nearl Can’t believe it—Staring into the Sun is nearly ready for print! I finished the acknowledgments, notes, references, author blurb, and found all the photos I’m using: one for each chapter. And since I’m super-picky, I laid out everything too, including the family tree. 

Dana Breunig at @ten16press has designed an incredible cover I can’t wait to show you all. 

Very soon, the advance reader copies (ARCs) will be ready. Let me know if you are a book reviewer or book blogger and want a copy. 

Next up: marketing. Goodreads giveaways, here we come!

And the audio book recording with @_kate_hammer, production by @mercurycalling.audio.
Finalizing the references and resources for Starin Finalizing the references and resources for Staring into the Sun…
The last chapter of Staring into the Sun, “The O The last chapter of Staring into the Sun, “The Outstandng Descendants.”

With @anthonypostman_mercurycalling
Family tree layout is next. Family tree layout is next.
Update on finalizing Staring into the Sun. It take Update on finalizing Staring into the Sun. It takes a long time!
Suddenly, my book is almost ready for print!! The Suddenly, my book is almost ready for print!! The end notes are done, the afterword is written, and I’m sourcing a few photos. Then the advance reader copies (ARCs) will be ready to send out. 

Get ready for the cover reveal!

@ten16press
Some festive contrails to see out 2025! Wishing y Some festive contrails to see out 2025!

Wishing you all an excellent 2026 🎉🎉🎉
Finishing up the end notes for my short story coll Finishing up the end notes for my short story collection, Staring into the Sun, ahead of publication in May 2026.

Documenting details like my wealthy great-grandparents’ literal license (plate) to speed. 🚀

Money really buys privilege, for better or for worse. 

Article from the Los Angeles Evening Post-Record, March 19, 1932, front page.
My mother, brother, and grandmother at my great-gr My mother, brother, and grandmother at my great-grandparents’ golden wedding anniversary dinner in 1971, probably at the Empress of China in San Francisco.

Today is the last day of the serialization of my memoir and narrative nonfiction story collection, Staring into the Sun. I’ll leave it online for a month or two before taking it down in anticipation of its publication in May 2026 in paperback and ebook by @ten16press 🎉🎉🎉 

The audio book will be narrated by @_kate_hammer and me and produced by @mercurycalling.audio. 

Links in bio. 

#memoir #narrativenonfiction #ChineseAmerican
What a gorgeous book: @by_teresawong’s All Our O What a gorgeous book: @by_teresawong’s All Our Ordinary Stories. This graphic memoir explores Teresa’s relationship with her parents, their past, and her own Chinese Canadian identity. It is poignantly written and illustrated. 

I am so excited to have Teresa as a guest on my podcast, The Spark, in January 2026!

The book was given to me by a fellow @1percentftp member, Tinu Mathur of @mathurandco. And I was pleased to see that Teresa’s agent is @carlywatters of my favorite writing podcast, @the_shit_about_writing!

#ChineseCanadian #graphicnovel #graphicmemoir #teresawong #allourordinarystories
“Everything is in hyper-focus as I blink away te “Everything is in hyper-focus as I blink away tears. I’m drinking in every second through a lens of pure emotion and disbelief. Time stretches. I picture my great-grandfather walking these same routes as a young boy and then a teenager, before he left for America. I have one foot in 1895 and one in 2015.”

You can read about our trip in the final chapter of Staring into the Sun, available now on Substack and in May 2026 in paperback and ebook published by @ten16press, as well as audio.

#longtowwan #longtauwan #龙头环
Here, my brother @anthonypostman_mercurycalling an Here, my brother @anthonypostman_mercurycalling and I are displaying the family name book at the Zhou temple in our great-grandfather Joe Shoong’s ancestral village, Long Tow Wan, on the outskirts of the city of Zhongshan.

You can read about our trip in the final chapter of Staring into the Sun, available now on Substack and in May 2026 in paperback and ebook published by @ten16press, as well as audio.

#joeshoong #joeshoongschool #longtowwan #longtauwan #龙头环
My brother @anthonypostman_mercurycalling and me My brother @anthonypostman_mercurycalling 
and me in the Zhou Song (Joe Shoong) Memorial Room at the Joe Shoong School in Long Tow Wan, in the outskirts of the city of Zhongshan.

You can read about our trip in the final chapter of Staring into the Sun, available now on Substack and in May 2026 in paperback and ebook published by @ten16press, as well as audio.

#joeshoong #joeshoongschool #longtowwan #longtauwan #龙头环周崧学校
My brother @anthonypostman_mercurycalling right af My brother @anthonypostman_mercurycalling right after we arrived in our great-grandfather Joe Shoong’s ancestral village Long Tow Wan, in the outskirts of the city of Zhongshan. We were mobbed by students at the Joe Shoong School!

You can read about our trip in the final chapter of Staring into the Sun, available now on Substack and in May 2026 in paperback and ebook published by @ten16press, as well as audio.

#joeshoong #joeshoongschool #longtowwan #longtauwan #龙头环
Check out The Spark in December with an interview Check out The Spark in December with an interview with author @maggiesmithwrites. Maggie originally published with @ten16press and then moved to self-publishing. She’s full of insights and great observations about writing!
Looking for photos of my grandmother (Poa-Poa) Cor Looking for photos of my grandmother (Poa-Poa) Corri to accompany this week’s 4th and last instalment of the chapter on her, “Magic”, on Substack, I realized that most of my digital images of her are from the 1930s-1970s. Otherwise, I have printed photos, or they’re in my mind’s eye. 💫

Here’s my mom, my brother, Poa-Poa Corri, my aunt, and my uncle. It’s in 1971 at the golden anniversary of my great-grandparents, Mary and Henri Wu, probably at the Empress of China in San Francisco’s Chinatown. 

I love my brother’s red rainboots! I think I used to wear those too.
Where my day job in sustainability and my interest Where my day job in sustainability and my interest in language and writing collide: apparently, it’s BANANAS!
Thought it’d be fun to show me wearing that same Thought it’d be fun to show me wearing that same dress, designed by my cousin Richard Tam. Photo from the mid-1990s, taken at my grandparents’ house in Moss Beach, south of San Francisco. 

My family has donated quite a few of his pieces to @deyoungmuseum and @fox_historic_costume at @drexeluniv. 

#richardtam
This is my grandmother Corri Wu Shoong Polloc (her This is my grandmother Corri Wu Shoong Polloc (her preferred spelling) and her second husband, magician Channing Pollock. Read about them in the “Magic” story of my book, Staring into the Sun. 

Read every week on Substack or wait until the paperback, ebook, and audio book publication in May 2026. All links are in the bio. 

@ten16press @mercurycalling.audio 

#ChineseAmerican #ChanningPollock #StaringIntoTheSun
Check out this month’s interview on The Spark po Check out this month’s interview on The Spark podcast, with publisher @brauninthebooks of @orangehatpublishing and @ten16press!

Look for The Spark on all podcast platforms. Link in bio. 

#OrangeHatPublishing #Ten16Press #publisherinterview
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Madelyn Postman
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