Long and Short Reviews welcomes Z. Allora who is visiting with us today to celebrate her release of The Temple of Heaven and will be hosting a special giveaway. To Enter the Giveaway: Leave a comment about what you would miss from home if you moved to China. Winners will be picked July 20th. (Leaving your email helps but isn’t necessary. The author will stalk you through the website to preserve your privacy.)

Greetings! I want to thank Long and Short Reviews and your readers for the opportunity to share a little bit about me, China and my new release The Temple of Heaven. To celebrate I’ll be doing a giveaway across my blog tour: 3 e-books of The Great Wall, 5 e-books of Finally Fallen, and a $20 gift card to Dreamspinner. (Details about the giveaway are below.)

I lived in Suzhou China for almost six years. My time there was filled with incredible wonderful experiences and I adored so many of the people I met. But I also know there’s no place like home. (For me, that’s the USA).

When we first moved there (2006) Suzhou wasn’t connected to Shanghai by the highway or train so it took about 2.5 hours to get there. Suzhou had yet to be named an AAAA tourist destination which it was in 2009ish. AAAA means the government poured money into Suzhou for infrastructure, growth, and beautification.

Though Suzhou was plenty incredible before the government attention. After all, eighteen of the Emperors Gardeners retired to Suzhou and designed their own gardens there which are for everyone to enjoy. Chinese gardens are like stepping into a watercolor. The gardeners understood the art of landscaping. Suzhou was nicknamed the Venice of the East because of all the canals that run through the city.

Although as much as I can gush about China, I will admit everything was different. Sometimes only a little different and that allowed my expectations rise which gave me confidence in dealing with something effectively—only to crash and burn trying to do the simplest things. I got used to not ever getting quite what I wanted. Compromise and settling for almost were my mantra.

Things I didn’t expect:

*When I saw the exhibit on Suzhou China in SF’s Asian Museum (2004) and I said “I wish we lived there” I didn’t realize I was casting a spell. We moved there in 2006.

*In 2006 I couldn’t buy meat in Suzhou because it traveled from the port of Shanghai on unrefrigerated trucks, in super-hot humid Suzhou temperatures and after our third bout of food poisoning (NOT CAUSED BY MY COOKING) we ate in restaurants until the Japanese market came to Suzhou allowing me or my love to prepare meals at home.

*Restaurants were delicious, reasonably priced and they had access to refrigerated meat.

*Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, and KFC were everywhere in China.

*No bills. You have to go pay for water, gas, and electricity BEFORE you use it. Since we were the first expats at his company no one thought to tell us this fact because that’s what they’d always known. No idea the bills came after the fact in America. Well, I figured out you had to prepay when the water just stopped working one day… during a shower.

*China was a completely cash system in 2006 (especially in Suzhou). No checks, bank cards or credit charges. I carried stacks of cash especially for everything. (That thankfully changed over the six years we lived there).

*LGBTQIA doesn’t exist. My friends told me there is no gay in China. (Now statistically we know that’s impossible and the fact that I knew several people who liked people of the same sex didn’t change anyone’s mind.) The closet is extremely deep. It took my 5.5 years to find the rainbow club and there was only one in Suzhou.

*I was nicknamed Ling Long Laura > I lived at the end of Ling Long Street and my first name is Laura.

*My massage therapist worked some magic on my carpal tunnel scar tissue and stunned the surgeon. “I can see the scar but there’s no hardness… what did you do?” LOL I would get massages 2-3x a week.

*I LOVE a good sale and I found I was damned good at bargaining. (One of my local friends would have me buy his white tea because I could get a better price in the tea market than he could.)
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*Our driver (the fact that I had a driver was beyond weird for me but we weren’t going to be good enough at reading or speaking Chinese to safely drive) but our driver said to me “Laura, you speak like a man.” I nodded happy that the language was not barrier to him seeing me.

*Our driver became my best friend…

Top 5 Unique Experiences I had while living in China

1) Being Center of Attention

Usually I happily fade into the background. In China my blonde hair, pale skin, and my blue eyes made that impossible. I became a curiosity people wanted to see… and touch. I started taking pictures of people taking pictures of me.

2) Travel: We were able to travel to Thailand, Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Tibet, and varies places in China > that I never dreamed of getting to visit… but if you’re almost already there >> WHY NOT?

3) Massages: Having a lovely man named Guy Chuang walked on my back 2-3 times a week. (BTW here’s some TMI when someone walks on my ass I giggle… just saying I find it hysterical) When we first moved to Suzhou massages were $8/hour.

4) I had a housekeeper. I didn’t want one but I was basically told this woman couldn’t be reunited with her son if she didn’t have a second job… I gave her a job but with my obsessive need to clean I didn’t give her much work LOL.

5) Taking art lessons from an art professor. She spoke no English and I spoke only a little Chinese. At times, my teacher would hand over hand show me what she wanted me to do. My friend (& driver) had studied art when he was younger so he joined me at the end of each lesson so she could talk to me directly about my work. (Psst, in The Temple of Heaven Jordon takes a couple art lessons too but he’s more determined than I was to set his own boundaries. I just went along with what the teacher wanted me to do.)

Music is Tian Di’s life and his love, and he’s made plenty of sacrifices. His career is finally taking off with his band, Made in China, and he’ll continue to put music first… until he meets Jordon. Then insta- lust becomes insta-love and a commitment to the future—no matter how difficult it might be.

Jordon lives in a bubble constructed by his overprotective older brothers, who are so controlling that they’ve kept him from dating. A talented artist, Jordon managed to keep his success with a Japanese manga publisher a secret from his family, but now he fears discovery. It’s easier to let his brothers handle everything, but Jordon has reached his limit. He’s ready to draw some boundaries so he can be his own man and face all the challenges that come with that.

Their families and careers aren’t the only obstacles. Jordon must accept his identity as a gay man who doesn’t top or bottom. Fortunately, Tian Di—and his special talents—help Jordon open up to his sexuality in an erotic adventure that spans Japan and China, and with love, luck, hard work, and open minds, will end in a happily ever after.

Many hugs, Z.

About the Author: Z. Allora believes in happily ever after for everyone. She met her own true love through the personals and has traveled to over thirty countries with him. She’s lived in Singapore, Israel and China. Now back home to the USA she’s an active member of PFLAG and a strong supporter of those on the rainbow in her community. She wants to promote understanding and acceptance through her actions and words. Writing rainbow romance allows her the opportunity to open hearts and change minds.

Buy the eBook and paperback at Dreamspinner Press.