Meeting Janice Lee - Author of The Piano Teacher

I got to meet best selling author Janice Lee. She wasleaps ahead by a decade to show how a young
the guest speaker at a women's writing group I belongwoman's life is radically changed when she moves to
to called Hong Kong Women in Publishing. We meetHong Kong and meets some of the people who
monthly at the Foreign Correspondents Club and oftenexperienced the Japanese occupation.
invite successful authors, publishers and journalists toJanice Lee actually worked on her book for years,
talk about their work.putting it on the shelf for long periods of time as she
Janice Lee was pregnant with twins while writing hergave birth to two children. She moved back to Hong
novel The Piano Teacher. Her story is one of thoseKong in 2006 when her financier husband was
'dreams do come true' tales that keep writers tappingrelocated here. When she found out she was
away at their computer keyboards hoping for a similarpregnant with twins she decided it was now or never.
miracle. A Harvard grad Lee married her collegeShe finished her novel. Doctors advised complete rest
sweetheart and worked as a fashion magazine bookfor the last month of Lee's pregnancy so she revised
reviewer in New York. She really wanted to write aher book while lying in bed with her laptop propped up
novel though, so she went to back to school to earn aon a pillow beside her. Then after the miracle of her
masters degree in creative writing. Lee, whose familytwins' birth another miracle! An editor at Penguin loved
is from Korea, spent part of her childhood in Hongthe book and offered Lee a six- figure deal. A
Kong. She decided to set her first novel in that city.massive bidding war for foreign rights was sparked
The Piano Teacher takes place partially during theand the book is now available in 23 different
Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and describeslanguages.
how the British colonial community survived. It then