2025 Goals
I’ve always made a goal list for myself at the end of one year for the next. Two years ago, I actually turned it into a bingo board because I saw something on TikTok about making your goals a game because it pushes you to complete your goals so you can happily scream, “BINGO.” Hehehe.
But since one of my goals of 2024 was to post more on my blog (that no one reads anyway) I decided to post my 2025 goals on a website that has created so much for me. These goals are writing/career specific goals.
- Publish 4 books/novellas: Now to me that sounds like a crazy number. To some of you, you might think it’s unreal as well. But it’s a feasible option for the first, and probably only, time. Because Kindle Vella has closed its doors, or is in the midst of closing, I had one book fully finished on there, and one I was working on. The one I was working on was my real first ever published book (I had mentioned it in another recent blog post). But I decided I wanted to rewrite it and began posting it on Vella. Now these two books are not in the Korean From Context world, which is why I was never planning on publishing them in actual book form. But now I realize, 왜? They are still books I wrote, and I’m proud of. I want to dip my feet into all kinds of romance novels and so these books are my dips into Romantasy, and your everyday Contemporary. I’m also hoping to share the next TWO novellas in The Idolized Series. Fan Café and ??? You thought I was gonna give you the title that easily?!?!
- Reach 10,000 books sold: As I write this, since I published Seoul Searching in 2021, between Amazon and all other platforms, I have sold around 7,300 books so hitting 10k is going to be difficult to reach in one year BUT with those four new books I can see a reality where it happens. My lifetime goal is to sell one million books. If I were to ever reach that feat, I would throw a massive party! Haha.
- Sell a book in every state on Ko-fi: I have done pretty well this year. I was able to cross of close to 10 states! But now I want to fill the whole map! I love seeing where my books go. I’ve even sent some to Germany and Poland!
- Rerelease Seoul Searching and Matching Set: I mentioned I had planned on taking down Seoul Searching to fix it up. A bunch of the Korean is wrong, which as a book that supposed to help, isn’t good. And the book is thicc (yes two c’s) and the reason it was so big was because I: A. Never planned to publish it and would update it on this site B. Wanted to fit as much Korean as I possibly could in it. And C. Never planned to write another book. (We see how that has changed. Anyway since I want to edit and rerelease I want to make it worthwhile for those who already have a copy of the book and offer not only a special cover but some special artwork inside as well! I have been working with another amazing artist to bring a scene or two from the books to life. And as for the formatting, one of the biggest complaints was that readers didn’t like having to go to the end of the chapter to find the Korean definition. And the reason we had to do it that way was the formatting software my friend uses didn’t have the option to create footnotes. But guess what the software has now? YAY!!! Footnotes! It’s going to be like you’re getting a whole new book!
- Become a full-time writer: Another wild dream but hey, these are my goals, and I can make them as out of this world as I want! If I raise my book sales to reach the 10K goal I will certainly be able to follow through on this. I currently make enough to cover my costs of publishing and book events. However, next year I am doing a LOT more book events which means I will be spending more money. In order to spend more, I need to make more, but also be able to cover costs at home. (I now have a little baby boy to think of as well.) I will say my book sales are pointing in a positive direction as I’ve made more this year, which isn’t over, than I did last year. If I continue that trajectory, it’s possible.
Well, these are my goals for 2025. Big goals and 365 days to accomplish them! LET’S GO!!
Ways I Saved for My Trip To Korea
Knowing this was going to be my first trip to Korea, I accepted I was going to be spending a lot. Whether it was on food, events, shopping, accommodations, traveling, etc. My goal was to save between $3,000 – $5,000. Those are intimidating numbers to look at. Trust me, I didn’t think I would be able to save that amount because I was sure normal everyday life would pop up to force me to take away from the travel saving goal. But I was determined to save.
I will also say using cash made it a lot easier for me to save. Out of sight, out of mind. If that is not your thing, these are probably not going to be the saving options for you.
It did take me close to two years because, yes, life did end up making me dip into the funds a few times. I was still thrilled to be able to accomplish the goal either way. I tried multiple ways to save and these were by far my most successful. You can find materials to start your own savings journey here on my Amazon Storefront.
Cash Stuffing: I do this differently than most people who use this method, but the basic concept is taking money from your paycheck and separating it into envelopes that are for designated bills and other funds for a fully budgeted paycheck. Most people take out their entire paycheck to put it into the cash stuffing. I, however, do not use my entire paycheck and I don’t do it for all my bills. I take out a standard amount from my paychecks and I only have envelopes for BIG expenses. Examples: Home Renovation, Travel, Emergency Fund. And depending on where I think more money needs to be designated that week, I will put either $10, $20, or $40 into the envelope. Once I reach $500 in the envelope, I move the money to another location, so I don’t feel tempted to spend it when I see it. Like I said before, out of sight out of mind.
100 Envelope Challenge: This was one of my favorite ways to save. It was fun and I had added cute stickers to my box and all the envelopes that gave me a fun little surprise when I would pull an envelope. Again, everyone can do this differently, but I tried two ways. One, I would shuffle the envelopes and pick them at random. But this didn’t work for me because I didn’t always have the amount and would have to go and take more money out of my bank account. The way that worked best for me was keeping them in numerical order and depending on how much I had left over from my cash stuffing was how much I was able to put into the envelopes. If you can complete all 100 envelopes, you will have saved over $5,000! I never was able to hit all 100 BUT I did get very close once and it felt so good to be able to have that money for both my trip and as an emergency fund.
52 Week Challenge: This one takes time. A whole year to be exact. 52 weeks = 1 year. You put the amount of money as is the week of the year. So, week 1 gets $1, week 2 gets $2, so on and so forth. This will amount to just over $1300. This is one I do every year. I made a goal list on the side to be able to cross things off as the money helps accomplish those goals.
I hope these ideas help you save for whatever big plans you have in your future! If you have tried any of these let me know in the comments and did they work for you? If you have any different ways to save I would love to hear those as well!!
A Somber “Attraction” in Korea
When making plans to travel to Korea, my mom only had a few things on her list of things she wanted to see and do. While we sadly couldn’t get to a baseball game at 잠실야구장 (jamsil-yagujang – Jamsil Baseball Stadium), another thing on the list was going to the DMZ, which if you’re unfamiliar with that acronym it’s short for Demilitarized Zone. A portion of land serving as a buffer between the still at war North and South Korea. Yes, North and South Korea are still at war but for these past 70 years have been at a ceasefire.
My mom and I have always been into history, and I wasn’t surprised this was on her list of things to see. Since the other two of our group weren’t too interested, it became a mother daughter excursion. We booked a tour on Trip Advisor (https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g294197-d14124672-Korea_DMZ_the_3rd_tunnel_Guided_Tour_from_Seoul_No_Shopping-Seoul.html) and met the group in Myeongdong, where we climbed a bus and headed to the DMZ. It was about an hour drive from Seoul.
The first stop was 임진각 평화누리공원 (imjingag pyeonghwanuligong-won – Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri Park) which is the last stop before we actually enter the DMZ. There was this odd separation between the historical significance of the area and a tiny amusement park. But when we found out the reason there was this odd disconnect it was rather upsetting. At this location is the Bridge of Freedom. A bridge which was built for families to grieve the displaced Koreans who have died yearning for their families and hometowns in North Korea and to give their spirits consolation. Beside it, stand two bridges that were destroyed during bombing of the area. One of the bridges was restored to exchange prisoners of war but has since been closed.
Every weekend elders come to weep at the bridge not knowing what happened to their family, friends, and hometown. But those elders come with their families. Those family members, who aren’t as connected with a place they’ve never seen or been, usually go to the amusement park to wait for their elders to finish.
Yeah…that’s how this tour STARTS. And for my mother it hit very close to home causing both of us to have to hold back our own tears. My mother fled Cuba when she was a child and has never been able to go back. She understood exactly how those people felt. She said she wasn’t expecting to relate to people thousands of miles away from home.
We had some time after to grab something to eat and go on a gondola to visit a small observatory and old military conservatories. When we unloaded off the gondola onto the opposite side we found the reason we had to take a gondola was because below us there were an estimated 300,000 unfound landmines. Around the observatory and military sites were fences warning of the landmines. A truly wild experience.
Then it was finally time for us to enter the DMZ. The bus arrived at what I would describe like a toll booth or a boarder patrol booths. The bus doors open and South Korean military enter the bus. The tour guide hands them a list of everyone on the bus and they go seat by seat we show them our passport and point to our name on the sheet. He makes a mark next to our names. This happens upon exit as well. It is to make sure everyone who enters also exits.
Once we got through the booth, we had officially entered the DMZ, and the clock started. Yep, you are timed on how long you can stay in the DMZ. We headed to the first stop in the DMZ. The drive was interesting. While the roads were straight, you didn’t drive straight for long. On the road were barricades the bus had to wiggle itself around.
We arrived at the first location. Interception Tunnel #3. North Korea decided their game plan to infiltrate South Korea was to dig tunnels under the DMZ in order to invade, but South Korean intelligence picked up on it and dug their own tunnel to intercept the North Koreans. While four have been found, they believe there are more that haven’t been found.
You can climb down the interception tunnel to see where South Korea stopped North Korea, but it is a very steep angle and as you get closer to the bottom it gets narrower. On top of that one must remember you need to climb back up. If you can’t make it, they will charge you a couple hundred dollars to have people come and bring you back up. You are also not allowed to bring anything down with you. No bags, cameras, nothing. They did allow jewelry. We put on the hard hats and started the trek down, but I will admit when I saw it become narrower, and when I looked up at how much I would need to climb back up I looked at my mom and before I had to say anything she simply turned around with me and we climbed back up.
While disappointed, I knew my own ability and I wouldn’t have made it back up. They had a small gift shop, which felt odd, but the money went towards continuing the mine clean up. We bought some small items and walked around the area, that had a small park, and some photo areas. Again, odd touristy thing but it was also weirdly understood.
Everyone climbed back on the bus and we headed to 도라전망대 (dolajeonmangdae – Dora Observatory) where we would get the opportunity to actually see North Korea through large binoculars. When we were able to look around it was mostly hills and mountains but every now and again we could see small towns. Our guide informed us that a lot of those towns aren’t real. While it looks like nice big buildings, they’re fake and no one actually lives in the towns. She also informed us that if we see people riding bikes, or doing what looks like ordinary everyday things, they are North Korean military on patrol.
Our final stop was a supermarket in the DMZ because, are you ready for this? People live in the DMZ. A very small amount of people, just around 500 are allowed to. They don’t pay taxes, don’t pay for healthcare, and don’t perform the mandatory military service of Korean men. They are citizens of nowhere, but South Korea gives them passports, so they are able to travel. However, to leave for extended periods, residents need to receive permits. If they work or go to school outside of the DMZ, they must be back by 7pm, when entry to DMZ closes. Every night military come and check every house to make sure everyone is there. Order food? You will have to meet the delivery person at the entry to the DMZ. Have to go to the hospital? There isn’t one in the DMZ.
But the DMZ is known for their organic rice and ginseng. They sell it once a year outside the DMZ, but year-round within the DMZ, so if you’re lucky enough to tour, you can pick it up.
This tour was such an experience and one that I would 100% recommend to anyone visiting Korea. It is a pivotal moment in the country’s history and even in its current state of affairs. It’s a powerful and moving tour that left my mom and I crying, surprised, and shocked at the things we learned. If you do plan to visit please let me know, and if you have done a tour already also leave a comment.
Book Events
As I cruise into the world of trying to make writing my full-time gig (somewhat part time as I would like to be a SAHM) I know one thing is very important. Putting yourself out there. That statement technically covers two things. Putting your books out there and putting YOURSELF out there.
While social media is the biggest way for you to put everything out there for the world to see, one other effective way is book events.
I have mentioned several times since restarting my writing of this blog how I always guess my life plans incorrectly. Book events are no different.
The only signings I had ever done were the ones at the end of the LSF Writers conferences I was a part of. My mom has traveled the country going to different events throughout her 20+ years in the business and I always thought it was so cool! When I was younger, I would join her to the RWA conferences she would go to, and I never really got to experience them because I was young and so my dad would take me around the cities we visited while my mom was at the conference.
Last year I finally got to go to a readers’ conference with my mom as her assistant. It was such a different type of world than a writers’ conference. There was such a production to make the magic of book worlds come to life in the real world for the readers. It was freaking cool to put it bluntly.
After going to that one I decided I wanted to go to one as an author and not just my mom’s assistant. And I started small and somewhat local. A Day (or two) of Wine, Romance and More is hosted by a dear friend to me and the LSF Writers organization Roz Lee. Every May for the last 9 years she has invited around 60 authors to participate in the signing event. And last year was the first year she asked me to join! I was so excited because it really was my first dip into the world of book events. Reader-centric events to be most specific.
I had an amazing time and sold so many books! More than I ever thought I would. I even met a woman who loved K-dramas and K-pop so she was shocked and excited to find me and my books. I knew that at the end of the second day I wanted to come back AND I wanted to do more book events.
Now here is the truth about a lot of these events. If you’re a small indie author, like me, you’re most likely not going to make money. You might break even and that is actually fantastic!
This is where that whole putting yourself out there comes into play. Someone may not have purchased your book at the event, but most authors come with ‘swag’. AKA: free stuff to give to readers in the hopes they will keep it, use it, and inevitably remember the author and purchase their books. Usually, mine consists of Korean candies and Korean instant coffee sticks with some photocards of my book covers. And people love it! I will say at this last event I did see an uptick in sales after the event and I want to guess that it was from those swag grabbers.
Now I need to take a bigger step if my goal is to keep growing as an author and again make this something I can do full time. That means stepping out of the local/statewide books events and traveling to bigger book events.
I have applied for and have been accepted to two as of now. One in 2025 and one in 2026. I know that seems far away but these things can take years to come together and can take years to get accepted into.
I know that going out of state is going to cost more which means the amount of books I would need to sell would need to nearly double to make it monetarily successful, but I also know I need to step out of the comfort zone of local events and venture to places where people don’t know me. That makes me nervous and excited, which makes me happy. So here is to the next few years and the next few books!
Wish me luck!
Rewatched: Extra-Ordinary You (어쩌다 발견한 하루)
어쩌다 발견한 하루 – eojjeoda balgyeonhan halu – A Day Found By Chance
Extra-Ordinary You is one of those dramas I can always go back to. Whether I need a laugh, a cry, or a nice little romance. What’s crazy is I had never planned to watch it at first. High School dramas, romances specifically, tended to always be a miss for me. Obviously, there are always exceptions to the rules. Extra-Ordinary You is one of those exceptions.
I want to preface this with I am usually not a rewatch drama type of girlie. There are very few I will go back to. Does that mean I don’t enjoy the one I don’t rewatch? Absolutely not. But sometimes once is the perfect amount.
Back to your regularly scheduled Rewatching.
Extra-Ordinary You follows Eun Dan-O (Kim Hye-Yoon) a high school student in an elite private school with her betrothed Baek Kyung (Lee Jae-Wook) and his group of friends known as A3. While she chases him like a puppy, he has no interest in her, in fact he seems to absolutely hate her. While she deals with his lack of interest and her health problems she starts to notice lapses in time, and an odd sound every time a lapse happens.
That’s when she finds out that she is actually a character in a 만화 (manhwa – Korean comics/print cartoons). Not only does she find out she is a character, she isn’t even the main character but a secondary with a short time to live due to the health problems. She is determined to change her fate and during one attempt she tumbles down the stairs but a the strong back of a mysterious someone saved her. She searches for the owner of the back and finds a tall handsome young man (Rowoon), who has no name. She believes he is the answer to changing her story and as their relationship grows she finally gives him the name Haru. From there the story really becomes a whirlwind and sweeps Dan-O and Haru into the wild world of the 만화 stage and their life off stage.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT!
The reason I usually tended to skip high school romances dramas was that they tend to be very young. Which I mean, obviously, they’re high school romances. I am not their demographic and that’s all good. But I decided to give this one a go because, if I’m being honest, I am a big Rowoon fan. I had seen him in Click Your Heart which was a choose your own path drama to promote SF9 before they debuted. In fact, they weren’t even SF9 at that point.
Anyway, Rowoon. Big fan.
While Rowoon was what brought me to attempt the drama, the reason I stayed was the story itself. The way they poked fun at high school dramas and 만화’s but still showed the appreciation for the storytelling was lighthearted, comical, and still heartwarming. The mocking of tropes like: the rich boy and the scholarship girl are the leads who start as him being a bully towards her but soon falls for her, the mother who hates the poor girl because her rich son will ruin his future being with her, the group of evil girls set to make the scholarship girls life an absolute hell locking her in rooms, dumping food on her head, etc.
And while they were the 만화’s leads who had their own story being told, our leads were Dan-O and Haru. Haru is adorable and all around loveable. I’m not just saying that because it’s Rowoon. He is basically experiencing things for the ‘first’ time with Dan-O. He is becoming someone, his own person, not just a no name in the background of the 만화. And as their relationship grows, we learn this is in fact not their ‘first’ time.
The plot adds a trope that I find tends to be overused in fantasy-esque dramas. That being that these characters were ill fated in the past and them coming together in the present will also end tragically. But for these characters it wasn’t the past but in fact another 만화. They were even some of the main characters in the previous story.
More characters from the 만화 start to become aware of themselves and the one that stole my heart and the heart of many other drama fans was Baek Kyung. He had some of my favorite character growth and it broke my heart he didn’t get the girl. Even when I wanted and knew Haru was the one for Dan-O.
Baek Kyung was evil. But that was his character ‘on stage’ in the 만화. When ‘off stage’ and as he slowly becomes aware of himself he becomes sweet, caring, kind, and you see his family trauma. That family trauma off stage brings to light why he is the way he is. But the scenes that really had me screaming for him to get the girl, was him remembering ‘bibbidi bobbdi boo’ when he would be with Dan-O in the hospital as young children and she has to take her medications, and when you realize the flowers he would bring her every time he visited her in the hospital meant she is the only one who knows his true self and feelings.
OH! And how can I forgot when she reverts back to a character who forgets what happens off stage and is all lovey dovey with him while forgetting Haru exists?! That whole thing broke my heart. He had finally acknowledged his feelings and now his love was acknowledging them back, but he knew the truth. He knew he wasn’t the one for her, and she was in love with Haru even if she couldn’t remember. He enjoyed the small bit of time with her before making the right decision and helping Haru to get Dan-O back.
I really think this show skyrocketed both those two male leads into their future shows and careers. And the female lead is currently in a new drama I am obsessed with which I will be talking about in a future post.
All-in-all, this drama really caught and kept my attention for the entire show. Initially it was through the laughs of watching 만화 characters not know what or who they were, but by the end, the stories of the real people, not their on stage presence is what really kept me intrigued and excited for the next episodes. Which is why this is Extra-Ordinary You is and will stay on my rewatch list and I hope you will give it a shot as well.
Meet Cute turns 만화 into immersive audio stories and we want more!
If you’ve been with me for a while, you know how much I love 만화’s. From the art to the stories, they are all different and compelling. And so many of the ones I have loved have been adapted to live action dramas which is an added bonus. But what if you’re at work and can’t scroll or have the show on? What if you want to avoid a screen? What if all you want to do is tune out the real world? Cue: Meet Cute.
Meet Cute is your new screen free way to enjoy the stories you love anytime and anywhere. A fiction podcast that every month launches 90-120 minute stories, mainly romances and its many sub genres, by releasing short 10–15 minute episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays. They already have an amazing library of stories, but they just announced an exciting new partnership.
They teamed up with Manta, a large 만화 website that has published some of my favorite 만화’s, (Semantic Error (시맨틱 에러 – simaentig eleo) and Once Upon A Small Town (어쩌다 전원일기- eojjeoda jeon-won-ilgi) to name a couple.) to release I’VE BECOME A TRUE VILANESS.
The story follows a graduate student who wakes up in someone else’s body. But not just any body, Seria Stern, the villain of a romance novel the graduate had been reading. She doesn’t want to be the villain and she tries everything in her power to stop it from happening. *Insert dramatic theme music.*
I was able to have an early listen to the story and let me tell you, it was captivating. The voice actors really sold me on their emotions and even their actions, which I have always found hard to convey in an only audio setting. They made it flawless and held my attention throughout the entire series. I was hooked by the first episode and was sad to hear it end by the last.
I want this to be the way I consume more of my romance. It is the perfect way to let the world and characters build themselves the way YOU want to see them. The listener has that creative freedom unlike normal 만화, TV and movies and I think that was one of the most fun aspects of this for me as an author.
When I write I create my vision of people, places, and things. The reader does the same. These fictional podcast stories offer that same freedom and I LOVE IT!
If you’re looking for a way to unplug, but not totally, I highly suggest checking out Meet Cute and their latest story I’VE BECOME A TRUE VILANESS.
Listen Here:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3Qjyuxn
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3WeSJ2Y
Amazon Music: https://amzn.to/3UhDAv9
And follow Meet Cute for all new releases here:
Instagram: https://bit.ly/meetcuteIG
TikTok: https://bit.ly/34Ezx3S
YouTube: https://bit.ly/2HaV3nn
Twitter: https://bit.ly/3UhDsf9
My Writing Journey (So Far)
Whenever I mention I have published a few books, people tend to ask me how I got into writing. Was it that I just all of a sudden knew it was what I wanted to do or had I been planning to write for a long time? The truth is my journey started rather young and not in a million years did I think I would be doing what I’m doing now. Let’s begin shall we.
I started writing at the age of 10. Journal entries that are so cringy whenever I happen to pick the journal up to read an entry I think what a simple childhood I had. And also, can I go back to that simpler time? Yes, I still have my journals. I have kept them all. My first ever journal was a Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen journal. (I know that dates me, but I’m pretty sure we all know I’m old.)
Those journal entries soon blossomed from the everyday what happened in school or at practice to what if I had said or done something differently? How would my life, my story, have changed? Journal entries were no longer journal entries. I ignored my real life to instead dive into a fantasy world I had created. Where the boy I had a crush on did actually like me back. (I sound like Tina from Bob’s Burgers and her erotic friend fiction.)
I would scribble the night away and when my mom would come into my room to say goodnight, she would ask what I was writing about and I would quickly slam the journals shut and say she couldn’t read it. And the reason my mom would have an interest was because at the time she had recently started her book publishing journey.
When her first book was published, I used to go to her book signings a lot and watch in awe at how she could get people to stop and pick up her books as she explained the story with such an affection for her characters that it could convince total strangers to read her works. I saw the good and the bad. The people picking up the book, excited to purchase and the people who picked the book up only to place it back down and move on. I saw the good days when she sold a bunch of books and I saw the bad days when she didn’t sell any. But on both days the one thing I saw most was her resilience. And now almost 30 years later, and the cool ass title of being a NYT Best Seller, she still keeps putting herself and her amazing works out into the world.
I never thought I would be a published author. Sounds crazy as I have 4 Korean books, 1 romantasy book, and 1 short story published and out in the world, but up until I was about 20 years old all my writing, I kept to myself. And the only reason anyone saw my stories was when a college friend stole my journal one night because she wanted to know what I was writing. Yeah, not the best approach but when she came back with my journal in her hand she said, “I need to know what happens next.”
I was surprised I had drawn someone in like that, especially when I thought it was just brainstorming on paper. I continued to write and she continued to read. Once out of college I chose to anonymously put myself out there on the wonderful world of Wattpad. Yep. I was a fanfic writing girlie. I would reach out to all these other fan fic writers that I liked to beg them to read my stuff. Most of them ignored my messages but there were a few who responded and read my stories and ended up enjoying the things I wrote.
One of those people, who I still consider a friend, even inspired the romantasy book I have out now. Gray, if you read this, hope you’re doing well and thank you for letting me create #graykub!
Before that she helped me create a story on Wattpad. A story that was my one big success on the site. I had reached close to one million reads and people begging for new chapters faster than I could push them out. That was the first time I felt proud of my writing. And it was the first time I felt confident enough to share my writing with the one person who had always asked what it was I was writing.
When I showed my mom she started reading the first chapter and asked, “You wrote this?”
I nodded my head and she followed her question up with, “You need to publish this.”
And so, with a lot of help from my mom, I did. Now I won’t share this book or title with y’all because I am no longer proud of the book. However, I do plan to edit and restructure it so that down the road I will in fact put it back out into the world and share it with you once again.
After that, I continued to write for myself. I had the thought, “Well I did it. I published a book. I can cross it off the bucket list.”
But the world would have much crazier plans for me.
When I got into K-dramas and K-pop I never thought it would bring me to where I am today. I started watching and decided I wanted to learn the language. And when I started I found the ‘normal’ way of learning really didn’t work for me. It was meant to be fun and engaging but I was bored and ended up losing interest fast.
I noticed that I was able to pick up words and phrases from watching the K-dramas I had become obsessed with and so I would repeat those and would speak the into a translator that would give me the 한글 .
And as I continued, I started writing again but my lead males became Korean. If they’re Korean, they will need to obviously speak Korean. That forced me to get cracking on my Korean. When I began to throw the words into the stories, I would leave myself footnotes on the pages. That was when I had the lightbulb moment. Other people could learn this way.
I had written most of Seoul Searching when I went to a writers’ conference and decided I would throw my hat into the pitching ring. Every single editor and agent said no. One even said “Why Korean? Who wants to learn Korean?”
While I was upset, it didn’t stop me. I instead said, “Fine. I’ll do it myself.” Which is how this site, Korean From Context, was born. I would try and post chapters weekly, as well as build a blog about K-dramas I was watching (which I def want to get back into) and K-pop concerts I was attending (I would love to but this one might be tougher). All aspects of the site would try and teach Korean in a way that had you not even realizing you were learning.
How did this get me into the world of actually publishing my books? Glad you totally asked. I went to KCON in NYC in 2019 to cover it for this site. As I was sat in the press room with some other people making sure all my stuff was fully charged, I had a woman come and sit with us and happily started chatting and she asked who I wrote for. I went into a very long-winded story about my site and in my head I was screaming, “STOP TALKING AND ASK WHO SHE WRITES FOR!”
I finally did shut up and asked to which her response was, “Forbes.”
To say my jaw dropped is an understatement. But what she followed up with nearly had me fall back onto the floor because I had surely died.
She said, “I love the concept of your site, I would love to interview you for an article if that’s ok with you.”
IF THAT’S OK WITH ME?!? Of course it was! And so she did. Korean From Context was featured on the Forbes website and she even asked when I planned to publish the book so she could write about it then as well. That got people to my Instagram and to my website where I had people begging for the next chapters and asking when it would be a book they could hold in their hands.
The plan was to release the book for a limited time, sell some preorders with special gifts, and call it a day. Once again, my ideas never seem to be what actually happens. Here we are a few years later, 4 books published and another who knows how many coming soon.
So yeah, that has been my writing journey thus far. I am so excited to see where it takes me next! And I hope you will continue to follow along!
Merge my old loves and new? Accepting change.
I know for a fact you’re reading that title and saying, “Umm…what?” And that is a totally valid response. Because I was confused myself. For almost 10 years now K-pop and K-drama have consumed my life. Whether it was binge watching old dramas, getting frustrated I had to wait another week for new episodes, or ordering my five copies of the same album to get every photobook and PC I wanted, or rewatching music videos to get my group it’s first or tenth win. Going to concerts as both a fan and press to cover the shows and put a spotlight on the smaller groups who may not get the recognition they deserve.
My life for the last several years has been just that. It has helped me cross off some amazing goals. Like an Amazon #1 BEST SELLER!! All because I wanted people to be able to learn Korean in a fun new way. I got to travel to Korea and experience places I had written about. I’ve been featured on Forbes, this very website was featured in a college presentation IN KOREA and I’ve had book signings where I’ve sold a bunch of books to people who never thought learning Korean through a romance novel would be on their bookshelf.
Where am I going with this?
I have been able to accept a lot of change very well. It’s part of growing up. Moving out, getting a job, leaving the job, starting a new one, making new friends, losing some, dating, marriage, parenthood. I have gone through a lot of change in my 34 years on this Earth and believe I have handled most of them pretty well.
The last couple of years have been pretty hectic in the life department. I’ve mentioned previously I traveled to Korea for the first time, my husband had a stroke, my grandmother passed, I’m currently pregnant, and I’ve just released my fourth book. All of that PLUS trying to keep up with social media promotions, my day job, and life in general have put K-pop and K-dramas and other things I love on the back burner for me.
And with all the life changes I have had and am currently having, I know one thing I want to do/change is bringing this blog back to life. I haven’t been active in over a year! That is crazy to me considering I used to post almost weekly.
But I’ve realized in order for me to want to bring it back to life, my content will have to change. And I think the reason I am so scared to make these changes is because for the last few years you, my amazing friends, fans, and casual readers, have grown accustomed to what I wrote. You enjoyed the topics I covered, the ideas I shared, and all that, and I am frightened that I will disappoint you with my somewhat new direction, but I hope you give me and the new direction a chance.
One of the first big changes is, I am hanging up my concert photography hat. And there are a lot of reasons for this decision, but the biggest one is time. With a child on the way and like I mentioned all the other things I have on my plate, the time it takes to go to the concert, shoot the concert, go back, edit photos, AND write up an article is simply too much to add to my plate. Another reason, I rarely got accepted in the first place lol. I was and always will be extremely grateful for the opportunities I had and will never take them for granted. The final reason, my photos weren’t all that good. They just weren’t where other people were and I would be disappointed in myself when comparing to others. So for my own mental health stepping back is better than feeling inferior.
The next change is about this website. Don’t worry Korean From Context isn’t going anywhere but I want it to be more than Korean From Context. I want to use it as my author website. Which means things on the site need to change. Like this blog section. While I do plan to still talk lots about a ton of things Korean, I want to talk about other loves of mine. Aka: the merging of my old and new like the title mentions. Those ‘new’ loves aren’t exactly new but not something I initially wrote about on a strictly Korean From Context site. I now want to talk about my writing, my life, and basically anything I feel like writing about.
Those are probably the “major” changes to this site. Which, at the end of the day, aren’t crazy but something I wanted to address for people who notice/care.
Where Have I Been?
I know. 오랜만이다(Oraenmanida -It’s been awhile). 잘 지냈어? (jal jinassoh? – How have you been?)
I’ve been dealing with a lot of different things. Amazing, horrible, and everything in between. But all of it has kept me away from this blog, from this website, and this amazing place we’ve created together. Recently, I’ve been having the itch to come back. More than an itch, it could be a whole damn rash. Yet I wondered what I could talk about. A lot has changed since the last time I posted on here and I’m not sure I could create the same kind of content I was once putting out. The main factor being time.
For the most part I started really getting into the blog in 2020. Everyone remember that year? Or is it a blur to all of you like it is to me?
Well anyway, I had a lot more time on my hands. No where to go, no one to see and so I found my social outlet via writing the blog posts. I loved it. I still go back and I am shocked at how much I really wrote. And cringe too.
I am ready to come back. But it will definitely be different. I still want to talk Korean things, but I also want to talk about my life, my writing, and that kind of stuff.
So, this first new post is really to just talk about where I have been.
A lot has changed in my life. The most current changes being the passing of my grandmother. As I write this, tomorrow morning is her mass and burial. She was a tough woman. I mean that in the best way. I loved Sunday dinners filled with her delicious home cooked sauce, meatballs, and for me, her salad was always my favorite part of the meal. I can’t tell you why, it was nothing crazy or different but for some reason I could eat the entire bowl by myself. The last several years had been tough for me to visit as often. Between the time of me owning my own shop and not having days, to moving further away, seeing her every Sunday had become impossible and seeing her every couple of months had become the norm. But then she got sick. Her last few years weren’t great health wise and it took a toll on her. The last time I saw her was Christmas day. The last time I spoke to her was to tell her the gender of my baby (yes, that’s another reason I’ve been gone). A week later she was gone. It’s been a rough couple of days. I know she is up above with my grandpa and special grandma (this was what I called my great grandma because I always said she was more than great) watching over us and making sure we’re not burning our sauce.
Now I mentioned the gender of my baby. Yes, I am in fact pregnant. While I am 34, I somehow still panicked like it was a teen pregnancy and worried how I was going to tell my parents. Meanwhile my parents and my husband’s parents have been hoping for a grandbaby for years. My husband’s dad has been asking since I first even started dating my now husband. We are having a boy who we are excited to meet in July of this year. I can’t wait to meet the little man in July.
Another reason I have been MIA, my husband had a stroke. At his young age we were shocked and scared but I have his friends to thank, who noticed early enough and got him to the hospital quickly that he had minor damage and is almost back to normal. I would say he’s about 90%. He still has some loss of feeling in his hand which we hope will come back in the coming months if he continues his therapy.
I finally went to Korea! Something that had been on my bucket list since the first K-drama I ever watched. It was a wild experience that I do plan to talk about on this blog in different parts. From what to pack and what not to pack. How to save money to get there. Travelling in general around Seoul, etc. I hope you look forward to the content as much as I look forward to writing it!
I published 2 books this year! Crazy! But they were both much smaller than Seoul Searching and I already have the next one sent out to my editor!
I have had a lot of personal things on my plate that have recently kept me from my enjoyment of K-pop and K-dramas. To be honest, I have not kept up with a lot of it. But like I earlier, I’m starting to get back and re-dip my toes into a world I still love.
I am excited to restart this journey with you all. See you in the next post!
AGUST D ANNOUCES GLOBAL TOUR
Yoongi, Suga, Augst D. Three names for the same artistic, linguistic genius of a musician. The first member of BTS to go on his first solo tour! Are all of you excited? Which date are you going to try and go to?
General admission begins March 2nd BUT if you’re part of the ARMY MEMBERSHIP there is a presale powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan on March 1st. Join the presale here!
Here are some of our pics from Augst D from when we got to see BTS on their WINGS tour at Prudential Center (one of the stops on his solo tour):
