Year of the Golden Dragon (28 page)

Since this was found in an area that is not open to the public and is supposedly sealed off to everyone but myself, it is clearly a case of site contamination. This, together with the failure of our night watchman to show up for work on New Year’s Eve, should raise the alarm.

Recommendations regarding stricter procedures on access and protocol will follow in due course.

Signed,

Dr. Zhu Gong-wei

Acknowledgements

For me, writing a novel was as if I had embarked on a journey
that I hadn’t appropriately prepared for. Most certainly I had a suitcase, but as I made my way from ideas, to drafts, then edits, submissions and sase’s, I realized I had packed only the bare essentials. Luckily, I met people along the way, who gave me or told me where I could pick up some of the things I didn’t even know existed. Still, at some stages, it was a bit of an endurance test, just as it is when you travel to places without roads or railways. Sometimes, one needs to switch to other modes of travel (say hopping on a passing oxcart) or walking from the last bus stop along a dirt road, with only the light of the moon as your guide, to a few thatch-roof huts on a beach. You’ve heard it’s there – you just aren’t sure how and when you might reach it.

Many, many people have been involved in the creation of this book. ‘Golden Dragon’ would never have come to fruition without their help. From the beginning, my husband Stan was an unwavering supporter. Whether he actually believed I had it in me, we will never know for sure, but he made me think I did. As for my sons, Sebastian and Christian, who only read snippets while waiting for the ‘real’ book to come out – here it is. I set off to write a Chinese adventure story and it is finally done. Thank you to my best friend and sister, Niki, whom I coerced into reading drafts by paying for her massage therapy afterwards. And to her husband, Allan, and my nieces Georgia and Reagan, who open their home to our family every year so that we might enjoy Canadian summers together.

To my friends and fellow writers, Karen Shur-Narula and Marcia Kelly-Gerritz – thank you for the writing retreats in the mountains and sois of Thailand and the good-humored and heartwarming conversations about writing, families and life in general. Even when my stories fail to find an audience, I know that you two will continue to read my work and say, “Now that is the best thing you have ever written.”

My gratitude goes to my late grandmother, Eva Sauder, who instilled and supported my love of books and reading from an early age. I continue to enjoy her rhymes and verse, as well as her father’s, my great grandfather. In addition to these gifts, they passed along their memories of a young Canada. I gratefully acknowledge my parents who once asked me as I played in the sandbox at our house on 94th Street, if I was digging to China. I remember that day in the summer of 1965 as life-changing. Yes, I was not even four, but that in itself should be a lesson as to the power of words for children.

Xie xie Lydia for giving Chen Hong Mei her name. I haven’t forgotten the writers of the North Shore Writers’ Association and the many wonderful words they produced and I enjoyed reading. Thank you to Sonnet, who edited the first completed draft. A huge thanks goes to my editor, Laura Peetoom, who was wonderful to work with, as she really got it and made me work at my own revisions. And last, but certainly not least, Nik Burton at Coteau Books who gave me a chance. I’ll always be grateful. Thank you all.

About The Author

Born in Grande Prairie, Alberta,
Bonita Sauder
has lived all over the world. She has a masters of education from Cape Town University and currently resides in Bangkok, Thailand with her husband and two children.

While reading a classic tale to her sons, she was inspired to write this modern adventure story.
Year of the Golden Dragon
is her first book.