Forgotten Tales of China - Softcover

It was while reading Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, written by the eminent scientist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond, that I experienced my eureka moment. I had to set my next book in ancient China,near modern day Beijing, never far from the Yellow River. It would be an epic novel with each segment having its own characters and story, similar in format to those written by James Michener and Edward Rutherfurd. I knew it was an incredibly ambitious project that would require extensive research, but the idea of combining my love of storytelling, archaeology, sociology, history, anthropology and China was irresistible. After a year of research my imagination would no longer be contained. Characters and plots filled my days and nights. Ten years after beginning, Forgotten Tales of China, the first in a series, was born.      
As a reader, I find myself wondering which parts of a historical novel are based on scientific reasoning and evidence, logical deduction or are simply the product of the author's imagination. If you share my compulsive disorder, or you're just curious, you'll find answers in Author's Notes, found at the end of each segment.

Lisa April Smith is the highly praised author of "Dangerous Lies," "Exceeding Expectations" and "Paradise Misplaced," all in the genre she playfully calls "Suspense with Sizzle for Discerning Readers." Reviews for all three are consistently amazing. But perhaps one reviewer succinctly said it best: "Lisa April Smith's books have the pace and heat of Jacqueline Susann and the style and sophistication of Dominick Dunne." Like other literary late bloomers, Smith grew up in a family of readers and dreamed of becoming an author. But necessity intervened and her formal education came in bits and pieces. Paying her own way college at 17, she chose to leave two years later when she moved to Boston to put her new husband through graduate school. Later, when she could steal time from raising a family, she enrolled in any class that appealed to her wide range of interests, attending any college within an hour's drive. Eventually, she received a BA in anthropology/sociology. A few years later, after attaining a degree in computer science she was hired by IBM. Ten years after that, she reluctantly left the company when she and her husband moved to Jupiter, Florida. Too young to retire, the yearning to write awakened and life for Smith forever changed. Combining corporate discipline, life experience and long suppressed creativity, characters and stories poured out. Malcolm Gladwell, in his 2008 article in The New Yorker asks "Why do we equate genius with precocity?" in his article "Late Bloomers" Gladwell says, "The Cézannes of the world bloom late not as a result of some defect in character, or distraction, or lack of ambition, but because the kind of creativity that proceeds through trial and error necessarily takes a long time to come to fruition." Famous late blooming authors include: Henry Miller, Raymond Chandler, Joseph Conrad, Flora Thompson, Mary Wesley and Laura Ingalls Wilder, who published her first book in her mid-sixties. "Forgotten Tales of China," both new in format and genre for the author, is a logical shift considering Smith's passion for archeology, anthropology and China. Epic in scope, it skillfully blends scientific data with Smith's acknowledged gift for storytelling. Note to aficionados of "Clan of the Cave Bear" - Prepare to be captivated by the first two stories in "Forgotten Tales of China:" "The People," set 40,000 years ago and "Giants," set 20,000 years ago. Once hooked, you will surely savor every word of the remaining four sagas.