by Iris Yang
It was almost twilight when she reached the top of a cliff. There was no way for her to climb down. The snow-covered forest seemed to stretch endlessly in the dim light. She sank to the ground. Her teeth chattered. Her entire body trembled with fatigue.
I’m sorry, Birch Ge, she apologized to her cousin. I tried. Believe me, I tried.
A single tear made its way down her cheek.
Jasmine hated to leave Danny. There was nothing in the world she wanted more than to be with the brave Flying Tiger. She longed to hug him just like that night in the meadow. She’d thought he was dying and wanted to let him know that someone was with him. She could not let him leave this world without someone by his side.
Now, she was alone.
Once, his lips had grazed the back of her hand. She lifted that hand and placed a soft kiss on the spot that he’d kissed. Be safe, Danny! She shouted. Be happy! Tears of undying love blurred her vision. Pay attention to Daisy. She’s a sweet girl. Blinking to clear the film of tears from her eyes, she pleaded for her cousin. She remembered seeing the infatuated gaze in her cousin’s eyes when she left the cave. Daisy loves you! she said, wiping salty streaks and snow from her face.
She looked up. Snowflakes fell from the sky onto her face. A prideful smile came over her expression. Without her, there would have been one less Flying Tiger in China’s skies. She was forever with him as he fought the enemy. She was part of his wing.
Jasmine lay curled upon the snowy ground and closed her eyes. In the fading light she looked calm, and for the first time in a long time she felt no pain. Nor did she feel sadness. She held the garland of forget-me-nots tightly to her chest, just as she’d held Danny that night, and her forlorn figure disappeared in the darkness.
Interview with the Author
What led you to write this book?
Wings of a Flying Tiger is a work of fiction. But to me, a Chinese-American, it is also personal.
I was born and raised in China. My mother and grandma had lived in Nanking and escaped from the city days before the Nanking Massacre when the Japanese soldiers slaughtered 300,000 innocent Chinese and raped 20,000 women in six weeks. Both my mother’s and father’s families fled to Chungking, where Japanese frequently bombed the wartime capital. My father told me about the repulsive smell of burning flesh, and as a young child, he had nightmares about the raids for several years. A good friend’s father drowned when Japanese attacked his boat; even unable to swim, he jumped into a river to avoid being blasted. A Japanese friend sincerely apologized for the atrocities her fellow countrymen had committed. She knew a former soldier who had forced naked Chinese women to march with them to bring up their morale.
China was an isolated country while I was growing up. We were told that the Americans were “devils” and the American soldiers were crude and cowardly. I didn’t read anything about the Flying Tigers until I came to the U.S. I was touched once I learned the truth.
As a Chinese, I’m thankful for the Flying Tigers’ bravery and sacrifice; without their help, the course of Chinese history might have been changed, my family might not have survived, and I might not have existed. As a U.S. citizen, I’m honored to write a book about the American heroes. It’s a privilege. A duty.
The heroine in this novel was inspired by the women in my family. In the early and mid-twentieth century, education was rare for females in China. My grandma, Yuan Changyin, was the first Chinese woman to receive a master’s degree in the UK. My aunt, Yang Jingyuan, earned her master’s degree at the University of Michigan and translated Peter Pan, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and other classics into Chinese. My mother, Zhou Chang, grew up during the war. Later, she graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in Russia, became a professor at Wuhan University, and published four children’s books after her retirement. Both my sister, Jin Yang, and I received our Doctoral degree at the University of Rochester, and my daughter, Jessie Xiong, is a medical student at the University of North Carolina. All these women were the reason I created a well-educated Jasmine Bai as the main character.
How did writing change your life?
Years ago I was a negative person in an unhappy marriage, and I tried hard to change the situation. One book I read claimed that if you kept writing down five positive things a day, in twenty-one days, you could change your negative thoughts.
So I jotted down five positive things a day. It started with words or simple phrases. In time, words became sentences; sentences turned into paragraphs; paragraphs grew into pages. All positive. I didn’t change in twenty-one days. It took me two years. But the end result is remarkable. I’m no longer a negative person.
The side effects of this practice? I started writing short stories, then novels.
What frustrates you the most about the writing process?
Grammar!
Born and raised in China, I learned English as a foreign language in school. The learning was limited and sometimes even wrong. I came to the U.S. in my early twenties as a graduate student for a career in science.
My first English “teacher” in the U.S. was TV. I didn’t even have the concept of the commercial. I thought accidentally I touched the remote control or there was something wrong with the TV when a program suddenly jumped to unrelated subjects. In China, at the time, there were two stations, broadcasting from 6pm to 10pm. There was no commercial.
I’ve always loved reading, but creative writing was a dangerous career in China. As famous writers, my grandmother and aunt were wrongfully accused as counter-revolutionary Rightists. I had to choose science—a safer path.
I learned fiction writing by reading lots of books. It took me many years. When I wrote my novels, I had to use two dictionaries—Chinese to English and English to Chinese. Even so, no matter how hard I tried, I still made grammatical mistakes. That frustrated me the most. Plenty of times I laughed and scolded myself for being so stubborn to embark on this journey that seemed almost impossible to succeed. Nowadays, so many people write; everyone has an advantage over me.
I wish I’d grown up speaking English. I wish I’d had proper education or training. Since I can’t change the past, I just have to work harder.
Any advice for novice writers?
Writing a novel is hard. If you don’t have a burning desire, don’t start. But if you are passionate about it, don’t let anything or anyone stop you. Skills can be learned. Passion comes from your heart. Follow your heart. The process alone is rewarding.
Start today. Keep writing! Don’t give up. Persistence. Perseverance. Patience.
I’ll share several useful Chinese proverbs with you:
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
“Every step leaves its print.”
“If you work hard enough, you can grind even an iron rod down to a needle.”
Looking back, I’m amazed that I finished a novel (actually three—two have been accepted for publication; one isn’t good enough to share with anyone), by writing down one word after another. If I can do it, anyone can.
What’s next?
Another novel, Will of a Tiger, has been accepted for publication and will be published. It’s a sequel of Wings of a Flying Tiger. Once again you will meet Danny, Jasmine, Birch, Daisy, Colonel Bai, Xiao Mei… From Yunnan to Chungking, then to Taiwan, the story ends in San Francisco, taking readers on an epic journey of survival, hardship, friendship, and love.
I’m also working on a story based on my grandmother. She was the first Chinese woman to receive a master’s degree in the UK. Returning to China, she became a professor and a famous writer/playwright. However, in 1957, she was wrongfully accused as a counter-revolutionary Rightist. During Cultural Revolution, she was fired from her job and ordered to sweep streets. Later, she was kicked out of the house at the university and died alone in a small village. As the political atmosphere changed in China, she was once again a celebrated writer/scholar. She was called one of the most gifted female playwrights in Writing Women in M
odern China: An Anthology of Women’s Literature from the Early Twentieth Century published by Columbia University Press in 1998. There is a park opened in her name in her hometown. Her life was a mix of triumphs and tragedies. I’ll try my best to write it down.
Acknowledgments
So many people have helped me along my journey to publication. It took a village to bring this book to life.
My deep appreciation to Anne Crosman, who volunteered to edit the manuscript. A retired journalist of thirty years, she was patient and thorough. Together we went through the manuscript word by word, line by line. Without her generous help, my dream for publication might not have come true.
Many thanks to Marywave Van Deren and Gary Jacobson for your guidance.
My gratitude to Wang Liya, Wu Xia, Phil Sullivan, and David Carrier for reading the manuscript.
Thank you, Yan Li, for encouraging me to keep writing.
I’m grateful to three writing groups led by Gary Every, Naxie Reiff/Rodger Christopherson, and Mary Ann Gove. Their feedback made my book better, and their praises kept me going. I’m thankful to Robin Harris, Megan Aronson, David Kanowsky, and Dana Best for reading the story. I would also like to thank Sedona Public Library and Cottonwood Public Library for their resources.
My sincere gratitude to David Ross and Kelly Huddleston at Open Books for taking a chance on me. They made my dream come true and their support means the world to me.
Many of the facts used in this novel came from two books: Tex Hill: Flying Tiger and The Rape of Nanking. I thank the authors—Tex Hill/Reagan Schaupp and Iris Zhang—for the invaluable resources. Their works inspired me and made my job much easier.
Finally I give thanks to my family. I’m eternally grateful to my mother Zhou Chang and father Yang Hongyuan for their love. My special thanks to my sister Jin Yang for being the first reader, my daughter Jessie Xiong for her love and encouragement, and my best friend Libby Vetter for her constant support.
Also by Iris Yang
WILL OF A TIGER
(Sequel to WINGS OF A FLYING TIGER)
In the summer of 1945, three years after Danny Hardy and Birch Bai became sworn brothers, both of their planes go down in Yunnan Province of China during one of many daring missions. They are captured, imprisoned, and tortured by the Japanese for information about the top secret atomic bomb. Days before the end of WWII, they are faced with another life-and-death situation.
From Yunnan to Chungking, to Taiwan, and finally to San Francisco, the story takes readers on an epic journey of hardship, friendship, and love.