Shirin Yim Leos’s upcoming novel OF WIND AND DUST—A sweeping, multigenerational novel about three women married to the same man at the same time, stretching from rural China to an emerging, mid-nineteenth century Seattle. An unforgettable story of striving, sacrifice, love, and loyalty inspired by the author’s own family history.
What brought you to write OF WIND AND DUST?
(SYL): I remember being told as a child, just at that age when Snow White and Cinderella were my bedtime companions, that my great-great-great grandmother was a Native American princess. All the adults seemed united in this belief, but also frustratingly ignorant and uninterested in who this princess was, and how she came to be part of our Chinese family. That began a lifelong fascination that eventually led to this novel, although this novel is now far from solely focused on her.
Which parts of this story are grounded in fact, which fictionalized?
(SYL): My search for my Native American great-great-great grandmother eventually led to some astounding facts about her life. She was from the Puget Sound, either Duwamish or Suquamish. I believe the former although there is some conflicting evidence. Her name was Mary Carey. She met and married my great-great-great grandfather, Chun Chin Hock, who is extremely well documented as the first Chinese settler in Washington Territory, and who went on to build shops and hotels, level roads and cut waterways. He was friends with the Seattle pioneers and personalities Yesler and Burke, and played a significant role in building Seattle.
My great-great-great grandparents bought land in Port Orchard and raised a family there. At some point, Chun Chin Hock’s first wife, a Madam Woo, arrived from China. This is part of family lore, but her arrival was also noted in the local newspaper. This wife took Mary’s sons back to China. Mary and Chun only left Seattle for China two years later. All of this is documented. After that, all we have about Mary is a note in the family almanac that she soon died and was buried in one half of a spectacle grave (a Chinese gravesite built for two), outside the east gate of the village.
So, all these turning points in the narrative are grounded in fact, with some slight alterations. For example, I reduced the size of Mary’s family to a single son for focus. The details of time and place that form the background of the novel—China in turmoil, an emerging Seattle, Hong Kong rising out of the malarial marsh—are also grounded in fact, although in some cases I have delayed or brought forward events by a year or two.
Most importantly, the heart of the book, the relationships between these characters, how they thought, felt, and interacted, are entirely fictional as we have nothing in their own voice, no journals or letters. In short, the setting and some plot points are grounded in fact, and the characters and the emotional lives they live are fictionalized.
What was the most surprising finding in your research?
(SYL): There was a belief held by some that Mary was one of Chief Seattle’s daughters. Research at the Suquamish Museum could not confirm but also could not rule out that she was one of three daughters by Seattle’s second wife who have disappeared into history. There’s conflicting evidence that she might have been the daughter of Chief Curley, also known as Chief Suquardle, a leader of the Duwamish and half-brother to Chief Seattle.
What surprised me most in my research was that Mary’s origin was so difficult to establish. I would have thought daughters of people as famous as Chief Seattle and Chief Curley would have been mentioned by name and in writing, at some place and some time. Mostly, they were not.
I also found in my own family’s almanac that all the births and names of sons were recorded, when they married, when they died. Sometimes but not always daughters were noted as having been born, but names were not given. Marriage and death were never recorded. For the first time I was acutely aware of how easily stories and people are lost, especially the stories of women.
What did you learn about yourself as a writer during the long writing process?
(SYL): When I began this book over a decade ago, I thought of myself as a short-form writer. I wrote picture books, twenty of which have been published, and I wrote short stories. I did not think I had it in me to complete a novel.
What I learned was that I can do it! That in fact, I find having more time to tell the story liberating. I only hope that I can do it a bit more quickly next time.
What did you learn about your family that you didn’t already know?
(SYL): I learned that we have distant roots in the Puget Sound. It sounds sentimental, but I now feel a deeper connection to the sea and sky there. I think that comes through in the book.
I am also convinced that we are all connected to remarkable people: if you unspool any family history, you will find fascinating and admirable individuals. And these individuals may look nothing like you. They might not think like you do. They certainly won’t share your cultural context. In our current tribalism we tend to forget that history is long, and if we go back far enough, we were all each other’s people.
Are you planning to write another novel?
(SYL): Yes. This novel began as Mary’s story, and then other characters came alive and it is now the story of three women, all married to the same man at the same time. In its writing, other characters beyond these three women came alive also, and now they are demanding that their stories be told. So, I am working on something that is not exactly a sequel, but that takes OF WIND AND DUST as its jumping off point.
Shirin Yim Leos is is an Ezra Jack Keats Award–winning author of 21 children’s books, a writing retreat leader, and a former publisher. She has taught writing at conferences around the world and at institutions such as Stanford University’s Continuing Studies program for more than a dozen years. Publishers Weekly once named her a talent to watch; two feature articles and several years later, they placed her on their front cover. Last year, they applauded the sale of her adult historical fiction, OF WIND AND DUST, to The Dial Press as their Deal of the Week. The launch of the book is scheduled for early 2027. In the meantime, Shirin likes to help writers with her perspective from both sides of the desk.
Brenda Knight, author of Women of the Beat Generation, began her publishing career at HarperCollins working with luminaries including Paolo Coehlo, Marianne Williamson, Mark Nepo, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year at the American Library Association in 2014. She is the author of Random Acts of Kindness, Be a Good in the World, and Women of the Beat Generation which won the American Book Award. She is President of WNBA-SF Chapter.
Debra Eckerling is The Book Proposal Expert, a book proposal specialist who helps authors clarify their message, develop their content, and craft proposals that get noticed. She is the author of Your Goal Guide and 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting, host of GoalChat and the Book Proposal Podcast, and the creator of The DEB Method for goal-setting simplified. Debra has spent years helping writers, entrepreneurs, and experts turn their ideas into compelling book plans that get noticed by agents and publishers. Learn more at 
Brenda Knight, author of Women of the Beat Generation, began her publishing career at HarperCollins working with luminaries including Paolo Coehlo, Marianne Williamson, Mark Nepo, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Knight was awarded IndieFab’s Publisher of the Year at the American Library Association in 2014. She is the author of Random Acts of Kindness, Be a Good in the World, and Women of the Beat Generation which won the American Book Award. She is President of WNBA-SF Chapter.
Kate Farrell, author, storyteller, and educator founded the Word Weaving Storytelling Project and published numerous educational materials on storytelling. She has contributed to and edited award-winning anthologies of personal narrative. Her award-winning new book is a how-to guide on the art of storytelling for adults, Story Power: Secrets to Creating, Crafting, and Telling Memorable Stories. She offers workshops on storytelling and the heroine’s journey for libraries and writing groups 
Debra Eckerling is The Book Proposal Expert, a book proposal specialist who helps authors clarify their message, develop their content, and craft proposals that get noticed. She is the author of Your Goal Guide and 52 Secrets for Goal-Setting and Goal-Getting, host of GoalChat and the Book Proposal Podcast, and the creator of The DEB Method for goal-setting simplified. Debra has spent years helping writers, entrepreneurs, and experts turn their ideas into compelling book plans that get noticed by agents and publishers. Learn more at 
Judy M. Baker is the creator of the Buzzworthy Book Experience. She has coached hundreds of authors, guiding them from “where do I start” to “how do I make money from my books?” since 2011. “Marketing is a conversation and everyone is in sales” are lessons she learned when working with wine pioneer Robert Mondavi. Presentations to the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association, Redwood Writers, Napa Valley Writers, Women’s National Book Association, and the Bay Area Consultants Networks have earned praise. Judy wrote and self-published her first book at 16. Her stories and poetry appear in anthologies from CWC Press, Redwood Writers Press, and Napa Valley Writers. Judy is Immediate Past President of Redwood Writers, the largest chapter of the California Writers Clubs. She also served as president of the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.
Paul S. Levine “wears two hats:” he is a lawyer (www.paulslevine.com) and a literary agent (www.paulslevinelit.com). Mr. Levine has practiced entertainment law for more than 40 years and established his first solo practice in 1992. Seeing an underserved niche on the West Coast, he decided early on to focus on serving book authors. Seeking to expand the range of services he could offer his clients to include the representation of books, Levine opened The Paul S. Levine Literary Agency in 1996, which he has recently expanded. With a preference for politically and socially important works, he represents more than 200 book authors, the vast majority of whom are new, unpublished, or self-published writers. For Levine, the most rewarding moment is holding his client’s published book in his hands at a well-attended book signing and seeing the smile on his client’s face. Enjoying public speaking and teaching, Levine presents extensively at writers’ conferences throughout the country and at entertainment law-related classes and seminars.
Debra Eckerling is a goal strategist, author, and book proposal expert who helps writers transform their ideas into sellable book proposals. The founder of The 
Jim Lauria is an international business executive, author, and water industry thought leader who has been an active LinkedIn member since 2004, building a community of over 12,000 followers and 4,500 subscribers to his LinkedIn newsletter To Know Water Is to Love Water. A chemical engineer by training, Jim has leveraged LinkedIn to establish himself as a leading voice in the water space publishing feature and cover articles for top industry publications, co-hosting the podcast Water We Talking About?, reviewing 75+ water books, and posting a daily water quote for over 500 consecutive days. He is also the author of How to Get Your Money Back From Big Companies and has used LinkedIn strategically to attract consulting clients, speaking engagements, and collaborations across the global water sector. Jim lives in Napa, California, and looks forward to sharing the practical LinkedIn strategies that have fueled his publishing and professional journey. Connect with him at 
Randy Peyser edits and ghostwrites books and gets authors book deals with literary agents and publishers. Her clients have been featured on Hallmark TV and Daily Mail TV, in Oprah, Cosmo and TIME Magazines, on the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller Lists, in airport bookstores and FedEx/Office and Office Max stores. She is the author of Crappy to Happy as featured in the movie, “Eat Pray Love”; The Power of Miracle Thinking; and The Write-a-Book Program. 
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