Noel C. Cilker

One of the most fun and fascinating aspects of researching the story of Ah Toy is finding out what kind of world she lived in. That world was San Francisco in the 1840s and 1850s. It was a very different time. You may think that's a "Captain Obvious" statement, but it really bears thinking about. If I were to get up from my chair in  my upstairs writing studio and climb out onto my roof, I would be able to look across the bay and see a faint outline of San Francisco, its gray skyline silhouetted with the snow-white eastern span of the Bay Bridge cutting across the scene in front. It's a beautiful sight, but it's not the San Francisco I'm writing about. The San Francisco I'm writing about was smaller, wilder, smellier, and more fleeting. "Fleeting"? In the early days, yes. In the thick of the gold rush, in a two and a half year span from 1849 to 1851, San Francisco tried to snuff itself out with six -  six!  - catastrophic fires that destroyed

In last week’s post I grappled with the choice to write fiction or nonfiction. After I tried writing a novel and, to my abject dismay, realized that I was no J.K. Rowling, I turned my back on the fiction world and turned to historical nonfiction. History, after all, already had the stories. I just needed to pluck them from the lowest branch I could find! This week, my problem is trying to hone history down into a story that makes sense. History, it turns out, isn’t just a bunch of little happenings or events that randomly take place. Ah Toy didn’t see a boat on the Hong Kong harbor one day, say, “Ah, what the hell!” and ship herself to California. Twists, turns, and events big and small both pushed and pulled Ah Toy onto that ship bound for Gold Mountain. She was a part of something bigger. History is full of stories, and they’re more interconnected than we think at first. Ah Toy wouldn’t have arrived on the golden shore if it weren’t for the discovery of gold, which was dis

I don't know whether or not I should be embarrassed to divulge this, but the Harry Potter  series is one of my favorite collections of books of all time. It's witty, funny, heartbreaking, clever, and has a cast of characters so relatable that I almost expect to see Professor McGonagall when I go to my grandmother's house to visit. As a reader, I eat it up. As an author, I am profoundly jealous. I  want to write the way J.K. Rowling does, as effortlessly and as fun as it is to read! I sat down a few years ago and tried my hand at it. I didn't create any magical worlds or schools, but I invented some characters and attempted to come up with a story that was as witty, funny, sad, and touching as J.K. Rowling's masterpieces. For a while I was very dedicated. I synthesized a plot line, sketched out some characters, and had a killer ending that would leave all my readers crying and clamoring for more. Even the dialog crackled. For example: “Hey!” “Hi Mom!” “You’r

This will come as a surprise to no one, but researching can be a slog. I like it most of the time and I've found some great material for my Ah Toy story: little snippets, facts, and details that don't often make it into the dry, stuffy history books. For instance, just like the San Francisco of today, the San Francisco of the 1850s had its share of mischief-makers. Some of them were somewhat clever: By February, 1854, the city had converted to gas-lighting. In celebration of the installation of three miles of municipal gas lines and eighty-four streetlamps, 300 citizens gathered at the Oriental Hotel in an illuminated banquet hall ablaze as with tropical sunshine. As Mayor Cornelius Garrison began his speech, a prankster pulled the switch and temporarily plunged the room into darkness. - Doris Muscatine, Old San Francisco   However, most of the time there's a lot of searching and reading for very little reward. A whole book about immigration to California in the 1

In the world of writing, where success is often fleeting or delayed (getting published only happens after years of work, if it happens at all), you learn to celebrate the small victories and rely on them to push you forward. Here are my two of my small victories so far: Small Victory #1 : Happiness! Every morning when I sit down in front of the computer and see a stack of books before me, bearing titles such as  San Francisco Then and Now; The Book of Chinese Beliefs;  and Wild Women of the Old West , I rub my hands together and emit an admittedly evil-sounding "Yeeeessssss." Most people I know don't get excited by a pile of work on their desks. I'm pretty lucky that way. Maybe that's not so small a victory after all. Small Victory #2 : Supporters! I am very grateful for the people who have been supporting me, leaving notes of encouragement for me on Facebook and in emails. And here's the BIG victory: this blog now has email subscriber S ! That's right

First off, thanks to all of you who took a few minutes out of your busy day to wander over to this blog to see what I'm doing. With the exception of a few history-buff friends, it must have taken a few deep sighs, a couple eye rolls, and an exasperated "Sure, I'd LOOOOVE to read about the 1850s!" to screw up the courage to actually do so. Ms. Toy and I appreciate it, although she would have charged you an ounce of gold to take a peep at her. More on that in a future post. Ah Toy certainly was someone beautiful to behold. I haven't come across any photographs of her, nor do I expect to, and neither have paintings, drawings, or sketches come to my attention. And don't trust the results from Google Images... they seem to think any Chinese woman will suffice. In 2010, The San Francisco Examiner wrote a short paragraph about Ah Toy and slapped this picture next to it: But there's no proof that it's her. A little digging brings up the description of

Many people ask what I'm up to and I find that it's easier for me to express myself in writing than it is with speaking. If that isn't the hallmark of a true introvert, I don't know what is. So, if you could, please just imagine my voice as you're reading this. If you aren't familiar with my voice, Morgan Freeman's is probably the closest substitute. I've had this Ah Toy project in my head for about two years but, due to various other projects, I wasn't able to really get going with it until June of this year. Since then, however, I've been working on it full time and loving it. (Read the "My Current Project" page on the right to learn how I got started with it.) In the five-ish months that I've been working on this book, my knowledge of San Francisco's rich history has grown immensely. Growing up in San Jose, I've always viewed San Francisco as "that city up north somewhere" where the Giants play (geographers wi