Noel C. Cilker

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...