Age: 43

Location: Los Angeles

What are you working on now?
Just two days before writing this I met my March 1 due date for sending the publisher my book, "Sex Secrets of an American Geisha: How to Attract, Satisfy, and Keep Your Man," which will come out on Hunter House's Fall 2006 list. This sex and relationship book adapts Asian geisha wisdom to help American women to become sexy, feminine American Geishas. Right now I'm working on relaxing and celebrating getting my book done. Now that I'm finally through writing the manuscript, I'm trying to remember how to be sexy and feminine with my husband, Richard.

What's the most helpful thing you've learned about writing?
I started my writing career writing a bi-weekly column for a Korean newspaper in the Southern California area. Writing on deadline with almost no pay for this newspaper helped me to develop as a professional writer. I learned to look for topics to write about, to be open to possible topics of interest to my readers. Even today, about a year after I stopped writing that column, I always find myself evaluating everything I run across in my life: would that be a good topic for my readers?; and what kind of interesting perspective could I take on that topic?

What's been the worst career advice you've ever received?

"Work for 30 years as a classroom teacher, retire at 60 with substantial wealth, then start writing and traveling." This is terrible advice, basically saying I should give up my passion for financial security. The security of teaching is nice though. After teaching full-time for seven years, I have now found a good balance: I am in my third year of teaching half-time and writing. It's good for me because I feel that I need the structure that a regular job offers, and I still have the free time to write.

Prior to writing your book, did you have experience covering sex/advice? Do you have tips for anybody hoping to break into that market?
My previous experience in sex-advice writing was in Korean. However, when I submitted the book for publication in Korea, the major publishers indicated it was a "troubling" book, with one publisher saying that only "ten years later it would be possible to publish such a sex book."

My tips for sex-advice writing:

• Choose an unusual angle.

• Be willing to be outrageous when you write about sex.

• Be willing to personalize it, not just staying an objective observer. Both write it and do it.

• Seek to have a great relationship and sex life yourself.

• Remember, sex is meant to be fun.