BIG NEWS: new manuscript shipped to the publisher!

My 2nd book is on its way to the publisher! Its a story Made in Japan. A fascinating history of two epic plants - cotton and indigo - and how they changed Japan's textile traditions... and the story of the brand new quilting cotton being made in Japan today and the artists who are designing that fabric, the esteemed printers who are manufacturing it, and the quilters who are creating with it.

Fabric Sampler - with 2015 fabrics made in Japan.

Patience is not one of my virtues. That said, I seem to summon enormous patience when it comes to writing and publishing books and the years that it takes to do this work.

This is my second book. I have a third book already in the works. 

It takes years to publish a book! Years!!! The process is so intense... there are millions of tiny details. Add to that the challenges of writing about the history and contemporary scene in another country and culture, language and logistical difficulties... and pretty soon a couple years have flown by. 

My books are non-fiction, art history narrative. They are photo driven, "coffee table" books. So, in addition to writing these books, I'm also the photographer for 80% of the photos. Photography is one of my loves... and a couple dozen years ago, I worked as a professional photographer. So its fun to come back to this love. 

Author Photographer Teresa Duryea Wong photographing a natural indigo dyer in Ohara, Japan.

So, finally, you get the manuscript prepared in its final format. You organize the 300+ photos and put them in the required formats. You prepare a myriad of other details. Then, you've got the beginnings of a book. You send it off to the publisher - thrilled and exhausted at the same time. And you wait. And wait. And wait. 

At the post office. Shipping book #2 to Schiffer Publishing. Looking exhausted and elated.

Another year will pass as the publisher does its thing! The waiting is excruciating. But it is what it is.

Sometime, in late 2017, my second book will be published. 

I love writing. I love telling stories. I love Japan. And I can't wait to share this amazing history of Japan's cotton and indigo - and the beautiful quilts being made with very old and very new Japanese textiles.