The Inside Scoop on The Mango Tree Cafe

Nashville, TN USA

Chiang Mai, Thailand

When people pick up our book, "The Mango Tree Cafe, Loi Kroh Road," and read it, one of the first questions my co-author and I get is, "The novel was great! How did you guys meet?"

Weelllll, long story short, we've NEVER met. We've never met in person, We've never talked on the phone nor have we Skyped each other.

We HAVE however, emailed each other along with sporadic instant messaging courtesy of Gmail. You may be asking yourself, How the heck do you write a novel with someone you've never met over email? My short answer is "It takes a special book and a special person to come up with the story." I found those things in Alan Solomon.

How I became involved with The Mango Tree and Alan Solomon
A writer colleague of mine contacted me one day and asked those fateful words: "Do you have room in your workload to take on a fictional novel?" My answer was a fast yes since at the time, non-fiction and memoirs tended to be quite popular for clients. My first love is fiction and always will be.

Alan Solomon

When she began telling me about the project, I began to wonder if I should have said "No." The reason I felt this way is because, the book is centered in Thailand. Thailand? I had no interest or desire to write a fiction novel about Thailand! My colleague urged me to email the author for more information. I mentioned that I would call him to get a better handle of what is needed and ask about this Thailand setting! My colleague chuckled and said, "You sure you want to call? He's located in Beijing, China!" I mutter "Great" under my breath and took his email address down.

Little did I know how the next several hours would affect my life in every way. I emailed Mr. Alan Solomon and was trying to think of a polite way to ask why he chose Thailand to place the setting of the book. He simply asked me to read the first chapter to see what I thought and whether I wanted to take this project on. I downloaded the chapter and began reading.

I read the first sentence and felt my heart turning each page. I was instantly hooked and began to see the diamond in the rough. When I came to the last page, I knew what I had to do. I replied to his email and said WITHOUT A DOUBT, YES.

And, the rest as they say, is history. ;)


1 author, Simpson