Author Interview: Eichin Chang-Lim

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Eichin Chang-Lim

General Info:

      Name: Eichin Chang-Lim

Your city, state & country of residence:

Orange County, California

Author Bio:

Dr. Eichin Chang-Lim is a semiretired optometrist, a multi-award-winning author, a wife, and a mother to 2 children. She and her husband had a private optometry practice in Los Angeles. They live in Orange County, California.

In a recent interview, the author said, “You might have noticed that romance and inspirational are my niche genres. I write romance because I find it to be an intriguing genre. Relationships are quite involved in real life. Therefore, I use romance to depict the intricacies of relationships. Ultimately, it evolves into an inspirational and thought-provoking tale. Readers will discover that I tend to tell love stories beyond the confines of romance. I strive to convey the kind of love that is much broader and more profound than romantic or physical love. I strongly believe that love is more than a four-letter word. It’s multidimensional. It involves sacrifice, forgiveness, trust, demoting one’s ego, or even ‘letting it go’ at times. I also like to encompass the love of friendship, family, and even little pets in my stories.”

“As a romance writer, I write with my heart and soul. My mindset is that if my story can make a difference in even one person’s life, it’s all worth it, and that’s what love is all about,” she added.

Eichin modeled during college in Taiwan and was in several short films, including a supporting role in the comedy Indy/feature film Winning Formula. She has written five books: FLIPPING: An Uplifting Novel of Love, A Mother’s Heart: Memoir of a Special Needs Parent, Love: A Tangled Knot, TheLoveLock, and YOUR PRECIOUS SIGHT: An Optometrist’s Most Memorable Cases.

During the preorder period, YOUR PRECISOU SIGHT hit the #1 New Release in seven categories at least once: Optometry, Physician & Patient Diagnosis, Eye Problems, Reference, Preventive Medicine, Aging, and Ophthalmology.

Besides acting and writing, she loves opera and a big bear hug. Learn more about the author at www.eichinchanglim.com

Titles & genres of your available books:

Social media links:

Amazon: bit.ly/EichinChangLim_Amazon  https://www.amazon.com/Eichin-Chang-Lim/e/B00J79SY2Q?ref_=dbs_p_ebk_r00_abau_000000

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/eichin-chang-lim (bit.ly/EichinChangLim_BB)

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EichinChangLim @EichinChangLim

FB: https://www.facebook.com/authoreichinchanglim/

Good Reads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Eichin Chang-Lim website http://www.eichinchanglim.com/

  1. FLIPPING: An Uplifting Novel of Love

Genre: Romance/Young Adult/Inspiration

myBook.to/FLIPPING (short link)

Life can flip in the blink of an eye… 
But love and passion will find a way to make it right.


2018 Readers’ Favorite Award, Bronze Medalist – Fiction/Inspirational
2017 IAN Book of the Year Award Winner – Inspirational
2017 New Apple Summer eBook Awards, Official Selection – Inspirational
Award of Literary Excellence – Dog Ear Publishing
B.R.A.G. Medallion Winner


Flipping is a multi-award winning romance novel that highlights the power of love to move us forward, and the strength of the human spirit to overcome life’s challenges. 

Be Inspired. Fall in Love.


Praise for Flipping:


“The plot is gripping, emotional, heart-wrenching, and most of all, believable. The writing and characters are filled with such emotion they bring the story to life.” – Readers’ Favorite

“Chang-Lim writes in a simple, direct prose style that seems to channel the matter-of-fact diligence of her characters … quick little scenes that guilelessly propel the plot …” – Kirkus Reviews

“The gentleness of the love story is indeed moving and I found myself thinking about the situation in between reading…” – Ken Fry, Author

JonSun and SuAnn are an unlikely couple. But despite their different social backgrounds, they fall in love. From the start, the odds were against them. SuAnn’s family has other plans for her future, but their love cannot be dismissed so easily. Defying everything, the couple gets married in secret and moves to California. Good fortune blesses the couple while flipping houses. Their success marred only by JonSun’s sudden need for revenge.

The second story is about Christa and her struggles with her disabilities. At a young age, it was discovered that she was profoundly deaf. A cochlear implant gave her a new perspective and she fell in love with Gymnastics. Flipping in the air made her feel alive, and nothing will stop her from achieving her dream of a gold medal.

These two stories intersect when JonSun and SuAnn’s son, Wynson, meets Christa. They became good friends for many years, and their friendship turns into something more. But a lot of problems stand in their way. Christa receives devastating news which could be a game changer, and Wynson has to deal with his own troubles at home. The question is whether their love for each other will survive these trials. 

What gives this novel depth are the parallel themes running throughout. The characters’ struggle with their self-esteem are prevalent throughout the book. This creates a richly layered and more interesting novel as the reader recognizes the threads that weaves the book together.


Other Books by Eichin Chang-Lim:


Your Precious Sight
The LoveLock
A Mother’s Love
Love, A Tangled Knot

Visit the author’s website:
www.eichinchanglim.com

Connect on Twitter: @EichinChangLim

  1. A Mother’s Heart: Memoir of a Special Needs Parent 

Genre: Memoir/Parenting/Inspiration/Self-help

  • myBook.to/amothersheart (short link)

special needs mother heart eichin chang-lim needs child profoundly deaf waardenburg syndrome touching story needs parent heartfelt memoir child with special memoir of a special heart by eichin

A Mother's Heart: Memoir of a Special Needs Parent by [Chang-Lim, Eichin]

It can be lonely parenting a special-needs child…
But you are not alone.


A Memoir / Self Help book by multi-award-winning author, Dr. Eichin Chang-Lim.

2019 eLit Awards Gold Medal Winner – Parenting and Juvenile/Young Adult Non-Fiction
2018 Readers’ Favorite Book Award Gold Medal Winner, Non-fiction Parenting
New Apple Summer eBook Awards 2017, Parenting Category Winner
2017 Best Book Awards, Finalist – Parenting & Family
13th National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist – Self-Help: General

“Very well written, heart-warming, and honest, this book is a powerful and important read, especially for those with children who are deaf or have special needs.”

“This account of the struggles and the choices that face a parent of a special needs child is heartwarming and easy to read.”

Parenting is a challenging journey, especially when raising a child who requires extra attention. There are days when it feels as if you’re trapped in a dark cave with no way out. The lonesomeness and helplessness exhaust you. You may be looking for some words of inspiration to know that you are not alone. 

A Mother’s Heart is a book for any parent in a similar circumstance. This book is written by a mother raising a special needs son with a genetic disorder. It encapsulates both the elements of a memoir and a self-help book. 

The author candidly shares her need to make heart-wrenching decisions throughout the journey, including family life and working with the school systems.

This is a book not only helpful for parents with a special needs child, it will also give insights to individuals who may encounter or be involved with parents of special needs children.


Other Books by Eichin Chang-Lim:


Your Precious Sight
Flipping
Love, A Tangled Knot
The LoveLock

Visit the author’s website:
www.eichinchanglim.com

  • Love: A Tangled Knot: New Adult Romance

Genre: YA/Romance/Inspiration

If love is true, how long should you wait? 
How much pain should you endure before moving on?


2017 New Apple Book Awards Solo Medalist Winner – Young Adult Inspirational
13th National Indie Excellence Awards Finalist – New Adult Fiction


Love: A Tangled Knot is a new edition of a romantic novel penned by the award-winning author of Flipping, Eichin Chang-Lim. A clean romance about the struggles of a couple to keep their family together against all odds.

“This is a good, clean romance that I recommend to anyone seeking a love-infused, inspirational read.”

“I enjoyed navigating the hearts of the characters, feeling their desperation as the conflict reaches crisis point, and wondering what will happen next. Eichin Chang-Lim injects realism into the story and makes it feel as if it is unfolding before the reader.” ~ Editorial Review

“This author has a knack for the genre and way of tapping into a very volatile generation. I’m really impressed with this book.” ~Award Judge’s Commentary 

“I love that the author knows how to reach her audience (whether that by young adults or adults of any age). This book can really reach the reader on so many levels.” ~Editorial Review 

With the Golden Gate Bridge in sight, the story begins.

Kayla is an ambitious seventeen-year-old who is content to deliver “real-talk” to her boy-crazy best friend, Breeana, while running the high school’s environmentalist club. She has no time or desire for boys, viewing even a crush as an unwanted commitment. Until Russell Mancini joins Beach Cleanup Day. Kayla learns that she’s a sucker for love just like her peers.

Their relationship seems perfect, but fate conspires against the pair. Kayla’s dreams are shattered when she becomes pregnant. Struggling to make ends meet, Russell makes a decision that threatens to destroy their relationship, irrevocably steering his course away from Kayla and their daughter. Kayla finds herself pitted in a conflict she would never have expected.

As Russell’s fate presents him with a seven-year incarceration sentence, Kayla must pick up the pieces and stay firm in her marriage. Dreaming of the day her daughter will have a father once again.

Will Kayla and Russell untangle the knot that was once their love? Or will temptations and inner demons succeed in moving them further apart?


Other Books by Eichin Chang-Lim:


Your Precious Sight
Flipping
A Mother’s Love
Love, A Tangled Knot

Visit the author’s website:
www.eichinchanglim.com

Connect on Twitter: @EichinChangLim

  • The LoveLock

Genre: Suspenseful/Romance

link: http://mybook.to/TheLoveLock (Short Link)

Torn apart by Life…
Can Destiny bring them back together?


From multi-award winning author, Eichin Chang-Lim, comes a heartbreaking and inspiring love story that will grip you from beginning to end. 

2019 IndieReader Discovery Award, WINNER – New Adult
2019 Independent Publisher Book Award, Bronze – Urban Fiction
2019 eLit Award, Bronze – Romance
2018 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award, FIRST Place – Young Adult 
2018 National Indie Excellence Award, Finalist – New Age Fiction
2018 Annual Indie Book New Apple Literary Award, Official Selection – Psychological Suspense
2018 Readers’ Favorite, Honorable Mention – Young Adult Romance


“Beautifully written, captivating and compelling…”
“This is a beautiful story, at times aching, and filled with compassion and pathos.”
 ~ Readers’ Favorite

“Far from any fairytale, Dr. Chang-Lim draws from her own experience with the circumstances of real people. As a medical professional, she illustrates her vast knowledge of drug abuse, post-traumatic stress, mental illness, Multiple Sclerosis, and other maladies she deftly employs in the story.”

“Extremely enchanting, suspenseful and thrilling.” 

Life changes on a dime. Few understand this painful truth quite like Violet and Dylan, former college sweethearts united by their troubled childhoods.

When a gut-wrenching tragedy strikes in their adult years, they’re torn apart—their relationship unable to survive the blow. Though they go their separate ways, they remain connected by a meaningful token: a locket, which Dylan bestows upon Violet on a blissful day by a gorgeous beach in Coronado, California—to which he holds the key. 

This lovelock remains to be their only connection as they struggle to rebuild their lives. Violet, an aspiring actress, grapples with mental illness and ends up stripping for a living. In the meantime, Dylan faces his own challenges while trying to manage his past trauma with an unknown future. They each venture down their own dark path laced with drugs and manipulative, taxing characters. All the while, neither can shake off their longing for the love they once shared and endeared. 

In spite of life’s impediments, can they heal their past and find happiness alone, or together?


Other Books by Eichin Chang-Lim:


Your Precious Sight
Flipping
A Mother’s Love
Love, A Tangled Knot

Visit the author’s website:
www.eichinchanglim.com

  • Your Precious Sight: An Optometrist’s Most Memorable Cases

Genre: Non-fiction/Health Care/Wellness

  • bit.ly/YourPreciousSight (short link)
Your Precious Sight: An Optometrist's Most Memorable Cases by [Chang-Lim, Eichin]

Are you petrified by the thought of permanently living in COMPLETE DARKNESS?


Did you know that the only way to detect insidious eye diseases in the early stage, a crucial step in preventing the loss of eyesight, is through a regular comprehensive eye exam?

Your Precious Sight is written by optometrist Dr. Eichin Chang-Lim. In this book, she shares the most memorable cases in her decades of being an eye doctor in an easy-to-read, insightful style. 

The stories span pediatrics to geriatrics and include lazy eyes, pink eyes, ocular allergies, refractive surgeries, the effects of diseases like multiple sclerosis and diabetes on your vision, eye twitching, floaters, flashing lights, dry eyes, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and more.

This book is entertaining, fascinating, and informative. The author’s ultimate goal is to encourage you never to take your precious sight for granted.

Read this book and gain a better appreciation for that marvelous organ—the eyeball!

GET YOUR COPY!


Other Books by Eichin Chang-Lim:


Flipping
The LoveLock
A Mother’s Love
Love, A Tangled Knot

Visit the author’s website:
www.eichinchanglim.com

  1. About your writing (FICTION AUTHORS)
  2. What inspires you to write?

To tell stories within me motivates me to write. There are messages I desperately want to share.

  • What do you love most about writing?

The process of developing characters and plotting out the entire story always excites me. It reminds me of the joy of making Play-Doh into whatever fun stuff I had in mind when I was a kid.

  • What’s the most challenging part?

Finding the time to write is always a challenge due to my other responsibilities and duties.

  • How do you craft your story & characters?

Most of the time, I start to write down the main characters and the synopsis of the story with paper and pen. Then, I outline the entire plot into chapters with a brief description under each section. I make numerous changes and adjustments during the actual writing process.

  • How much research is involved?

It depends on the project. For Flipping, I spent much time researching the details of a gymnastics competition and visited a famous gymnast’s training gym. For Love: A Tangled Knot, I studied the law for the incarceration part of the story. For The LoveLock, I read several metal-illness-related fiction and non-fiction; I even talked to a practicing psychiatrist. I usually complete most of the subjects requiring research first before proceeding to outline and do more if needed along the way.

  • How long did it take from idea to finished book?

It takes about one to two years because I don’t write full time.

  • Do you have any writing rituals or habits? Who influences you the most?

Since I am not near my computer all the time, I’d jot down any ideas that strike me during the day on my iPhone’s Note app. I do not have any writing rituals or habits; however, I listen to specific music to help me get into the mood for certain scenes. For example, I turn on Schindler’s List and other similar genres of music when I write a melancholy scene.

  • What is your favorite theme/genre to write?  

Romance and inspirational books are my niche genres. It’s my vision to use “romance” as a vehicle to draw out a true love story. Eventually, it evolves into an inspirational and thought-provoking tale.

  • Do any of your life experiences worm their way into your books?

 Yes, certainly. The backbones of my books were drawn and converged into a fiction story from my personal experiences and the people I’ve met directly or indirectly. The locations are mostly places I am familiar with, Southern or Northern California, especially the Los Angeles area.

  1. How do you like to connect with readers?

At this moment, the primary means of connecting with my readers are social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I would like to venture into blogging to communicate with my readers in a more intimate format in the near future.

  1. What do you hope readers take away from your books?

Each of my books possesses its individual theme; however, they convey a similar message from different angels via entirely different storylines and backgrounds. The key message is:

In the journey of our lives, we may find ourselves traveling in the dark stormy nights. We may slip or fall a few times while attempting to steady our steps on the muddy road. It’s OK to cry when it feels like the gloomy nights last forever. The pain is as a sharp knife slice through our hearts and leaves us nothing to hang on. Yes, there are moments the thought of death may sneak into our minds and convince us that is the only way out.

Do not be despaired, my friends. There are purposes installed in everyone’s precious life. Even though it’s hard to see it in the midst of turmoil, there are hopes and love around us. Have faith!

Allow me to do a bit of shameless promotion: enjoy my books, whether you are looking for a touch of passion or a dose of inspiration. They are fantastic reads. You have my guarantee!

  1. Do you read all reviews?

Yes. I do read all reviews diligently.

  1. Why are reviews important?

It helps me know what my readers think about the stories and my writing, which guides me for my future book projects.

  1. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

 Don’t wait until you think you are ready. Do not overly concern yourself with ensuring faultless grammar or getting a perfect sentence in the first draft. Just write freely with your heart, and let the story flow out from your deepest soul.

  1. What can you tell us about what we’ll see from you next?

 I have a couple of book ideas in my head, which are in the fiction genera. I am also considering one or two non-fiction, focusing on parenting or self-help areas.

  • About your writing (NON-FICTION AUTHORS)
  • What inspires you to write?

It’s an interesting journey, I would say.

I wanted to be a writer when I was in elementary school. I even submitted several short stories and essays to youth magazines, and they were accepted and published. Of course, they were written in Chinese back home. In junior high, I submitted some more articles and stories; they were ruthlessly rejected. My confidence shattered; I started to doubt my writing ability. At the same time, I found interests in other areas of study. So, the idea of being a writer faded, and I gradually evolved my studies in science and healthcare.

After years as an optometrist, I realized that every person is a unique individual, and every soul is precious. I know this sounds clichéd. However, that’s my conviction. I really appreciate that my patients allow me to look into their eyes, “the windows to the soul.” (Again, a cliché!) I believe that there are stories in every single person. Listening to my patients fuels the inspiration for my stories.

The urge to tell stories prompted me to become an author eight years ago. My books, either fiction or nonfiction, are about my own personal journey or a collection of stories I have heard and about people I have met.

  • What do you love most about writing?

Being an author is being a storyteller with purpose. The processes of plotting, developing characters, setting up the scenes, and creating tension at various stages are daunting at times. In the end, the satisfaction of completing a writing project is thrilling and rewarding. Since I become a serious writer, I’ve found I am much more sensitive to the people around me, more compassionate and more observant about my surroundings.

Also, writing is an art of sharing. I share my thoughts, my heart and my soul with others. It’s therapeutic.