Vanessa Chan
@vanjchan
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🇲🇾 author. THE STORM WE MADE, out now⚡️ from @MSRBooks & @HodderBooks (GMA & BBC book club pick). Also THE UGLIEST BABIES IN THE WORLD, coming 👶🏻
Brooklyn / KL
Joined June 2011
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Know what will score you an instant reject and ban from future submission? A cover letter that says: "To the politically correct, college-aged SJW reading this, please forward along to your editor. You are not the intended audience of this piece."
BYE
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Today I learned that a white man I know uses a pen name to submit to lit mags, and purposely picked a name that sounds distinctly African in order to "get himself to the front of the queue." But the wonderful the twist is I learned that he continues to be rejected everywhere.
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Irritating learning a man who literally cussed me out for 45 minutes and then threatened to get me fired has made millions on books about managing your habits and feelings
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Apparently this is a new media company about Asians run by these people. I see the whites are still doing stuff like this in this year of our lord
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HELP I just read a submission from a celebrated writer which was 15 pages of him grappling with, and finally justifying, the need for writing professors to fuck/date their students, bc, sometimes, says he, the crackling, libidinous energy cannot be denied... excuse me while I vom
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I went to a bar and the bartender asked, what are we celebrating? And I mishearing him thinking he said “who else is coming” said - me, just me - he nodded gravely and said “that’s valid” and poured me a free drink, and now I am mortified
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Dismayed but unsurprised to learn that many POC writers don't know about the writing conference circuit that happens in the summer. I myself only learned about them last year, and thru literal constant searching on Twitter.
So here's a nonexhaustive guide to stuff I applied to:
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Excuse me while I die - a white Dutch woman (the Dutch colonized Malaysia for over 100 years omg) literally set up a shop to sell clothes to Malay women to help Malaysians dress “beautifully again” because she feels we don’t respect our own heritage and culture; I scream
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On LinkedIn they informed me that the age of the model minority is over... Asian people have been freed of the yokes? yolks? that bind us. White ppl have declared a new age to modern Asian Americanism! It is their time!
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Tomorrow is a public holiday for all Asians everywhere all at once
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The chancellor of Purdue making a grade school level Asian racism at a university graduation 🙄
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This note at the end of
@nguyen_p_quemai
’s essay in the NYT is theeeee most badass queen shit, I LOVE HER
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the guardian centering a white expat couple’s experience in India when there are >1 billion Indians living in the same / worse grief is the the literal manifestation of white supremacy in liberal media
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I forget I have normie- non writer friends sometimes - one of my closest whom I gave my galley to asked me if he was allowed to read the book or has to hold out six months till the book publishes 🥹🥹🥹
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My god some men are literally insane but for the record I’m excited to learn that I, a writer who didn’t read and speak on any panels at awp, was “in the spotlight”
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If you're a BIPOC author who's afraid of self-promoting bc you're worried you're annoying everyone or making everyone tired of you, remember this - a person needs to see something about your book at least SEVEN times before they even consider buying it. So promote yourself, pls!!
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A few weeks ago, on the first day of the lunar new year - the Year of the Tiger, MY YEAR, while I was home in Malaysia with my family - my dreams came true 😭🐯⚡️
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@isle_mcelroy
Yes I love it about this town!!! People screaming “YOUR BACKPACK IS UNZIPPED” like the end of the world is nigh
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My parents split up acrimoniously in the early 2000s but before my mom died in 2020 they met up and said their sorries and made up and forgave each other. She died two months later. A year after she died, I write a sadgirl flash abt her and last week my dad sends me this 😭😭😭
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Walking on the street and I sensed a man behind me so I slowed down to let him pass but he would not which was annoying so I full-on stopped and turned to stare at him and when he passed me he was like “just kidding” and laughed a bit and why did feel so oddly threatening
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Yo people I don’t have anything to promote but if you’re Black and a writer, a bunch of us have covered submission fees for the
@PigeonPagesNYC
writing contest so DM
@hanbae
to get in on it! Oh and WEAR A FACE MASK!! 😷
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hot tip because it's come to my attention that authors dont know this - if something goes well, write that long grateful note to your publishing team, publicists, marketing ppl - and cc all their bosses. even if it seems formal/weird/you have a casual rship with yout team, do it.
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Okay you sold your book yay!!Congrats! Now you’re sitting around twiddling your thumbs waiting for your contract, waiting for your editor to send you edits, waiting to announce your deal, and being generally anxious. What are some useful things you can do in service of your book?
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There is a lot of exceptionally brilliant Southeast Asian-authored books coming in 2023 (and 2024!) and it makes my heart so happy to see it. Frustrating I have seen no written roundup in media so here's a start. And if you know of more please tell me/send me!!
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I, an editor, a seasoned submitter, a proof reader, just accidentally submitted a cover letter with my submission that goes:
Dear Vanessa Chan,
Here is
Sincerely,
Vanessa Chan
It’s been a long 2021 already 🥴 on top of everything, no idea why it’s addressed to myself 🤣
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I just got a rejection that said they were wildly impressed with my story but couldn’t publish it because they worried the subject matter would cause their readers to cancel them, and I feel like this is an Important Milestone for my writing career
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Met someone recently at the reading series I run who said he was bummed bc he feels we don’t book writers he knows anymore and that now we book people he’s never heard of, and I have to say - white men really do find all sorts of creative ways to say, “where are the white men”
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Everyday I try to forgive white people and everyday ... there’s something new to lose my mind over
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If you have the privilege to meet with agents or editors before you decide who to work with, one of the most important questions to ask is what books they think your work is in conversation with - something wise
@ginathechung
taught me (she teaches me everything fwiw). THREAD
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My novel was 8000 words in April. Today it is 52,000 words. No this is not a humble brag; this is a straight brag. In the same 5 months my mother and uncle have died in heartbreaking ways, and the world went to shit. So I’m taking solace in at least being able to type words.
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My dad has Covid - to keep him company bc I can’t be there I sent him my novel manuscript which he is WHIZZING thru, and sending me chapter by chapter comments like “omg do you know that this happened?!!” Yes dad I do, I wrote it 😭😂🥰
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Who wants to stand guard at my inbox and help me slay this goblin
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Malaysians who are based overseas - please register to be postal voters. It is very much a multi-step adventure with many paths to go wrong, so here is a step by step.
Be patient, stick with me!!!
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Man I forgot that three years ago a creative writing instructor refused to write me a letter of rec for my mfa applications bc he said I wasn’t ready and needed to align my desire to be a writer with my (lack of) aptitude - “I’m saving you time & money in the long run” — LMAOOOOO
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I will never get over the story in the New Yorker in which the white author makes up an entire tribe in Malaysia with fake name and fake characteristics, and with the author considering going to fake Malaysia to join this fake tribe to become their fake god
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If you wrote a book I’m fuckin proud of you. That shit’s hard!!!!
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Also, I don’t fully know what a third culture upbringing is, but white people need to stop using it as a justification for cultural and racial appropriation; it’s getting unacceptable
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omg my essay about being a fat woman who likes clothes and was on national tv is going to be published by Vogue!!! VOGUE!!!!???
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Anyway my dad finished reading my novel while he had Covid, said nothing abt the very expansive sex scenes, had only praise and called it a masterpiece and sent very detailed and helpful fact checking notes about the history of Malaysia the time period - a true god among fathers
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Screaming my whole body is shaking...I received a Stanley Elkins scholarship and will be a scholar at the Sewanee this summer - I applied last year and was rejected even as a paying contributor so wtf hello omg...also will I get to touch ppl? At an actual writing conference? 😭🙏🏼
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Today I'm remembering the agent who, during an mfa talk, said he tosses aside all manuscripts that do tired tropes like boring family epics and WWII historicals and "women acting in predictably reckless ways like over-eating or being promiscuous" - i wonder how this king is doin
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Who is your stan contemporary author…someone who’s maybe written 1, 2 books, but you know you’ll follow forever, read everything they ever write in their lifetime or yours? Mine is Kirstin Valdez Quade - I will never stop going on about how The Five Wounds should win every award
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You can tell how much a straight man likes you by how many articles or songs he assigns you to read/listen to daily - they be flirting by giving homework
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I just blocked the creepiest account… a “street photographer” who takes photos of Asian women in masks on public transit and hashtags it “asian beauty” - pls report if you see it, it’s creepy AND dangerous
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My silly ❤️ is beating so fast - my ugly baby short-ish story, written in Malaysian English (!!) is in
@ElectricLit
’s The Commuter! It’s abt well, ugly babies & the myths our families tell abt creation. It has a rude grandma. I hope my👶🏻makes you chuckle!
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Does the guy in your mfa know that he’s THE “guy in mfa?” Or does he just think he’s helpful and well-read?
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If you get a book deal and I love you, you be getting mugs like this to remind you every morning how awesome you are!!!! 🥰
My book deal mug is here!! Thank you
@vanjchan
for gifting me this daily dose of caffeinated inspiration.
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I need new novel inspo - looking for novel recs abt unredeemed crazy women - crazy to the point of committing murder or just truly horrible I-did-crime shit - think Otessa Mosfegh, Frances Cha, Gillian Flynn, the Elinor Oliphant book. I do not want to feel calm. Got more for me?
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Crying with gratefulness at the immense detail of the fact checking my father did on my historical novel. I’ve always been worried abt not being able to fact-check my Malaysian novel w an American publisher and my dad was like - cool I will! He did it when he had Covid last yr 😭
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I’m lying in bed rn & my boobs are doing the usual east/west thing and I’m remembering the man who told me to go to the doctor for my “condition” bc according to his research I lacked important self-repairing side boob cartilage to keep them pointing upwards when I lie on my back
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I am always so shocked when I find famous authors and professors in my slush pile, just queueing along like everyone else
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I have been reading and ignoring the man on the plane next to me who has been trying to get my attention (he is three shots in; help) and now he just googled “what do girls read”
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First pass pages for the holidays 😭 She’s nearly a real girl
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Two yrs, one pandemic & 90k words later, outside the Fulton St subway station, I asked
@michellebrower
&
@imaginarysmd
to be my literary life partners aka agents 😭 So excited to be
@trellisliterary
agent sibs with many wonderful writers; can’t wait to make a life of stories 🇲🇾
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Got drunk at my own party and gave out free advice on how & when to post important but maybe not that viralish publishing things (preorder announcements, book cover reveals, etc) on social media for max pickup on the algorithms..my agent was like - pls, teach class. Maybe I will!
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My neighbor said loudly into a zoom today, “and sometimes we have to pivot towards death” and my sick ass was like (loudly through the wall), “I agree” and he knocked the wall back… and I guess now we must marry
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There was a fire above
@yuandmebooks
- which means it won’t be operational for 1 yr due to damage. This is devastating. Anyone who knows the bookstore - the first AAPI woman-run bookstore in the country knows it’s a beacon to us all. Pls consider donating.
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omg i am shortlist fuckfuckfuckityfuck
Y’all I made a grant deadline with 25 minutes to spare - if I get it I’m buying
@katjolewis
who flagged it for me 2 hours ago - dinner for a week. All my ppl writing about Asia - here you go for next year, or the next 20 mins if you’re fast:
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A man on Hinge -
“gosh you’re beautiful. Don’t take this the wrong way, just constructive feedback, you should consider doing your nails. I notice you just leave them bare which is okay but colored nails always look better imo”
Y’ALL... I DON’T WANNA BE ATTRACTED TO MEN
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Thinking yesterday about how I was rejected from 8 mfa programs, like damn, (writing) life really does find a way
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agents just sold foreign rights to my novel to its first Asian country… so incredibly happy 🥰 Taiwan we coming for you
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Ok ok omg my final new author photos have arrived squeeee!!!! Help me pick one? ❤️
All credit and wonderment to
@MaryKang23
who, as you can see, is absolutely incredible.
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I am OVERJOYED to be signing with
@HodderBooks
& Lily Cooper to publish my debut novel in the UK & commonwealth. As a Malaysian it thrills me to have found a UK publisher that cares so deeply abt an untold history - truly I’m the luckiest. (
@thebookseller
)
"Heartbreaking, page-turning and utterly illuminating, The Storm We Made has the feeling of an instant classic, a book set to be recommended and discussed endlessly for years to come",
@HodderBooks
signs
@vanjchan
's debut novel! Read more:
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Tin House - usually in Portland at Reed College but has been online for 2 yrs - workshops + 1 agent & 1 editor mtg (need to write a query letter which is p cool tbh) - known for diverse attendees and faculty - fin aid: has scholarships which you need to write an extra essay for
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I’m about to faint bc
@aemalecha
just told me that my novel, critical of japan and about the depths of pain the japanese occupation caused during WWII in malaysia - IS GOING TO BE PUBLISHED IN JAPAN 😭😭😭 Fam, we have a japanese publisher, Shunjusha. I am in tears.
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when your insurer decides to no longer cover your asthma inhaler so it costs $250 but if you buy the identical inhaler at pharmacies abroad it costs $5... tells you something about how american pharma and healthcare is a giant Ponzi scheme
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The way I know I’m on a plane bound for America - the guy behind me took out my bag out of overhead and left it in the aisle and put his in instead and when I looked aghast he just said, “I needed a place for my bag” and nodded at the flight attendant to take care of it
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Now that we've held on to the lists for two weeks i consider it real - The Storm We Made is officially a NATIONAL BESTSELLER. We made the USA Today & Indie Bestseller lists! American readers are somehow buying this book abt Malaysia??! Thank you sm for reading, sharing, loving 😭
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OH MY GOD THE PULITZER HAS CHANGED ITS REQUIREMENTS
it’s a good first step (let us define “long term home”) but ALLL HAIL
@jzsalvipoet
and
@ingrid_rojas_c
for their incredible advocacy and everyone who signed the letter and lent their support. 😭😭😭
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hello excuse me i just got an acceptance for a story I submitted at 2:06pm; it is 3:50pm now, ahhh!!!
moral of the story is - nothing really, everything is random, but woohoo my story about a sentient boob freckle now has a HOME
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Was talking to a Malaysian writer a few days ago abt how challenging it is to learn abt all the writing resources I learn by osmosis just by being in the US/immersed in literary culture stuff. So here's a thread of some interesting opportunities open not just to US residents:
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Hey if you wanna reveal your book cover & your publisher doesn’t make you an asset please y’all, use canva to paste the cover on a background then add the pub date. It’ll look nicer, crop better/not get cut off, and image+text does better on the algorithm for distribution. Trust.
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I spent all year editing my novel and went through the full spectrum of emotions including in August, despair/desire to shelve it completely. I turned in edits to my agents today & it’s weird but I think I can finally say I like the 300 pages I wrote; that’s some publishable shit
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New York will always keep a girl humble… I may be an author, I may have decent boobs but this morning on my walk I stepped at full stride on a dead rat and definitely felt the fur rustle underfoot
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Good morning here I am on my soapbox about how - did you know that the Pulitzer Prize does not consider non-US citizens for its prize? Even books pubbed here, about American life, like
@jzsalvipoet
’s exceptional bestselling memoir about - yep, immigration.
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What’s the most chaotic thing about your writing practice? Mine is that I wrote my novel on a refurbished 12-inch Dell laptop that sporadically goes offline and also has a missing T key
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Fav guy in my (former) MFA moment - last year when I got into tin house this guy was like, “Wow that’s so great! Do you think it was the work that got you in, or like, less applicants or the overall “diversity environment” and, well, we know what he meant
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I really don't know how you all be writing essays. This shit is so hard, feels like I'm scraping around my insides and then have to plate it real nice for random strangers to make fun of
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My mom died three years ago today. If you have yours, give her a hug for me.
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In 2003 the movie Sleeping Dictionary came out starring uh, Jessica Alba as a indigenous Iban girl from Sarawak (Malaysia) whose occupation was as a "sleeping dictionary" -she'd sleep with Brit colonizers (Hugh Dancy) to teach them the language and local customs
~RePrEsEnTaTioN~
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What are the worst writing compliments you’ve ever received? A friend once told me my writing felt like an “elevated facebook post” and a man in workshop once said my work had “urban whore vibes”
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@kimlsywrites
Kan?? Literally worn everywhere and still even in school?!! Like ma’am please exit your expat bubble for one day
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There’s a five year old with a water gun on the corner shooting at random ppl yelling, “UGLY UGLY” but when I walked by he held his fire, and I’ve never felt more validated in my life
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Met someone yesterday who introduced themself as “My name is Luca” and it took all my self control and maturity not to scream, “AND I LIVE ON THE SECOND FLOOR”
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Now that AWP is over I’m here to rant that a strange woman asked me aggressively “ARE YOU KOREAN” & when I said no, why would you say that, she said “I can see it in your face.” Listen, it’s an honor to be Korean, but I am not & performing race science at the hotel bar is a no.
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My novel has a title FINALLY so I ordered enough Chinese food for 16 people and went to town. My book is doneeeee (famous last words)
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