Paul Spencer Sochaczewski

This is a five-book series containing true stories I’ve written based on my 45 years of living and exploring in curious corners of Asia.

Some highlights:

• Can 200-million-year-old fossilized freshwater shark dung bring you good luck?  
• What’s the attraction of coffee that’s been digested by a civet? 
• How did Vietnam’s last elephant hunter, at the age of 90, get a lucrative sponsorship deal for a tonic that makes men more powerful?
• Did a love potion help a Filipino politician become governor? 
• Why do prominent modern Indonesian sultans continue love affairs with the Mermaid Queen?
• What’s a woman to do when a Hindu god doesn’t return her mountain?
• Does the yeti illuminate the dark side of our souls?
• How do “often frothy” phalluses protect Bhutanese villagers?
• How close are we to orangutans?
• Has White-Brown colonialism been replaced by Brown-Brown arrogance?
• Why did a gentle grandmother spit at a ghost?
• How did Myanmar’s ruling junta use white elephants to consolidate their power?
• What arrogance drives western travelers to seek the “unknown”?
• What do jumping cats have to do with Buddhism’s Middle Path?

Selected reviews:

“In the great tradition of Asian reporting. The humanity of Somerset Maugham, the adventure of Joseph Conrad, the perception of Paul Theroux, and a self-effacing voice uniquely his own.”

—Gary Braver, bestselling author of Tunnel Vision

“The spirit of Kipling in contemporary Asian journalism.  This collection is essential reading for anyone who wishes to pass beyond even the unbeaten track, right to the heart of Asia.”

—John Burdett, author of Bangkok Eight, Bangkok Tattoo, and Bangkok Asset

“In this series, Sochaczewski explores the hidden corners, the forgotten people, and their surprising tales. All the personal traveler’s tales in these volumes are captivating, all filled with humor, drama and insight, with an edgy take-no-prisoners voice. You won’t find anything else like this on the bookshelf.”

—Jeff McNeely, former chief scientist, International Union for Conservation of Nature

“If anyone can pull off something as innovative as Curious Encounters, it’s Paul Sochaczewski. Expect pellucid writing, insightful irreverence, and universal truths elegantly presented, in a genre that defies categorization.”

—John Keay, author of India: A History, China: A History, and Mad about the Mekong

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Share Your Journey is an easy-to-use handbook for people who want to write their personal stories but aren’t sure how to start and how to make it interesting. It’s based on the writing workshops I’ve run in more than twenty countries.

You’ll learn the (surprisingly easy) technique professional writers use to write personal memoirs and travel stories that connect with editors and readers. Some highlights:

• Recognize the dynamics of your own hero’s journey
• Create instant intimacy with the reader
• Tell the story by following the Little Red Riding Hood Strategy
• Create conflict with the Nancy Reagan Principle
• Write like Steven Spielberg directs
• Eliminate fluff like Michelangelo
• Keep ’em hanging on with the Scheherazade Scenario
• Invoke the Story of One to represent the Story of Many

“Share Your Journey  is to good writing as Joy of Cooking  is to good food. I wish all my students had this book before taking my writing classes; hell, I wish I had this book earlier in my career. It’s smart, fun, and every page contains nuggets of essential advice.”

—Gary Goshgarian, professor of creative writing, Northeastern University

“Paul Sochaczewski learned his craft carefully over decades and he now shares the secrets to why he’s successful. He offers ten simple, but too often overlooked guidelines, them amply (and memorably) illustrates each one with samples from his own works and a library full of other writers demonstrating how easily it can be done.”

—Jerry Hopkins, former editor of Rolling Stone, best-selling author of Elvis: The Biography and No One Here Gets Out Alive 

“Paul’s Ten Tips, buttressed by some great to-the-point examples, will stand among the best advice a nonfiction writer can ever hope to have.”

—James Clad, former Far Eastern Economic Review bureau chief in Malaysia, India, the Philippines; author of Behind the Myth: Business, Money and Power in Southeast Asia

“If I had to parachute only one book to a Robinson Crusoe-type stranded on a deserted island who wanted to write his personal story, I have no doubt it would be Paul Sochaczewski’s Share Your Journey: Mastering Personal Writing. The toolkit Paul offers allows the person with a story and some raw talent to build a word castle that rises to the heavens.”

—Christopher G. Moore, author of the Vincent Calvino novels and Heart Talk

“If you want … your writing to leap off the page and click its heels in mid-air, read this book and follow its good advice. This is a lifetime’s wisdom, offered by a pro.”

—Thomas Bass, author of The Spy Who Loved Us, Vietnamerica, and The Predictors; professor of English and journalism at State University of New York

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