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Tea of Ulaanbaatar

"It's just drenched in another world: Christopher Howard does an amazing job of painting incredible scenes, sparsely yet wholly describing a gross, decrepit nightclub and an annihilating dust storm over the Gobi Desert with equal aplomb."

"There’s something different about this book compared to other reality-bending, bender books. There’s something larger at stake that deals with questions of human decency and human rights. Awesome read..."

–Katie Freeman, thewritingspark.tumblr.com

"[A] story of expatriate angst and an insightful indictment of globalization."

–Thomas Gaughan, Booklist

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: Thanks to Mr. Gaughan and Mss Storey, Freeman, and Leckert for such kind and articulate words. One of the most interesting things about writing books is watching how they spread, sometimes travelling to lands you will never visit, and connecting with people who you will likely never meet.

Tea took about 14 years to write. It began on a rickety wooden desk before a window in a crumbling flat in Ulaanbaatar. Sometimes I moved to the small balcony to write, and feel the sun on my face, and watch the Mongolian commuters below. Then the manuscript moved with me from Washington DC to Missouri to Illinois. Eventually it found its way into the hands of agent extraordinaire Chris Parris-Lamb, who adeptly oversaw 5 - 6 more drafts. Then the manuscript found its way to editor extraordinaire Jeanne Thornton and more drafts. So this book was a team effort, in the sense that the parts that work are theirs and the parts that don't are mine.

-Chris