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Nicki Chen

Goodreads Author

Born

in Sedro-Woolley, WA, The United States

Website

http://nickichenwrites.com/wordpress

Genre

Historical Fiction, Fiction

Member Since

April 2013

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/goodreadscomnicki_chen

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Nicki Chen is a freelance writer and blogger. Born and raised in Washington State, she married a man who fascinated her with his stories about an exotic childhood in China. Three daughters later, they moved to the Philippines, where they stayed for the next fifteen years. While there, she immersed herself in Asian cultures, studying Chinese brush painting and batik, volunteering at the International School, traveling, reading, and making friends with other Asian expatriates. She enrolled in an MFA program through the Vermont College of Fine Arts, earning her MFA after moving to the South Pacific. Her twice-yearly residencies took her on a 17,000-mile round-trip journey from Port Vila, Vanuatu, to Montpelier, Vermont, and back. Ms. Chen is a Nicki Chen is a freelance writer and blogger. Born and raised in Washington State, she married a man who fascinated her with his stories about an exotic childhood in China. Three daughters later, they moved to the Philippines, where they stayed for the next fifteen years. While there, she immersed herself in Asian cultures, studying Chinese brush painting and batik, volunteering at the International School, traveling, reading, and making friends with other Asian expatriates. She enrolled in an MFA program through the Vermont College of Fine Arts, earning her MFA after moving to the South Pacific. Her twice-yearly residencies took her on a 17,000-mile round-trip journey from Port Vila, Vanuatu, to Montpelier, Vermont, and back. Ms. Chen is a graduate of Seattle University and a member of the Ladies Writing Club of Perrinville.

Her love of stories began the day her dad returned from the Second World War. Every night he invented a new bedtime story to tell the three-year-old daughter who was born while he was fighting in Italy. His tales were full of giants and flying carpets and shipwrecks.

Years later, Ms. Chen’s passion for stories about China was sparked by her husband, who always brought a gallon of Christian Brothers sauterne and a bag full of stories to their dates, delighting both Ms. Chen and her roommates. He was a Scorpio, born in the Year of the Tiger, and though she was merely a Taurus born in the Year of the Sheep, she dared to marry him.

For a long time Ms. Chen believed she was a teacher. She had a degree in education. She’d taught kindergarten and ninth-grade Spanish. When they moved to the Philippines, where foreign teachers were seldom allowed work permits, she still thought she’d go back to teaching. Eventually.

Then she began to write, and she found her home. Through writing, she found she could dig deeper. She could grab onto those small, beautiful moments that slip away so easily. She could bear witness to the courage and suffering of others. ...more

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Nicki Chen’s books

Average rating: 3.76 · 112 ratings · 54 reviews · 3 distinct works • Similar authors

	When in Vanuatu 3.46 avg rating — 65 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tiger Tail Soup: A Novel of China at War 4.17 avg rating — 47 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	¡Vamos! Reunion En La Pista 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

365 posts
Nicki Chen's Blog

Paying Attention to our Surroundings

Many years ago, while we were living in the Philippines, I took my first writing course, a correspondence course I’d found advertised in a magazine. When I received the course materials, I was surprised to find that the first lesson was on “noticing”. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. That is the first step. […]

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Published on November 16, 2025 13:16

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Nicki is Currently Reading

Nicki Chen is currently reading

Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (Vintage International)

by Vladimir Nabokov

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Nov 08, 2025 10:56PM

Nicki Chen is currently reading

Butchers Hill

by Laura Lippman (Goodreads Author)

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Aug 05, 2025 11:22PM

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Black Butterflies

by Priscilla Morris

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Jul 16, 2025 10:09PM

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Nicki Chen rated a book really liked it Book of Lives: A Memoir of Sorts by Margaret Atwood (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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“After a while, though, even sadness becomes tiresome.”
― Nicki Chen

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