Upon completion of his film "Apocalypse Now," Francis Ford Coppola exclaimed that it wasn't a movie about Vietnam at all. The movie WAS Vietnam. This was his assertion. Whether it's true or not is up for debate.

Fast forward some 34 years later. My new book, "Desert Bleeds Red," is not about China at all. My book IS China.

A haunting travelogue of the parts of the Motherland never seen or heard of by foreigners; an odyssey through vast wastelands and crumbling cities; a sick and demented thriller; an epic romance; and a modern parable rooted in the King Solomon legends. "Desert Bleeds Red" is finished, edited, and on its way to Permuted Press as I type this. It is the peak of my writing career thus far, my first third-person endeavor, and easily the most ambitious literary undertaking I have ever engaged myself in.

I'm fairly sure that this book will terrify readers. It is a story fraught with anthropomorphic demons, Chinese thugs, numbers stations, bloodthirsty prostitutes, international intrigue, grotesque imagery, lyrical and haunting descriptions of the landscapes of modern China, and a more honest look at the Motherland as seen through the eyes of foreigners than anything else you will ever read.

No exact release date yet, but know this: it's coming. I am so very excited to see its release, especially after the success of "Every Sigh, The End" and "Eleven Twenty-Three." Hope everyone is ready for something completely different.