Amazon.com: Fish Heads and Duck Skin: A Novel: Salatka, …

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On the advice of a five-dollar psychic, Tina Martin, a zany, overworked mother of two, quits her high-powered job and moves her family to Shanghai. Tina yearns for this new setting to bring her the zen-like inner peace she’s always heard about on infomercials. Instead, she becomes a totally exasperated fish out of water, doing wacky things like stealing the shoes of a shifty delivery man, spraying local women with a bidet hose, and contemplating the murder of her new pet cricket. It takes the friendship of an elderly tai chi instructor, a hot Mandarin tutor, and several mahjong-tile-slinging expats to bring Tina closer to a culture she doesn’t understand, the dream job she never knew existed, and the self she has always sought. Fish Heads and Duck Skin will resonate with anyone who has ever wondered who they are, why they were put here, and how they ever lived before eating pan-fried pork buns.

The Spark ✨

I have been a writer since I was seven, but this book didn't call to me until I lived in Shanghai with my family for five years. It is loosely based on real events.

The Stats 💯

Timeline: ten years Budget: $10K Deliverables: • Published novel • Author platform • Public speaking

I read this in one day because I could not put it down! I loved the main character, Tina, so much that I forgot that she was just the main character in this book and not someone I was auditioning to be best friends with. I was laughing out loud, felt like I had a deep understanding of Tina, and was along for the ride of their journey while living in China. Sometimes you read a book at exactly the right time, it is beyond just being relatable, and there are messages you needed to hear.

This book is the whole reason I read books, to experience places and people that I wouldn’t normally encounter. I can see myself and all of my friends in the main character Tina and the way she reacts to situations in a place that initially is so foreign to her in every aspect of the word. But instead of cowering in the corner Tina dives in and takes Shanghai by the horns. This author has a great sense of humor, I highly recommend this book.

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