The green eyed monster rears it's head

There are some surprisingly bitter moments in the writing life, or well, the attempt to become a professional. For instance, seeing someone (not a friend, I should add, because I'd be really happy for a friend) announce they've been offered representation by an agent who rejected you after getting your hopes up for no good reason.

This is why I am ever so glad that I was raised in the South. Because we Southern ladies have a long and proud tradition of being able to smile while gritting our teeth and pretending to be happy for people even as we're silently hoping they accidentally tuck the back of their skirt into their pantyhose and have toilet paper stuck to their shoes for the rest of eternity. We can be vicious bitches when we want to.

Or, as we say in my family, you can insult anyone you like as long as you begin with the phrase, "God bless their heart..."

I suppose it's just kind of a twist of the knife to see someone who obviously beat you out for something you really wanted. I don't do so well with competition. Well, I don't do well with abject defeat. Not one of my finer features as a human being, and it always shocks me how ugly it can turn me.

Well, this game is about being able to lose nine and win ten. So, I will do the only thing I know to do. Go outside, exercise off some of the bile and jealousy and then sit my ass down and keep working on my current project. When in doubt, get back to work, right?

Dear Internets, please do my homework for me

Okay, for the project I'm currently working on, I need to do some serious research on China, especially modern China from the end of WWII to the present. Though I'm willing to take something that stops in the mid/late-90's if I have to.

The situation is that the main character in the UF!2Girls project is Chinese. She was brought over by her parents when she was an itty bitty baby, because they had to escape the government at that time who were less than appreciative of their brand of magic. Which means knowing the history, the mythology, the religion, and the culture. So, obviously, a metric ton of reading and learning will be needed.

Even though the story takes place in America, there will be flash backs and of course, if nothing else, I need to understand and have a healthy knowledge of the kind of culture and heritage my heroine is bringing with her.

I'm looking into any resources I can get my hands on. Books, websites, anything. I've been using Wikipedia just to find reference books and articles, and I've been compiling a list of books I'm going to order from Amazon.

But I'm wondering if anyone might have suggestions, resources they consider essential.