Dear Friends,

I hope wherever you are in the world, you’re able to celebrate Chinese New Year in peace, good health, and prosperity surrounded by your loved ones.

I also want to send my prayers to our friends in Wuhan during this difficult time. Many years ago, I visited Wuhan and cherish the memories I have of the city and its people. My deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones, and I pray every day for healing for all those who are sick.

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This is the first Chinese song I ever wrote and recorded. It’s not the first one I technically “wrote” because that one I sang only to my pet fish. I told my Chinese teacher the lyrics to the fish song and he laughed good-naturedly as said it reminded him of a children’s song.

And that really hits the nail on the head. You’ve got to crawl before you can walk. Then you must walk before you run. Everything happens one foot in front of the other. My first Chinese song was simple and silly – inspired by the pet fish I loved so much. I was like a little kid putting new words I learned together and seeing what worked.

“Happy New Year” is my second Chinese Song that I wrote to celebrate Chinese New Year. At the time I wrote this song and recorded the video, I was still living in New York and I had no idea I would ever live in China and get the opportunity to celebrate the holiday in Beijing!

Celebrating New Year in Beijing was so exciting, and the experience deserves its own blog to do it justice. In the meantime, I really hope you enjoy listening to this song!

Katara’s Debut EP

The post The First Chinese Song I Wrote and Recorded appeared first on Katara.

About Katara’s Video:

This is the original music video for Katara’s original song “因为你” (Because of You). Check out Katara’s guitar solo!

“Because of You” is available on Katara’s debut EP “卡塔拉”. (Which is the transliteration of her Chinese name)

Support Katara by purchasing her EP on Amazon! Click the album cover below or listen to Katara’s music on Apple Music, Spotify, and all major music streaming platforms.

The post Katara’s “Because of You” Official Music Video appeared first on Katara.

About Katara’s Video:

This is the original music video for Katara’s original song “我需要你” (I Need You). The video was shot in black and white, mostly in Katara’s old living room. She holds up the lyrics to the song and has lyrics painted on her body. Katara wrote both the music and the Chinese lyrics to this song herself.

This song “I Need You” is available on Katara’s debut EP “卡塔拉”. You can purchase Katara’s EP on Amazon by clicking the album cover below or listen to it on Apple Music, Spotify, and all major music streaming platforms.

The post Katara’s “I Need You” Official Music Video appeared first on Katara.

When I was a teenager, my love of writing poems turned into writing lyrics which turned into writing songs… but I never imagined I’d ever write a novel.

Now, over the past two+ years, I’ve written not one but two full-length novels.

I still can’t believe it myself… yet, here I am. A songwriter turned aspiring author.

How did this happen???

In late 2016, I had just released my album 洋娃娃 / The China Doll which I had dedicated over two years to writing and producing… and after that album was finally released, I planned to give myself a small bit of creative rest to recharge my songwriting batteries before I would start up again. Only I didn’t. I kept making videos and marketing my work and I never took the break until January of 2017. When that month came around, I decided that the New Year was the perfect time to take a week’s vacation.

Self-Care Led to Self-Discovery

My plan was simply to unwind by watching movies, reading books, cooking nice meals, and just taking care of myself.

I told myself after a week or so I would immediately start vlogging, writing more songs, and getting back to work pushing even harder than before.. Life would go on as normal.

But something unexpected happened that week that changed the course of my life.

There’s a movie I absolutely ADORE called Howl’s Moving Castle by the acclaimed Studio Ghibli and award winning director Hayao Miyazaki. I love, love, love that movie. When I found out that the movie Howl’s Moving Castle was actually adapted from a book by an English author named Dianna Wynne Jones, I decided to pick up a copy and read the book. I knew I’d probably love it, since I already loved the movie so much. I figured it would be a great way to relax during my break.

Once I started reading, I was completely sucked in. It was like grabbing the tail of a comet and getting flown across a sky full of stars… The magic reached inside me, inspired me, and gave me a gift.

The Moment I Started Writing My Novel…

By the time I turned the last page and set the book on my nightstand, my heart knew I had my own stories and adventures inside me begging to be written.

My pulse pounded as I threw off the covers, I literally ran to my computer, and chapter 1 poured out of me. I wrote through the night until 5 in the morning. The sun peeked through my window blinds, but I was staring wide-eyed at my computer screen, my hands trembling. I knew in that minute that my life was about to change in a huge way… I was on the precipice of change and couldn’t turn away from it.

I had never dreamed of being an author because I honestly never thought I was dedicated, disciplined, or capable enough… yet here I was with the first chapter already under my fingertips.

My feet dragged me to bed, and though my mind was still going a thousand miles a minute, sleep came to give me a reprieve.

A few hours later, my eyes shot open and I practically leapt out of bed again and raced back to my computer… I didn’t even eat or have my usual coffee. I rewrote part of chapter 1 and started chapter 2. The story turned over and over in my mind.

In the coming days and weeks, I’d even started dreaming about it.

It grew faster than I could physically type it… and it was so alive in my head that I absolutely had to see it through… I had to know how the story would end, and only I could tell it.

It took me a year and a half to finish that first manuscript. Once I was done with that story, I started another book which only took me 6 months to write… like anything else, when you work at something it gets easier over time.

What’s Next For Me?

I’ve been a songwriter for a long time, but I have zero experience in the publishing industry… so I started to do research. What I found is not super encouraging…

Publishing the traditional way – which I really want to try – takes a REALLY long time and is REALLY difficult to do. By the time a publisher agrees to take my book, it could be another year or more until it’s actually in the store. And who knows if I’ll even find a publisher who believes in my stories as much as I do? It’s scary starting over… but I know in my heart I must do this.

But I’m not going to just sit on my hands during this time and do nothing. No! I’m going to write more books and blog to share my adventures with anyone who wants to go with me on this journey!

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Your support means the world to me! ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

The post Where I’ve been for the last 2-plus years appeared first on Katara.

I’m so excited to announce that my new shop is finally live here on my website. YAY!!!!!!!!

As you might know if you follow me on Facebook, I was recently thinking about starting a GoFundMe for some new projects that I hope to do. I decided not to do the campaign for a bunch of reasons… one of the biggest ones is that GoFundMe had a rule change for new campaigns where they won’t let people offer rewards anymore. I wanted to be able to offer things like autographed photos and custom voice memos… Also, I needed a place where people could download my music as well.

So, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work setting up a brand new shop on my website!!!

I’ve added three different designs & sizes of autographed photo: Small 4X6, Medium 5X7, and Large 8X10.

The one in this picture is the smallest one, which is 4 inches by 6 inches. The photo was taken during my music video shoot for my original song “你是谁” off my album “The China Doll” (You can watch the music video here)

By purchasing my autographed photos, you will be helping me continue my creative journey to make music, videos, and (soon) books! (Yes, BOOKS! Blog on that coming soon!!! Please stay tuned!!!!)

If there’s something you’re interested in that isn’t in the store, please leave me a comment on Twitter and let me know! My username is @KataraMusic.

Thank you all so much for your encouragement and support. I couldn’t do this without you. 非常感谢你们！

么么哒

Katara 卡塔拉

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The post Autographed Photos are Finally Here! appeared first on Katara.

Here’s why it worked out this way:

I’ve mentioned before that my Grandma and I would often talk through WeChat when I was living in China. I would stay up really late and call her in the middle of the night, which would be the morning or afternoon her time. My Grandma came up with a cute little nickname for me: she called me her “little China doll”. She called me this because she knew how much I loved living in China and also it conveyed how precious I am to her. It was sweet and wonderful and always lifted my heart.

So, I knew I wanted to honor my Grandma by calling my album “The China Doll” – but in Chinese, “China Doll” or “Porcelain Doll” is “瓷娃娃” (Cí wáwá) and if you speak Chinese you may already know that this term is associated with people who have an extremely rare disease of the bones. (in English: Osteogenesis imperfecta) I wanted to be sensitive to people who may have this disease, and was worried about offending them by translating my album name directly… so, I came up with a solution. I’d call my album 洋娃娃 (Yángwáwá) – which denotes a doll of western appearance as opposed to a doll made of porcelain.

It seemed fitting since I’d already been called a doll on CCTV.

But more significantly to me personally, when I did volunteer work with a group of children at a school for the blind, I learned a popular Mandarin children’s song “洋娃娃和小熊跳舞” (Yángwáwá hé xiǎoxióng tiàowǔ) literally: The (western) doll and the little bear dance. I played the song on guitar for the children at the end of this video here:

Working with this awesome group of kids was one of my favorite experiences from living in China. What better way to celebrate that than by naming my album something that reminds me of my time with them?

So… the idea of the 洋娃娃 (Yángwáwá) has an emotional significance for me personally from one of my happiest and most profound memories in China. I connected these things together to decide on 洋娃娃 (Yángwáwá) as the Chinese name of my album while keeping my Grandmother’s nickname for me “The China Doll” as its English counterpart.

You can get this album 洋娃娃 / The China Doll pretty much wherever music is sold starting September 20th, but it’s available for pre-order now. On iTunes and Apple music you can search it by the English name “The China Doll” on other platforms, you have to search it with the Chinese name 洋娃娃.

Here are the direct links to make it easy:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6dowJKiDR8JaRst57ubLuB
Amazon: The China Doll (洋娃娃)
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-china-doll/1479770839?app=music&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-china-doll/1479770839?app=itunes&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

I really hope you like these songs <3 Thank you for reading my blog!

xo

Katara

PS. I also chose 8 songs because… 8 is lucky 😉

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