J. J. Cheng, author of Phoenixa: The Nest, the first volume of the PHOENIXA Trilogy – A Mystical Quest for Peace, reflects on her craft and the literary path she has chosen for both personal and intercultural expression: magical realism and fantasy, the literary forms that allow her historical fiction to explore deeper truths between Western and Chinese civilizations, between dream and reality, across the memories of multiple generations, and among belief and spirituality.