Elaine Lui, the voice behind the wildly popular blog, LaineyGossip.com to publish LISTEN TO THE SQUAWKING CHICKEN: WHEN MOTHER KNOWS BEST, WHAT'S A DAUGHTER TO DO? A MEMOIR (SORT OF) with Random House Canada

TORONTO, Nov. 12, 2013 /CNW/ - It was announced today that Elaine Lui's memoir LISTEN TO THE SQUAWKING CHICKEN: WHEN MOTHER KNOWS BEST, WHAT'S A DAUGHTER TO DO? A MEMOIR (SORT OF), will be published by Random House Canada, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada.  Deirdre Molina, Senior Managing Editor for the Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group, negotiated the deal with Amy Moore-Benson of AMB Literary Management for Canadian rights. Hardcover publication is planned for April 1, 2014. LISTEN TO THE SQUAWKING CHICKEN is Lui's first book. 

Deirdre Molina said: "As a long-time reader and fan of Elaine's writing on the LaineyGossip blog, I am thrilled to have Elaine expand her sharp wit and storytelling in book form, and deepen the story of her relationship with her beloved and complicated mother, the Chinese Squawking Chicken. This is the first of what I hope to be many books from a great Canadian voice, thinker and writer. And we couldn't have a better publishing partner than Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam in the United States." Anne Collins, Publisher, Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group, added, "I am so excited to publish Elaine Lui's first book, especially since it's about her mother: I was already addicted to her blogs about the Squawking Chicken. It's also great to see Elaine stretch out and write at book length, she's such a good writer, smart, funny, and perceptive in equal measure, a real gift."

When Elaine Lui was growing up, her mother told her, "Why do you need to prepare for the good things that happen? They're good. They won't hurt you. My job is to prepare you for the hard times, and teach you how to avoid them, whenever possible." Using Chinese fortune telling, feng shui blackmail, good old-fashioned ghost stories, and shame and embarrassment in equal measure, Elaine's fiercely loving mother raised her to be an intelligent, high-achieving, devoted and grateful daughter. Along the way, Elaine poignantly reveals how her mother earned the nickname "Tsiahng Gai" or "squawking chicken" growing up in Hong Kong, enduring and rising from the ashes of her own hard times. Listen to the Squawking Chicken is a loving mother-daughter memoir that will have readers laughing out loud, gasping in shock, and re-considering modern parenting tactics.

Elaine Lui commented, "Most people think I'm exaggerating at first when I talk about my ma….But then they meet her and they understand. They get it. Right away. Why I call my ma the Chinese Squawking Chicken: she's Chinese, she squawks like a chicken, she is totally nuts, and I am totally dependent on her."

ELAINE LUI is a celebrity gossip blogger and the voice behind LaineyGossip, a leading international celebrity news source followed by more than 1.5 million people internationally. Lui also appears on two national Canadian television shows: as Co-Host of CTV's daytime talk series "The Social," and as a reporter for CTV's nightly entertainment news program "Etalk". Her TEDx Talk, "The Sociology of Gossip," is about the critical place of gossip within modern pop culture. She previously worked for Covenant House as a development officer. Born in Toronto, she lived in Vancouver for thirteen years, before returning to Toronto.

Random House Canada is an imprint of the Knopf Random Canada Publishing Group, part of the Canadian division of Penguin Random House. 

About Penguin Random House
Penguin Random House (http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/) is the world's first truly global trade book publisher. It was formed on July 1, 2013, and comprises the adult and children's fiction and nonfiction print and digital trade book publishing businesses of Penguin and Random House around the world.

SOURCE: Random House of Canada Limited

Tracey Turriff
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