"If one advances confidently in the directions of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

-Henry David Thoreau

It has been my dream to write screenplays (in addition to writing books), especially adapting my first memoir into one. Soon after the Academy Award-winning film, The Pianist, came out, unbeknownst to me, I shared with a friend my intense desire to adapt the book into a screenplay. I told him I wanted to tell my story from the point of view of a girl, as I witnessed it during the Khmer Rouge regime.

"Like The Pianist . . ." he said.

Later in 2003, I was invited to speak about When Broken Glass Floats at an international conference in Birmingham. A Canadian award-winning documentarist and producer were among those who attended one of my presentations. Later, at a reception he told me that my story reminded him of The Pianist.

"Poetic. Compelling. It's like The Pianist, but from the point of view of a girl," Cynthia Whitcomb said fervently as she looked at me. As I walked to my seat, I felt the exhaustion coming over me; I was quite relieved by her comments after being in character and getting choked up during my storytelling.

Cynthia got up and resumed center stage in front of the blackboard. Suddenly she shook her head and trembled a little. "How do we shake off this one?" she asked the class.

Cynthia is an award-winning and a top-selling Hollywood screenwriter who has sold more than 70 feature-length screenplays, 25 of which have been filmed. Since she, the third person, compared my story to The Pianist, I thought I'd better watch the film, even though I was not sure I was ready to see it.

Two months later I adapted my book into a screenplay! Cynthia read it and remarked: "You have done a beautiful job…. I found your story deeply moving and compelling. True, beautiful, and inspiring. God bless you for surviving and for telling your story."

When Broken Glass Floats recently earned a 'recommend' from Barb Doyon, a professional screenwriter and script consultant who has written episodes for the TV shows JAG, The Dead Zone, Monk, and Battlestar Galactica.

I believe that when the script finds the right producer(s) and director who share my vision, When Broken Glass Floats will have a tremendously positive impact on the world. It will help bring us closer as a human family. As always, I am working very hard with high hopes to make this happen.

Obi-Wan Kenobi would say to Luke Skywalker, "May the force be with you." I pray that it will also be with me, and those who are and will be reading my script.

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This project is a work-in-progress to benefit Cambodians, especially those who are living in Cambodia. My readership, their friends and families, and Dr. Mark Ashwill, Director of the Institute of International Education of Vietnam and Executive Director of the U.S. Indochina Educational Foundation (www.usief.org), all support the project in various ways. Special thanks to major supporters: the Wahrenbrock Family from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Mr. Bernie Krisher, chairman of American Assistance for Cambodia, Japan Relief for Cambodia, and Publisher of the award-winning Cambodia Daily, a leading newspaper in Cambodia.

Following Mr. Krisher's advice, this book will be sold at an affordable price to only Cambodians in Cambodia, and will not be distributed freely as I had initially planned. The price will be higher for my fellow Cambodians in the Khmer diaspora and for others who are interested in purchasing copies. Please visit the Contact Page to place an order.

More financial support is needed to print several hundred copies of this edition. Those who donate $1,500 or more will be acknowledged in this edition. The acknowledgements in the book will specifically state donors' names as supporters of the project. Tax-deductible donations can be made through American Assistance for Cambodia or the U.S. Indochina Educational Foundation (www.usief.org) and will be accepted until December 30, 2005. Please contact me for further information.

It has been flattering to hear my audiences express their sincere interest in reading the sequel. Their most common question I hear is, "When will the sequel come out?" The answer is, "Please stay tuned." UNBROKEN SPIRIT is a work-in-progress for which I was awarded the prestigious Oregon Literary Fellowship in the Literary Non-fiction category. This is the second time I have been awarded this honor by Literary Arts (www.literary-arts.org).

Justin Wintle of The Sunday Times (London) wrote a favorable review for my first book and is also interested in the sequel. "It is by any standard a harrowing tale, simply but effectively recounted…. Given Him's talents as a personal chronicler, it would be rewarding to read a sequel. As a human being she has endured the worst; as a writer another challenge lies ahead."

Library Journal remarked, "This moving and well-written memoir deserves a sequel discussing Him's present work in Oregon regarding posttraumatic stress disorder among Cambodian survivors. Recommended for public and academic libraries."

In February 2005, with support from Dr. Mark Ashwill, When Broken Glass Floats has been translated into Vietnamese, published by Phuong Nam, Corp., based in Ho Chi Minh City. Dr. Ashwill has informed me that there is great interest in my lecture tour, but that his budget to bring me to Vietnam is very limited. To make this tour possible, $10,000 is needed to cover my transportation, lodging expenses, and speaking fees. We hope you can play a role in contributing to this cause. If you know of individuals, organizations, and/or businesses that would like to sponsor this tour, please contact Dr. Ashwill or myself at usief@yahoo.com. Donations are tax-deductible through USIEF. Sponsor(s) will be acknowledged in the events of publicity throughout the tour.

In March 2005, Mr. Bernie Krisher was instrumental in coordinating my visit to the prestigious University of Cambodia. The Wahrenbrock Family responded generously when a sponsor was needed to make this trip a reality.

My trip to Cambodia (after being away for more than twenty-five years) was memorable and empowering, though not without certain elements of war trauma. After the publication of the Khmer edition of When Broken Glass Floats, I hope to return to Cambodia and speak to younger generations. Having spoken at UC, I believe that many young Cambodians know or understand very little about the Khmer Rouge regime. It is very important for them to be informed about Cambodia's tragic years.

As a clinical researcher who helped conduct a major study on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at Oregon Health Sciences University, I understand how Cambodian survivors, when faced with stressors, continue to suffer from war trauma. Some have managed to share with their children (many of whom are now college-age) a little about this era, but many, as I have learned through my lecture tours, PTSD research, and the writing of my first book, would prefer to suppress their tragic past - because it is painful emotionally and psychologically to talk about it.

For those who are fortunate enough to have been spared the pain and suffering of this era, gaining the knowledge of how their loved ones suffered will help this generation understand their parents and other relatives' traumas. This, I believe will help bridge communications and will lead to better relationships.