Turning Japanese (novel)

Meet Lisa Falloya, an aspiring half-Japanese, half-Italian American manga artist who follows her bliss by moving to Tokyo to draw the Japanese-style comics she's been reading for years. Leaving behind the comforts of a humdrum desk job and her workaholic fiancée, Lisa has everything planned - right down to a room with a nice Japanese family - but hasn't taken into account that being half-Asian and enthusiastic isn't going to cut it. Faced with an exacting boss and a conniving “big fish” manga author, Lisa risks her wedding, her friends, and her fears for a shot at making it big.

From Publishers Weekly :
An unexpected win in a comic-book competition sends half-Japanese Lisa Falloya to Tokyo for a yearlong manga publishing internship in Yardley's chipper new novel. Lisa lands in Tokyo, where she stays with a dysfunctional host family and gets smacked with culture shock. The story picks up when, despite her lowly status, Lisa decides to champion a comic-book idea proposed by a fellow editor. When she also gives a boost to a talented young artist, she incurs the wrath of tyrannical manga star Nobuko. Lisa's discovery of her own inner fire as an editor and her attempts to navigate a rigid hierarchy give a bit of fire to the story, with further complications arising when her controlling fiancé pressures her to return home early. Yardley doesn't take the obvious ways out, and Lisa's trip to confidence and assertiveness has plenty of girl power verve.

Cathy Yardley is the author L.A. Woman, Couch World, and Will Write for Shoes. She has written eight romance novels for Harlequin and a forthcoming trilogy of romantic fairy tales for Avon Red. She lives in Oceanside, California.