Toronto-based author Zhang Ling said that her separation from her birth land of China and its history gives her a sharper insight when writing about the country.
"You can't see the full mountain when you're on it," Zhang philosophically said.
After obtaining a degree in English from Fudan University in 1983, Zhang became a translator and moved to North America where she obtained an MA in English at the University of Calgary and later in communication disorders at the University of Cincinnati.
The distance has given the 58-year-old Zhang room to both refine the language and delight the reader.
"Aftershock," a tale about the massive 1976 Tangshan earthquake, impressed director Feng Xiaogang that it was developed into a blockbuster movie in 2010.
Her latest novel, "Birth Throes," received wide critical acclaim.
Zhang decided to be a novelist when she was seven, but she was already over 40 when her debut work was published. She picked up her childhood dream in the 1990s when she began writing stories.
"I usually get the inspirations for the beginnings of my writing from trivial moments that nonetheless touched me," she said.
But her biggest inspiration in based on something that could be hardly seen as trivial.
It was about her grandmother who gave birth to 11 children with a gap of 20 years between the eldest and youngest. In the early 20th century where the quality of healthcare available was rudimentary, it was a feat for her grandmother that 10 survived.
"Looking from a distance, I feel the independence and courage of the women in my mother's family are inspirations for my writing," Zhang said.