ABOUT THE AUTHOR Born, raised, and educated on the island of Formosa, which means “beautiful” in Portuguese, E. C. Lin came to America legally in his twenties to seek freedom and adventure. He diligently studied English as his fourth language, after the Formosan, the Chinese, and the Japanese. He also worked hard on his chemistry and got a good job at the Chicago lab of a giant chemical company named Sun where he was treated fairly and nicely. Lin loves American music. After getting tired of doing cover songs, he taught himself guitar playing and song writing. And he has begun to compose his own music. After a while, he has developed quite a repertoire. In two different years, Lin entered two original tunes each in the Billboard Magazine’s prestigious song contest, to which songwriters the world over, submitted their best work. After several rounds of tough elimination, all four songs had reached the finalist level. Although none of them was placed in the top three spots, Lin is elated to know that he is competing with world-class songwriters. And for his efforts, Lin has been awarded with a certificate of achievement for each tune. Another year, Lin was a winner in the Chicago-Sun Times’s writing contest that was to promote an epic musical, honoring Elvis Presley. All five award-winning songs are included in this publication for readers to enjoy. Lin urges readers not to think of other tunes that he didn’t enter into contests that usually require an entry fee. (Entry fee in the Chicago Sun-Times’s contest was free). Lin used to showcase his work in the Chicago area’s night clubs—often backed up by John Rice’s hot bond. Some of Lin’s signature songs had become hits. Lin loves dogs, cats, movies, gardening, swimming, dancing, and traveling that help him active and young. In the summer of 2016, he made a bold move to Las Vegas where he enjoys three free concerts on Fremont Street nightly and tries not to be robbed by no-arm bandits. That’s another story.