Timothy Patrick learned at an early age about living on both sides of the railroad tracks. Even though his family scraped to pay the rent and hadn't made it past the first rung of the social ladder, his mother decided her son ought to go to an elite boarding school. She smooth talked the headmaster and Timothy ended up at Judson School in Scottsdale, Arizona--the child of a TV repairman hobnobbing with the children of diplomats and famous athletes. On visiting day Timothy watched the parents of his schoolmates arrive in limousines and Lamborghinis. His parents arrived in a beat up van that said "Patrick's TV Repair" on the sides. In his debut novel, "Tea Cups & Tiger Claws," Timothy continues with this childhood theme as he introduces us to forbidden mountaintop palaces and the seemingly unworthy characters who try to sneak into them. It's a family saga that spans three generations and, of course, takes you on a wild ride from one side of the tracks to the other.