Hudson Valley's motivational speaker and author Shirley Cheng will be holding a book signing during the Mid-Autumn Festival sponsored by Mid-Hudson Chinese Community Association (MHCCA) on Sunday, October 15, 2006 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Roy C. Ketcham High School (99 Myers Corners Road, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590). Some of the proceeds from Cheng's signing will go to Christian Blind Mission International to aid the blind and physically disabled people in 113 developing countries. The books she will sign include her inspirational autobiography "The Revelation of a Star's Endless Shine: A Young Woman's Autobiography of a 20-Year Tale of Trials & Tribulations" and "101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2", which she co-authored with leading experts like Jack Canfield, John Gray, and Richard Carlson. Cheng will also take pre-orders for the latest installment in the bestselling "Wake Up...Live the Life You Love" series, to which she contributed, along with highly notable people including Carla and Lou Ferrigno, TV's the original "Incredible Hulk" and neighbor on the network television comedy show, "King of Queens"; Dr. Wayne Dyer; and Tony Robbins.

For more information about her book signing, to ask her to speak at your event, or to schedule her for a book signing, contact Cheng via http://www.shirleycheng.com

Being both blind and physically disabled herself, Cheng expresses a strong desire to help those who are not only stricken by hunger and wars but also by their disabilities. "Being blind or disabled is already hard enough without having to endure the suffering resulting from natural catastrophes or economic barriers. I have always wished to help anyone in need, and this is my chance to do so. I hope people will support me in this good cause," says Cheng.

Before the signing during the festival, Cheng will hold a signing and give an empowering talk on Friday, October 6, 2006 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Borders Books, Music, and Cafe located on Route 9 (1820 South Road, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590).

Shirley Cheng, (b. 1983), a blind and physically disabled author and poet of five books by age twenty-three, has had severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since only eleven months old. Owing to years of hospitalization, she received no schooling until age eleven. Having mastered grade level in all areas after only about 180 days of special education in elementary school, she was transferred to a regular sixth grade class in middle school. Unfortunately, Cheng lost her eyesight at the age of seventeen. After a successful eye surgery, she hopes to earn multiple science doctorates from Harvard University.

"Although I'm blind, I can see far and wide; even though I'm disabled, I can climb high mountains," says Shirley Cheng. "Let the ropes of hope haul you high!"

Cheng is the author of "Daring Quests of Mystics" (ISBN: 1-4116-5664-4), a soothing read to relax the mind, body, and spirit; an empowering 700-page autobiography, "The Revelation of a Star's Endless Shine: A Young Woman's Autobiography of a 20-Year Tale of Trials and Tribulations" (ISBN: 1-4116-1860-2); and "Dance with Your Heart: Tales and Poems That the Heart Tells" (ISBN: 1-4116-1858-0), an anthology of inspirational and fantasy short stories (fairy tales, fables, and myths) and poems for the heart from the heart.

With highly acclaimed experts like Dr. Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, and Brian Tracy, Cheng co-authored "Wake Up...Live the Life You Love: Finding Your Life's Passion, Second Edition," the latest installment in the bestselling "Wake Up...Live the Life You Love" series; she is also the co-author of "101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2," along with leading experts Jack Canfield, John Gray, Richard Carlson, Alan Cohen, Bob Proctor, et al.

In "101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2," Cheng's chapter, "Dance with Your Heart: How to Befriend Your Heart and the World Around You," gently teaches the readers how to achieve spiritual affinity with themselves, then with others around them.

"I've made it one of my life's missions to touch as many people as I possibly can to bring humor, hope, and healing," says Shirley, whose personal motto is "A dancing heart teaches true."

She had been published twice before her writing career. One of her short stories, "Mary Miller, the Elusive Lady," received Honorable Mention and was published by the Poughkeepsie Journal in 1997, and a poem, "The Colors of the Rainbow," earned a merit status and was published in "Celebrate! New York Young Poets Speak Out" in 1999. At the start of the New Year 2006, Cheng tied for 1st place in the national writing contest for Be the Star You Are! founded by New York Times bestselling co-author, TV/radio personality Cynthia Brian. Cheng's winning entry, titled "The Jewel from Heavenly Father," is dedicated to her beloved mother Juliet Cheng, the cornerstone and light of her life, and it can be read on Cheng's site, http://www.shirleycheng.com

Cheng is also an advocate of parental rights in children's medical care, and aide/caregiver monitoring and screening for students with special needs and disabled people. As a parental rights advocate, she wants to help today's loving parents protect and keep custody of their children. "When doctors ask yes or no, parents should have the right to say no," says Cheng, who is the survivor of the 1990 five-month internationally broadcast news of her mother's custody case against a doctor. Juliet was on CBS This Morning with Paula Zahn.

Cheng promotes aide advocacy for the disabled because she was mistreated and abused by one-to-one aides when she attended public schools. "The trouble with the uncaring aides actually lies in the authorities," she says. "If they listened to my complaints and kept a close watch on the aides, I wouldn't have gone through all the suffering."

Cheng is available for interviews, speaking engagements, book signings, and inspirational events. She has been on nearly twenty radio shows, including Cynthia Brian's Be the Star You Are! for three times, The Donna Seebo Show, and Stu Taylor on Business. In 2004, Cheng was featured in World Journal, the largest Chinese national newspaper in North America.