Starsong
…A Xuya universe story. Where to Buy Asimov’s Buy Now…
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Two Sisters in Exile
…A Xuya universe story. Where to Buy Amazon (Solaris) Amazon (Year’s Best) Buy Now…
Exodus Tides
…Where to Buy Amazon Buy Now…
Author’s notes: On a Red Station, Drifting
…e would you find an entire chase scene in a fish sauce brewing centre? I researched this bit through watching videos of the fish sauce factories at Phú Quốc, aka the best research I’ve ever done; and also sat down and read lots of accounts of banquets in Imperial China and Imperial Vietnam (that was tough research. It has a natural tendency to make me very hungry). Meanwhile, if you’re curious and want to read Dream of Red Mansions, the translatio…
Linky linky
…ot just vast armies clashing on dark plains at night, but lived through by real men and women related to us. It is deeply personal. In the West, I have detected a tendency to dismiss or minimize the effects of history on the present, as if history can be made irrelevant by a simple act of individual will. Such views, it seems to me, are signs of a perspective colored by the very privileges conferred on those who have been dealt a lucky hand by his…
Brief update aka swamped
…So… due to various real life factors including but not limited to a massive cold that’s had me indoors for the last few days, there’s been radio silence. Slowly resuming writerly life including all the emails in my backlogged inbox; might be a while before I tackle everything, especially since June promises to be equally hectic… (aka what do you mean, we need to shop for baby stuff?!?)….
Foreigners, accents and broken English
…POC characters. That’s because the “broken English by POCs” stereotype is common and pretty harmful. It’s almost systematically deployed with foreigners speaking English, to various degrees (generally people from Europe etc. get heavily accented English, and POCs from outside Europe get broken English with an accent to boot). It’s harmful because this becomes, whether the author intended it or not, the defining trait of ESL speakers and non-white…
Deadlines, layered writing and breathing space
…(and sometimes) messy complexity. For a short story, I generally need two completely unrelated ideas: for instance, the latest one I wrote started with the image of a Vietnamese dragon flying out from the sun, and over it I layered the idea of a messy and protracted war between two nascent space federations. For a novel, I need more: I need a good idea of the setting, a bunch of characters I feel comfortable with, and a plot that has enough conte…
Chosen Ones, Specialness and the Narrative of the One
…myth of the Lone Leader, the Lone Scientist, the Lone Hero–there’s so many examples of it it’s fair to say it’s become utterly pervasive in our culture (I’m looking at you, Hollywood movies). It feels to me like a dangerous narrative in a number of ways: the first and most obvious one is that it’s often played as exclusionary. If a character doesn’t have special abilities–if they’re not Chosen–then very often, they don’t get a story. Oh, sure, the…
Nebulas and darkness notice
…a Williams organises awesome table seating!) and was very happy for the winners. Now I’m back in Paris, looking with apprehension at the mass of things I’m supposed to be doing (do not overcommit do not overcommit etc.), and gearing up for the summer before book release (*gulp*). More when my head is above water (hahaha who am I kidding)….
