…w a society in which women were so scarce that men had had to improvise around their lack. This involved quite a bit of handwavium (mostly a background biological weapon developed by neo-Confucians to keep women in their place, and which backfired when used in the field), none of which actually showed up in the story but was necessary to help me design it! The caihes are named after Lan Caihe, the mischievous Immortal who is alternately male and f…

Reposted from my twitter feed because I think it’s worth saying: The physical description of your Asian characters to easily ID them as Asian is not the first thing you should be obsessing about. Basically, this is the most Othering version of describing characters of colour–they’re just like white people, except with different physical features! But it’s not only features that make people “different” , and in fact our differences are often much…

…The Waiting Stars” Ken Liu, “The Shape of Thought” Alex Dally MacFarlane, “Under Falna’s Mask” Martha Wells, “Mimesis” Kelly Jennings, “Velocity’s Ghost” C. W. Johnson, “Exit, Interrupted” Cat Rambo, “Dagger and Mask” Christine Lucas, “Ouroboros” Jack McDevitt, “Cathedral” Very pleased to be part of this awesome lineup! Mine is… er, weird, and involves Xuyan mindships, a Vietnamese rescue squad and homicidal nanobots. You can read samples from all…

Found this on twitter. Kathleen Alcalá on SFF alternate universes vs reality: Last quote on the importance of ethnic sensibilities: Your alt reality is my everyday life. Yes. It’s a brilliant summary of what’s wrong with the “rule of cool” SF (and why you need to be careful about which bits of which cultures you put into your story, as I argued elsewhere) Activity this week is likely to be sparse, as I have to fit in a Vietnamese lesson, a few ap…

…Had food. Went to visit Orléans with the H and spent far too much time in a games shop looking at everything they had. Stared at my story until beads of blood formed on my forehead. Tried to ply my muse with food; it didn’t work. Proofed outcoming novella On a Red Station, Drifting (well, the first two thirds, anyway). Off to watch some Thin Blue Line before bed, methinks….

…– then our cultures are glittering mines. But drawing from your own background is backward and predictable if you’re a person of colour. Sometimes white people try to sell me back my culture and I have to buy it. My China is as much the BBC version as it is the PRC one. There are things I want to eat but cannot cook. -Rahel Aima on vernacular English: Embedded within non-western English lies a parallel tension. The vernacular promises all the sedu…

…ce has offered guidance and protection to its human relatives. But war has come to the Dai Viet Empire. Prosper’s brightest minds have been called away to defend the Emperor; and a flood of disorientated refugees strain the station’s resources. As deprivations cause the station’s ordinary life to unravel, uncovering old grudges and tearing apart the decimated family, Station Mistress Quyen and the Honoured Ancestress struggle to keep their relativ…

…e I love to put garlic in everything. Also, if the vampire apocalypse ever comes to pass, I’ll be well prepared. I also had to google most of these, because I didn’t know they existed (cookie presses? sandwich makers? Wow), and wasn’t altogether sure of some things: for instance, our pressure cooker doubles as a steam cooker thanks to a handy basket, and we have a raclette set but no fondue set (I’m assuming a lot of these are typically British eq…

…rcumstances will soon take him. In the sweltering jungle, his purity has become a commodity to the ettin invaders and their lord, the dark Vexor. But how long can his innocence last in a godless land? A short story by AJ Cooper   Looking For Daddy Three weeks ago, Daddy left town with the other volunteer firefighters to fight the fires in the city and Tom and Mother have looked after the farm. Radios, phones and TV have fallen silent, trains have…

…:55: Reading. Not entirely sure what I’ll be reading with: either the forthcoming Immersion Press novella On a Red Station, Drifting, or the urban fantasy novel. Either way, something no one but very few people have seen before… 12:00-12:45: Kaffeklatsch. You can sign up in advance for it here. 13:00-13:45: The stress of space travel on family relationships: Returning to Earth to find yourself younger than your own grand-children isn’t just a head…