…all about, Red Station is written with a delicate intensity. It’s not an easy read, because the novella doesn’t provide us with a set of sympathetic characters that we can cheer on. Rather, through some gorgeous writing and the complexity of the world building, each character earns our respect. And that makes the ending all the more powerful. –MJ Starling on On a Red Station, Drifting (…) a great, harsh, messy, human book that deserves every vote…

…ar future and I can fudge quite a bit as the tech isn’t the main point): a combat drone incapacitates its targets through some kind of electromagnetic frequency that burns away specific areas of the brain. I need my targets to be upright and more or less mobile by the end, which is why I don’t want to fry away the entire brain/the body. Target can be as stationary as needed; drone can be assumed to have all kinds of nifty equipments that will enab…

For everyone who missed it yesterday on twitter, I can confirm there will be an ebook of On a Red Station, Drifting, for sale on amazon (and on other platforms if I work out the principles of the thing. Have only ever done Kindle for Scattered Among Strange Worlds). The e-edition should have a different cover than the paper book, and Immersion Press will continue to sell that as a limited edition hardback (just as a reminder, there were only 200…

…thing similar? Or maybe just a question of intent? I’m not sure, but I’m uncomfortable with a lot of grimdark because it never even comes close to that level of intensity, while recognising that this kind of intensity in a book is something I couldn’t bear for very long (fortunately it’s a very slim book). -Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teachings. More a comment than a review, since I’m still working my way through this one. Lots of t…

…as one of 20 most promising young novelists in this Guardian article. The company is kind of… impressive, to say the least. -Over at The Shake, Zucchini Bikini reviews On a Red Station, Drifting:: All in all, I highly recommend this book, both for itself and for what is represents – a different way of writing hard sci fi, a way that includes and magnifies stories and pasts that haven’t been represented well in this genre before. -Calvin N. Ho on…

…. 9. Maryse: a maryse is a very particular kind of spatula; I’ve looked around a bit but haven’t found an English equivalent (if any reader of this blog knows, please speak up!) It’s a (flexible) rectangle which enables you to scrape from a pan or salad bowl. It looks a bit like this (the left-hand one; the right-hand one is what we’d call a “demi-maryse”). It’s invaluable for any kind of pastry, as it enables you to get almost all your dough from…

…here’s also places where I decided it wasn’t worth it to add to the existing sentences (also, I write relatively clean drafts; I tend to have a really messy brainstorming process and to only commit words after I’m reasonably sure ). What about you? Do you note where you need to add bits in a draft? Do you use Word comments or some other process?…

…From the WIP: “Have you become a historian, all of a sudden?” Thuy couldn’t help the sarcasm that came bubbling up to her lips. “You never cared for that when you were younger.” “I had to care,” Chi said, simply. “To know what ruins it was that we grew up among.” (yes, the grammar is wonky. Will fix this in later drafts) 1500 words to go. I can do this. Current mood: kind of exhausted actually. But plodding on….

Tentative title: “The Frost on Jade Buds” Snippet: On the comms-image, Chi looked much as Thuy remembered her: tall and thin and dour, almost skeletal, as if what had had happened to her in her youth still stifled her metabolism–and, in truth, perhaps it did. Neither Thuy nor any of the family–or, indeed, any inhabitant of the Scattered Pearls Belt–really knew the full extent of what happened to her, or how to reverse it. “You look well, elder si…

…iting Stars” (with mindships, and attack drones; and cousins making snarky comments at each other), as well as stories by Ken Liu, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Nisi Shawl, Vandana Singh and many other fine writers. You can buy direct from Candlemark and Gleam here, either the physical copy or the ebook (and physical copies come with a DRM-free ebook), or on amazon. If not in the US, check the Book depository here. And, if you still need extra motivation…