The Answer is 42
Deep Thought
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Grandma stories, and the gaps they bridge
You may have heard folks talking about their grandma stories, especially folks from various diasporas. But if you don’t know where these stories come from, or why they’re so important in diasporic cultures, or why they’re called grandma stories—well then, pull up a chair and stay a while, because have I got a story for you.
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Telling the grandma stories
For the longest time, I hesitated to write anything Chinese-flavored because I didn’t feel Chinese enough. I hesitated to write anything Taiwanese because I didn’t feel like I understood the deep division between China and Taiwan well enough. I felt deeply ironic writing from my love of European mythology because I’m definitely not white enough. And I constantly felt a certain social responsibility — along with a healthy dose of guilt — to understand the other half of me, the half that faces outward, and the half I least understood.
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Making space for the underdog, at SpikeCon 2019
I was incredibly honored and fortunate to speak on 4 panels at SpikeCon (which was also Westercon 72 and NASFiC 13) this past week: “Gay Wizards and Lesbian Sorceresses,” with co-panelists Erin Ruston, Baen author D.J. Butler (author of the Witchy Eye series), and Adam McLain, moderated by B. Daniel Blatt “Editing vs. Beta Reading,” with co-panelists best-selling author Dan Wells (author of the John Cleaver series, which started with I Am Not A Serial Killer), TOR senior acquisition editor Susan Chang, and Melissa Meibos, moderated by Joe Monson “Privilege and Passing in Genre Fiction,” with co-panelists YA author Aften Brook Szymanski (author of Con Code, among others), B. Daniel…
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Quiet is the Heart Full of Hope
My mother told my cousin something once, something that I’ve never forgotten: “When you try for something hard, don’t tell anyone.” We were in Taipei at the time, visiting relatives we hadn’t seen since my parents immigrated to the States when I was nearly 2 years old. My cousin — a bright, ambitious 15-year-old — was studying to get into one of the country’s most prestigious public senior high schools. Yes, in Taiwan, the best schools are public, not private, and everyone must take an entrance exam just to see if they’re good enough to be admitted. It’s like the SATs on steroids, and my cousin was burning the midnight oil…
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Writing to “The End”
I cut my novel-writing teeth on NaNoWriMo, as I’m sure a lot of us have. Before that, I’d written short stories and poems galore, but had never actually attempted to finish a whole novel. (Starts, though … starts I had down pat. I’d started plenty of novels.) NaNo taught me how to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It taught me that no matter how busy the day got, I’d better put my butt in that chair and crank out some words — any words — or I could kiss my 50k goal goodbye. It taught me various and creative ways to triumph over my supernaturally strong Internal Editor and…
