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“Me” enough for my own story
The first storyteller who taught me the value of stories was my Taiwanese immigrant mother. Her lessons and advice always came couched in a long-winded story or parable or anecdote rather than as a simple, straightforward admonishment, delivered in an “are you listening?” tone that demanded her audience’s attention more forcefully than did the most skilled orators’. I’m telling you, Rome’s best senators had nothing on my mother. As an impatient teenager, I perfected the art of the eye-roll thanks to the hours I’d had to listen to her recount the fable about the frivolous prince who pierced his ear and thus pierced his destiny and died a poor, penniless…
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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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Farewell for now, Superstars 2020. See y’all in 2021!
I slept 14 hours last night. It was not the sushi coma from the mountain of sushi I ate first-thing after I got home, it was the Superstars coma from the firehose of information I ingested. This year, I went to Superstars thinking I needed a break from it because Kristine Kathryn Rusch broke my brain during one of her infamous craft workshops the week before, and I had a crap-load of work to do. (Happily, mind you, because her workshop was insanely insightful, and I am anxious to do the work. But there is still work to do. And if there’s one thing I’ve never been afraid of, it’s…
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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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“Asking For It” released in WMG Holiday Spectacular
And another one, but this time, with much different feeling. My second story in WMG’s Holiday Spectacular — “Asking For It” — is out now, to subscribers only. This story is so bloody dark, I feel sheepish about heralding its publication with a “huzzah!” But I am rather particularly proud of this one, so I do hope you check it out. If you’re not already a subscriber to the project, visit WMG to learn more and sign up. You’ll get all of the previous released stories, as well as “Asking For It” and this season’s remaining stories — 35 in total — to keep. Thanks for your support, and I…
