It's a Jumble

  I read the first story in this anthology, “The Genetic Alchemist’s Daughter” by Elaine Cuyegkeng, when it was reprinted on the horror site Pseudopod (here, you can read it for free there right now ). And after reading Cuyegkeng’s story I immediately went and bought this book, so I could continue reading strange, sharp, wonderful stories of Asian horror, written by Asian writers and centering Asian women. Editors Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn have assembled a wonderful collection, dark and unsettling and fierce, that examines womanhood—and more specifically, the experience of womanhood as an Asian woman —from a variety of angles.   These stories encompass far-future science fiction, secondary-world fantasy, and stories set in worlds far closer to our own. There is absolutely creepy, spell-binding horror, but there’s some humor as well. Many stories draw from traditional myths and legends. The authors come from a variety of backgrounds—Chinese, Japanese, Indonesian, Malaysia...

  Well, it’s that time of year when writers make posts about their award eligibility for the year. Some things are very different this season. . . but some things are the same, and we’ll take a sense of normalcy where we can. I had three short stories published in 2020. I’d be honored if you took a look at any of them.   “The Breaking” in Mithila Review , March 2020 (5835 words)   A story about angels, the breaking of the world, siblings and family, what some people see and what others refuse to see or hear. Of the stories I published this year, it’s the one that’s closest to my heart. It was written way before the pandemic of 2020, yet now has an eerie resonance with it. It’s one of the very few stories I’ve written where the characters are explicitly Thai-American (yes, I’m Thai-American). My story notes can be found here , and include a link to a recipe for khai jiao, the Thai-style omelet featured in my story.   Some lovely things people had to say about...

    I have a new story out this week! “Winter’s Heart” appears in the latest issue (Issue 3) of Hexagon Magazine. It’s a story about a Snow Queen’s acolyte, frozen hearts and apples, and of what returns in the spring. You can read it for free by downloading the issue here ! The entire issue is made up of gorgeous and thoughtful stories, and I urge you to read the whole thing through. Hexagon is new on the speculative fiction scene this year, but they’ve already distinguished themselves with a fine curation of stories (no, I’m just not saying that because they’ve published me!) I look forward to seeing where they go in the future. And as for the picture above? You may remember the news stories last year after the image above went viral. It’s a picture of a “ghost apple,” taken in an orchard not far from my home. And yes, it’s one of the inspirations for my wintry fairy tale.