A New Year. And 2022 in Review

 

January 1. A new year. Time to look forward. . . and on this day, a day of quietness and family for me, also a day to look back at the year before.

 

In terms of professional writing and publishing, 2022 was perhaps my most outwardly successful so far. I published in high-profile, dream markets. I had my first stories narrated in podcasts! I sold a collection of stories. I tried new things that scared me—including my first foray into the personal essay form. Along the way, I made new friends and contacts and had fun.

 

Some things that happened in 2022, to remind me when I’m feeling down:

Published

“An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words” in Lightspeed Magazine, January 2022 (3357 words). 

“Before We Drown” in The Future Fire, January 2022 (flash fiction, ~1000 words).

“Once on a Midsummer’s Night” In GigaNotoSaurus, February 2022 (~7500 words).

“The Bones Beneath” in Podcastle Magazine, June 2022 (5659 words).

“Blood,Roses, Song” (poetry) in Haven Speculative, July 2022.

Written

Novelette: I wrote a strange urban Faerie novelette over 14,000 words, the longest thing I’ve written yet. It’s about a group of modern tourists in modern-day Faerieland, in way over their heads. It’s also about isolation, the aftermath of pandemic lockdowns, the distance within families, diaspora feels, and what it means to fall in love with a culture that’s not your own. It’s very personal in indirect (and perhaps not so indirect) ways. I think of that famous line from an Emily Dickinson poem: “Tell all the truth but tell it slant.”  This is why I write fiction. I’m very happy to say that I sold this story, and it should be coming out in the early new year in the magazine, Fusion Fragment.

 

Personal essay: And from disguised truth in fiction to owned truths in a personal essay. . .  In late 2021 I was invited to contribute an essay to an exciting anthology project, Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror.  The book is edited by the editorial dream team of Lee Murray and Angela Yuriko Smith, who have already won two Bram Stoker Awards for their other anthology projects, Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women, and Tortured Willows: Bent. Bowed. Unbroken.  I jumped at the chance to work with them, even though it meant pushing myself into a new genre, and revealing more of myself than I ever have in print. The anthology revolves around myths, monsters, and spirits of Asian culture, and the personal meaning that these spirits have for the contributors—all of whom are Asian women. The final product is beautiful. And perhaps the best thing so far—the project introduced me to an “unquiet sisterhood” of spectacular writers, colleagues, and friends.

 

Two shorter pieces: I wrote the essay for Unquiet Spirits first, actually, in early 2022. Followed it up with the novelette. And then had a long dry spell. Finally, as summer shaded into fall, I was able to write again, and I finished a flash piece and a short ~2000 word story. Both are now on the market.

 

Award Longlist, Spanish translations, and More

BSFA longlist--My 2021-published story, “Fanfiction for a Grimdark Universe,”  was longlisted for a British Science Fiction Association (BSFA) Award! And though it did not make it to the second-round of voting (i.e. the “shortlist”) it was an honor to even make it as far as it did.

Spanish translations—“Fanfiction for a Grimdark Universe” and “The Bones Beneath” were both translated and reprinted in Spanish this year! My first Spanish translations ever. You can find the Spanish version of “Fanfiction for a Grimdark Universe” at the website El Nombre del Mundo es Cuento here . And the Spanish version of “The Bones Beneath” was reprinted on  the Patreon site of Crononauta: literatura de género con perspectiva de género,

Interview: I was honored to participate in the Horror Writers Association (HWA) interview series with horror writers of Asian heritage. You can read my interview here.  (Also check out the other interviews in the series!)

More: I also participated in an online reading of stories with the Toronto-based ephemera series, and did a Q&A session of my work (and later, a reading) with an online short story discussion group. And have now joined that story discussion group as a member! Getting together once a week to discuss stories with the thoughtful readers of this group has been another highlight of my year.  

Sold a Collection of Short Stories

This was my biggest piece of publishing news from 2022, and truly a dream come true. My debut collection of short stories, The House of Illusionists and Other Stories, has been acquired by Interstellar Flight Press as part of a lineup of other incredible authors and collections. So much thanks to guest editor Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, managing editor Holly Lyn Walrath, and everyone at Interstellar Press. The publishing date is not yet set, but it should come out sometime from 2023-2024. The official press release is here .

Final Thoughts

A lot happened in my life outside fiction writing, too. I kept busy with my freelance science editing. My family and I went on a epic summer vacation to Oregon, just before our eldest left for college. Said eldest left for college (but she’s come back! She was able to come back a number of times—for a long Fall Break, Thanksgiving Break, and now Christmas! So that’s made it easier on her mom =) ). Younger Daughter got her provisional driver’s permit and scares me to death with it. We all got caught up in the Christmas 2022 Winter Storm Travel Chaos in ways I will not bother to go into here, but we survived; we rescued Eldest Daughter from the Chicago O’Hare airport and we are safe and snug and warm at home on New Year’s Day.

 

Looking back at my years of writing, it’s been a long slog. This is a rather cliched thing to say, but it’s true: it was in 2013 that I finally decided to take my writing seriously, and it’s only now, nearly 10 years later, that my stories have really broken into the high-profile, professional-paying markets. Only now that I may soon have a full-size book out. In this same time period—in far less time—I’ve seen peers publish multiple books with Big Five publishers, hit best-sellers lists, win all sorts of awards, and talk about movie and television-rights deals.

That’s okay. I’m a slow writer. I think I will always be so. My writing may always have only a niche audience.

 

I’m glad that I still have readers. I will try to keep writing. I hope all of us are able to keep doing whatever it is we love into the new year. I hope that we all have love.