It's a Jumble

  My newest story went live last week! “Lotus Dew for the Emperor’s Tea” is now free to read at Lightspeed Magazine . This tale   braids together Chinese immortality myths with a love for tea, and it is one of my favorite things that I’ve written yet. There’s also a beautiful narration by Si Chen, if you’d like to hear it in podcast form. And if you want to hear me gush about some of the inspirations for this tale, you can also check out the accompanying author interview!

  It's out!! My debut collection of short stories, The House of Illusionists , is officially out in the world! It's available at Amazon , Indiebound , Barnes and Noble online , and direct from publisher .  You can go to my personal dedicated book page for more information (including advance praise and interviews). You can also visit the official publisher website here. 

  I am far, far overdue for a personal writing/publication update, I realize. 1. Short Story Publication in Lightspeed Magazine In June, my latest fantasy story was published in Lightspeed Magazine . “When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm” is about exactly what the title says. It’s also about social media fame, parasocial relationships, street food, and the very human need to feel that we belong to a story larger than ourselves. It is one of my favorite things that I have written, ever, and there’s a wonderful podcast version, narrated by Susan Hanfield, if you would rather listen than read.   It was inspired, as you can read in the  accompanying  author interview , by watching   waaaay too many xianxia c-dramas, a genre of  Chinese television drama that is centered  on "xian,” immortal beings from Chinese folklore/tradition. If you, too, are a fan of this   genre, just know that the Faerie King looks exactly like your favorite male xia...

  I have a new story out today! “Support Forum for the Care and Feeding of Your Personal Spirit-angel ” is a dark little piece about Internet forums, cult dynamics, and angels who promise to heal every wound in your soul. It’s my second publication in Uncharted Magazine, a wonderful venue for literary speculative and genre fiction. 

  My latest story, “The Path She Sings, ” is now up and free to read at The Deadlands! It’s a weird little bit of dark fantasy/horror, and it’s just over flash-length at only a little over a thousand words. And with this, I cross out one of the squares on my writer’s bingo card—The Deadlands has been a dream market of mine for years. I’m honored to finally appear in their pages, alongside beautiful fiction, poetry, and essays from talented writers. Go read the whole issue if you can!

  My latest story is out! “ That Small, Hard Thing on the Back of Your Neck” appears in this month’s issue of The Future Fire, alongside a great lineup of writers and artists. It’s a weird little bit of body horror, and a story about the masks/skins we wear.

  Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park, Washington state. Ten days in the Pacific Northwest, among mountains, sea, and moss-draped forests. And while I was there, I had two new stories come out and two new stories accepted.   “The Red Queen’s Heart,” at Lightspeed is a story about a magical night market. It’s also about a conquering queen, and what we give up to survive. I go into some detail about inspirations for the story in the accompanying author spotlight, and there’s a fabulous narration by Stefan Rudnicki in the podcast.   My second story of the month is “Remembering Day” at Uncharted Magazine, and this one is particularly dear to my heart. It’s a far-future story about mind-uploading, but it’s really an ode to the bodies and minds that we have right now. Finally, I have a weird little dark fantasy/horror piece out this October in The Future Fire , and another weird fantasy/horror piece coming out in The Deadlands at some unspecified date. Story publi...

I have a new story that’s out and free to read today! “The Cold Inside”   is published at the lovely Metaphorosis Magazine as part of a special issue of returning authors (check out the other writers in the Winter Issue of 2024 !)  “The Cold Inside” is about grief and cold and a ghost in white. It’s set in the woods of northern Michigan, in an unnamed town but based on a region I know and love. The artwork that Candra Hope c reated for my story is perfect , and I’m so pleased to be part of this magazine. 

The year is drawing to its close, and it’s that time when writers make posts about their award eligibilities for the year. I had three pieces published in 2023. I would be honored if you took a look at any of them.   Nonfiction essay “Hungry Ghosts in America, ” published in the anthology Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror , edited by Lee Murray and Angela Yuriko Smith.  This is my first published foray into the personal essay form, and in truth it was one of the hardest, most nerve-wracking things I’ve ever written. Still, I am honored to be published alongside this group of brilliant, brilliant women. Unquiet Spirits revolves around myths, monsters, and spirits of Asian culture, and the personal meaning that these spirits have for their contributors. These pieces are fearless, heartbreaking, brilliant, and moving. The final product is gorgeous, and I’m so proud to be part of this unquiet sisterhood Review from   Horror World:   “ Unquiet ...

 I have a new story out today! "Microseasons of the Dead" is live at The Future Fire Magazine, on this last day of October. It's a slightly experimental, dreamy piece inspired by the microseasons of the traditional Japanese calendar, and I'm so glad it's found a good home. 

    I have a new story out today! “How to Travel Safely in Faerieland” appears in a special all-novelette issue of Fusion Fragment. It’s one of my favorite pieces so far, and dear to my heart. It’s about modern tourists in a modern-day Faerieland, in way over their heads. It’s also about the distance within families, Asian diaspora feels, and what it means (what does it mean?) to fall in love with a culture and world that’s not your own.   “How to Travel Safely In Faerieland” appears alongside beautiful stories by Angela Liu and Octavia Cade. You can download it for free or pay what you like by going to the link above.

  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 word...

  The year is drawing to its close, and it’s that time when writers make posts about their award eligibilities for the year. I had four stories published in 2022, and my first poetry publication as well. I would be honored if you took a look at any of them.   Eligible Stories “An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words” in Lightspeed Magazine, January 2022 (3357 words).   A story about a magical language that can say all things. About the power and limits of words. And it’s also almost all I want to say about writing. Stefan Rudnicki gives a marvelous narration (his voice is an exact match for my character’s!) on the accompanying podcast, so give that a listen if you can.   “Before We Drown” in The Future Fire, January 2022 (flash fiction, ~1000 words). A little flash piece about memory and the light between storms.  “Once on a Midsummer’s Night” In GigaNotoSaurus, February 2022 (~7500 words). An epic fairy tale fantasy about a dead ...

  I have a new story out this week!  “The Bones Beneath” is now up at the wonderful Podcastle , and you can either read it there or listen to Tatiana Grey’s beautiful narration. It's perhaps the darkest thing I’ve published yet. I also think it’s one of my best. This story grew out of a lot of things. A slushy, dreary Midwestern spring, and a sudden image of glowing bones. A cloud of swirling thoughts and ideas from the last several years, struggling to find form. There are a number of real-world historical inspirations for the fictional world and history in my story. The Chinese Cultural Revolution is the heaviest and most obvious inspiration. But there are a number of others, from different countries and societies, and from different time periods stretching up to the modern day. And from all sides of the political spectrum.   For me, one of the key passages in my own story is this one, where the young protagonist is struggling to make sense of her world:   ...

I had an interview with the Horror Writers Association (HWA) this month, as part of their Asian Heritage in Horror interview series. I hadn’t really thought of myself as a horror writer before, even though I have indeed written some dark stories, including a ghost story . HWA thought otherwise, and I’m so pleased to be part of their interview series. There’s a great lineup of authors participating, with wonderful insight and wisdom, and I’d suggest anyone interested in this genre to check out the entire series here . Note that HWA is also running a great interview series on Jewish Heritage in Horror this month, so check that out here on the HWA website, too!

Light in the sky when the kids get up for school now. The song of birds outside the window. It’s still cold, but the signs of spring are here. The earth is thawing. There are horrors on my news feed, and amid that there are small beauties in the world. Some things I’ve published and other news, if you care to hear:   New stories In case you missed it. . .  “An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words”  was published in Lightspeed Magazine at the start of the new year, and became free to read on Jan 20. It's a story about a magical language that can say all things. It's about the power and limits of words. And it's almost all I want to say about writing. Stefan Rudnicki gives a marvelous narration (his voice is an exact match for my character’s!) on the accompanying podcast. “Before We Drown”  was published January 30 in The Future Fire . It’s a little flash story about memory and the light between storms. “Once on a Midsummer’s Night”  was pu...

  I have a new story out today! Actually, it came out earlier this month behind a paywall, but it’s now available to read for free. “An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words” is published at Lightspeed Magazine ! This story is about a magical language that can say all things. It’s about the power and limits of words. And it’s almost everything that I want to say about writing. I hope you give it a read. For more of my thoughts on this story, you can check out my Author Spotlight/Interview on the Lightspeed site. There’s also a podcast of the story available at the site. I haven’t finished listening to the whole thing yet, but narrator Stefan Rudnicki’s voice is a perfect match for my character, and I’m delighted by his narration.

  Well, it’s that time when writers make posts about their award eligibility for the year. I had two short stories published in 2021. I’d be honored if you took a look at either (or both!) of them. “Fanfiction for a Grimdark Universe” (fantasy, 4094 words). Translunar Travelers Lounge , Issue 4, February 2021. This story is exactly what it says on the tin: it’s fanfiction for a grimdark universe. It’s about a group of world-hopping secret agent/superheroes who find out that in our universe, on Earth, they happen to be the characters in a cult-hit graphic novel series. And there’s fanfiction about them. It’s a comic sounding premise, and indeed, there’s some humor here. But there’s darkness, too. I was reading a lot of fanfic on AO3 when I started this story, and I was thinking about how the grimmest, darkest of media often have the cutest, softest of fanfics. Of how we consume and process dark stories. Of how some fans rewrite endings and scenarios, placing their beloved ch...

I have a new story out today! “A Vial of Electric Blue” appears in Issue #5 of Fusion Fragment Magazine, a lovely new journal that publishes science fiction and science fiction-tinged stories, often with a surreal bent. My story is most definitely on the strange and surreal side. It’s about isolation and imprisonment, the rage of women and girls, and strange lakes of electric-blue fire. The accompanying illustration is by KiTT St. Joans, and they’ve done a stunning job; I’m in love with their art. You can see more of ST. Joans’ art here .    And by following the link on my story title above, you can download the entire issue to read (for free, or pay what you like).   Fusion Fragment is unusual among new SFF journals in that it offers print copies of their magazine as well as digital! I got my contributor’s copy last week, and it’s the first time I’ve ever held a print journal with my work in it! And I’ve already read and loved some of the stories in this issue, whi...

  (Note: updated on 3/07/2021) "Fanfiction for a Grimdark Universe" is my latest story, now out at the wonderful Translunar Travelers Lounge . This story is about exactly what the title says, and it came about in early 2020 when I was spending too much time on the fanfiction site, Archive of Our Own. As I read fanfics in the early days of our global pandemic, I thought about how the grimmest, darkest of media have the fluffiest, cutest, softest of fanfics. I thought of how we consume and process dark stories. Of how some fans rewrite endings and scenarios, placing their beloved characters into more lighthearted worlds, while others lean into the darkness.   As I wrote this story, it also became about other things. About stories in general, about we look to stories to tell the meaning of our lives, of how we find inspiration—and perhaps even courage--in stories. A reader, the writer Rajiv Mote, on Twitter actually describes my story more eloquently than I ever could. As h...