science fiction – Musings of a Generic Asian

Capricon 41 Panels

conventions, diversity, fun, Geek stuff, marketing, publishing, science fiction, self-publishing, Supernatural, Writing

This year I’m doing a few talks at Capricon 41 (Feb 4-7, 2021), a spec fic convention based in Chicago. I’ve been sent their panelist invites a few times, but this is the first time I’m attending.

To my surprise after receiving the schedule, I saw that I’ve been paired up with a few people I know from Toronto and someone I met at Detcon1 years ago! Looking forward to meeting these friends virtually again!

The con features many panels on writing, science and fandom – so if you’re looking for people to chat passionately with about geek topics, come hang out!

To get a pass to events (free/donation), visit http://capricon.org/

My schedule and panels:

Diversity, Inclusion, and Safety in Our Creative Spaces, Willow room – Fri 6:00 PM CT / 7:00 PM EST

Publicizing Your Book: Tips, Tricks, and No-Nos, Willow room – Sat 1:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM EST

Horror and Dark Fantasy Writing, Ravinia room – Sat 2:00 PM CT / 3:00 PM EST

Future of Publishing, Willow room – Sun 1:00 PM CT / 2:00 PM EST

Hope to see you there!

Amazing Con is Coming Soon!

conventions, fantasy, fun, Geek stuff, science fiction

I’m very excited to be invited to be part of the first virtual speculative fiction convention called Amazing Con held by Amazing Stories Magazine!

Featuring over 42 authors, there will be tons of author readings, panels, musical performances and panels over a period of 3 days. Closer to the date I’ll post my reading date so people know when to look for me.

Registration is free and a suggested donation of $25 will give you access to the con along with a digital bundle of a year’s worth of Amazing Stories magazines! Click here to register

Since we are all hiding out due to COVID-19, this is an easy way to experience what a con is like from the comfort of your own home!

Immersion and Brave New Girls

Anthologies, Books, editing, publishing, science, science fiction, Writing

Immersion, an Asian speculative fiction anthology of fifteen stories which I edited with Allan Cho and William Tham is out! Two years in the making, we’ve used a lot of blood, sweat and tears on this project. The stories range from glimpses into loving relationships (with mermaids, grandparents, etc) to science fiction (using fish slime for fashion) to horror (supernatural beasts and an artist painting in blood). When we started the project we didn’t know what would come in the door. All we knew was we wanted to offer a chance to authors to send in the fantastic and surprise us! Towards the end we also did a cover re-haul and it looks completely different from before!

My latest published short story, The Curse, made it into Brave New Girls: Adventures of Gales and Gizmos. This anthology is the latest release from editors Mary Fan and Paige Daniels, featuring young adult science fiction tales about teen girls with a knack for science, tech, engineering and math… hackers, mechanics, inventors, and more! Proceeds from sales will be donated quarterly to the Society of Women Engineers scholarship fund.

Futuristic Canada Out!

Books, Canada Anthology, editing, fantasy, publishing, releases, science fiction, Writing

Futuristic Canada is finally out! I’ve been working on this book for the past two years with Sarah WaterRaven. The project went through a lot of changes, with authors coming and going, lots of hospital visits (family members and ourselves), changes in directions for things…anyhow, the project is over and our book baby is finally here!

Admittedly creating a book about the future of Canada is not the best business decision given our small population and seemingly boring country. However, the stories in here will surprise people with their twists and unforeseeable endings! A superhero librarian, woo hoo! Puritans taking over the future, oh boy! Government sending old people dates for their executions, oh dear.

Sometimes a writer makes a terrible editor too because we spend so much time thinking about how the story will flow and we tend to get bored easily if a story is too predictable. I have to say that the writers in this book managed to make me jealous of their storytelling abilities and lyrical words.

We’ll be giving away Futuristic Canada as an e-book during Canada Day week of July 1-5, 2019. Grab a free copy from Amazon and please leave a review on Goodreads/Amazon if you can. Many thanks and enjoy!

Call for Submissions – Immersion: An Asian Anthology of Love, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction

Anthologies, asian, science fiction, Writing

Call for Submissions: Immersion: An Asian Anthology of Love, Fantasy, and Speculative Fiction

Deadline: Open February 15, 2018 – December 31, 2018 (deadline extended from previous Oct deadline)

Asian Canadian Writers’ Workshop and Dark Helix Press are collaborating! We are searching for submissions for “Immersion: Love, Fantasy, Science” an anthology of speculative fiction stories to be published in the summer of 2019.

The anthology editors are Allan Cho, (Inside the World’s Major East Asian Collections), JF Garrard (Trump: Utopia or Dystopia, The Undead Sorceress) and William Tham (Kings of Petaling Street).

Construct a story about an Asian main character set in an immersive alternate past, present or future. Fill this reality with hints of reality, magic, or fantastical but believable science. If you are interested in writing about a motorized caravan train across the Silk Road, or sages searching for magical apprentices in the South China Sea, now is your chance. We also like good wuxia swordplay and other martial arts as much as we enjoy postcolonial politics and other contemporary topics. Draw on your heritage and transport us to a different world.

We are collecting short stories and flash fiction; please make sure there is a beginning, middle and an end.

Stories may be dark in nature, but no gratuitous violence, sex, or racist content. Novel excerpts not encouraged unless they tell a complete story.

For more details on how to submit, visit Dark Helix Press’ website link.

Please read the instructions. Stray stories are hard to keep track of and do get lost no matter how good they are!

Killer Angel Statues and Prime Ministers Being Asked to Have Sex with Pigs…Yup, I've been watching too much BBC again…

science fiction, television, Uncategorized, warped

I have been taking an informal survey of my co-workers and friends in regards to who watches the new Dr. Who or anything BBC. It’s vaguely amusing when people ask me back, “Dr. Who?” Anyhow, I was talking to a friend last night and told him to look up one Dr. Who episode in which alien weeping angel statues go around touching people and killing them (draining their energy, sending them back in time, etc). This is one fantastic creepy story! With no bloodshed too!

“Possessing a natural and unique defense mechanism, the Angels are quantum locked. This means that they can only move when no other living creature, including their own kind, is looking at them. As soon as they are observed, they instantly turn to stone and cannot be killed.” More explanation on what actually happens to the victims is discussed here on this Wikipedia page.

“Blink” (2007) is the tenth episode in the new Dr. Who series 3 in which these weeping angels first appear. I don’t want to spoil anything, but just know that you have to keep staring at these angel statues and keep your eyes open – every time you blink, they come closer and closer until they grab you! Argh!! This episode won a ton of British awards, for best writer, actress, etc. Fans of Dr. Who Magazine voted it as the second best episode ever in 2009.

The inspiration for these scary creatures came from a children’s game called “Grandma’s Footsteps” (I’ve never actually played though, not sure if it’s British too?). Anyhow, one person (male/female) is grandma who is facing the wall. The other people try to creep up on grandma and tap her on the shoulder. If grandma turns around suddenly, everyone has to stop moving. If someone moves, grandma points to them and they have to return to start. As long as grandma is looking, no one can move. Whoever taps grandma on the shoulder becomes the next grandma and the game starts again!

If this isn’t twisted enough for you, try watching a series called “Black Mirror“, another BBC show. One season consists of only 3 episodes and there are 2 seasons so far. This show really freaked out my Viking husband as the settings and how the characters react (ordinary people) are so realistic, yet what happens is very twisted. The first episode features a British princess from a Royal family that gets kidnapped. The only way the kidnapper would free her is for the Prime Minister to have sex with a pig on live television. There are public polls via social media in which this action is supported so that a life can be saved. What would you do if you were the Prime Minister?