A Probability of Being

'Tis the season, I guess! I always forget about it until I see social media buzz, and I wonder if I ever would get around to making these posts if I didn't see other people get around to it as well.  In 2018 I published two cute stories and one dark one: " When the Bough Breaks " in Mythic Delirium , a story about hostile spirits terrorizing children in a high-rise luxury condominium. "A Field of Sapphires and Sunshine" in Glass and Gardens: Tales of Solarpunk Summers , my second foray into solarpunk. It's about an international student returning home to her family's business, dwelling on a breakup while on her solar-dirigible ride home.  " Magic Potion Behind-the-Mountains " in Beneath Ceaseless Skies , which follows the misadventures of a young magistrate as he struggles to learn the recipe for a magic potion in the rural hinterlands of his assigned county. I doubt these will rouse anything more than a murmur, but I...

I have a new short story out in the Fireside Fiction Quarterly ! They have an amazing selection of short fiction available online, but my story, "By the Storytelling Fire" is only available in the print quarterly, which you can get by subscribing to them for just $10 a month! You can also get it by buying it as a $5 back issue ; I'm in Issue 63. It's a beautiful print issue, with illustrations by fantastic artists and so many excellent writers like Brandon O'Brien and Sheree Renee Thomas! I'm very excited to be part of the Fireside oeuvre ^^ "By the Storytelling Fire" is about two people telling each other fairytales that may or may not be about themselves. One is a remix of Sleeping Beauty, examining consent that is not given in the original tale; the other is a tale of an illegitimate prince who rejects toxic masculinity.  I wrote this for my final week of Clarion 2016, and I'm so glad it's out in the world! I hope you like ...

It's a new year, and I've got new fiction coming up! I'll be in New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color , edited by the inimitable Nisi Shawl! It'll be published by Solaris Books in March!  I encounter LeVar Burton once more as he's written the introduction of this book, and I'm sharing pages with some of the most exciting writers right now, such as  Rebecca Roanhorse , and Darcie Little Badger  and SFF stalwarts such as Tobias Buckell and Andrea Hairston! Here's the table of contents: Foreword, LeVar Burton The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex, Tobias Buckell Deer Dancer, Kathleen Alcalá The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations, Minsoo Kang Come Home to Atropos, Steven Barnes The Fine Print, Chinelo Onwualu unkind of mercy, Alex Jennings Burn the Ships, Alberto Yáñez The Freedom of the Shifting Sea, Jaymee Goh Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire, E. Lily Yu Blood and Bells, Karin Lowachee Give Me Your Black ...

I don't often get to do readings, and rarely still performances of my own writing, so I'm really excited to announce I've got two shows coming up in November and December! F&B: Voices from the Kitchen   Date: November 8 Time: 6pm - 8.30pm Venue: Brava Theater  2781 24th Street  San Francisco, CA F&B: Voices from the Kitchen is a twice-yearly storytelling showcase hosted by La Cocina SF , a non-profit incubator that supports women of color in entrepreneurial endeavors within the food and beverage industry. Each show has a different theme, and November's theme is "Matriarchy," which is of course my jam! My jam on my bread and butter, my crumpet and scone! I wrote a piece specially for this event, so here's hoping people like it ^^  Writers With Drinks Date: December 8 Time: 7.30pm - 8.30pm Venue: The Make Out Room  3225 22nd St., San Francisco CA Writers With Drinks is the brainchild of Charlie Jane Anders , who ve...

I'm proud to announce that I'm part of Beneath Ceaseless Skies ' Tenth Anniversary Special Issue !  My story, " Magic Potion Behind-the-Mountain ," takes place in a setting that I dreamed up during a bout of dengue fever that a mosquito gave me sometime in 2014. I'd gone home for a high school friend's wedding, was feeling a little ill when I got home, and then had a full-blown fever the next day. Whenever I'm sick with a fever, I mostly just stay in bed and drink a lot of warm water, all though the day and night. And, well, the water goes right through you. But you have to drink it! Hydration is important when you are sick. I wasn't sure if it was dengue, since I tend to get a violent fever once a year or so, but since it was in late December, which is mosquito season, there was a chance that it was. Dengue fever tends to run its course in two weeks. It's referred to as "breakbone fever" because that's what it feels lik...

In case you missed it, Strange Horizons published my review of The Wandering Earth, Liu Cixin's short story collection translation into English for non-Sinophone readers . Thanks to the Reviews editors for letting me have a crack at it!

My latest short story, "A Field of Sapphires and Sunshine," is now out in GLASS AND GARDEN: SOLARPUNK SUMMERS from World Weaver Press ! If solar-powered airships, crocodile farms, and happily-meddling family members sound like your jam, buy the book and support the anthology!  I'm also participating in a series of blog posts at the World Weaver Press blog ! So watch that space for me!

The Table of Contents for my next upcoming story is now up ! Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers edited by Sarena Ulibarri will be out from World Weaver Press this summer!  My story "A Field of Sapphires and Sunshine" is about a student returning home from her cheap American education after a breakup stemming from irreconcilable differences. It has solar-powered airships, traditional Malay architecture, and a crocodile farm! Lots of girlfriend talk, a relatively healthy mother-daughter relationship (HA! not a Disappointing Child story this time!!), and budding romance are all in this story set in a far future where rich people done fucked up and are reaping the seeds they have sown.