My flash fiction, Old Mother, has been published by Daily Science Fiction. It’s a (very) short story about history, tea, hunting qilin, and good manners. Hope you like it~~
The story was inspired by one of my favourite authors, the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett. While I loved The Last Hero, I found myself wishing that there were more Druss/Cohen-esque stories where the grizzled old veteran hero was female. And if she was a woman, how differently would she approach conflict? What would other people think about her, how would they react? I also love—and grew up with—the wuxia genre, so the kernel of a story quickly found a favourite setting.
Getting a “yes” from Daily Science Fiction early in the year came as a big surprise. It’s one of the qualifying markets for SFWA, so for a moment it felt like I had really gone pro, or something close to it. It definitely was a big boost in confidence after my first few rejections. Now later in the year and months later, the rejections far outnumber the acceptances, but I guess like everyone else there’s nothing to it but to just keep writing, and keep moving on. I have a few more things coming up in the works, including my first novel, The Firebird’s Tale. It’ll be available in December—stay tuned for that! More details in my next post.
Old Mother: Stats
Story Submitted: 3 March 2016
Shortlist notification: 13 March 2016
Contract Received: 12 April 2016
Published: 16 September 2016