*flails*

So, this week has been very exciting, which is putting it mildly.

Last week before vacation and I’m packing slowly and trying figure out how I’m going to work out, practice my karate and write as well. I don’t know. Somehow. Anyway, so Fiyah Literary Magazine is doing a daily question series with black writers for Black History Month. And then this happens:

So, I’ll recover at some point.

When I started submitting fiction for publication, it was difficult to find people for basic advice on the process and everyone has their own struggles so I spent a lot of time on google. And googling things has been a great help. The internet has introduced me to a number of writing communities over the years and I am grateful for that every day, but this moment takes the cake.

So thank you, Dr Lord, and Fiyah Literary Magazine. That’s two for two now for Fiyah, because they were my first major publication and now they’ve made this possible. I read and loved Dr Lord’s The Best of All Possible Worlds, a quest tale and romance set on an alien planet in another universe when I first started my MFA and literally a few months later, she was our writer-in-residence. Also she likes my story so, you know, right now: *flails*

What else happened this week? I dunno. I walked some more, ate more junk food than I should and started watching Chinese drama “The Perfect Match”, which features chefs and lots of talk about curry and just the right amount of slow burn. I took a peek at Korean zombie series Kingdom and confirmed I shall only watch this in broad daylight. Same goes for “South Central Rain” by Sean Demory.

I’ve also started watching a course on geology and another on writing on the Great Courses Plus app. There are two courses on “Eastern Civilisations” and “Imperial China” that I have been slowly watching and counting as research for book 2 for my YA series. I need to find some Chinese documentaries as well because what I’ve done so far barely scratches the surface.

And on that front, I’ve decided to switch from third person limited in the past tense to first person present tense and let me tell you how much of a struggle that idea is. This book is going to challenge me at every step and I’m really trying to keep the image of it I have in my head that I hope to one day hold in my hands to keep me going.

Also I really need to drop that excerpt off before I go on vacation. I need to. It’s time to complete this MFA once and for all. I’ve even fallen behind on my writing schedule and that’s not going to work.

Recommendations? Apart from the above, I literally just finished listening to “And Then There Were (N-One)” by Sarah Pinsker on Escape Pod today. Parallel worlds, a convention and an Agatha Christie murder mystery. It is amazing. I have also now fallen down a rabbit hole of podcast stories. As it turns out, I can actually pay attention to them while walking/driving.