A Wolf's Tale

Oh boy, June… June was interesting, to say the least. The national newspaper featured me (thank you, Clement) and I was dealing with a sudden influx of interest. Likewise, I started embroidering, using rayon floss, and it was/is a steep learning curve. There was some online kerfuffle which hurt a lot of people and my wish for genre space is always to be kinder and show more empathy.

I will be busy in July, flying up to the United Kingdom to attend my eldest’s graduation and to have a short break from all the things.

What do I have in store for July:

1. Eldest’s graduation.
2. Try to complete embroidery project.
3. Get back to arting.

https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/singaporean-ex-teacher-joyce-chng-51-shortlisted-for-british-fantasy-awards

May has been a ride – from menopause symptoms to Wolf’s Path being a finalist for Best Collection in the British Fantasy Awards. I’d spent the whole month worrying that I would become anemic, so I was pretty much distracted and down with this aspect of ageing and middle age. The news of being shortlisted shocked and surprised me (in a good way). Fingers crossed. The month ended with a smaller Ren Faire.

I also got a gig writing for Dead Hawk Publishing.

So, what do I have in store for June:

1. Working on my writing.
2. My eldest comes back from the UK.
3. Another Ren Faire.

April was busy. Book release – Sailing The Golden Chersonese! Celebrated my folks’ 80th birthday.

I have fallen in love with dragon ribbon/dragon flow/poi. It’s such a lovely and invigorating exercise/dance. Am wondering if I could just focus on this. Going into the 50s and changing my career paths. Perhaps this will be the fulfilling one where it gives me joy (and a workout, at the same time). Not that writing sff isn’t fulfilling – it is, but sometimes, most of the time, sff is exhausting, given the current publishing landscape, plus the dominance of certain regions. It has never been easy and never will be.

So what does May have in store for me:

1. Beltane!
2. Finish the 10k draft.
3. Collate my research findings.

Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit!

Not an April’s Fool joke!

March was my birthday month – turning 51 was ok. A trip with the family to Vietnam was rejuvenating and I had a medieval overdress made.

What do I have in store for April?

1. Edits! (for Strange Horizons).
2. Launch of SAILING THE GOLDEN CHERSONESE.

Pre-orders are love!

Sailing The Golden Chersonese. Preorder links soon! Queen of Swords Press!

Art by Dhiyanah Hassan.

February was action-packed: Lunar New Year (Year of the Fire Horse), spouse going for an operation, and medical dingdongs. We did a lot of food prep, entertained guests, and after two days, we went back to normal. February was weird in that many festivals coincided – indeed harnessing the sheer energy of a Fire Horse. And as with fire and its impact, it brings about rebirth, renewal and a lot of burning away. I can’t help but think about the world being on fire – but is there hope in the end?

What do I have in store for March?

1. Two book releases: Light of the Song and Sailing The Golden Chersonese.
2. A short trip out of Singapore.
3. More editing!
4. Opening commissions?

January, at the time of writing, was fraught. The world was on fire. Injustice abounded (and still abounds). We watched in horror.

Yet, in midst of it all, I embroidered and prepared for Lunar New Year. (will post pictures of my embroidery soon). I also began writing once more: a third piece in my solarpunk/hopepunk thought-arc.

What do I have in store for February:

1. Lunar New Year!
2. More art and embroidery.
3. More resistance.