life at 0.5x speed
New short stories in Clarkesworld and Going Down Swinging, a workshop with the ASA, and an interview with Lloyd Miner from The Writing Grove!
Wow, it has been a minute since I’ve newslettered! I’ve been in a quiet phase of life. After finishing up my book-related travels, I’ve been settling into the day job (/putting the doctor hat back on), managing a couple of health issues (/confronting my own body), and spending time with family (/constantly stunned by how you are reconstructed around a child, your heart external, the terrifying and blissful quality of this new love).
Writing is still there—I’ve been returning to short fiction—but in a gentler, more curious way. And I’ve been reading more, too, adapting a Kondo-esque, tactile, “spark joy” method of holding various books to select my next read. If you want to follow along with my reading, I’ll be sharing more on my instagram.
Below, a few updates: a couple of new stories, and a workshop!
Post Hacking for the Uninitiated - Clarkesworld
I’m utterly delighted to have a new story out in Clarkesworld’s October issue. “Post Hacking for the Uninitiated” is a cyberpunk space adventure story about memory, mind-hacking, mothers, erasure, and a sidekick trying to save the day. I hope it gives you Andor x Ghost in the Shell vibes!
“Post Hacking for the Uninitiated” is also the third story in my Orin-and-Calam series (I really need to think of a better name for this world)!
You can find the first story, “The Dunes of Ranza”, in Going Down Swinging and reprinted in Space & Time Magazine. The second story, “Nobody Ever Goes Home to Zhenzhu”, appears in Lightspeed on their website and podcast.
I’m really excited to keep writing stories in this world. The dream is to create a mosaic novel one day.
In the Beginning, There Were Teeth - Going Down Swinging
“In the Beginning, There Were Teeth”, my weird, small story about an odd dental assistant with odd superpowers on empathy, appears in this beautiful edition of Going Down Swinging. The cover art and full colour interior pages with illustrations are STUNNING. Hell & High Water includes works by Jennifer Hauptman Lim, Alison Evans, Declan Fry, Hasib Hourani, Tim Loveday and many more. I’m honoured to be part of this one!
ASA workshop: Grace Chan on Writing and Publishing Sci-Fi in Australia
Date: Friday 10 November 2023
Time: 12-1pm AEDT
$32 ASA Member / $64 Non-Member
I'm delighted to share that I'm presenting a workshop on Writing and Publishing Sci-Fi with the Australian Society of Authors.
The first half of the session will be an interactive workshop where I take you through concept, character, world, and narrative. You can bring something you're working on, or play with a new idea on the day!
In the second half, I'll talk about my own writing and publishing journey, and run a Q&A.
I hope to see you there!
What the Future Leaves Behind - An Interview
Honoured to be interviewed with such thought and care by writer and founder of The Writing Grove, Lloyd Miner. Thanks for reading Every Version of You, and for such interesting questions, Lloyd. Here’s a little excerpt:
(LM): The future in the novel is Dickensian and dystopian. Inequality has worsened; humanity has failed to reckon with the climate crisis. The poorest humans unable to afford the technology that protects them from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Humans tend to operate under the fallacy that the future will be always better, and that all problems can be solved by technology. What we see in the novel is that certain problems for certain people have been solved. Can you elaborate more on this theme and how you see it?
(Grace): I remember sitting in a seminar years ago when an older white man put his hand up during the Q&A and actually said, “I don’t really see why there’s so much fuss about climate change. If the sea levels rise, can’t we all just move to higher ground?” I think this incredibly ignorant question is demonstrative of the issues in our society today: these outwardly educated people, who come from a place of privilege and wealth but do not do the work to understand experiences outside their own narrow sphere, are the ones who hold power…
…you can find the full interview here.
Finally, I just wanted to share what a wonderful time I had as a Guest of Honour at Conflux 2023: Passages and Portals. It was a whirlwind of panels, conversations, and inspiration. Genre cons are something else. Thanks to all the organisers behind Conflux for having me, and thanks to everyone who said hello or came along to one of my events—each chat, however brief, felt like a little homecoming. It was truly wonderful to meet so many fellow SFFH fans, and I wish all of you the very best with your reading and writing adventures!
Until next time,
Grace