Wait, it’s already June 1? Time really feels like it’s flying way too fast. I accidentally thought it was still 2020 until my brother asked me, “Don’t you mean 2021?”
“Oh, yeah,” I respond.

Writing-wise, let’s say that as of today, for the first time in several months, I’m finally daring to feel hope again in the query trenches. I hope to elaborate more in a blog post in the near future, but for now, I do want to share other writing news:

1. I have 3 drabbles published in the Mythical Creatures of Asia anthology from Insignia Stories. It’s been such a joy to take part in these anthologies, and I have so much fun writing them. Editor Kelly Matsuura is such a pleasure to work with. My short stories are titled, “Kitsune, Hulijing, and Kumiho,” “Qinglong and Xuanwu,” and “Zhuque and Baihu.”

2. I’ve been accepted into the Futurescapes 50-Page Workshop taking place virtually this August. I’ve always wanted to take part in a SFF writing workshop with renowned figures in the SFF sphere, and I was pleasantly surprised and shocked to get accepted. To be honest, with the sheer number of applicants, I didn’t think I’d get selected. My sample writing was an excerpt from my Cyberpunk Six Swans fairytale that I spent 2 months earlier this year writing for a cyberpunk fairy tale anthology I had really set my heart on getting accepted into. I was so heartbroken when it got rejected, even after I revised it by the tight deadline for the editor when they told me the merits of the story and why they passed on it the first round, and told me I was welcome to revise and resubmit. It hurt, but I’m really glad to see that the story sample did earn me a spot in the workshop! I am absolutely excited to learn and improve as a writer, especially as a struggling spec fic author. Maybe one day my Six Swans Cyberpunk fairy tale will find a home.

3. Not really writing-related, but back in February, I was invited by voice actress Tara Strong to take part in her live Ship-It-Show for a Samurai Jack-themed episode as one of the featured cosplayers in my Ashi cosplay, along with voice actors Phil Lamarr and Greg Baldwin. I’m in awe this actually happened, because Samurai Jack is one of my strongest creative inspirations ever since I was a little girl. It was surreal to be in the same zoom room as Samurai Jack/Green Lantern, Aku/Iroh, and Ashi/Raven.

One of my favorite things Tara Strong said was (not verbatim): “As you get older, you can see all the puzzle pieces of your life. Some may not be as pretty as others, but it helps makes you YOU, and you have to fit in this not-so-pretty piece to get this really pretty piece to fit.” That’s just beautiful, and really resonated with me. A good way to end this blog post, and transition into the second half of 2021 with hope.