Thoughts on the decade.

This decade: 1. I wrote books. 2. Spearheaded werewolf in Singapore urban fantasy. 3. Wrote YA. 4. Fire Heart. 5. Taught students (and might go back to teaching again). Yeah, I survived. 😀

And I wrote werewolf in space space opera too! Take that, sff snobs! (that’s no. 6) 7. I lived through medical scares, ops and stuff. I am tenacious!

Adding on: my writery trajectory is different from others. The key thing to note is that you shouldn’t compare yourself to others. Paths are often determined by privilege (or lack of it), opportunity (or lack of it), access (tied to the first two factors) (or lack of it).

I don’t fit “normal” norms of writery “success”. It’s time we relook at how we define success. At the beginning, I thought getting a lit agent and big book deal was the Thing. At the end, all changed. I couldn’t afford to sacrifice my health to a false life.

A false life composed of fawning, back-scratching, ladderism and throwing people under the bus. That’s just NOT me. 45 means living life honestly and truthfully. Not lying, not throwing people under just to achieve that seat at that table.

Happy Holidays and Dong Zhi!

A Yule Poem

As we head

toward a new

year,

Let us be without fear.

Courage, bright

as the rising sun,

Let us face it as one.