Apologies if this is kind of spammy given that I’m on a Tumblr hiatus, but finances and all so I’m trying to signal boost this as far as I can:
I’m open for short story commissions (and also cheap little haikus if you’re into that sort of thing)! If you or someone you know wants a story (furry or non, rating G-X), please pop on over to my Terms of Service, maybe read the example stories from it, and give me some consideration! Thanks for your time.
We continue to receive asks/submissions that all ask the same basic question: Can I have/create a pan-Asian country in my work? (We get this question at least two times a week, no joke!)
And the answer is: Our recommendation is that you don’t create pan-Asian anything in your works. So, no. Don’t. Please don’t. Just don’t.
But since we keep getting questions about it, we thought we’d specifically address why pan-Asian themes/cultures/countries are problematic.
GENERIC ASIAN CULTURE DOESN’T EXIST There’s an assumption that there is a generic “Asian culture” that exists. It doesn’t. It goes along with this racist idea that Asians look the same. White supremacy often takes the tack of looking at Asians as robots, and you see see this mentality continually espoused in articles about the education systems in East Asia, or the factories in China and India, or the idea that Asians “naturally” gravitate towards mathematics and engineering. These are lies. The emasculation of the Asian man and the hypersexualization of the Asian woman also treats us all like robots or dolls instead of human beings.
The continent of Asia is gigantic. It boasts the greatest population in the world. It’s huge and it’s extremely diverse. Its diaspora is also extremely diverse.
India’s population alone is over 1 billion. There are at least 17 languages spoken there and over 900 dialects. It’s the birthplace of four major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. India has more than 2000 ethnic groups and EVERY major world religion is represented there. It’s one of the most diverse countries in the world.
Even trying to define a generic “Indian” culture (both in India and among its diaspora) is very difficult to do! So it simply isn’t possible to have a generic “Asian culture” when it’s nigh impossible to do that for ONE country in Asia. India is not a monolith. Indian diaspora is not a monolith. Asia is also not a monolith. “Asian culture” doesn’t exist. When people write pan-Asian themes/countries/cultures into their works, they’re propagating this myth.
HISTORY AND CONTEXT MATTER This doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of cultural similarity between certain regions in Asia or that there’s never any cultural sharing or melding. If two countries are located close to each other geographically, there’s a good chance that some ideas and traditions have made their way across both countries. This is the same all over the world.
But sometimes, this sharing of culture is not mutual. Asia is no stranger to forced assimilation, colonization, imperialism, genocide, war, and the oppression of native and indigenous peoples.
Pan-Asian works ignore this historical context. They give no regard to the atrocities that have taken place and often align themselves with imperialism. In fact, pan-Asianism (that is, the unification of Asia) was often used in Japanese imperialist propaganda, which sought to unite Asia under Japanese supremacy.*
Also, many traditions, religions and cultural practices have origins in the geography, climate, and ecosystems surrounding the people groups in question. By using only some aspects and not others, you run the risk of eliminating the very reasons why certain cultural traditions might have come to be.
BUT WHAT ABOUT SFF OR ALTERNATE HISTORY? Again, even if your novel involves distant planets “inspired” by currently existing countries or an alternate history, we strongly advise against pan-Asian countries or cultures. If it isn’t possible for many currently existing countries in Asia to have a single homogenous culture, then how is it realistic for the countries in your work to have pan-Asian cultures or themes?
People are often proud of their cultural traditions and history, including things like traditional dress, architecture, religions, and customs. If you are not Asian, then it isn’t your place to separate people groups from their countries and cultural traditions for your artistic work. Asia is not your playground.
*Please do not ever use Japanese imperialism as an excuse for why white supremacy “isn’t so bad” or “White supremacists aren’t the only racist ones!” Yes, there have been multiple people groups in history, on every continent, that have done atrocious things. None of it justifies or excuses current white supremacy. That’s false equivalence, and we do not play that game here at WWC. Here’s a post I wrote (from ThisIsNotJapan) about this very issue.
That last line is so fucking critical and can be applied to SO MANY THINGS. It’s the same reason I get angry when some dudes start screaming #NOTALLMEN. Right, not ALL men but let’s just acknowledge that it’s a fucking problem and all agree to collectively work toward a solution.
Patrick Rothfuss is also an extremely talented fantasy author. If you’re a fan of the genre, I highly suggest checking out his stuff. He’s great and this makes me really happy to see.
This is really the best explanation.
This is equally applicable in terms of PoC representation in those genres.
LIGHTSPEED’s 2015 special issue will be Queers Destroy Science Fiction!, an all-science fiction issue entirely written, edited, and illustrated by queer creators. It is now
. We’ll be launching a Kickstarter on January 15 to help fund making the special issue a
double issue.
Who are the guest editors for the special issue? Seanan McGuire is our overall guest editor and she will also be selecting and editing the original short stories (1500-7500 words); Sigrid Ellis is our flash fiction editor (<1500 words); and Steve Berman is our reprint editor.
Who can submit stories for consideration for the special issue? Anyone who identifies as queer.
How do you define queer? Gay, lesbian, bisexual, demisexual, asexual, pansexual, intersex, transgender, genderfluid, genderqueer–if you fit within the QUILTBAG, we want you. Identity is what matters for this issue. (Please note that the “A” in QUILTBAG is for “ace/on the asexual spectrum,” not “ally.” We hope allies will support this special issue, but if you are not yourself queer, please do not submit.)
I’m queer. What can I submit? Science fiction short stories, up to 7500 words. No fantasy for this special issue, though if our Kickstarter campaign goes well we might unlock Queers Destroy Fantasy! and Queers Destroy Horror! special issues as well.
How queer does my story need to be? We very much want to see diverse queer representation and queer themes, but we are focused on the identity of the authors and the quality of the story, not the “this much queer content per story” meter.
What is science fiction? At LIGHTSPEED, we think of science fiction as fiction that speculates on our world, where the basis of that speculation is science, not magic. This includes the social sciences, so dystopias are welcome, as are stories set in post-apocalyptic worlds. Steampunk is also welcome, as long as whatever is powering your cool stuff isn’t magic.
How long is the submission period? Submissions open October 31, 2014 and will close at 11:59 p.m. ET on February 15, 2015.
When can I expect a response to my submission? We will endeavor to reply as quickly as possible to submissions, but since assembling the special issue is similar to assembling an anthology, stories being seriously considered may be held until March 1, 2015 to allow our editors to consider everything before making their final decisions.
How many stories and how often may I submit? Our usual policy of allowing authors to only submit a story once every 7 days is lifted for this issue; so while you may only submit one at a time, you can send in something else as soon as we pass on the first one. You are also allowed to submit one short story (1501-7500 words) and one flash fiction (<1500 words) story at the same time.
Can I submit a rejected story to LIGHTSPEED in the future? All stories submitted to the special issue will also simultaneously be considered for regular issues of LIGHTSPEED. So if you receive a rejection for the special issue, you can consider that story having been rejected by LIGHTSPEED in general. If we end up with so many good stories we can’t fit them all in the special issue, we’ll take such “overflow” for regular issues of LIGHTSPEED.
If you have problems focusing while you write, try using ILYS.
The site is coded so that you can’t see what you are writing, only the last letter, and you can’t edit anything until you get to your words goal. This means you have to focus on writing and what’s on your mind, and not the editing of what you have written so far. You have to write or you can’t edit. Once you hit your goal you can edit and write normally, or go back and use ilys once again.
Since you don’t have to worry about editing, you can let your creativity flows. It can be frustrating, but it’s also liberating because you have to let it go.
petition to stop using “strong female character” and instead “well-written female character” so that sexist douchebags understand that we’re insulting them for their inability to write 50% of the world’s population and just how fucking basic our expectations are.
So, I’m definitely not going to repost the whole story here, since it’s long and formatting it on Tumblr would be annoying (and I’d lose my indents! My precious indents, I can’t stand <p> style paragraphs for writing). But I was really happy with and proud of this particular passage, so I’m putting it here.
All his life, Jesse had been plagued with a mind that ran too fast, thoughts that were too loud and numerous, worries that couldn’t be ignored. College had only worsened his anxieties, and the pressure of this class had driven him to the breaking point several times (an embarrassing number of which his tutor had been present for). It felt like even when he was alone, his world was deafeningly loud, full of the constant, pessimistic chatter of his brain. But in that single moment where Hale’s lips pressed to his, where he could feel the soft, tender feeling of the jackal’s mouth, where the hot breath from his friend’s nose ruffled the fur of his own pointed muzzle, everything went silent. The future faded away and his brain stopped trying to predict and process and natter at him about the worst possible outcome. It was just heat and breath and moisture and the feeling of a sudden ache blossoming in his chest that hurt and soothed all at once. It was perfect.
I think tapping into my experience with anxiety really helped me form Jesse as a character. Most of my life experience in terms of the whole tutoring equation tended to be more on Hale’s side–I did private tutoring and pro bono for friends throughout my undergrad and grad school years, and so am intimately familiar with watching people break down over math that I know they could do if they had the confidence to focus on it and proper accommodations (any math class that doesn’t allow formulae sheets or the like is, in my opinion, archaic and poor teaching in this day and age). But while I’m used toseeing that sort of math-breakdown, it was harder for me to picture how it felt to be having that. Until I connected it to my experience anxiety disorders in the general, and then it was so clear how being stymied by a subject could cause you to shut down and be unable to do things that you were capable of in a perfect situation.
So, anyway. The above quote just felt so right coming out of me, and in the editing it still struck me in a way that, honestly, most of my writing doesn’t (once you spend so long crafting something, you can lose the emotional impact of it). I’ve been blessed with moments of that perfect silence-of-the-mind before–too infrequently–and tying it to Jesse and Hale’s relationship gave that connection a particular depth to me.
