While I was holed up in a small, um, let’s call it a villa near Luang Nam Tha, my story “Pahwakhe” went online at Fantasy. It’s the first story I ever sold — what a welcome encouragement that was! — and it was the first of my Week 6 stories from Clarion West, back in 2006. Go read it! Now! No, wait, wait, while you’ve on your way over, there’s also an Author Spotlight up too, which is essentially an interview with me by K. Tempest Bradford, and you can experience me waxing, oh, I have no idea, let’s just …
Month: January 2008
Luang Nam Tha, Luang Prabang Again, And Throwing in the Lao Towel
But it was a long few days in Luang Nam Tha. Actually, just outside Luang Nam Tha. Sneezing. Coughing. Wondering, is this what malaria is like? Except I knew it was just a damned cold. And still is. Ugh. But the food? Some of the best I’ve ever had, at this pricey little village place called The Boat Landing. Have the Lemon Mint Fruit Shake. And the Pumpkin Soup, which isn’t really pumpkin but instead is zucchini. The Black Tai Stew. Oh, good grief, go for a week and eat everything. Then take a bus to Huay Xai and fly …
Pahwakhe
Here’s Pahwakhe online at Fantasy magazine, along with the Author Spotlight (me being interviewed by K. Tempest Bradford) that went up around the same time. My first real fiction sale to a real fiction market,”Pahwakhe” was the first of my two Clarion West Week 6 stories, and received a thorough critique by Vernor Vinge and my classmates. Fantasy magazine bought it shortly after I sent it to them, and it’s currently forthcoming sometime in 2007 early 2008. What was really amazing was that I wasn’t the first to know. News of the acceptance was posted after I was emailed but …
Vientiane afternoon
It’s a quiet afternoon in Vientiane. I got an air ticket to Luang Prabang, because taking the bus for 11 hours doesn’t appeal. I would upload a photo, but I forgot to install LightZone and the few I’ve taken so far are all in RAW format. Silly me. The thing about traveling with a new PC is you find out there’s software you installed besides the OS, and use occasionally, but forgot to install before leaving. Anyway, in its place, here’s a slice of cheesecake I made for Christmas, and which happened to be on my the flash card in …
Twenty Minutes to Boarding
The Business Lounge — where I can go, for only the second time in my life in the Incheon Airport — is the best way to spend the 40 minutes or so I had till boarding time, when I got through security and immigration. But i’s not quite as fun as it was when I was in this lounge with Lime, who was marveling at the free food, free cans and bottles of everything, and so on. I’m traveling again, this time to Laos, and it’s just under twenty minutes to boarding. I’ll be doing some vegging, some writing, and …