Anna Tan's Blog, page 41

#guestpost: the Diverse World of the Island of Myste | Randall Allen Dunn

Diversity in stories is a very popular theme today. However, I was planning to write characters with diversity long before it became a trend, because many other writers were doing the same thing before me.

I saw strong examples of diversity in fiction when I was a kid. Television series like Star Trek and Mission: Impossible had very diverse casts that showed various races working together as teammates and equals, who rarely acknowledged the difference in their races. Several other television...

#musicmonday: In Over My Head | Bethel Music

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I have come to this place in my lifeI’m full but I’ve not satisfiedThis longing to have more of YouAnd I can feel it my heart is convincedI’m thirsty my soul can’t be quenchedYou already know this but stillCome and do whatever You want to
I’m standing knee deep but I’m out where never beenAnd I feel You coming and I hear Your voice on the wind
Would you come and tear down the boxes that I have tried to put You inLet love come teach me who You are againWould You take me back to the place whe...

#fridayflash: excerpt from the #nanowrimo WIP

A knock on the door alerted King Samuel that it was time for the scry. He reluctantly kept the bottle back in its place, stood and smoothed down his shirt, then shrugged on his royal robes. He would appear in this kangaroo court in all his regality so they’d remember who he was and what he represented.

The council was already seated when he entered the Council Room. They made to rise, but he gestured at them, signalling them to keep their seats. He took his own seat at the head of the table an...

#bookreview: More from the MA reading list (which I surprisingly liked) #AnnasMA

White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Told mostly by Miranda's twin, Eliot, White is For Witching explores the tragic tale of Miranda Silvers, the girl with pica, who is slowly fading away after the death of her mother, Lily. I say mostly, because parts of the novel are also told in a general narrator type POV, by the house (hah) as well as Miranda's friend, Ore. But mostly, it's Eliot's voice who dominates, Eliot who is both friend and enemy to his twin.

Oyeyemi keeps y...

#fridayflash: Time Flies

I wrote a story, and it's gloriously stupid, and I was accused of fanfiction.
But I don't care. It's gloriously stupid and I like it. HAHA

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The problem with eternity is the flies. I have no idea where they come from. It’s annoying, I tell you, but they’ve just always been here and they won’t go away. It is eternity, after all, so I suppose they’re here for the… duration. I’ve raised a prayer with the Big Man, but you know how it is. He’s too busy dealing with the prayers from earth to deal wi...

#bookreview: Three | Krishna Udayasankar

Three by Krishna Udayasankar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I won this book in a blog giveaway sometime last year in conjunction with #singlit. Figured I should read it now, or it would languish in my bookshelf for another year and a half at least.

Three is the story of the founding of Singapore out of the ashes of the Srivijaya empire--or, at least, the story of its founder of legend, Sang Nila Utama. It tries to pose as a grand epic; the saga of how Nila was ousted with his family from Palembang as a...

#musicmonday: Native Tongue | Switchfoot

Oooooo new Switchfoot album coming!

#fridayflash: Breathe

Day and night, night and day, let incense arise.
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He lingered, caught between life and death, suffering and bliss, finality and eternity. There was nothing more she could do but watch. Watch and pray, pray and watch, seeking assurances where there were none.

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http://www.penang-vacations.com/kuan-...
The courtyard was hazy with incense. Ahead stood two iron stoves grey with ash, red joss sticks, perfume rising to the sky.

Breathe in, breathe out. Don’t cough.

The prayers of many lif...

#bookreview: Faithless | Janeen Ippolito

Faithless by Janeen Ippolito
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shance's story takes the forefront in Faithless, though there are some major events that happen in Kesia and Zephryn's storyline. One of which is... utterly shocking. The appearance of Lurien as their nemesis really ups the stakes in this book--not only is she a powerful death unicorn with many other death unicorns in her (and the Curious Intrigue's) service, she also holds Maira's son captive. Actually, I think you see more death unicorns th...

#GuestPost: Why I Write: Marvelous Misfits and Heroic Outcasts by Janeen Ippolito

A faithless, flirtatious man with a family he forgot. A rejected woman still bearing the shame and suspicion from abuse she suffered as a child. A refugee queen fighting for her people, even when those people rebel and undermine her in front of her host country’s leadership. An assassin from a pacifist culture who harbors an isolating secret beneath his physician exterior.

In case you can’t tell, I love my misfits and outcasts. In fact, until a main or supporting character is in some way deal...