Teresa Robeson's Blog, page 6

Immigrants make America great

Yesterday was International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which is always a good excuse to celebrate one of the most amazing women in science: Wu Chien Shiung.

Dr. Wu was born in a small town in China, but immigrated to the United States to do a Ph.D. in physics and then stayed to become a professor and researcher. Despite the racism and sexism she faced in America, she became one of the most renowned and revered scientists of her day.

Top physicists like Richard Feynman and Enrico Fermi sought her out to perform experiments that backed up their theories and therefore helped them win the Nobel Prize. Sadly, like so many notable women, she did not win one herself.

In addition, during World War II, she was part of the Los Alamos group that helped to win the war. Most media, like the film Oppenheimer, do not generally include her and her efforts.

In her later years, she conducted research to help people who suffered from sickle cell anemia, as well as funded initiatives to train girls in the fields of science.

Her contributions were honored posthumously by a commemorative postage stamp!

Immigrants such as Wu enriched, and, yes, even save, the United States. This country would be so much worse off if not for those like her.

To learn more about Professor Wu, read Queen of Physics and check out the other resources on my website.

(Unfortunately, when nonfiction books are talked about, those about immigrants and their experiences and contributions are still largely ignored, as in this example below.)

Perfect post and giveaway for an educator!

Especially for Educators: “Trading Places: Connecting Story Elements Across Texts and Time” from Beth Anderson and Vivian Kirkfield

Barnes & Noble Preorder Sale

Barnes&Noble is running a huge preorder sale from February 5th to the 7th! If you want to preorder any of my books that will be released this year and get 25% off, join their free rewards program and use the code PREORDER25 at checkout!

Click on the following links to be taken to the B&N pages:
CLEAR AND BRIGHT: A CHING MING FESTIVAL STORY (March 4, 2025; Astra Young Readers)
WHO SMASHED HOLLYWOOD BARRIERS WITH GUNG FU? BRUCE LEE (March 18, 2025; Penguin Workshop)
DISGUSTOLOGY: THE SCIENCE OF GROSS (July 15, 2025; Odd Dot/Macmillan)

Whoa, what a ride

I pouted about going to the SCBWI Winter Conference because I didn’t want to travel or get up early or talk to people. But, just like at the NCTE Conference I attended in November, I ended up having a blast and making good connections. The flights were smooth (both the getting through airport security and the flying), and I only had to get up early 2 of the 3 mornings. Plus, despite being worn out by social interactions, I actually enjoy chatting with people. I even hug total strangers (I almost hugged the flight attendant on the flight home).

The room at the Midtown Hilton was spacious and the view out the window was not too shabby.

Even better, I ate lots of really good food, like this French cream donut at Le Pain Quotidian for instance.

I will have more photos of food and the conference in my next newsletter, so sign up for that if you want to see them!

While it was nice to forget a little bit about democracy crumbling around us, I couldn’t (none of us could, really) completely put it out of our minds. I wore this ring which served as a constant reminder.

You see, this ring was given to me by one of my mother-in-law’s best friends. Louise’s family was from Germany, and although they weren’t Jewish, when Hitler rose to power, they knew they needed to flee the madness. So her father converted a lot of their money to jewelry so it would be easier to escape with. She gave the ring to give to me because she felt a bond with me as we are both immigrant brides to the U.S.

I think of Louise whenever I wear it, and, now, I also think about how sad she would be, if she were still alive, by the fact that Americans is turning into the fascist Germany of her youth.

Happy Lunar New Year

It’s the Year of the Snake!

Unlike human “snakes” who are slimy, untrustworthy, and currently in the US government (that shaking beneath our feet is the Constitution writers collectively rolling over in their graves), real snakes are helpful, gentle (yes, ask how many run-ins we have had with even the venomous ones and have never been harmed), and will never try to con you.

Oh, have I digressed? Sorry.

While the Lunar New Year is extremely important to Chinese people, there is another holiday that is possibly as ancient and significant to us. This holiday is Ching Ming (in Cantonese; Qing Ming in Mandarin). It means so much to me that I wrote a picture book about it.

I was going to talk more about Ching Ming in this blog post but, surprise, I ran out of time and I’m currently frantically getting ready to go to the SCBWI Winter Conference, so the blog post will have to wait.

In the meantime, if you’re also stressing over current events like many of us sane folks are, head to Beth Stillborn’s blog to see on what books authors (including me) turn to when they are anxious.

And if you have a comment, as always, pop over to the same post on my website to share your thoughts.

Want your mind blown?

No, I’m not referring to the fact that a grifter felon is the head of a supposed superpower of a country. Rather, I’m talking about trying to grasp 4-dimensionality…via art, no less.

I’d read this article a few months back and had to take it slowly like driving a low-rider over a winter-beaten, potholed road. In my second time reading it, I still had to go slowly to fully appreciate it…as much as a layperson can ever understand high level physics anyway.

Read it yourself and tell me what you think over at my website – What This Drawing Taught Me About Four-Dimensional Spacetime by Stephon Alexander (not the drawing below, by the way)

Want to win my most recent book?

Pop over to Kathy Temean’s blog to find out how!

Book Giveaway: CLOUDS IN SPACE: Nebulae, Stardust, and Us by Teresa Robeson

Apples and oranges

With X being a growing cesspool of fascist scumbags, a lot of people are finally moving over to the Bluesky platform.

Of course, why people didn’t leave shortly after Musk bought the company is beyond me. They only started trickling out of there a year and a half ago when Twitter started charging for the blue checks.

A spot-on meme from the show Community.

There are those who voice objections to moving over to Bluesky because some evil dude is one of the major shareholders of the app, saying that it’s just as bad as X. But that is really comparing apples and oranges (or mangoes and durian).

Sure, one of the shareholders of Bluesky is an evil a-hole, but the actual owner of X is an evil a-hole who is in bed with the incoming “president.” And said owner makes sure that the algorithm is skewed to elevate the voices of hate and disinformation. Nobody is doing any algorithm over at Bluesky. So please don’t tell me the two are equal because that must be some sort of logical fallacy, or should be if it isn’t.

Luckily, as I mentioned, many have finally left X and moved over to Bluesky. One such group is Manuscript Wish List.

Those of you who write might be interested in joining for the following event:

I’m personally looking forward to it. My books with Penguin Workshop came about because my previous agent had found a call out like this from an editor on social media, so I’m hoping that I will find something of interest to pursue on #MSWL Day!

And, totally unrelated, but if you want to win a copy of my upcoming graphical biography of Bruce Lee, pop over to Heather Dawn Torres’s interview of me about the Clouds in Space book!

NOTICE: Because many blogs I follow also release posts on Fridays, I’m going to switch my postings to Wednesdays starting next week.

Good writing advice from The Bad Batch

Sure, I was raised by Star Trek, but I’m also fully immersed in the Star Wars universe (and if you don’t know the difference between the two, I’m sorry, but we can’t be friends anymore ). All the various movies and spinoffs from the original trilogy have been hit or miss. I won’t mention the duds, but I will say that among my top favorites are the animated series “The Clone Wars” and its spinoff “The Bad Batch.”*

Not only is the animation amaaaaazing, but the storytelling is also top-notch. If you’ve learned about writing compelling, sympathetic, and complex characters and you want to study an example, look no further than checking out this series. (It never ceases to amaze me that one single voice actor, Dee Bradley Baker, did all the voices for every single uniquely awesome clone in those series.)

Aside from intricate character development, the story arc also provides an excellent model on how to insert subplots that don’t detract from the central narrative while providing momentum and interest to each episode.

* If you want another incredible example of Star Wars storytelling that is also a lesson on how to fight fascism and authoritarian regimes…highly important as the US is transitioning to scary times…go watch/study the series Andor.

A glimpse ahead

Happy New Year, friends!
Because most of us (okay, me…) aren’t fully back to work yet, at least not mentally, this will just be a brief post on what you can expect this coming year in terms of blog content.

I plan to share some background stories on each of my upcoming books this year–how they came about, the processes that went into them, and other anecdotes I might think of. As well, I’ll talk a bit about writing processes in general…maybe some grammar pet peeves. Hah.

I also hope to share things about botany, particularly plants that I want to draw for a 2026 calendar. Because I intend to do more surface pattern design, you’ll likely see. few posts about those, too.

And much as I dread this year (and the next few) politically, I will not talk about it on the blog. In case anyone wants to know, I share my despair on Bluesky.

If there’s anything else you’d like me to write about, just pop over to my actual blog to leave a comment!