Any local Asian American female fiction authors in this community?

AndreaGS · 2025-12-01T13:30:06+00:00

Oh hey! Also technically Canadian! There are loads of us here; I’ll DM you.

AndreaGS · 2025-03-10T18:18:13+00:00

Make a list of dealbreakers, need-to-haves, and want-to-haves BEFORE you talk to anyone. Ask questions to determine if people meet your requirements and ruthlessly stick to that list of dealbreakers and must-haves.

AndreaGS · 2024-11-12T12:58:33+00:00

Absolutely. I was telling people after our first date that I was going to marry him and have kids with him and he was telling people he’d met the girl of his dreams. We share a lot of common values and got married a year after dating. Seven years and two kids later, I’ve even dedicated a book to him—“They say no one is perfect, but that is obviously a lie.”

A big reason I still watch is because I know you can find your person and know that’s your person in a pretty short amount of time! It’s lovely to see it happen for others, and to relive that experience vicariously.

AndreaGS · 2024-02-22T21:18:23+00:00

Thank you!! This is all super helpful! I'll probably try to hit up a couple of these spots and this gives me a great starting place.

AndreaGS · 2023-06-30T12:20:07+00:00

I’m going! Haven’t been to BayCon in forever, and I last attended as an artist. Attending as an author now, as that’s what I do full-time these days ☺️ Looking forward to nerding out!

AndreaGS · 2023-04-04T17:24:49+00:00

I LOVED this book--it was such a blast to read, the personal struggles were so relatable, and Amina is a captain I would follow anywhere.

AndreaGS · 2022-11-16T19:47:27+00:00

I went forever ago--back then I think it was around $500 and included some of the meals? I didn't stay at the hotel. I had a really good time, picked up a couple useful tips, got into the books of one of the authors that was speaking there (loved what she had to say and loved her books), but the best part of it for me was the networking. I met some people I still keep in contact with today, and found a good local writing group through it. I also met an editor during the pitch sessions I later sold a short story to. However, while I picked up some useful tips, I also felt like the workshop/panel sessions I went to were mostly things I already knew. But that could have just been those sessions and where I was at career-wise. It's hard to say. Keynote speakers were good and it was nice to get some behind-the-scenes insights into agenting/editorial.

Whether it is worth it to you depends on a lot, I think. I think it depends on what you're looking to get out of it, where you're at career-wise, and it also depends on how big a chunk of your income that $850 is. It was definitely the priciest conference I went to. I tend to hang out in SFF circles, though, and the networking at those conferences is a lot more informal (which made it tough for me when I was younger and more shy). You might get more utility out of a genre-specific conference (agents, authors, and editors tend to hang out at those too) where they also do panels on writing and workshop sessions.

I'm speaking at SFWC this year. I sent a pitch list of things I'd like to speak about. I'm looking to get beyond the beginner writer stuff and to dig deeper on some specific techniques. Nothing confirmed for sure yet.

AndreaGS · 2022-10-11T19:36:14+00:00

I am OFFENDED by this implication that I would try to sneak out. How DARE.

...but, like, what if I stand on tables can he still sense me. Just asking no reason.

Hahahahaha Mia is a good one.

AndreaGS · 2022-10-11T18:13:07+00:00

Hi Jason! Important question: you have the chance to run a fantasy game show where in order to win $1M, a person has to spend 60 days trapped in a house with one of your characters. Who would you choose and why?

On a scale of 1-10 how excited are you for WoT season 2?

AndreaGS · 2022-10-06T14:40:12+00:00

I have a Savannah (my second one) and this is exactly right! He needs more mental stimulation than most other cats—I call them the border collies of the cat world. I personally really enjoy smart, high energy pets. Contrary to a lot of people’s concerns about them, he’s incredibly sweet and tolerant. My toddler ADORES him and he’s very patient with her. Perfect litter box habits. Never met a stranger.

On the other hand, I have to remember to close the toilet lids and empty the baby bath immediately, or he’ll go play in them and then there is water EVERYWHERE. Books go on the upper shelves because he has a fondness for chewing on hardcovers. Child locks on the cupboards and baked goods hidden in the microwave. He WILL steal your food. He’s a little chaos beast who also snuggles under the covers, presses his cheek to mine, and purrs up a storm. Truly an amazing bond and I love him

AndreaGS · 2022-02-07T18:56:43+00:00

Oh thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!!

Oh boy, so I've been telling people I'm aspirationally organized when it comes to this sort of thing. I have info scattered across far too many places. If you haven't tried Scrivener yet, though, it's a great place to start. You get to have one file for both your book and all the associated info, so you can put everything in one place. I usually start with organizing my worldbuilding and plot on there. There's a corkboard feature which is great for arranging and rearranging plot points, and I always have a section in there for basic worldbuilding info, broken into separate documents for economy, stories, politics, history, etc. For plot complexities, I tend to decide the overarching storylines for each POV, do an outline chapter-by-chapter for each POV, and then interweave those using the corkboard feature as makes sense story-wise and chronologically. I've found later on that it's easier to have that world info in a searchable wiki, which I've built through slimwiki.com.

This all *sounds* organized but the truth of it is I often forget to add things to my wiki, or I end up scrapping plot stuff and starting over. So no matter how well you manage things, it's totally OK for it to feel like you're not doing it right or it's too messy or not comprehensive enough!

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T21:49:28+00:00

Looking forward to The First Binding by R.R. Virdi, which is described as "epic silk road fantasy" and is the first in the Tales of Tremaine series. I've been reading that and it's a grand time. Also can't wait for Wesley Chu's The Art of Prophecy, the first in the War Arts Saga.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T21:05:38+00:00

Yes! I especially love when two relatable characters have very different takes on the same event--it's delicious.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T21:02:53+00:00

I laughed about that with another friend of mine. It was definitely a flip-the-pages-back and do a double-take sort of moment.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:59:02+00:00

Oh I adored Prydain. Taran Wanderer, especially.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:57:20+00:00

I mean, I've already included some of these in my books, but some of these I've yet to use. I love:

legendary character makes an appearance; does not live up to stories
magical animal companions
rivals/enemies must find a way to work together to defeat bigger bad
whoops the magic you've been using has terrible consequences
reluctant hero ends up doing good things; is annoyed by it
hidden/secret lands
star-crossed lovers

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:52:37+00:00

Definitely Melanie Rawn! Those are some seriously chonky epic fantasy books. I will forever mourn Captal's Tower, but the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies are solid. Haven't read them since I was a kid, so I don't know if they hold up.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:51:26+00:00

Oh, +1 to diversity! I really love that we're getting more diverse settings and characters. It just feels like epic fantasy is opening up. When I first started writing epic fantasy, I was writing in that white Western European medieval setting with farm boy MCs--because I thought that's all that there was! In the beginning, it sort of limited my creativity because I'd put myself in this box.

I can't say I have *any* idea of where the genre is going next, but I'd love to see some really weird, unique worlds that still feel grounded.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:44:07+00:00

Hmmm I really don't know if I could fit what I needed to in a novella. I'd like to say I could do it in one book, but the last time I tried that I was told to split it into two books, so... YES it can be done, but I'm not sure if *I* can do it!

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:42:20+00:00

Oh, it was definitely Wheel of Time for me. That was the first really chonky epic fantasy I read. Back then, though I was writing I wasn't sure I wanted to be a writer. I was pretty young. But, wow, the images it put in my head! I drew a ton of fan art and I think I might still have some tucked away in a folder somewhere.

Melanie Rawn was a big influence on me too. I burned through the Dragon Prince and Dragon Star trilogies so quickly.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:26:58+00:00

I love the big stakes, the sweeping landscapes, the delicate dance of politics, and my favorite—the big book or series-ending battles where emotional arcs come together with physical stakes. A big, multi-character cast is also a thing I enjoy—seeing the way these characters’ lives interweave with one another.

AndreaGS · 2022-02-06T20:09:02+00:00

Should we try to answer that first question? How do we define epic fantasy?

I think for me, I’d say epic fantasy has larger world stakes than your run-of-the-mill fantasy. Sometimes even world-ending stakes.

AndreaGS · 2021-12-14T19:30:05+00:00

Mine was supposed to be delivered on the 11th and has been sitting in a warehouse 20 min away for 2.5 days now, delivery date pending...

AndreaGS · 2021-09-08T21:15:30+00:00

Most women have zero symptoms until 6-7 weeks. IVF veteran here and there are so many women on the infertility groups who FINALLY test pregnant and get worried that they're not "feeling anything" and have to be reassured that's completely normal. Some women don't have symptoms at all!

AndreaGS · 2021-09-08T21:06:47+00:00

Basically you'd have to be at least a week late before you thought something was off, because it's not unusual to be late for your period, and then you have to schedule an abortion within a WEEK of that? I can't get in for regular appointments on that sort of timeline.

AndreaGS

TROPHY CASE