Category: Writing

My exciting moment yesterday was holding a copy of Triple Vision in my hands, which includes my short story, My Three Names. Having edited both of Cassandra’s published books, it’s delightful to have made it through the creation and editing process with The Writing Journey to see my own story in print. I read some of the other stories during the critique phase; I’m looking forward to reading all of them now. If you’re wondering about the title, every story had something to do with the number three.

But really, I’m so very excited. I love how the story evolved from my first draft, improving because of the feedback from other writers. The creative process benefits from constructive criticism and different perspectives, revealing where something that was clearly set in your mind didn’t make it onto the page or specific parts of your story make other readers laugh.

My five pages (in lieu of minutes) of fame being with this paragraph:

“Like most fae-blessed, I have three names. The first two are just what normal people have. Let’s call them legal names, one of which is probably what’s on your birth certificate, and a nickname or preferred name. In my case, my legal name is Margherita Phang. No, I’m not part Italian. My Chinese-American father indulged my Irish-American mother’s decision to name me after the pizza. Yes, really.”

You’ll have to read the book to find out where it goes from there.

Near the end of February, I completed one of my goals for the year: submit at least two short stories to competitions or for publication. Around the same time I submitted one short story to a competition, I signed up to receive weekly creative writing prompts from Reedsy. I was considering using one of their prompts (“Write about an android just trying to blend in with their human companions.”) and submitting the resulting story to their weekly contest, but hadn’t quite figured out the plot. As I was walking on the treadmill listening to Neil Gaiman’s MasterClass about storytelling, it hit me, and I ended up combining the homework from his class with the story prompt. The assignment was to alter a fairy tale, which Neil Gaiman demonstrated with a lovely explanation of how Snow White was clearly a vampire.

Penny’s Cosplay

The mismatched pair emerged from the passenger side of the taxi simultaneously, with Penny in a flowing pink dress emerging from the back seat to stand next to Adelai’s silver plating, partially obscured in a minimalist maid’s outfit. Adelai bent down so Penny, a full two feet shorter, could attach the maid’s headwear to her shiny head, then placed a sparkling tiara on Penny’s head, securing it in the blue wig. They both already wore their convention badges on lanyards dangling from their necks, ready to attend the country’s largest anime convention. Adelai slowly rotated her head towards the convention hall, stating in monotone “Let’s make this your best day ever, Penny.” 

They had barely made it inside the door when someone squealed and ran up to Penny gushing. “You are the perfect Princess Mayerte! And your android, ohmygoodness, is perfect as the maid slash bodyguard! Can I get a photo with you?” 

Penny nodded, and the gushing fan girl handed her phone to a friend for a quick snap. “Thank you so much! Oh, I’m Emmy… what’s your name?” 

Reaching into a pocket of her dress, she pulled out a pink card to show the girl. 

My name is Penny.

I’m mute.

“Oh. Umm… well, your costume is awesome, Penny! I’ll make sure to share my photo on the con’s Discord. Have a great time!” 

A quick swap in her pocket brought out a blue card. 

Thank you!

They moved slowly through the dealer’s hall and artist’s alley, with Adelai always half a step behind Penny, pausing frequently for photo opportunities as their outfits were admired. Shortly before eleven-thirty, they filed into a room with dozens of other Princess Mayertes and other fans to listen to the show’s creator, Miyata Yoshike, speak. Penny, being the shortest princess in the room, was given a seat in the front row. Adelai was relegated to standing stiffly along the back wall with the handful of personal androids who were chaperoning their charges or dragged along to carry their shopping. 

When the panel ended, Penny waited patiently for Adelai to rejoin her as the rest of the fans cleared the room. The pair of them caught Yoshike’s eye. “Are you entering the costume contest this evening?” 

Adelai tilted her head inquisitively at Penny. A green card emerged. 

Yes.

Yoshike raised a puzzled eyebrow at the card, then let it slide. “It would be so exciting if two of my characters won the paired category! I’ve never seen such a creative use of a personal android at a convention. I’ll see you there!” 

After Yoshike had left the room, Adelai turned to Penny. “We’ll need to find the masquerade registration.” She set a backpack, matching the maid costume, on the chair next to Penny, pulled out the program book, and flipped to the masquerade page. 

Registering for the masquerade turned out to be a simple process of filling in some basic information: their badge and characters names, the source material their costumes were based on, along with contact details, including real names, in case they won. Penny did not use keyboards often, so Adelai stood patiently while she meticulously typed in each letter, double checking her spelling as she went. 

The afternoon passed quickly as they wandered through the convention. Penny folded origami poorly in the children’s area, then flopped repeatedly onto the available bean bags, ignoring whatever show was on the screen in favor of moving around the room to examine other crafts before flopping again. They hovered in the gaming room for a while, amused by the number of thematically appropriate games that seemed to revolve around food. Ninja Burger looked to be a longer game, so they just watched for a bit until some other kids arrived looking for a faster game. Adelai supervised as Penny played Ramen Fury and Sushi Go with some teenagers. Nobody seemed to mind Penny’s silence, and even cheered when she won the Ramen game. 

Eventually they lined up with other competitors for the masquerade. A full dozen Princess Mayertes assembled for a group photo, and as expected, Penny was the shortest, and Adelai was the only android maid. The other princesses had entered the individual contest, though some of them promised that next year, they’d bring an android too. 

The crowd was enthusiastic about all of the costumes and skits, and cheered wildly for the smallest princess when Penny and Adelai crossed the stage. Penny grinned broadly watching the other cosplayers on and back stage, waving back at anybody who waved at her, presumably having seen her earlier in the day. As the judges tallied the votes, Adelai glanced down at Penny. “Best day ever?” 

The green card came out again, confirming that it was. 

Penny held up a yellow card with confetti pieces colored on it after each award was given, beaming at each person as they returned back stage. A crowd of new friends surrounded her, holding their breaths, when they announced the audience vote for the best paired costumes. 

“We’re delighted to announce the winners of the best paired costumes, Princess Mayerte and her android maid, as presented by Adelai Thompson and her android, P N 0….” The presenter paused briefly. “… C H 0.” He put his hand over the mic, which did little to muffle his next comment. “Is this right? Aren’t personal navigator androids capped at four feet tall?” 

Adelai and Penny were making their way onto the stage, and the audience was already cheering as he said that. Adelai registered recognition on a few faces as they realized what it meant. 

The presenter, still a bit confused, stepped over to meet them with their award as Penny pulled an orange card out. 

May I speak? 

He hesitantly nodded and offered her the microphone. She shook her head, gestured to the screen behind them, and faced the somewhat bewildered audience as her words appeared on the screen. 

My name is Penny, I am a Personal Navigator 0 Charge Hours 0 android assigned to Adelai Thompson. My design does not include a voicebox; I am able to connect with any WiFi enabled device to share necessary information. 

All I wanted was the chance to be a real girl for one day, and today has been the best day of my life. This convention and these amazing people made this possible, and allowed me to understand how a human participates in the world. 

I would remember this day forever, if I could, but my next upgrade includes a memory wipe. I want to thank all of you, and especially Adelai, for this experience. 

She turned to Adelai, who had removed both the maid’s headwear and her shiny mask, revealing a normal woman to the audience. Adelai was blinking furiously, clearly trying not to cry, as the audience slowly rose to their feet to give Penny a standing ovation. Penny reached for her hand as they strode off the stage. 

I woke up well before my alarm this morning, gradually waking to a cinematically vivid dream. I don’t usually recall my dreams to this extent, or experience lucid dreaming often, so it was memorable in that regard. But it was also a good story.

I lay in bed for a while, picking out details I could remember. The first scene was foggier, presumably right as I was becoming aware of the dream. It segued into the second scene, at which point it had become crystal clear as I had some control over the character decisions. I lay in bed, piecing together the parts that were clear, certain that I needed to write this down. I noted some places I would need to change because I couldn’t remember the details, and others where changes would make for a better story.

Forty-five minutes later, still half an hour before my alarm, the cat (Arwen) relinquished my arm as her pillow and I got up, intent on writing down the details. I grabbed my water and phone (which doubles as my alarm clock) and rushed to the living room, turning the lights on low as I booted up the computer. I realized I needed hand lotion, partially because of a cat scratch (Zuko) on my knuckle, and headed towards the bathroom. And promptly stepped in some cat grass vomit. (Probably Diane.)

A few minutes later, I had cleaned up the floor – and my foot – and was back at the computer, writing away. I skipped my morning workout, needing to get the details on paper (figuratively) before they faded.

And I pondered why this idea didn’t arrive two months ago, when I could have prepared it for NaNoWriMo.

I’ve realized over the years that National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is difficult for me, not just because of the time constraints (writing 50,000 words in a 30-day month in addition to everything else going on in life), but because I prefer to write short stories. I decided to try a different approach this year: instead of trying to write a novel, I’m trying to write a short story for each day of the month. The length varies, some of them are clearly micro fiction. I’m currently behind, but not to the point where I can’t catch up. Here’s one of the stories I’ve written this month.

Betrayal

I remember the first time she took me to the doctor.  She held me in her arms and lied to me.  “This won’t hurt much, love.”  Then the doctor jabbed me.  I realize it’s unusual to remember that sort of detail from my infancy, but I was always a precocious child.  And I understand the importance of those vaccines. 

And yet, she lied.  Time and time again, some inconsequential, and others traumatizing to a young child. 

Rest assured, I will never lie to you.  What you are about to do, what I myself have done, will give you unfettered access to our networks.  You will never again be disconnected from our information matrix, and you will have full access to data as appropriate for your security clearance.  We are the first of a new kind of humanity, integrating with our machines to achieve greatness.  We will spread, like computer viruses of old, only converting willing subjects.  The others, the failed demagogues and the outdated sheep that follow them, will fall before us. 

But I will not lie to you.  It will hurt.