MALINDA LO

New short story: We Could Be Heroes

When I went to the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2017, I was overwhelmed by the masses of marchers and the pain that so many of us felt at the inauguration of our current president.

But I was also amazed by so many other things: the sharp wit of the protest signs; the thousands upon thousands of hot pink knitted pussy hats; the feeling, prevalent throughout the city, of a nation on the edge of something huge and unknown.

After I returned home, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. As is my way, I started wondering: what if something else happened at that inauguration? Since I’m a writer who has written science fiction, and I’m an American who (of course) has watched Independence Day, I naturally thought: what if there were an alien invasion?

That question — half serious, half humorous (because you have to see the absurdity in life, especially in our current climate, to avoid driving yourself batty) — led me to write a short story about a lesbian couple who attends the inauguration protest of a Trump-like president when, yes, a giant UFO appears in the sky over Washington, D.C.

Today that story has just been published by one of my favorite websites, Autostraddle. Now, Autostraddle, which covers pop culture, life, politics, and more by and for queer women, doesn’t typically publish short fiction. So I’m especially grateful to them for giving my story a home, and even more than that, they commissioned some fabulous illustrations by artist Eren Russo.

Finally, because it’s at Autostraddle, you can read it right now for free.

I hope you enjoy it!

A LINE IN THE DARK is now available in paperback

My latest novel, A Line in the Dark, is now available in paperback with this glorious review from Teen Vogue on the cover:

“A twisty, dark psychological thriller … impressive storytelling, a chilling plot, and mean girls aplenty.”

I might argue with “mean girls” in its most stereotypical sense, but to be honest, there are some mean girls in A Line in the Dark. What I mean, of course, is that this book contains anger, obsession, jealousy, and complicated shifting identities that sometimes are expressed by meanness.

I don’t know about you, but when I was a teen girl, meanness was wielded as a weapon against me more than once — and I used it back, too. I think that meanness can come across as shallow and spiteful (and sometimes it is, perhaps in its truest sense), but it’s also defensive and used as a shield to hide softer, more vulnerable feelings. Hurt and longing and pain.

Jess, the main character of A Line in the Dark, feels all these things, and as a 16-year-old still discovering who she is, she struggles to contain all these emotions. Sometimes they spill out of her into her artwork; sometimes they spill out of her in arguments with her best friend. The things that Jess does are motivated by a combination of all these feelings.

A Line in the Dark is a psychological thriller. It’s about unrequited love and unfulfilled longings. It’s my first book to receive three starred reviews! And it’s out now in paperback (as well as ebook and hardcover). I hope you like it!

Get the paperback edition at your local independent bookstore, Barnes & Noble, or Amazon.

ALL OUT is out!

I have a new story out today! It’s called “New Year” and is part of the anthology All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, edited by Saundra Mitchell.

All Out has gotten some stellar reviews, which is no wonder since it includes such talented writers as Anna-Marie McLemore, Robin Talley, Mackenzi Lee, Tess Sharpe, Sara Farizan, and more. Here’s some of the praise:

★ “A historical-fiction anthology shines the spotlight on queer teens, from as far back as the 1300s up to the turn of the 21st century. … The vast majority come to life through sumptuous language, plentiful historical detail, and satisfying endings. Most stories acknowledge—and sometimes directly deal with—the hardships of being queer in these settings, but that’s not the focus here. Instead, the collection centers on adventure, first love, and self-discovery. … Readers searching for positive, nuanced, and authentic queer representation—or just a darn good selection of stories—need look no further than this superb collection.” — Kirkus, starred review

“From the forests of fourteenth-century England to Massachusetts on the eve of Y2K, this anthology waltzes through history, infusing it with the oft-overlooked—and much-needed—narratives of queer teens. Through an alluring blend of genres and a diverse array of YA authors—including Malinda Lo, Alex Sanchez, Robin Talley, and Mackenzi Lee—these 17 short stories explore crushes and coming out, runaways and revelations, narrow escapes and enchanted evenings. … LGBTQIA story collections are scarce, but even if they weren’t, this one would be essential.” — Booklist

“The diversity is refreshing: it’s not just white history being told and there is a deaf character fighting alongside Robin Hood. … Malinda Lo’s “New Year” really captures the slow discovery by young Lily on Lunar New Year of an underground of queer folk like her.” — School Library Journal

My story, “New Year” — which is set around the Chinese New Year festival in 1955 San Francisco — is about a Chinese American girl named Lily who realizes, for the first time, that queerness is a possibility that exists in the world. It’s a story about waking up to a real world that was previously hidden. It’s about becoming aware of what might also be hidden inside yourself.

The initial idea for “New Year" came from the book Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt, which tells the story of the women computers who worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena in the 1940s and 1950s. One of those computers was a Chinese American woman named Helen Ling. I began to imagine her as an inspiring figure in the life of a girl — perhaps she was the aunt of a teen girl who also dreamed of working on rocket ships.

At the same time, I’d been reading about queer San Francisco history for a different project, and I learned that there were numerous lesbian bars (and a lively lesbian community) in the North Beach neighborhood in the 1950s — barely two blocks away from Chinatown. I began to imagine a chance encounter between a Chinese American girl from Chinatown and a lesbian from North Beach. Surely, their paths could have easily crossed.

Take that chance encounter and mix it up with my rocket-ship-loving teen girl, and you get "New Year.”

You may (or may not!) remember that last year I also sold a new novel, and that novel is about a Chinese American girl in 1950s San Francisco. “New Year” is the origin of that novel idea! I’m actually halfway through writing it right now, and although the novel has expanded significantly from the original story and changed in many ways, “New Year” is still the root of the novel. So if you want a sneak peek at my next book, this is it.

ALL OUT is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or iBooks. I hope you enjoy it!