Louhcheut Mahgeuk: to reveal one's secret or fault (lit. to expose Mah's feet)The queen of the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1328-1399) was surnamed Mah. Once, she was riding by on her sedan chair when a gust of wind blew aside the carriage's curtain. Everyone on the street could see that her feet were not bound, a daring break in the typical foot binding tradition for rich women.Sometimes I'm afraid of exposing my own faults. When confronted with a blank line for my occupation on a … [Read more...]
When Do You Call Yourself a Writer?
January 15, 2013 6 Comments
Filed Under: Cantonese, Chinese saying, flash fiction, foot binding, IdeaGems, identity, magazine, Ming dynasty, rejection, short story, writer
Mission: Submission
November 5, 2012 2 Comments
Sihdaahn: anything will doAt times, Cantonese phrases get abbreviated. For example, "si-mouh-geih-daahn" means "without restraint of any kind." The shortened term becomes sihdaahn.Please accept my submission. When I think about submissions, I'm in a sihdaahn mode. Any positive response will uplift me. Last month, I participated in Khara House's Submit-O-Rama challenge. For October, I queried three literary magazines a week, for a total of 15 entries.Here are my results: 1 acceptance, 1 … [Read more...]
