Ken Liu, Writer

Author of The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie

writing

Standing Desk

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Inspired by a friend, and prompted by the fact that we’re doing some furniture re-arranging, I’ve taken the plunge and switched to a standing desk.

standing desk

Now as you can see from the picture, it’s nothing fancy. Indeed, it’s jury-rigged from bits and pieces we happen to have lying around the house. Not going to win any design awards, this one, but it works well enough for my purposes.

(I actually sort of like the going-to-fall-apart-any-minute aesthetic.)

I’ve actually been thinking about doing this for a while, and I’m glad that the example of other writers finally made me go through with it.

A Favorable Review of the Paper Menagerie

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One of the nicest things in the life of a writer must be hearing from a reader who really got what you were trying to do.

I saw this review of “The Paper Menagerie” in the F&SF forums:

Liu manages to create emotions so subtly you almost miss how they’re creeping up on you. Thus, when the climax of the story comes, it delivers a surprisingly strong emotional punch.

Thank you, Geoff Hart. I’m lucky that GVG took a chance on this story and got it in front of some great readers.

Now I have to go and try harder.

First Sale to Daily Science Fiction

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And in other news, my flash fantasy piece, “The Box That Eats Memories,” has been sold to Daily Science Fiction. This is my first sale to DSF, and I’m really pleased.

In Situ Cover

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Dagan Books has unveiled the cover art for their alien archaeology anthology IN SITU. The cover is done by artist Oliver Wetter, who also produced the cover for Dagan Books’s previous anthology, Cthulhurotica. My story, “You’ll Always Have the Burden With You” is in it, and it is the story on which the art is based.

In Situ Cover

I love this cover.