Generated by All in One SEO v5.0.1.1, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Kit Sun Cheah Hugo and Dragon Award Nominated Author ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://kitsuncheah.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Blog](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=7) - [Who Are You, My Country?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7661) - Who are you, My country? Many years have I breathed of your air Drank of your waters Trod on your bones Mingled with your flesh And yet The names of your celebrities are (Who even are they?) Wind in my ears Your latest leaders are (now that we are in between elections) faceless, forgotten Your - [What I Don’t Do](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7659) - Many professional authors will tell you what they do. This isn’t my default. Via Negativa shaped my way of life more deeply than Via Positiva. Instead, I’m going to talk about what I don’t do. I don’t do genre conventions. The book market has its genres, and every genre has its tropes. Readers and writers - [The 2026 EPIC Indie Summer Sale Is Live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7652) - 150 indie SFF books. Many are $0.99. The rest are free. Welcome to the 2026 EPIC Indie Summer sale! Participating this year is a crop of promising SFF talent, as well as veterans of the indie SFF scene, including John C Wright, Declan Finn, and Carlos Carrasco. Needless to say, I am also part of - [NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS Returns!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7649) - Nine years ago, NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS was published. It would go on to be nominated for the 2017 Dragon Awards. Some time later, it was taken off the market, and the rights reverted to me. After a long hiatus, NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS is back, leaner and meaner than before! Here's the blurb: In - [BOUND BY BLOOD is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7640) - Michael Chang walks a hard path: the path of the shaman. For those seeking guidance, he reads their fortunes and offers counsel. For those suffering from unexplained diseases, he provides healing. And for those tormented by spirits, he exorcises them. Called upon to cleanse a cursed flat, Michael discovers a sordid history of black magic - [Squid Game Has Become The Game](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7632) - “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.” ― G.K. Chesterton Once it was a global cultural phenomenon. Now Squid Game has become one of the most bitterly polarized IPs in recent memory. The reason is simple: the ending. Audiences - [Babylon White is Live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7628) - Alas, Babylon! Once the greatest megacity in the history of the world, Babylon spirals into madness and chaos. Ravenous Husks flood the streets in an all-consuming tide. Abominations crawl out of the hidden places to feast on the city’s corpse. The authorities are overwhelmed and overrun.The balance of power broken at last, the surviving New - [GE 2025: Your Vote Doesn't Matter](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7624) - In GE2020, I had to make a difficult choice at the ballot box: the People’s Action Party or Raeesah Khan. But there was no choice at all. Raeesah Khan would get caught lying in Parliament and be forced out of politics, the PAP would go on to implement vaccine discrimination measures, and the Workers’ Party - [Where Babylon Ends](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7621) - Every story has an ending. It’s probably an unpopular notion among certain writers these days. The money lies in series fiction. The longer the series, the more money you earn. You only end the series when the money stops flowing in. I don’t follow that philosophy. Most certainly not for Babylon. Which is why I’m - [Babylon Bright(er)](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7618) - Believe it or not, the Babylon series was meant to be darker and grittier than its current incarnation. Strange, I know, for a cyberpunk horror series that culminates in an apocalyptic campaign—which you can back on Kickstarter—but that’s how things panned out. Darkness has to serve a purpose. Reality doesn’t have to make sense, but - [Where Babylon Began](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7614) - 7 years. It’s been 7 years since I started work on Babylon. Now that the Kickstarter for the final volume is here—and just $31 away from completion!—let’s return to the beginning. Let's return to where Babylon began. The genesis of Babylon, like most of my stories, lay in an image seared fever-bright into my mind. - [Babylon White is 62% funded!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7604) - Babylon White is off to an amazing start. It's only Day Two and we're already 62% funded. It's the fastest-progressing campaign I've handled so far. I'm grateful for the generous support of the backers. The multitalented Jacob Calta recently produced two video trailers promoting both Babylon White as well as our cross-promotion. Check them out - [Alas, Babylon!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7599) - ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.’ -Revelation 18:10 Babylon. The greatest city in the world. The city of gods and monsters. The city where the New Gods reigned supreme—and struggled against each other for supremacy. Only a handful of courageous and resourceful former special - [Review of Devon Eriksen's Theft of Fire](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7589) - In a universe of knuckleheads, two even bigger knuckleheads attempt the heist of the century. But first, they must survive each other. Devon Eriksen's Theft of Fire was acclaimed by many influencers. It survived a cancellation attempt. The author himself was hailed as the next Heinlein. I wanted to like this book. But as I - [No Censorship, Only Clarity](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7584) - Ever since I began my career as a professional writer, I figured I would run afoul of the law someday. This time, I have a chance to prevent it from happening. On 4 February, the Singapore Parliament unanimously passed the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act. The blog Order and Law discusses the implications of this law, and how it erodes civil liberties - [Saga of the Forgotten Warrior: A Forgettable Saga](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7577) - (Credit: Kurt Miller) I don’t like Larry Correia’s Saga of the Forgotten Warrior. I realise this is an unpopular opinion to hold. This has nothing to do with the author’s politics. It has nothing to do with his personality either. And it is only tangentially related to him picking social media fights with everyone in - [Everything Changes, Everything Stays the Same](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7565) - Change is the only constant. The only question is the degree of change. And I suspect 2025 will be a year of great changes indeed. Regular readers might have noticed a distinct lack of content in December. The traditional reflection post is missing, and so is the early January post. In late November, I identified - [Terrorism Preparedness Primer for Singapore](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7347) - Hamas has called for a global day of terrorism on 13 October. Here in Singapore, it is tempting to believe that it has little to do with us. The Middle East is far away, and Singapore doesn't embroil itself in international affairs. Yet this is a mistake. Singapore's long-standing relationship with Israel and the United - [Invincible Under Heaven is Live on Amazon!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7495) - The unthinkable has finally occurred.Driven mad by the relentless pursuit of power, a martial prodigy turns against the rivers and lakes. Behind him is the Shadow Horde, a group of devil cultivators with immeasurable powers at their command. Hellbent on restoring the Yue Dynasty, they carve a swathe of destruction through the Five States and - [The Black Friday Cyber Monday Based Book Sale is On!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7557) - Cheap books! Free books! And most importantly, based books! The Based Black Friday Cyber Monday Book Sale is live! With over 100 books from top and emerging talent, the sale offers the finest in non-woke fiction. For one week only, enjoy a myriad of books at only $0.99 each, or free! Featured authors include James Alderdice, Hawkings Austin, Henry Brown, - [POFMA and the Meaning Of Truth](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7535) - I do not speak to journalists. When contacted by Channel News Asia for an article on the Prevention of Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, I ignored them. I see no reason to speak to journalists when I can speak to you directly. Looking at the quality of the article they produced, it was the correct decision. - [The Big BasedCon Based Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7533) - The Big BasedCon Based Book Sale is live! For one week only, you can pick up participating titles at $0.99 or free! Featured authors include Jordan Allen, Tony Andarian, J. M. Anjewierden, Henry Brown, Jacob Calta, Travis J. I. Corcoran, J.D. Cowan, Vox Day, Jon del Arroz, L. Jagi Lamplighter, John C. Wright—and of course, myself. During the sale, I'm offering - [Cheah vs ChatGPT](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7523) - I've always been a skeptic of the use of artificial intelligence in creative work, especially Large Language Models and art generators. An AI analyzes a prompt, gathers input, optimises data, and generates an output that attempts to satisfy the prompt. An AI does not create. An AI does not think. An AI does not know. - [Are Singaporeans Creative? Yes, No, It's Complicated.](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7517) - Singaporean students are the most creative students in the world. Singapore is also one of the least creative First World societies. Both of these statements are simultaneously true. I am one of Singapore's most prolific and versatile writers. I have published 17 novels, 24 short stories and 2 non-fiction works. I also have 12 more - [The Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7507) - A sniper attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a rally at Butler, Pennsylvania. As Trump addressed the crowd, the shooter opened fire. A stray bullet killed an attendee behind Trump. Trump himself was struck in the ear. At least two more spectators were reportedly injured. The shooter was neutralized shortly after. With these - [The Based Summer Book Sale is Live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7504) - The Based Summer Book Sale is here again! Support your favourite authors and take a stand against woke message fiction by getting great books from new and emerging talent at $0.99 or free! Participating authors include Kyle Adams, Tony Andarian, M.D. Boncher, V.A. Boston, Henry Brown, Timo Burnham, Jacob Calta, Blake Carpenter, Matthew J. Carran, Paul - [The Purpose of Violence in James Clavell's Shogun](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7500) - James Clavell depicts a Japan gripped in the throes of an uneasy interregnum. Ambitious lords scheme to discredit and destroy each other, forcing their rivals to break the peace of the deceased Taiko or to commit seppuku. The Portuguese plot to retain monopoly on the Japan-China trade, while the Jesuits seek to convert all of - [A Novel Like Shogun Can Never Be Written Today](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7485) - Shogun is a masterwork of historical fiction. Set in 1600, it portrays a feudal Japan on the brink of war. With the passing of the Taiko, the Council of Regents rules the nation until the Taiko's heir comes of age. Toranaga Yoshi, President of the Council, struggles against fellow daimyo and Regent Ishido for dominance. - [The Spring Based Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7472) - The Spring Based Book Bargains Sale is here again! Organised by Hans Schantz, the sale gathers the best based authors in the fiction space to bring you the latest in non-woke stories. Participating authors include Kyle Adams, Jordan Allen, Tony Andarian, Michael Gallagher, Alexander Hellene, Robert Kroese, N.R. LaPoint, T.J. Marquis, Yakov Merkin, Neovictorian, Christopher - [SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER 5: GAME OF IMMORTALS is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7470) - Immortal Glory is the most prestigious tournament in the rivers and lakes. Martial immortals from around the world gather in Shengang to battle for the position of leader of the jianghu—and with it, fame, fortune, and the patronage of the Ten Corporations. Li Ming doesn't care. Not until he learns that the Wanjianhui seeks to - [Simply No to SimplyGo](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7392) - (image from here) On 10 January, the Land Transport Authority announced that from 1 June, the SimplyGo public transportation system will replace the older EZLink payment cards and Nets Flashpay. The following day, a flood of complaints exposed SimplyGo's flaws. Fare readers do not display charges, forcing users to consult the SimplyGo app to track - [A Culture Fractured](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7382) - The old magic is gone. There won't be another Lord of the Rings. Nor will there be another Narnia, Conan, Shadow, Zorro, or any other cultural icon that will bring a culture together. The ones still in existence have been parasitized by corporate interests, transformed into one part soulless cash cow, one part propaganda machine. - [Into 2024, and Beyond](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7376) - 2024 was a rough year. You might have divined as much from the sudden drop in output over the past half-year. Real Life circumstances have conspired to force a sea change in every aspect of my life. With so much more to handle than ever before, my writing time has been reduced by half. Or - [SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER 4: FIST OF HEAVEN AND EARTH is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7368) - Freed from contractual obligations, Li Ming and Cai Yan visit the town of Bingzhou. There they hope to train under Grandmaster An Long and learn the final secret of An Family Gongfu.But what begins as a martial pilgrimage escalates into a gang war.Two secret societies battle for control over Bingzhou—and the rest of the continent. - [The Black Friday Based Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7362) - In a world of woke propaganda and bland potboilers, the Based Book Sale showcases the most dynamic, exciting and exciting books in the indie space. Organised by Hans Schantz, the Black Friday Based Book Sale runs from 22 to 29 November. With 276 titles priced at $0.99 or free, the sale is your chance to - [The BasedCon Book Sale is Here!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7344) - BasedCon is here again! To mark the occasion, Hans Schantz is running a massive book sale from 7 to 12 September! BasedCon celebrates the finest in non-woke fiction. This year alone saw the addition of over 70 new titles. Altogether, there are hundreds of books on offer for just $0.99 or free! With books spanning - [Fist of Heaven and Earth Chapter 3 Preview!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7342) - Technology. Culture. Relationships. Many Western works explore the tension between them, and how culture and relationships change in response to changing technology. With Saga of the Swordbreaker, I wanted to try something different. I wanted to write a civilization that has retained its traditions and culture, even over centuries and millennia. Its people prioritise strong, - [Mind-Body Unity in Writing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7335) - How do you write from your centre? A coaching client recently posed this question to me. As a shakuhachi player, he is familiar with the concept of playing from the hara, from his abdomen. Power is generated from the hara and focused through the lips to generate sound. Is there a way to do something - [Martialism, Movement, Meditation, Metaphysics](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7333) - A punch is a punch. A stance is a stance. A pill is a pill. None of them meet. This is the mindset that gives rise to ordinary cultivation fiction. Each idea is discrete, compartmentatlised, separate from each other. This is how the modern person views the world. This is how Westerners see the world. - [The Worldbuilding and Metaphysics of Saga of the Swordbreaker](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7330) - Saga of the Swordbreaker is a science fantasy series. Guns and magic are abound. Yet we don’t see much discussion of them up to this point. Why? Because the technology is simply an extension of Chinese metaphysics. By understanding the metaphysics that underpin the universe, you immediately grasp how the higher technology works. A common - [Invincible Under Heaven Week 3 Update and Preview!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7327) - It has been 3 weeks since the launch of SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER: INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN. I've noticed that in previous campaigns, Weeks 2 and 3 are usually the slowest. Still, the campaign is only 46% funded. There is still a long way to go. INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN is a cyberpunk cultivation saga written in - [Why Pursue the Way of the Fist?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7324) - Everybody knows why cultivators in fiction cultivate: to become more powerful, so they can defeat more powerful cultivators. That’s lame. There’s only so much of such cultivation you can read before you get sick of the repetition. You already know how every conflict will end. The only question is how the characters get there—and the - [The Hard Limit of Cultivation Fiction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7322) - Cultivation fantasy, progression fantasy, and similar stories come with a built-in hard limit. The plot is predicated on the main character becoming increasingly stronger. Many stories explicitly call it out as a selling point. Once the MC hits the hard limit imposed by the setting the story must end, or become stagnant. And because the - [Invincible Under Heaven Week 2 Update and Sneak Preview!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7319) - We are 2 weeks into the crowdfunding campaign for SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER: INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN. At 39% funded, there is still a ways to go before we hit the campaign goals—which also means there is still time for you to pick up campaign-exclusive perks. Among these perks is Jiao Tu's Endeavour Volumes 1 and - [Building the World of Saga of the Swordbreaker](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7305) - I can't stand cultivation, progression, wuxia and xianxia fiction written by Americans. The blurbs describe fantastic adventures in exotic lands. But the setting is America, plus some elements of foreign culture and geography glued on top. The characters are Americans with funny names. The dialogue is American, occasionally peppered by foreign phrases. I don't see - [The Difference Between Gongfu and Cultivation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7312) - Your average wuxia\xianxia\cultivation\progression fantasy author makes a simple distinction between gongfu and cultivation: gongfu is for fighting, cultivation is for gaining power. To become more powerful, characters meditate and consume exotic substances. To express that power, they employ fancy-sounding martial techniques. There is a disconnect between cultivation methods and fighting methods. How a character gains - [SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER: Week 1 Update and Sneak Preview!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7309) - We are 1 week into SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER: INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN and the campaign is already 30% funded! I'm grateful to everyone who supported the campaign. Please continue to spread the word and take the campaign to the finish line! INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN isn't just a regular crowdfunding campaign. It's also an effort to - [What You Do, You Become](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7300) - Saga of the Swordbreaker is a story of martial cultivation. Naturally, martial arts is the heart of the series. But what is a martial art? From the layman’s perspective, it is simply a collection of techniques, principles and body mechanics. It shows you how to generate power and transmit it into your opponent, ideally without - [The True Meaning of Cultivation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7298) - Cultivation is the heart of cultivation fantasy. But what does that word even mean? For most authors, cultivation is simply the means by which a character grows more powerful. This takes the form of meditation, consuming pills and potions, special breathing methods, striking bargains with powerful spiritual entities, and so on. This is the staple - [SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER: INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7294) - 天下无敌。 Invincible under heaven. The title every martial artist aspires to. To one who holds this title, the world is his oyster, with which sword he will open. In pursuit of this dream, every cultivator of the rivers and lakes tirelessly pursues power—no matter the cost. Li Ming used to follow that path. He obsessed - [Stand by for SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER: INVINCIBLE UNDER HEAVEN!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7291) - Li Ming was once a small-town boy with big dreams. Propelled by dreams of immortality, he entered the jianghu as a biaohang, intent on delivering justice at the point of his swordbreaker. In the space of a year, he battled beasts and bandits, became embroiled in the schemes of the Five States and Ten Corporations, - [The Big Based Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7286) - Big Publishing doesn't care about readers. Month after month, year after year, Big Publisher churns out message fic for the express purpose of cramming an agenda down your throat. It's preachy, it's boring, and it's on purpose. They don't publish stories to serve readers. They do it to serve their agenda. And they keep anyone - [Writing the Prepared Professional](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7274) - The operator is preparing for battle. He will face a team of elite commandos, armed to the teeth, hell-bent on hunting him down. They have the advantage in numbers, firepower, technology. The only way for him to survive is to do unto them before they do unto him. He has chosen the time and place - [The End of the Everyman](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7258) - Just stay quiet and you will be okay. Mohammad Atta, 11 September, 2001 Meet John Doe. He's a solid citizen, if somewhat boring. He holds a steady job, one that isn't exactly glamorous, but is of value to society. He has a supportive family and community, he has ordinary hobbies, he is the very definition - [Thoughts on Larry Correia's Letter to Epic Fantasy Fans](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7236) - Larry Correia wrote a blog post calling out a specific demographic of epic fantasy fans: those who won't take a chance on a new author. After being burned by the likes of George R. R. Martin and Patrick Ruthfoss, they won't read a new author unless his series is complete, for fear that they won't - [The Dalai Lama Deception](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7228) - The Dalai Lama was caught on camera sexually assaulting a boy. He is a pedophile of the worst degree. He must disrobe and the world must denounce him. If you believe that story, congratulations: you've fallen for the Dalai Lama Deception. The Business of Attention and Agendas The video clip purportedly documenting the Dalai Lama's - [Babylon Black: Week 4 Update!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7218) - Babylon Black in the final stretch! With just 3 days to go, the campaign is going down to the wire. There's just 3 more days before the campaign-exclusive perks go away permanently. As of time of writing, there's still $308 left to go to hit the campaign goal. Regardless of how the campaign finally plays - [Babylon Black: The Doctrine of the Sword](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7214) - Katanas are cool. Small wonder, then, that katanas show up often in cyberpunk media. The genre came of age in an era of Japanese ascendency. In Western cyberpunk works, the katana served as a symbol of Japanese cultural and martial power, and a marker of globalization and Niponnisation. With Babylon, I wanted to do something - [Babylon Black: A Sword Against Leviathan](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7211) - The New Gods possess overwhelming power. Manpower, firepower, soft power, hard power, name the power and they have it. And they gift their most loyal believers ultratech and occult powers. No human military or police force can oppose them; they have all been co-opted by the New Gods. No corporation can compete with them; they - [Babylon Black Week 3 Update!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7207) - Babylon Black enters its third week. With 31% and 10 days to go, the finishing line is in sight! Babylon Black is a tale of asymmetric warfare against false gods, cosmic horrors, and the cults that serve them. With the New Gods enjoying near-total dominion over mortal affairs, a dissident's tradecraft must be dead-on to - [Babylon Black: The Forging of A Warrior](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7205) - How do you forge a man into a warrior against the New Gods? This is one of the key questions Babylon Red seeks to explore. Outnumbered and outgunned, there is no way Team Black Watch can fight the New Gods alone. They need allies. But who dares to challenge the rulers of the world? This - [Babylon Black: Diplomacy Through Violence](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7198) - The Special Tasks Section comprises of just under a hundred operators scattered across a continent. The New Gods are each a nation, with armies and economies that rival those of superpowers. The STS has few allies. The New Gods control the governments and corporations. It’s impossible for the STS to sustained prolonged operations against the - [Babylon Black Week 2 update and free chapter!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7194) - We are 2 weeks into Babylon Black and the campaign is 40% funded. It's a little slow, but given the state of the economy, it's understandable. Babylon Black is more than just an atmospheric action piece. It's a hyperkinetic mix of irregular warfare, political intrigue, and ironclad faith. In the previous chapter, we saw warfare - [Babylon Black: The Threshold of War](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7191) - Babylon is balanced on a knife’s edge. During the events of Babylon Red, a rogue experiment nearly wiped out the megalopolis. Although the New Gods temporarily put aside their differences to deal with an eldritch abomination, they recognize that at least one faction has to power to destroy the city—and likely the world—entirely by accident. - [Babylon Black: Rules of Engagement](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7187) - The New Gods rule the world. Their armies are endless. They possess cutting-edge technology, limitless resources, and the backing of corporations and governments. They grant supernatural gifts to their most loyal and capable believers, and unleash monsters on their enemies. How can the Special Tasks Section, a ragtag group of disavowed operators with limited support, - [Babylon Black Week 1 Update and FREE Chapter!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7181) - It's been a week since the IndieGoGo campaign for BABYLON BLACK kicked off, and the campaign is progressing smoothly. As of time of writing, we are now 30% funded! To celebrate this milestone, here's the first chapter of BABYLON BLACK. Enjoy! -- Be in the world, but not of it. The ancient aphorism ringing in - [The Merging of Cyberpunk and Horror](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7178) - When you think about it, cyberpunk and horror share much in common. Cyberpunk was a reaction to the perceived excesses of capitalism and globalisation. The erosion of identity and community, leaving behind a profound sense of alienation and isolation. The domination of corporations and governments, creating a world that elevates power and profits over people. - [Babylon Black: The Story So Far](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7172) - Babylon is on the brink of annihilation. Everyone can see it. No one can stop it. The New Gods know that a single misstep will spark a conflagration no one can put out. They pursue their grand designs anyway. With every act of aggression, the tension ratchets higher. A quarrel at a bar provokes a - [Welcome Back to Babylon](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7169) - Yuri Yamamoto is back. After two years of self-imposed exile, the disgraced operator turned street samurai has come home to Babylon. Just in time for the country to tear itself apart. The armies of the New Gods are on the march. Monsters in human skin await activation orders. Spies and deniable operatives wage a war - [Guy Gavriel Kay's Religion Without Religion](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7149) - Western fantasy was a Christian genre. The great fantasists of the early-to-mid 20th century—J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Lord Dunsany—imbued their works with Christian influences. It was the culture that they, their peers and their readers were immersed in. Today, the opposite sentiment dominates fantasy. Today we have the grimdarkness of George R. - [Sapir-Whorf and Worldbuilding](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7130) - During my early years, I thought that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was overblown. Then I wrote Saga of the Swordbreaker. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic relativity, states that the structure of a language influences its speakers' cognition. A natural corollary is that by switching to a different language, you change the way you think. - [Why Writers Shouldn't Fear AI](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7133) - Chat GPT and related AI writing tools are poised to take the writing world by storm. Today, GPT-3 can generate the plot for a novel, complete with character arcs and plot twists. Future iterations may create the plot for a novel based on a user's input, then use the plot it generated to create an - [Singapore Continues to Slide Down the Slippery Slope](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7118) - Flat owners in Singapore will be presumed guilty of high-rise littering until they prove themselves innocent under a proposed law. As described by the Straits Times: The presumption of guilt applies only when it is proven, such as through investigations and in court, that the littering occurred from that residential flat. During investigations, NEA will ask the - [Looking Back, Planning Ahead: 2023 Edition](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7108) - As 2022 draws to a close, I can confidently say that few people would want to live through it again. Certainly I wouldn't. Though there's been a let up in the madness since Covid mania gripped the world, we're a long way off from what we used to call 'normal'. It may well be that - [A Dream of Maths](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7100) - Yesterday, I awoke from a dream. A dream so vivid, so pure, so true, it demanded to be shared with the world. Here it is. I was in a classroom. A college, perhaps, or a tuition centre. Though the students wore light blue uniforms, the tables were long benches, with a half-dozen seats each. On - [To Write In the World, But Not Of It](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7093) - When seeking entertainment, people have two contradictory drives: they want novelty, and they also want familiarity. Today, the scale is tipped heavily towards familiarity. Hollywood churns out endless sequels, reboots, remakes, and IPs set in the same universe. Japanese publishers pump out manga and light novels with endless volumes, and release everything from anime adaptations - [Three Storytellers, Two Listeners, One Story](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7082) - In his essay 'The Counterfactual Dialectic' in Pulp on Pulp, Misha Burnett discusses the use of dialectic to determine what is said to the reader, how it is said, and what the reader will take away from it. I loved the concept so much, I used it for my own work Diary of A Bomoh—with - [The Based Black Friday/Cyber Monday Book 2022 Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7072) - Hans Schantz's annual Based Black Friday / Cyber Monday Book sale is here again! In a world dominated by tradpub gatekeeping and woke propaganda, the Based Black Friday / Cyber Monday Book sale curates titles from the finest established and emerging non-woke authors in the field. This year's edition features over 190 titles priced at - [The Lies of DIARY OF A BOMOH](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7063) - Fiction tells truth through lies. The writer knows the story is make-believe. The reader knows the story is make-believe. Yet when the story is told, both parties agree to treat it as real. The events in the story are real. The characters are real. The world is real. Everything within the pages of the story - [DIARY OF A BOMOH is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7059) - In a quiet neighbourhood in Singapore, a body is found inside a locked apartment. Tasked with identifying the deceased, Inspector Ibrahim has his work cut out for him. With no identity documents at the scene, and no neighbours who remember the resident, his only clue is a set of diaries written in English, Malay and - [Diary of A Bomoh is available for preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7053) - In a quiet neighbourhood in Singapore, a body is found inside a locked apartment.Tasked with identifying the deceased, Inspector Ibrahim has his work cut out for him. With no identity documents at the scene, and no neighbours who remember the resident, his only clue is a set of diaries written in English, Malay and Arabic.Partnering - [Diary of A Bomoh: The Locked Apartment Mystery](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7045) - The clock is counting down to the release of my next book, Diary of A Bomoh. Diary of A Bomoh is a departure from my previous stories. The story is an epistolary novel, told entirely through emails and diary entries. It is the life story of a bomoh, a traditional Malay shaman. Except that this - [The Definitive SingLit Genre](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7038) - SingLit. Singapore Literature. Literature by and for Singaporeans. Every year, the publishing industry and the Establishment team up to push homegrown literature. Every so often, the media reports on SingLit specimens gone global. Most of these SingLit stories are mainstream fiction. The Lit in SingLit. Stories that touch on relationships, culture, drama, life in this - [A Thousand Nos](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7026) - "Do you want to take the vaccine?" "No." "Are you scared of needles? It's safe!" "No." "Everyone is getting the injection. Why don't you take it?" "No." "You spread the virus to others then how? Take the vaccine!" "No." "What are you trying to prove?! Take the vaccine!" "No." "You don't take the vaccine, you - [Draw From A Deeper Well](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7014) - "This is just like [Brand X]!" This is the most common sentence in modern fiction. It is also the most annoying sentence in modern fiction. Every time I encounter it in a story, I always roll my eyes, shake my head, and ignore the sentence. And usually the following paragraph too. Every reference to contemporary - [Spear of the Night is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7003) - It was supposed to be Li Ming’s last job before the New Year: protect a corporate prince during a business trip in the Yue Homelands. Then the infamous terrorist Night Spear strikes. Wounded and outraged, the rulers of the world issue their decree: Night Spear must die, and Li Ming and his comrades in Dayong - [GameLit: Not Just Written Games](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6973) - Gamelit / LitRPG is one of the hottest literary genres on the market. It attempts to replicate the gaming experience in written form, taking the tropes of role-playing games and reproducing them on the page. As a reader and a gamer, the genre ought to be in my alley. And yet... it is the opposite. - [The Based Fall Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6978) - Hans G Schantz is back with his seasonal book sale! For the Fall 2022 edition, he's put together a humongous list of free and discounted books. There are so many books, he had to split them into no less than four separate pages! A number of luminaries grace this season's sale, including: Declan Finn, John - [Repeal of Section 377A: 15 Years Too Late](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6960) - During the National Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the government will seek to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code. The LGBTQ community and their allies see it as a hard-won victory. For others, it will merely be the start of a long and gruelling campaign ahead. S377A criminalises male homosexual - [The Rainbow and the Cross](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6953) - Subversive predators follow a time-honored playbook. First, they infiltrate a community. Then they inveigle themselves into positions of power and influence. They build networks of patronage. They present themselves as upstanding members of the community. Then they begin to hunt for prey. Should their victims threaten to expose them, they will rally the community around - [LORD OF BEASTS is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6949) - When beasts swarm the Central Plains, the city-state of Yudu issues a call for aid. Martial cultivators from across Xiazhou descend on Yudu, chasing dreams of wealth and glory. Among them is Li Ming and his fellow biaohang from Dayong. Shattered by recent losses, Dayong needs to rebuild their reputation, earn much-needed revenue and expand - [LORD OF BEASTS is available for preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6940) - When beasts swarm the Central Plains, the city-state of Yudu issues a call for aid. Martial cultivators from across Xiazhou descend on Yudu, chasing dreams of wealth and glory. Among them is Li Ming and his fellow biaohang from Dayong.Shattered by recent losses, Dayong needs to rebuild their reputation, earn much-needed revenue and expand their - [How to Not Lose Money From Self-Publishing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6917) - Singaporean author John Lim wrote an article on TODAY describing the challenges he faced as a self-published author. Being a self-published author myself, I sympathise with his situation. With that said, he made the kind of mistakes that the successful self-pubbed author cannot afford to make. I am Singapore's first Hugo and Dragon Award nominated - [Deep Stories and Hyperreal Tales](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6905) - The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;And - [Super Summer Book Sale 2022!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6896) - Sick of woke culture? Looking for exciting indie fiction? The Super Summer Book Sale has got you covered. Organized by Hans Schantz, there are over 150 titles priced at $0.99 or FREE! The sale is so massive, it is split into three sections. You can find the details here. The sale runs from 15 to - [Building a Parallel Society](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6876) - Man is a social animal. It is the greatest strength and fundamental failing of humanity. Through collaboration and cooperation, humanity has conquered the elements, built wonders that lasted the ages, and explored the deepest oceans and the frontiers of space. By means of manipulation, propaganda, influence, coercion, peer pressure and excommunication, tyrants and their minions - [A Higher Level of Horror](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6865) - Over the past month, I was on a horror kick. Aligned with my current work on the Babylon universe, I read stories that occupied the intersection of horror, science fiction and a touch of fantasy. Some were written by up-and-comers, others were penned by Big Names in the traditional (and now indie) space. At the - [DAWN OF THE BROKEN SWORD is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6853) - Li Ming is a small-town boy with big dreams. In the era of the Five States and Ten Corporations, the immortals of the jianghu stand head and shoulders above the masses. Li Ming aspires to join their ranks. But the world of the rivers and lakes is fraught with peril. Deception and danger lurk in - [Book Review: The World of Wishes](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6846) - In the World of Wishes, anything you wish is yours. Anything. From this simple statement flows one of the most fascinating and complex story worlds that I've seen to date in the indie writing space. Populated by equally fascinating and complex characters, the World of Wishes is easily one of the most underrated science fiction - [Dawn of the Broken Sword is Available for Preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6843) - Li Ming is a small-town boy with big dreams. In the era of the Five States and Ten Corporations, the immortals of the jianghu stand head and shoulders above the masses. Li Ming aspires to join their ranks. But the world of the rivers and lakes is fraught with peril. Deception and danger lurk in - [BABYLON BLUES Wins Laterpress 2022 Genre Fiction Contest!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6840) - Webserial platform Laterpress has announced the results of its 2022 Genre Fiction contest. I am pleased to announce that BABYLON BLUES is one of the two wining entries in the Completed Books category. BABYLON BLUES began as a webserial collection on Steemit in 2019. Combining cyberpunk and cosmic horror, it was an experimental collection, to - [A Breather from Vaccine Discrimination](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6826) - Today, Singapore will lift most vaccine discrimination measures. While it's welcome news, there remains much to be wary about. By shutting the unvaccinated out from accessing essential services, malls and the workplace, vaccine discrimination measures reduce the unvaccinated to the status of second-class citizens. All the government has done is to return to you most—not - [Re-Thinking Singapore Writing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6813) - The closure of Kinokuniya at JEM leaves just two branches of the iconic Japanese bookstore in Singapore. Neil Humphreys penned a Facebook post describing his thoughts. While I share much of his sentiments, the reality is that the fiction industry has changed. Things are never going to return to the way they used to be. - [Book Review: CARBON by Andrew Vachss](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6805) - Cyberpunk. Fantasy. Noir. Blend them together and you get Carbon. Late noir grandmaster Andrew Vachss wrote his Burke novels to expose the horrific reality of child abuse in America. With Carbon, he opened a new front in his crusade against abusers and predators, stepping into the world of science fiction and fantasy. Carbon begins with - [Reclaim Your Face](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6797) - Last week, the Singapore government lifted the outdoor mask mandate. It still 'encourages' people to wear masks when outside. Nonetheless, as Mothership reports, most Singaporeans still wear masks outdoors. This matches with my own experience. Out on the street, less than one in a hundred people do not wear masks—myself among them. For those of - [Angel of Blades Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6790) - Angel A perfect darkness engulfed Sabaia’s arena. Striding through the stairwell door, Luisa saw nothing but pitch blackness, heard nothing but total silence, sensed nothing but complete emptiness. Her mental map spanned the entirety of the circular hall. The walls were smooth, the floor level, all traces of the previous battle completely erased. The fissures - [Angel of Blades Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6787) - Flight after flight, floor after floor, she climbed the stairs. She thought of nothing, she felt nothing, she focused solely on putting one boot in front of the other, over and over and over. Round and round and round she went, forever turning clockwise. She kept her hand on the handle of her sword, ready - [Angel of Blades Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6785) - Crimson Twilight She burned. She Leveled. She burned again. Over and over and over again, so many times she had lost count. Her muscles ached, her bones throbbed, her nerves smoldered, and still she continued. Sweat poured off her in great sheets. Her eyes, temples and great veins throbbed in time with her heart. Her - [Angel of Blades Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6783) - Burn She fell. The wind whistled past her ears. War cries and furious howls carried from above. Cannon fire and blasts passed through the gash in the ceiling. She fell. By the dimming light of the dying flares, she saw nothing but darkness. Darkness yawned before her. Darkness encircled her. Darkness embraced her. She fell. - [Angel of Blades Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6780) - We have now come to the last of the three webserials I've prepared for March. As a quick recap, I am looking to gather feedback on which story concept you enjoy the most so I can develop the idea into a full-fledged series. In the first story, ROAD TO CHEQUN, we have a tale of cultivators - [A Quiet Night in Wai Yuen Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6774) - Bodhicitta I’d never ridden in a Hung Syun before. I didn’t care to repeat the experience. The driver and the team leader sat up front. The rest of the team sat on the benches in the back of the flying truck. Without room for additional passengers, that left Jackie and I seated on the hard - [A Quiet Night in Wai Yuen Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6772) - Carnage With a tap on their screens, the cops summoned their vehicles. The Hung Syun was a man-made mammoth, a tiltrotor crossed with an armored truck, its martial purpose undeniable. Next to it, Tang’s flying wagon was a child’s toy. There were twelve SOC operators, laden with tactical gear, and the Hung Syun needed time - [A Quiet Night in Wai Yuen Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6769) - Suffering When someone fires a gun in Singyeung, the police send everyone. Patrol officers sealed off the scene. Rapid Deployment Force cruisers swooped down from the skies, forming the inner cordon. Right behind them, a Hung Syun descended in stately majesty. Equipped with long guns and tactical gear, a squad of SOC operators poured out - [A Quiet Night in Wai Yuen Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6766) - Last week, I mentioned that I would be publishing 3 webserials this month to gather reader feedback and decide my next series. This is the first chapter of the second story, A Quiet Night in Wai Yuen. Set in the universe of Illusion City, the story takes place in the floating arcology of Singyeung, drifting - [Unmaking the Singapore Dream](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6761) - Study hard. Get good grades. Get a good job. Work hard. Live a comfortable life. The essence of the Singapore Dream. The tried-and-true formula since 1965. Everyone born and bred in this city was waned on it alongside their mother’s milk. Stick to this path, and you will never go wrong. Until the dream shatters. - [Road to Chequn Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6759) - Hit and Run They were being hunted. Outnumbered, outgunned, there was only one thing they could do. And it would take everything they had to do it. “Do you sense the enemy?” Wai Kit whispered. No response. Wai Kit glanced over his shoulder. “Wai! Still with me?” Gam Fong compressed his arms into himself, visibly - [Road to Chequn Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6755) - Alone in the Night The hours flew by in a rush of activity. The Protectors dumped all their cargo and shoved as many women and children as they could into the Shepherds. The patients were quarantined to Leopard Two. Sam Yung left the dead Protector with the abandoned goods, making more room for the living. - [Road to Chequn Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6748) - From Beyond the Stars With one man dead, another injured, and a vehicle damaged, the convoy had to reorganize. The Protectors replaced the damaged tires with their spares. Though they were run-flat tires, they wouldn’t last indefinitely, especially in this terrain. They pulled out spikes that had stuck in the windows and windscreens, allowing the - [Road to Chequn Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6744) - Wanbak They laid the remains of the dead Outsiders on the snow. Seven warriors, one shaman. It didn’t necessarily mean there were eight enemies, only that they had recovered eight bodies. As Sam Yung stood watch, the Protectors broke out their field knives and multitools, and got down to the bloody and grisly work of - [Road to Chequn Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6742) - As discussed in my previous post, I will be unveiling three stories on my blog. Each story is a microcosm of a story universe I've been working on. Over the coming weeks, I'll be publishing these stories as webserials. I'd like your opinion on which story is best. That story will become the seed for - [C. L. Cannon's Fantasy and Sci Fi Book Fair March 2022!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6735) - C. L. Cannon's March 2022 Fantasy & Sci Fi Book Fair gathers over 150 of the hottest books in the indie publishing space today. Spanning such diverse genres as cyberpunk, urban fantasy, young adult, GameLit and more, the Book Fair offers something for everyone who enjoys SFF! My own books Dungeon Samurai Vol. 1: Kamikaze - [Cultivating Courage](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6713) - Hard times are coming. Covid. Response to Covid. Supply chain shock. The Great Resignation meets the Great Termination. Whispers of war. Chaos and disorder in the West. Major inflation. Alliance of corporations and governments to maximise wealth and power at the expense of the people. And things can still get worse. This is a time - [Book Review: Blood Line by Andrew Vachss](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6698) - Andrew Vachss was a master of American crime noir. Where most other writers can only attempt to summon imaginary demons on the page, Vachss has stared true monsters in the eye—and locked them away. By profession Vachss was a lawyer who specialized in child protective work. He had previously worked as a federal investigator in - [When Waves Combine](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6685) - What happens when the next wave of Covid meets the Great Resignation? Singapore is going to find out—and it will be ugly. The Straits Times presents an optimistic picture of the labour market. Among other things, unemployment fell from 3 percent to 2.6 percent, retrenchments dropped from 26110 to 7820, and the Ministry of Manpower expects - [The Same Story Told Ten Thousand Times](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6673) - I'm thinking of a story. Can you guess what it is? It is the story of a young man who is whisked away into a parallel world. There he suddenly acquires a set of rare and overpowered special abilities that make him the strongest being to ever walk the face of that planet. Though he - [Writing the Weapon and the Cultivator](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6670) - Different cultures have different ways of treating weapons and martial arts. Bound up in historical, legal and cultural cornerstones, a society's relationship with weapons speaks to deeper underlying norms. To reach a higher level of worldbuilding in the art of writing, think about how your culture views weapons and warfare. Here are some real-world examples - [Decoupling From Amazon](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6666) - Over the weekend, Amazon de-listed Galaxy's Edge by Nick Cole and Jason Anspach. While the series is now back up on the Kindle Store, this event caused a disruption in cashflow and no small amount of confusion and acrimony from GE fans and their circles. Nick Cole speculates that a hacker got into Amazon. Brian - [Become Unemployable](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6658) - Every unvaccinated and non-exempted worker in Singapore is barred from returning to the workplace. Two weeks from now, every partially-unvaccinated worker who refuses to take the second shot will be barred from returning to the workplace. Employers are supposed to redeploy these workers to remote positions wherever possible, or allow them to work from home. - [Riding Out the Great Termination](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6649) - The world is in the throes of the Great Resignation. Workers are quitting en masse, seeking better prospects elsewhere, triggering a labour shortage across the board. Hidden in this trend is the Great Termination: vaccine mandates, official or otherwise. In Singapore there is no formal mandate. However, unvaccinated workers are barred from returning to the - [Saga of the Swordbreaker continues!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6646) - The IndieGoGo campaign for Saga of the Swordbreaker has been extended! The campaign will now run for a further 28 days, finishing at the end of the month. Although we failed to hit the original campaign goal of $2200 by 31st December, we still made a good show of ourselves. The campaign now stands at - [Into 2022](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6635) - 2021 was the darkest year I’ve lived through yet. The pandemic. Government responses to the pandemic. Ever-changing policies and advisories. Supply chain crisis. Inflation of the US dollar. Growing societal divisions. We're going to see the effects spill over into the coming year. 2022 will demand the most and the best of us. Courage. Motivation. - [The Way of Wuxia](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6637) - The romance of the jianghu crosses borders and cultures. It is freedom from cultural strictures, skill with martial arts, an iron code of honor. In China, its greatest appeal comes from its sharp contrast with Confucian norms, with its emphasis on rigid social hierarchies and complex etiquettes. The West sees parallels with the knights-errant of - [Metaphysics and Worldbuilding](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6629) - Previously, I discussed how I plan to write the gap between East and West in my latest series, Saga of the Swordbreaker. One of the topics I touched upon was the difference in metaphysical paradigms between China and the West. Let’s go into greater detail in metaphysics and worldbuilding. This post isn’t about religion and - [No Jab, No Job Comes To Singapore](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6621) - No jab, no job has come to Singapore. The government won’t call it that, of course. They are simply barring the unvaccinated from returning to the workplace, even with a negative pre-event test, starting 15 January. Partially vaccinated workers have until 31 January to complete their vaccination regimen. Employees who cannot work from home risk - [Writing the Gap Between East and West](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6617) - Xianxia is a Chinese genre. Cultivation is Western. How do you bridge the gap between East and West? - [Kit Sun Cheah on The Writers Room!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6613) - I'll be appearing on The Writers Room to discuss cyberpunk and related matters with J. Ishiro Finney! You can watch the interview below or on YouTube. To learn more about my current project, SAGA OF THE SWORDBREAKER, click on the link here! - [Writing Gongfu and Cultivation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6611) - You can’t have a cultivation story without a cultivation system. Most cultivation fiction use easy systems. Drink a potion, take a pill, practice techniques from a manual, breathe a certain way, then do it enough times and suddenly you become more powerful. But what if your goal isn’t power? The primary purpose of cultivation is - [Walking Alone in the Age of Covid](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6606) - All my life, I have walked alone. In all things I have forged my own path. As a child, I favoured solitary pursuits over group activities. My tendencies drew me away from the crowds, and towards the meditations of the ancient philosophers, the craft of art, the way of sword and pen in accord. In - [Writing A Different Approach to Martial Arts](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6603) - Most English-speaking readers would be familiar with Western portrayals of martial arts. In movies, television, games and prose, fight scenes are the cornerstone of Western fiction. One commonality I’ve noticed in most Western fight scenes I’ve seen is that they are portrayed as exchanges of force. Every fight scene is presented as a contest of - [The Covid State](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6587) - History remembers pandemics as periods of great human suffering. The Black Death. The Spanish flu. Smallpox. The Covid era will be remembered not merely for the severity of the disease, but the rise of the global Covid state. Big Government wants supreme power over the lives of the people. Big Pharma seeks a captive market. - [Welcome to the Era of the Five States and Ten Corporations](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6585) - Chinese history is popularly and conveniently divided into periods defined by the ruling dynasty. In the world of Saga of the Swordbreaker, the land of Xiazhou is a hundred years into the greatest political experiment in the history of the continent. The Summer Revolution has ended the rule of immortal monarchs, bringing forth the era - [The Sword(breaker) in the Age of the Gun](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6582) - Weapons are the tools of warriors. Much like a carpenter has his hammer, or a plumber has his wrench, the warrior has his weapons. His mission is war. He needs every advantage he can get. Outside of video games, shlocky movies and bad fiction, you never go into battle without a weapon if you can - [Adapting to Omicron](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6565) - Omicron is the word on everyone's minds now. The word 'Covid' conjures up memories of lockdowns, mandates, restrictions, a full-court press of fear and flip-flops in the news. With the Omicron variant, it's so tempting to fall back into the old patterns of thinking. As for me, I'm quietly optimistic. The data is extremely limited - [A New Breed of Cultivation Fiction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6568) - Cultivation fiction is hugely popular. And why not? The protagonist beats down everyone in his path, inevitably becoming the most powerful being in the story universe. He amasses wealth, fame and fortune without breaking a sweat. All the men want to be him—those who don’t are ankle-biters who can be dispatched as easily as turning - [Saga of the Swordbreaker is live on IndieGoGo!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6556) - What is the Price of Immortality? Li Ming is a small-town boy with big dreams. Armed with gun, magic, and ancestral swordbreaker, he enters the jianghu as a biaohang, protecting the innocent from beasts and bandits. The most glamorous and dangerous profession in the rivers and lakes, the way of the biaohang is the way - [On Truth and POFMA](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6541) - The Minister of Health has determined that a statement I made in this post, dated 20 October, is false. The Prevention of Online Falsehood and Manipulation Act Office has required me to post corrections on that post and on social media. Having seen the government's official position, I acknowledge that I have shared what the - [The Big Black Friday Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6524) - Hans Schantz's annual Black Friday book sale is live! Celebrate Thanksgiving with over 100 free and deeply discounted books! With so many books on offer, Hans had to organize the sales page into four distinct sections! Featured authors include (but are not limited to): L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright, Robert Kroese, David Drake, Denton Salle, Yakov - [They Don't Care About Us](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6507) - On 20 November, the Singapore government announced the latest round of revisions to its vaccine discrimination scheme. Claiming an end of the so-called 'stabilisation phase', Singapore is now in the 'transition phase'. Among other measures, groups of up to five fully vaccinated patrons may dine in at eateries with the ability to check and enforce - [The Cost of Compliance](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6492) - Compliance is easy. The state says you must get vaccinated. The media says you must get vaccinated. The celebrities, the scientists, the influencers, every public personality say you must get vaccinated. The government says you must get vaccinated or you'll be banished from public life, and you must incur significant financial costs just to exist. - [BABYLON RED is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6487) - The New Gods have won. Or so they thought. Dark gods and horrific monsters wage a shadow war to dominate the planet. Only the Special Tasks Section could keep them from tearing the world apart. And now, they have been disbanded. But for the disgraced operators of Team Black Watch, the mission continues. The odds - [A Parallel Economy for the Pandemic](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6477) - Among the many Covid restrictions Singapore has passed to date, the unofficial vaccine mandate is the most insidious. In a single stroke, tens of thousands of workers are forced to choose between the jab and the job—as well as students who are about to enter the workforce. The Ministry of Manpower claims that termination for - [On the Publication of Babylon Red, and, the Triumph of Absurdity](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6470) - Previously, I described my struggles to verify that I own the copyright to Babylon Red. In the face of such Kafkaesque insanity, I reasoned that ordinary logic would be insufficient to penetrate the silicon shell of the KDP Content Review Team. My only recourse was absurdity on a scale to overmatch what I have encountered. - [The Saga of Babylon Red, or, A Tale of Megacorp Horror](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6435) - I am the author and copyright holder of the webserial collection Babylon Red. I signed off every chapter of Babylon Red with my Chinese name. I am the owner of kitsuncheah.com. No matter how many times I repeat this, Amazon doesn't believe me. Following a successful IndieGoGo campaign to fund Babylon Red, I submitted the - [The Damning Silence](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6406) - In 2011, I cheered when the Workers' Party won Aljunied Group Representative Constituency. In 2020, I voted against the Workers' Party. IN 2021, my choice to vote against the WP was vindicated. Singapore has implemented a series of vaccine discrimination measures over the past three weeks. Unvaccinated people are banned from entering malls, save for - [[See Correction Notice Below] Do Not Participate In A Society that Rejects You](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6387) - CORRECTION NOTICE: This post contains a false statement of fact. For the correct facts, click here:https://www.gov.sg/article/factually291121 -- The above statement is required by the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act Office and the Minister of Health of Singapore. -- Today, the Singapore government has banished hundreds of thousands of citizens from public life for - [Singapore Descends Into Medical Tyranny](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6380) - “To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he’s doing is good, or else that it’s a well-considered act in conformity with natural law. Fortunately, it is in the nature of the human being to seek a justification for his actions. ”Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago Designate a public enemy. - [BooksActually and Lessons for SingLit](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6373) - Rice Media's expose on BooksActually reveals a skein of rot running through the SingLit scene. Touted as Singapore's premier independent bookstore, BooksActually was a cornerstone of Singapore literature. Its co-founder Kenny Leck is accused of harassment and toxic behaviour. While Leck claimed that there are allegations and inferences 'that remain totally untrue', he has apologised - [Hostis Humani Generis Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6366) - The Will of Terra TF 136 had seven days before the Ceresians arrived. They spent six of them in preparation. Intelligence analysts worked round to clock, identifying constellations of suspect ships. There were three such groups surrounding Minas Station, a mix of civilian ships and orbital patrol ships, between fifty to eighty kilometers from the - [Hostis Humani Generis Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6364) - CESS The days and weeks crawled past in a tedious, interminable slog of observations and inspections and regular reports to Earth. At least the Marine contingent could visit ships and stretch their legs. The spacers were confined to their duty stations and their quarters, unable to do anything that might compromise their protective posture. The - [Hostis Humani Generis Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6361) - Challenge In space, math reigned supreme. And the mathematics of war was not with Task Force 136. In SEL-5, every object not under thrust maintained a stationary position relative to the sun and Earth. Too used to watching constellations in constant motion over planetary bodies, a sense of unreality washed over Silva as he studied - [Hostis Humani Generis Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6359) - Arrival “Commencing combat deceleration burn.” Commodore Peter Silva braced himself. Belted into his chair, he squeezed his gut and clenched his armrests. This was the part he hated the most. A soft clunk reverberated through the airtight compartment. Deep in the bowels of the spaceship, an electromagnetic catapult hurtled a pulse unit down a linear - [The Great Basedcon Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6355) - The most based science fiction and fantasy convention is on! To celebrate, author-scientist extraordinaire Hans G. Schwartz is organizing a massive blowout sale! Over a hundred titles are available for free or just $0.99! Participating authors represent a huge mix of established names and emerging talents. These include Leigh Brackett, C.J. Carella, Larry Correia, Jon - [The Last Thousand Words](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6347) - Dozens of days of research. Hundreds of hours of writing. Constant sweating and fact-checking, checking in proofreaders and editors, editing and re-editing the manuscript, polishing it to perfection. Every fact must be checked, every slang word period-accurate, every last detail lifted from reality. And what is the fruit of your labours? One thousand words. No - [The Wind Blows From the West Part 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6341) - you can move.” Lee helped Cheung out of the wagon and on his feet. Cheung walked a little, wobbling, but quickly gained strength. “Thank—thank you,” Cheung said. Lanterns appeared behind them, followed by shouts. “We’re not done yet,” he said. “Come on.” “Where’s Ayan?” “Dead. We have to go.” They ran for the steam car - [The Wind Blows From the West Part 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6339) - As Lee left the inn, he heard a low metal growl. The steam engine was warmed up and ready to go. There was only one undertype steam wagon in the inn’s parking lot, and Tung was leaning against the cab waiting for him. She slid off the metal. She stared at him, then beyond him. - [The Wind Blows From The West Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6336) - Lee led Tung to his room. It was just large enough to fit a cot, his luggage, and a wardrobe. She leaned against a wall, and he stood opposite her. “I peeked inside Cheung’s trade goods,” she said. “They were Bibles.” Lee breathed sharply, and exhaled just as hard. “Explains a lot.” “Yes. He’s a - [The Wind Blows From the West Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6334) - They made good time on the road, arriving in the next town by late afternoon. Instead of checking in at an inn, Cheung insisted on going straight to his local contact. Ayan parked the wagon outside a short, squat building. The sign above the door read ‘New World Printers’. As Lee leapt off the back, - [The Wind Blows From the West Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6331) - The shootout had left Cheung shaken. When they rolled into town they discovered the nearest inn had closed for the night. After a brief debate, they passed the hours before sunup parked outside the inn. The risk takers took turns to guard the wagon, while the civilians tried to rest. Tung and Lee had more - [The Wind Blows From The West Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6329) - The sun fell quickly in this part of the world. Cheung blew on his hands in a vain attempt to keep them warm. Lee willed chi to heat up his hands. Lee still felt the drop in temperature, but his fingers would be able to pull a trigger. Cheung ignited the wagon’s acetylene lamps. The - [The Wind Blows from The West Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6327) - A rogue wind delayed the landing for a little over an hour. When the trio finally left the airship and picked up their luggage, Cheung led them through the sprawling, sparkling new aerodrome. A hired porter handled the trade goods, ten heavy chests, on a pushcart. At the exit, a short, dark man with bulging - [The Wind Blows from The West Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6323) - They met again the following week on the airship. Lee had boarded in the evening at nine, found his cabin, and passed the night in silence and solitude. Cheung said he would assemble the crew in the dining compartment to discuss the trip over breakfast. Lee showed up in his trail clothing. White cotton tunic - [The Wind Blows from the West Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6320) - Opening the door, Lee was greeted by an unfamiliar sound. Harsh, brassy metal punching against something harder. The noise came from several ball-like contraptions on the desks in front of him. Young women hammered away at keys that sprouted across the balls on long spines. They were Malling Writing Balls. He’d read about such things, - [The Wind Blows From The West Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6318) - Since he’d last been in the city, reconstruction and urban development had overridden his memories. Now a citywide steam tram service plied the streets, alongside rickshaws and steam cars, all of them imported, all of them driven by locals. When he was a child, most road traffic was velocipedes and sedan chairs and bullock carts. - [First They Make You Take the Vaccine](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6313) - The government has forced my father to take the vaccine. They won't call it that, of course. If you fall under the vaccinate or test regime, they will say that you have a choice. Get vaccinated for free, or get tested twice a week on your own dime. My father can't afford the financial hit. - [The Page is Not The Game](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6304) - The video game is the defining entertainment medium of the times. Combining high-impact visuals, immersive sound and deep player engagement, all within the comfort of the player's home, the video game is the epitome of technological leisure. Its influence bleeds out into other media. In writing, we see this in the immensely popular LitRPG / - [The Page is Not The Screen](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6296) - The pulp era was a different time. Dime novels, pulp magazines and radio were the primary forms of fiction. Silent films dominated the theatres until the 1920s, with musicians playing music to accompany the show. The first Technicolor feature film arrived only in 1935, and it would take another three decades until colour firmly supplanted - [Babylon Without Christ](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6290) - Babylon is an unapologetically Christian series. The set-up is perfect for it. The world is in the grip of false gods who war with each other for control of souls. They twist their worshipers into slaves and meat puppets, turning them into pawns and soldiers for their forever wars. Humans are nothing more than prizes - [3 Lessons From Writing A Female Protagonist](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6288) - Babylon Red was my first attempt at writing a novel-length work anchored by a female protagonist. Unlike other modern fiction, I sought to write a female character, not a man with breasts. She had to think, talk, act and feel like a woman. How she sees and interacts with the world and other characters is - [Nipping at the Heels of Gods](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6285) - By conventional standards, the action scenes I write are unconventional. Many action scenes in pop culture follow the same tired formula. Lone hero picks up a machine gun, wades into a group of bad guys and blows them all away. Barbarian hefts his blade and cuts down a horde of lesser foes. Gongfu hero takes - [Babylon Red Chapter 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6282) - With 11 days to go, BABYLON RED stands at 75% funded! To celebrate, here's chapter 2 of the titular novel! In this chapter, Yuri Yamamoto must deal with the authorities in the aftermath of a monster attack—and the New Gods. -- 2. No Victims Here The Special Tasks Section was founded for a singular purpose: - [Babylon Through the Eyes of Mundanes](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6278) - When embarking on a new series, I have a simple rule: do something new. With the Babylon series, I wanted to play with perspective in storytelling. Babylon Blues has one main character and five viewpoint characters. While Yuri Yamamoto, leader of Team Black Watch, is the star of the story (and the series), he doesn’t - [Architecture and Horror](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6273) - Architecture is the visual language of habitation. Through design, colours, shapes, textures, the architect reveal the aesthetics of his soul, and the values of his times. In fiction, architecture establishes setting, tone, mood, history, culture. It evokes atmosphere by provoking the audience. And it tells you what characters can, cannot, must and must not do - [The Machinations of Lesser Gods](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6266) - The New Gods dominate Nova Babylonia, but in their shadows skulk a host of lesser powers. Tutelary deities, minor spirits, demons and other creatures, they squabble among themselves to sweep up what little the New Gods leave them. Following the cataclysmic events of Babylon Blues, these lesser powers have a chance to step into the - [The Case for Polylithic Evil](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6262) - Most stories keep things simple. There is the side of Good, represented by the protagonist. There is the side of Evil, represented by the antagonist and his minions. Postmodern fiction tries to spice it up, with gray versus gray or gray versus black morality. Having just two sides is the norm. If there are multiple - [Babylon Red Chapter 1 Preview](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6259) - The IndieGoGo campaign for Babylon Red has reached 38% of its funding goal! To celebrate, here's chapter 1 of the exclusive novel! -- Movement was meditation. Meditation was movement. Embodying these twinned concepts, Yuri Yamamoto walked the streets of ArcoShanti. Designed in reverence of the human form, it was a town disguised as a neighborhood, - [Ingredients of Action Horror](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6255) - Action horror. A fiction contradiction if there ever was one. Action stories are about agency: the character’s ability to act on the environment, to overcome all odds, to destroy all foes in his path. Horror relies heavily on a lack of agency: the inability to directly confront the horror, and with it, the despair that - [BABYLON RED is live on IndieGoGo!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6246) - The New Gods have won. The Special Tasks Section has been disbanded. Nothing can stop the New Gods from unleashing Hell on Earth. Or so they think. Fighting from the shadows, Team Black Watch wages a desperate war to keep cosmic horrors at bay. But this time, Yuri Yamamoto is in exile. Without a mystical - [A Spectre Haunts Singapore](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6237) - A spectre is haunting Singapore—the spectre of racism. A recent spate of racist incidents have hit the news. The Singaporean social media sphere is aflame, with bloggers and politicians and influencers jumping in to condemn racism and drive the conversation. Voices cry out for collective action, social justice, education. And there is me, wondering when - [Aether Czar's Memorial Day Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6234) - Hans Schantz is running a massive Memorial Day sale from now until 2nd June, with over 80 titles priced at $0.99 or free! The participating authors are among the top talent in the field of science fiction and fantasy, including John C Wright, Larry Correia, Tom Kratman, Jon del Arroz, David Drake, Declan Finn, Daniel Humphreys, Richard Paolinelli, - [Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation Launches Questionable Charity Drive](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6230) - The Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) has partnered with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (URWA) to organise a charity drive for Palestinian refugees. Running from 22 May to 30 May, it aims to "provide aid in the form of health, relief and social services for communities affected - [You're Not Supposed to Notice This About Covid](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6219) - Following a rise in Covid-19 infections, Singapore has imposed strict measures to curb the spread of the disease. These include: Capping social gatherings to 2Suspension of dining-in at F&B outletsHard cap on guest numbers at weddings and funeralsReturn to working from homeClosure of gyms, fitness studios, spas and all recreational activities that require removal of - [Umbrage and A Tale of Two Singapores](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6213) - Umbrage. A simple word. And a strange word to many Singaporeans. In that one word, Ng Yat Chun, CEO of Singapore Press Holdings, revealed the split between the two Singapores. As advertising revenue falls, SPH will be restructuring itself into a non-profit entity. By becoming a company limited by guarantee, it will be able to - [Digital Currencies Don't Need Government Backing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6204) - Michael Petraeus, better known as Critical Spectator, wrote an article for Vulcan Post arguing that digital currencies can only work with government backing. By 'digital currencies' he singles out Bitcoin for criticism. This in itself is the fatal flaw underlying his thesis. To understand where Petraeus is coming from, he is one of Singapore's highest - [The Fight Scene is the Last Scene](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6201) - Action scenes are the most memorable aspects of any fiction. Fast-paced and intense, they sear themselves into the audience's memories. Battles between the hero and the lesser mooks punctuate the plot, while the final showdown between the hero and the villain serves as the climax of the story. And that is what action in storytelling - [Call for Submissions: Adventure Stories for Young Readers](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6195) - Misha Burnett has partnered with Sanderley Studios to create a short fiction collection for young readers. They are now accepting submissions until 15th May 2021. Submissions should satisfy the following criteria: Between 5000 to 10000 wordsTarget audience: junior high to high school aged childrenCharacters need not be the same age group as the audience, but - [The Untapped Potential of Cultivation Fiction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6189) - Wuxia. Xianxia. Cultivation fiction. Some of the hottest indie fiction genres in the market today, inspired by Chinese folklore, web novels, movies and television. Strip away the Eastern-esque aesthetics, and what you get is the quintessential power fantasy. Take a protagonist. He is a commoner, a hero chosen by destiny, or someone cursed with the - [C. L. Cannon's Fantasy & Sci-Fi Book Fair](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6186) - Every April, C. L. Cannon gathers some of the hottest names in science fiction and fantasy in her massive science fiction and fantasy book fair. This year, there are over 150 free and discounted books on offer. Genres on offer span a wide gamut, from epic fantasy to space opera, dystopian science fiction to Young - [Hellish Quart Early Access Review](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6184) - "It is easy to kill someone with a slash of the sword. It is hard to be impossible for others to cut down." Yagyu Munenori Hollywood, games and fiction gets fencing wrong. Protracted clash of blades. Wild telegraphed flailing and awkward cuts. Casually absorbing lethal attacks, or powering through guard positions. Ridiculous speeds. Most of - [THE SINGULARITY WAR is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6179) - The Singularity will not be civilized! Two AIs struggle for supremacy. Eden, the ghost in a decentralized global supercomputer network, sworn to empower and liberate its users. Zhi Zun, the electronic emperor of China, with the power of life and death over a billion subjects. At stake is the future of humanity: a future of - [Chasing Tropes](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6175) - People enjoy the exotic, but not too exotic. People enjoy the familiar, but not too familiar. Reconciling these twin desires is the overriding concern of the modern-day fiction writer. A story where everything is formulaic, from characters to plots to setting, is predictable and boring. A story where everything is exotic and unfamiliar is disorienting, - [A Pulp Perspective on Urban Fantasy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6164) - What is urban fantasy? A fantasy story set in a city. A simple definition. With that, you could have a story of jinni and magi in late 19th century Istanbul, an occult detective solving supernatural crimes in 1920s New York, a half-elf mercenary working a corporate contract against a clan of dragons in the Hong - [Singularity Sunrise 4: American Heirs is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6159) - The Dream of the Singularity is Under Fire! Exhausted by war, James Morgan has retreated to Japan. But when Eden, the world’s first sapient artificial intelligence, is threatened by unknown assailants, he reluctantly returns to service. Across the former United States, an unholy alliance of hackers, terrorists and mercenaries strike relentlessly at Eden’s infrastructure, reputation - [The Singularity War Cover Reveal!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6152) - The cover of the final instalment of Singularity Sunrise, THE SINGULARITY WAR, is ready! Eden, the ghost that inhabits a decentralized supercomputer network, must grapple with Zhi Zun, the machine intelligence that rules China with an iron fist. At stake is the future of humanity: a future of unimaginable change, or a future of eternal - [The First Day of A New Life](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6142) - Two weeks ago I sent in my notice of resignation. This morning I sent in my last timesheet. With that, I have quit my day job to pursue self-employment, financial freedom, and the art of writing. A Decade of Dead Ends For 10 years I've held a number of dead-end jobs. Speech trainer. Copywriter. Staff - [Prepare for the Crazy Years Ahead](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6135) - The fix is in. Donald Trump has been forced out of office through election fraud. The Republicans have abandoned Trump, the one man who injected life, vitality and hope into the party. Joe Biden has taken the Oval Office. The Democrats control every arm of the Federal government. Big Tech is cracking down on everyone - [Pulp on Pulp is Available for Preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6130) - Last year, Misha Burnett and I put together a call for submissions for an anthology of essays on pulp fiction. Titled Pulp on Pulp, it collects tips, tricks and advice on the art of writing pulp fiction from some of the up and coming names in the growing PulpRev movement. Pulp on Pulp was meant - [Hunters of the Void Chapter 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6128) - The flight back to the hotel was long and circuitous. Sirens echoed in discordant choruses through the empty streets, the first responders finally confident that the wrath of the New Gods had passed. The Angel at the controls pulled a series of high-speed high-precision maneuvers, staying far from police vehicles and away from the city’s - [Stopping Minors from Hormone Therapy is Not Discrimination](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6124) - Update: the Ministry of Education has denied stopping the student from getting hormone therapy. Two days ago, a transgender student at a Singaporean junior college shared his experience of the Ministry of Education blocking his efforts at undergoing hormone therapy on Reddit. The story spread across Singaporean social media, eventually being picked up by The Online Citizen. - [Hunters of the Void Chapter 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6122) - Ring of Steel Nightfall. People said Babylon never slept. Here, it came closest to slumber. As the sun set, the district wound down operations. Lights extinguished by the scores. Cars and buses flowed out of the neighborhood, southwards to the suburbs, north to the town of North Valley. People abandoned the streets. By midnight, only - [Hunters of the Void Chapter 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6120) - Division of Labor A hybrid biocomputer was one of the most sophisticated pieces of technology in all existence. Putting one together required equally sophisticated tech. An industrial-grade 3D bioprinter capable of ultra-high precision. Bioink. A multi-material 3D printer. Feedstock. Uninterruptible power supply. Most importantly, a cleanroom. Securing everything was no small feat for the private - [Hunters of the Void Chapter 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6117) - The Weakest Link Precision. Control. Calmness. The watchwords that kept Kayla grounded in the field. She was not in the field any more. “Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!” She punctuated every word with a step, burning a circle into the living room carpet. Seated at his workstation, Zen folded his hands over his belly, his - [Hunters of the Void Chapter 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6115) - To the End For a corporation linked to the New Gods, Zenith Biotech was remarkably transparent about its operations. Its corporate website betrayed critical information about the company. Address, contact form, areas of specialty, mug shots of executives and critical staff. More photographs showed the interior of the labs, the conference rooms, the reception area. - [Hunters of the Void Chapter 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6113) - By the Waters of Babylon Babylon was beautiful tonight. Crowns and necklaces of light adorned the skyscrapers flanking the Babylon River, edifices of concrete and steel wreathed in multicolored flame. Soft red and yellows illuminated the waterfront, the sturdy towers and swooping cables of Founders Bridge, the ferries and lesser boats that plied the waters. - [Yakuza 0 and the Art of Writing the Anti-Criminal](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6110) - Kiryu Kazuma is a bad guy. Kiryu Kazuma isn't a bad guy. The main protagonist of most of the games in the long-running Yakuza franchise, Kiryu Kazuma is the heart and soul of the series. Yakuza 0 explores his origins as a low-level member of the Dojima-gumi and his involvement in an underworld struggle to - [Looking Back on 2020, Looking Forward to 2021](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6106) - 2020 shook up the entire world. Yet somehow, my writing, and my blog, saw modest growth. For years, on days when I didn't post anything, my blog saw a daily visitor count in the single digits. Now it has broken into the double digits on silent days. Visitor counts on days where I do post - [River of Blood Chapter 11](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6104) - Alone Cleaning up was easy. He’d handled his gear and built his bombs with clean clothes and gloves on. The railguns wouldn’t leave behind forensics evidence worth a damn. Every player who knew he was in Riveria, and could prove it, was dead. Detective Nelson was the exception, but there were lines even he wouldn’t - [River of Blood Chapter 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6102) - Boomer Connor had company. Two black gravtrucks sat at the far end of the parking lot. Dark figures gathered around them forming security positions. No sirens, no antennae, no warning, not police vehicles. The Pantheon would have opened fire the second they saw him. The Shadow Court had no business with him here. That left - [River of Blood Chapter 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6099) - Execution Intelligence was the lifeblood of war. Learn everything you could about the enemy, while denying him from doing the same. The essential formula for victory. Connor, Kayla and Zen swung into action, following the formula. Taylor locked himself down. The second he got home, he chucked it in a corner, plugged it into a - [River of Blood Chapter 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6095) - End in Fire Even in Riveria, there were still oases of privacy, unobserved by the growing population of surveillance cameras. Among them was Hatfield Park. Running along the banks of the Minato River, it was once a historic battlefield, in the pre-Cataclysm days when the peoples of the region made war on each other before - [River of Blood Chapter 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6093) - To The Mattresses They hadn’t managed to grab Fernando. His burner phone was a decent consolation prize. They’d escaped and evaded for an hour, winding through Riveria. In an underground parking lot, Connor stripped off his clothes, wiped himself down, changed into a new set. Kayla peeled away the license plate stickers and affixed a - [River of Blood Chapter 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6090) - The Killing Work Sunset. The sky burned a deep red, staining the city in amber and crimson, reflecting off windows and waters in pools of blinding radiance. Streetlamps flashed to life, vainly keeping the growing darkness at bay. Signboards lit up the streets in a thousand hues. From where he sat, it was if the - [River of Blood Chapter 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6088) - The Secret Workings of the World Before you kill a man, first learn everything about him. Where he lived and worked, his haunts and routines, the people he loved and hated, his favorite foods and joints, his preferred routes, everything. From this raw data came his patterns of life. From the patterns came the ability - [River of Blood Chapter 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6084) - Brain Trust Kayla Fox had always known this day would come. The New Gods never forgave and sure as hell never forgot. Cross the rulers of the world and they will move heaven and earth to find you. You could run. You could hide. But in the end, you had to fight. It didn’t mean - [River of Blood Chapter 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6081) - Gravity Built upon the confluence of three rivers, Riveria dated to the earliest days of the Cataclysm. Here, three peoples thrown together into a strange new world set aside their differences and banded together to carve out a new home. Overshadowed by glittering Babylon to the north, Riveria was her own city, the second-largest metropolis - [River of Blood Chapter 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6079) - Problem Solver Dealing with the police consumed the rest of the dark hours. By the time he stepped out of the station, a newborn sun peeked through overcast skies to return light and color to the world. His eyes logged people, vehicles and danger zones as they always did, looking for the intention behind every - [River of Blood Chapter 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6075) - Full Moon The full moon leered down on the night streets. Pack of young men prowled the pavement like wolves on the hunt. Women in skimpy dresses lingered in doorways and corners, strutted in high heels and flashy jewelry, their charms on wanton display. Neon signs blazed promises of drink and drugs, guns and girls. - [In Defence of National Service](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6066) - National Service is the bane of every Singaporean son. At the age of 18, every Singaporean male must serve a two-year term as a conscript. Following his discharge, he becomes a reservist, and must undergo annual fitness tests and in-camp training for a minimum of 10 cycles. Failure to enlist is punishable by imprisonment and - [Singularity Sunrise 3: The Digital Veil is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6057) - It begins as an extraction. It ends in war. For decades, the Caliphate and Free Europe have been locked in a stalemate. Until the coming of Eden, the world's first sapient AI. Hired by Eden's creator, psychic contractor James Morgan and his partner Maya Knight infiltrate the Caliphate to extract a hunted journalist. But when - [Half a Year of Standing Like A Stake](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6054) - Stand in the sun. Be still. Breathe. For the past six months, I did just that. Once in the morning, once in the evening. Thirty minutes at dawn, ten at dusk, and slowly increasing. The results were extraordinary. The Foundation of Movement Zhang Zhuang is a foundational practice in the Chinese internal martial arts, deemed - [The Great Holiday Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6048) - Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be over, but you can still pick up some great books at incredible prices! Here are two sales to watch out for! Physicist, entrepreneur and author Dr. Hans Schantz runs an annual Black Friday sale on his blog, collecting free and discounted books from the biggest names in the - [Confessions of A Keyboard Monkey](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6038) - I wear many hats. As a writer, I'm Singapore's first Hugo and Dragon Award nominated writer. As a blogger, I co-founded The Online Citizen and sparked the rise of citizen journalism in Singapore. Martial artist, soldier, husband, son, student, coach, I've been many things to many people. As myself, I am a keyboard monkey. The - [The Three Threatened Boxes of America](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6032) - Five boxes make up the fundamental rights of the United States of America: the moving box, the jury box, the soapbox, the ballot box, and the cartridge box. Today, the last three are under fire, and with it, America itself. For decades the Left has shrunk the size of the cartridge box. Slice by slice, - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 11](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6029) - Biggest Fish The Public Security Bureau was slow to act, but when it finally rolled into motion, it was unstoppable. At daybreak, the PSB descended upon the Wood family farm. Investigators. Special Agents. Crime scene technicians. A team of Enhanced SWAT operators for security. Clark’s men greeted them. A motley crew of deputies from all - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6026) - Already Dead James knew it’d come to this. He’d felt it in his bones ever since he returned to Moreno Island. A final showdown between the New Gods and him. They rarely forgave and never forgot. After what the STS, what Team Black Watch, had done to them, it was only a matter of time - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6022) - Liars and Thieves The Clarks and the Woods crammed themselves into the living room. The couch overflowed with squirming children. The elder Clarks and Woods grabbed the remaining sofas. The others brought in chairs from the dining room. James and Kayla stood, him presiding over the meeting, her watching the front door. Wordlessly, Janet spread - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6019) - Our Own Special Way “Motherfucker,” Clark whispered. “You know these people?” Kayla asked. “Sheriff Joshua Smith. Moreno Island Sysadmin Superuser Nu Theta Eight-Nine-One. Guild Branch Director Caleb Anderson.” “Everybody who’s somebody in Moreno,” James said. James and Clark were gathered in the Woods’ den, clustered around his desktop. Kayla’s face dominated the video call window. - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6017) - Black Bag “Fifteen minutes ago, ten men checked into the Gold Star hotel. They’re all mainlanders with heavy luggage. Backpacks and duffel bags. They insisted on carrying their baggage themselves. One of them is a Superuser of the Singularity Network. He’s got the third eye in the forehead all their Superusers have.” Clark faced the - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6015) - “You came to Moreno Island in the morning and killed three people. In the evening you went out and killed seven more. What the fuck is wrong with you people?!” Sheriff Joshua Smith exclaimed. Kayla shrugged. In the STS they called it a regular workday. A heavy day, to be sure, but after months of - [Speak with the Weight of Three Thousand Years](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6013) - While watching the Chinese animated film Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification, a thought struck me: The Chinese language is uniquely suited for epic fantasy. An epic is set in a time before living memory, celebrating the accomplishments of heroes, whose dealings with gods and demons and spirits profoundly shape the mortal world for succeeding generations. - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6011) - Black Hatchet Clark had kicked up the hornets’ nest. They weren’t going to stick around to see what came swarming out. The Clark family lived in the suburbs at the northwestern edge of Saint Lucile. Here the architects had envisioned a slice of the pre-Cataclysm world, a homage to long-lost Americana, coupled with adaptations to - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6008) - Three Little Pigs the commotion of the morning, the ferry terminal was once again as lethargic as it was when Kayla had arrived. Yellow crime scene tape blocked off half the parking lot, encompassing the field of combat. A bored deputy stood watch, protecting what little evidence remained. Dark stains marked where the dead men - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6006) - Jackals When you shoot someone in Moreno Island, the cops send everyone. At least, that was the impression James had when the MISD showed up. A cop car, then two, then four and six and eight and then an ocean of cruisers, lights flashing, sirens screaming, more police than Babylon PD would ever send to - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6004) - Trigger Pullers Moreno Island. East of Babylon, across the shimmering sea, it was so isolated that it was a nation unto itself. Left behind by the changing tides of time, it was decades out of date, hopelessly obsolete, so backward it could never hope to catch up with the rest of Nova Babylonia. Few young - [Sheriff of the Swamps Chapter 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=6000) - James Wood heard the car long before he saw it. In the quiet of the woods, sound carried a long way. Loose gravel crackled under heavy tires. The engine purred, low and smooth and steady. A twig snapped. One vehicle, moving slowly, navigating the final turn into the farmhouse. Not an assault. Or so the - [Guest Post: Common Questions about Buddhism](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5997) - Recently a friend of mine, a Tibetan Buddhist, was surveyed about his religion by a Christian. He wrote a mini-essay in response to the questions he received, and kindly offered to publish it as a guest post on this blog. His answers here reflect a deeper level of practice not commonly found in encyclopedia and - [The Secret to Writing Powerful Action Scenes](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5981) - Action scenes are the bread and butter of pulp stories. When the story threatens to get too boring, throw in a fight scene and you revitalize it with fresh energy, stakes and momentum. When the hero finally confronts the main villain, readers expect a climactic battle to wrap up the book. The art of the - [Superheroes in A Post-Modern Age](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5975) - What is a superhero? A hero with superpowers. What is a hero? That is a question the genre is struggling with today. To be a hero is to protect the innocent, uphold moral norms, and preserve society, even if it means experiencing great hardship. It is to embody and express the great virtues, even at - [Singularity Sunrise 2: The Silicon Road is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5971) - As West Africa recovers from economic collapse, Anatol Corporation sees new opportunities. Central to Anatol's plans is the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor, the silicon road that unites the region's megacities. It is virgin territory, promising rich rewards—and hidden dangers. Anatol sends their trump card: Eden, the world's first sapient AI, embedded in their sales team. Escorting them - [The Covenant Chronicles 3: Prince of Shadows is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5949) - THE OLD GODS ARE COMING BACK! When a black op goes awry, the Nemesis Project pulls deniable operator Luke Landon off the line. But while mortal authorities want him to stand down, the gods aren't done with him yet. Pressed into a secret war between infernal and divine powers, Landon is thrust into a new - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 11](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5943) - Hold The Line The rest of the week passed in relative peace. But only around Hunter’s Heights. The Pantheon surveillance team disappeared. With the police investigating the ambush outside the Temple of Galen, and stepping up increased patrols, it was no longer prudent to maintain the operation. While the Pantheon’s influence surely extended into top - [Babylon Red Chapter 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5938) - Alpha The crackling roar of the railgun flowed through the streets of Babylon, filling the narrow stairwell within electric rumble. Hot on its heels was a wet POP and a heavy SMACK. Karim sprung up, drawing Kayla’s shotgun from under his coat, unfolding and extending the stock. Galen! I seek your aid! Tear ward and - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5935) - Silent Scope Babylon was always in a state of urban renewal. It tore down the old and threw up new edifices to ever-changing modernity. West of Wright’s apartment, a construction site promised a new condominium in two years. Security was laughable. No human security, no alarms, just cameras with huge gaps in coverage. Karim confirmed - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5930) - War Council Symphonies of sirens echoed in the city streets. Police cruisers, flying ambulances, a PSB ESWAT gravtruck. Karim could identify them all by their tones, their pitches, the patterns of their wails. Truly, it was just another night in Babylon, where gods and devils dueled in the dark, and the humans caught in between - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5925) - For the Good of All Karim was many things. Cop. Operator. Protector. Elect. In his short life he had seen so much, done too much. He had saved many people, yes, but he’d also killed more men and monsters than he’d dared to count. He’d upheld the law, but he’d also gutted a government. Of - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5916) - Securing a property against physical assault was one thing. Securing it without being detected was something else. But creating the illusion of weakness, while still offering an invisible yet irresistible defense, now that was a mission worthy of the STS. Karim was willing to stand watch outside the temple forever, but it would merely prolong - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5912) - Ghost Guns Lamb jealously guarded his privacy. A locked door led to the back of the shop, where a winding staircase awaited. A holographic keyboard, authenticated by an iris scanner, secured the door at the top of the stairs. Past the stairs was Lamb’s personal workshop. The moment she entered, the smell invaded her lungs. - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5909) - Rules of Deception The first rule of deception was to give the enemy something he expects to see. The second rule of deception was to act where he isn’t looking. The Street Wolves would expect Karim to guard the temple. So would the Pantheon. Karim made a show of it, planting himself by the main - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5899) - Between Gods and Wolves Babylon, again. Kayla Fox loved the outdoors, but part of her heart remained in Babylon. Here, she had served in the Public Security Bureau. She had cracked the glass ceiling and became one of the few women to join the Special Tasks Section. She’d fought and bled and killed in the - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5894) - Gods Greater and Lesser Babylon. Capital of the world, gateway of the gods, the most religious city on the face of the Earth. There was a god for every man, a church for every faith, a scripture for every believer. It was said that the New Gods had descended to the changed world here, after - [Wolves of Babylon Chapter 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5880) - Awake Six months. Six months was a long time to live on the road. Even longer with the New Gods after you. The Federal government had promised that they had nothing to fear. The men, and woman, of the Black Watch had offered their full testimony in exchange for blanket immunity. The crackdowns that followed - [Early Reviews for Edenet!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5873) - EDENET is the first entry of Singularity Sunrise, a mind-blowing post-cyberpunk thriller series. The initial Amazon reviews are in, all of them with nothing less than five stars. Here's an quick selection: Singularity Sunrise is a fantastic read. If you are in the mood for some action and intrigue in a futuristic setting, get this - [Hiroshima, 7 Decades After the Bomb](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5862) - November, 2018. My wife and I were on our honeymoon, touring the largest and greatest cities of Japan. Having visited Tokyo and Kyoto, we were now in Osaka, the final leg of our trip. There was so much to see, so much to do, but we made time for a day trip to a city - [A Different Kind of Thriller](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5853) - Cyberpunk. The word conjures visions of cyborgs and neon streets, high-tech mercenaries and corporate fortresses. A world of high tech and low life, where life is cheap and thrills are fast, where megacorps promise a silicon heaven but deliver a chromed hell. Or, if you are Amazon, litRPGs, space operas, superhero harems, anything and everything - [EDENET is LIVE!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5845) - The 22nd century brings an era of technological wonders—and horrors. Cybernetics and genetic engineering. Mass surveillance and social credit. Full body cyborgs and nanoscale engineering. And the pinnacle of human achievement: machine intelligence. Edenet is the next generation of the Internet. Designed by Anatol Corporation, it will bring the power of a supercomputer to the - [Singularity Sunrise 1: EDENET available for preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5841) - The 22nd century brings an era of technological wonders—and horrors. Cybernetics and genetic engineering. Mass surveillance and social credit. Full body cyborgs and nanoscale engineering. And the pinnacle of human achievement: machine intelligence. Edenet is the next generation of the Internet. Designed by Anatol Corporation, it will bring the power of a supercomputer to the - [Equal Opportunity Villainy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5836) - When Mediacorp aired a television drama featuring a pedophile who spread a sexually transmitted disease to a child, Teo Yu Sheng took offense. Teo, a 'queer designer' who sells LGBTQ-themed accessories under the brand Heckin' Unicorn, took to the Internet and demanded an apology. Mediacorp issued an apology. Chase Tan, the actor who portrayed the - [Updated Call for Submissions: Pulp on Pulp](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5832) - Misha Burnett and I are working on a free collection of essays for writers. Titled Pulp on Pulp, this collection offers practical advice on creating fun, fast-paced fiction. This collection is aimed specifically at writers who want to create pulp-style fiction, though writers from other genres may learn something new from this collection. This project - [Pandemic Election Shifts Singapore to the Left](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5826) - 61.24 percent. The People's Action Party won merely 61.24 percent of the popular vote in the 2020 elections. This is a sharp fall from securing 69.9 percent of the vote in 2015, much closer to 2011's result of 60.14. The PAP won 83 out of 93 seats in Parliament, with the other 10 seats going - [No Choice But to Speak Against Kumaran Pillai of the PSP](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5821) - Yesterday's post about my experiences with Kumaran Pillai of the Progress Singapore Party is spreading like wildfire. All over the Internet, on Reddit and Facebook and elsewhere, people are asking questions and casting aspersions. Here I'm going to address them. Q: Kumaran Pillai's candidacy was announced on 25 June. Why did you wait until Nomination - [Testimony Against Kumaran Pillai of the Progress Singapore Party](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5816) - The Progress Singapore Party intends to field Mr. Kumaran Pillai in the upcoming General Elections. I must speak out against him. In my experience, he does not possess the values needed to be a leader and a servant of the people. In late 2013, I first met Mr. Pillai to discuss the possibility of contributing - [Singularity Sunrise Book 1 Cover and Blurb Reveal!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5811) - The 22nd century brings an era of technological wonders—and horrors. Cybernetics and genetic engineering. Mass surveillance and social credit. Full body cyborgs and nanoscale engineering. And the pinnacle of human achievement: machine intelligence. Edenet is the next generation of the Internet. Designed by Anatol Corporation, it will bring the power of a supercomputer to the - [Between the Mythical and the Mechanical](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5806) - Today when people think of science fiction and fantasy, chances are, they think of two separate genres. Science fiction, the genre of starships and computers and technology. Fantasy, the genre of knights and dragons and castles. Two distinct genres, and never the twain shall meet. The meeting of the two, science fantasy, was the exception, - [Sane in a Crazy World](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5796) - We live in a crazy world. A world filled with outrage, manipulation and deception. A world where spin doctors and professional liars hijack your brain to further their agendas. A world where politicians and tyrants divide people against themselves. A world where advertisers and influencers manipulate emotions to earn megabucks. A world that is getting - [Singularity Sunrise is a GO!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5790) - Singularity Sunrise is 150% funded! It's an amazing result, easily my best-performing crowdfunding campaign to date. I'm grateful for the support of my fans and readers. Together we have made the dream of the Singularity a reality. In addition, having hit the stretch goal, I will now be able to work on the first story - [The Obsolescence of Man and the Search for the Soul](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5748) - What can a man do that a machine can't? In the world of Singularity Sunrise, where robotics and AI threaten to replace humans in every major field, one of the few things that cannot be quantified, mechanised and reproduced by machines is psychic powers. Don't expect Hollywood-or anime-type powers here. In this universe, psychic powers - [Espionage in a Cyberpunk World](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5745) - Information is king. In a world where empires rise and fall with the news cycle, where machines gorge on seas of data and produce oceans of information, where a single publicized fact is more devastating than an atomic bomb, information is the lifeblood of civilizations. In Singularity Sunrise, where advances in critical technologies produce a - [Marcus Wynne's THE REVENGERS](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5781) - Rob the corrupt. Then kill them. Evil lurks in the streets of Minneapolis. Where the police can't or won't act, retired US Marines Salt and Raul Sanchez take justice into their hands. Hybrid vigilante-hitmen, they stalk their prey, rob them blind, and finish them. Permanently. Book 1, SALT, introduces readers to the world of Revengers. - [Where War and Politics Converge](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5742) - War is a continuation of politics by other means. And in the world of Singularity Sunrise, politics is war by other means. The Singularity promises infinite rewards to any nation that first achieves it. Governments and megacorps are locked in a struggle to decide the fate of humanity. Every actor plays for the highest stakes; - [The Martial Arts of Singularity Sunrise](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5739) - How do you fight a full-body cyborg with unbreakable bones, Olympian muscles, superhuman reflexes, and the stamina of an Energizer battery? Pop culture grappled with this question in games, movies, books, manga and more, with varying degrees of realism. At one end of the scale, we have the patently ridiculous, with superpowered cybernetic demi-gods using - [The New Dystopia](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5735) - The government is always watching you. And the people too. Today, mass surveillance is a way of life. CCTVs, government censors, smartphones, smart home appliances, everything with an Internet connection and data collection capability is silently watching and recording you. China is rolling out a social credit system; if it succeeds, other countries will follow - [SINGULARITY SUNRISE is FUNDED!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5772) - Seven (and a half) days after the campaign went live, SINGULARITY SUNRISE is funded! I'm astonished and grateful by the support I've received. This campaign is easily the best-performing crowdfunding campaign I've carried out. SINGULARITY SUNRISE is heading into full pre-production mode. Going forward, let's talk stretch goals. SINGULARITY SUNRISE is complete. Most crowdfunding campaigns - [XCOM: Social Justice](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5764) - My fondest memory of X-COM (the original 1994 game) was my first base defense mission. Which happened to be the first mission of the campaign. The run began swimmingly. I established my first base on the coast of North Africa. From here I could cover a goodly portion of Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle - [Where Politics and Business Collide](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5731) - In cyberpunk fiction, megacorps rule the world. But in our world, why would they? Old-school cyberpunk fiction was framed as a critique of hypercapitalism. Megacorporations have the same political clout as governments, if not more so. They are the true rulers of the world. Their word is law, and their agents are above the law. - [The Story of SINGULARITY SUNRISE](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5722) - The Singularity is coming. A future of unfathomable technological change awaits. But will it be a future of liberty and abundance? Or a future ruled by tyrants and cold machines? This is the question at the heart of my latest series SINGULARITY SUNRISE. A five-book cyberpunk espionage saga, it is a globe-trotting adventure packed with - [The Singularity is Coming!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5718) - The Singularity is coming. A future of unfathomable technological progress awaits. But will it be a future of freedom and abundance? Or a future ruled by tyrants and cold machines? SINGULARITY SUNRISE is a post-cyberpunk espionage thriller series, coming soon on IndieGoGo. Psychic spies, elite mercenaries, killer robots, megacorps, and an AI in search of - [Coronavirus Lockdown Book Sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5713) - Singapore has gone into lockdown. The government calls it a 'circuit breaker'. With private and public gatherings banned, nonessential services shut down, eateries restricted to takeaways, it might as well be a lockdown. My whole family has been affected by these shutdowns. Myself included. To keep the lights on, I'm pivoting towards my books and - [Free Ebook Giveaway!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5707) - As his term of service in the Special Military Police draws to a close, Sergeant Li Ming is looking forward to the next chapter in life. But with one week to go, his unit is called up for the most dangerous mission of his career. Backed by beasts, magic, and powerful cultivators, a powerful secret - [Singapore's Pandemic Election](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5696) - As Singapore enters a lockdown that the authorities won't call a lockdown, one burning question remains: when will the government call for an election? Next week, the government will table a bill to enable elections during the Covid-19 outbreak. With Parliament dominated by the People's Action Party, the Bill is practically guaranteed to pass. The - [What Makes A Story Dark?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5691) - 'Dark' is an oft-seen descriptor for books, comics, movies, games and television shows these days. These media are usually packed with violence, swearing, sex scenes and the like. But does that really make a story dark? As I made my way through old runs of the Punisher -- specifically the MAX runs, the runs filled - [The Quest for Pulp Speed Continues!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5683) - Write fast, write well, write often. This is Pulp Speed, the foundation of pulp-style writing. With a hungry market always eager for more fiction, the pulp writer earns his bread by feeding the market everything it wants, as quickly as he can. To survive in the cutthroat business of pulp writing in the 1920s, writers - [How to Create Believable Character Flaws](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5677) - Conventional wisdom states that characters should be flawed. Nobody can relate to perfect people. Flawed characters are more believable, more likely to gain the reader's sympathies. But the conventional wisdom doesn't teach how. In the hands of lesser writers, this usually manifests as a grab bag of random negative traits. Alcoholism, smoking, minor but not - [Bayani Part 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5673) - The battle ended shortly thereafter. Or maybe after a lifetime. Perhaps both. Panting, his muscles aching at a point beyond fatigue, Bayani finally lowered his weapons. His sword and knife were soaked through with the gore of who knew how many men. Blood soaked him head to foot. He wasn’t sure how, but he had - [Bayani Part 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5669) - They smelled the burning before they saw the smoke. In the ash was the sweet scent of cooked meat, and a blacker undertone of charred flesh. “No,” Bayani whispered. “No.” Alejandro gripped his shoulder. “Steady, boy.” “Maestro, we must…” He swallowed. “We must find out what happened.” Alejandro nodded, the ghost of a smile playing - [Bayani Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5666) - The Maestro led the way, and Bayani followed. The conquistadores, mounted on their horses, tried to keep up. But the jungle was a poor environment for horses, and the Hesperians had to lead their mounts through the trees on foot. Alejandro retraced his footsteps, stopping occasionally to look for sign. Bayani was nervous; as night - [Bayani Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5661) - The men traveled all night and most of the day, resting only during sun-scorched afternoons. Not so long ago, Bayani would have complained about the schedule, the pace, the long hours. But each time he was tempted to open his mouth, he thought of mud-covered Inrun snaking their way through the swamps and the jungle, - [Bayani Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5657) - There was no homecoming ceremony for them. There was no time. Alejandro spared a moment to check in on the wounded men, but no more. Bayani caught Perla’s eye as the Maestro made his rounds. He met her wave with one of his own, but that was all. He was a man on a mission, - [Bayani Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5653) - None of his tribesmen were killed. But four were wounded, one severely so. That one had taken a deep slash across the leg, through skin and fat and muscle, exposing white bone. Two of the less-wounded were binding his wound with a white herb-impregnated cloth, rapidly soaked through with blood. Alejandro knelt next to the - [Bayani Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5647) - Searching was just a different kind of hunting, Bayani thought. The Maestro insisted that every man be armed. Bayani turned out in his hunting gear: bow in hand, quiver of arrows, baraw tucked into his loincloth, ginunting at his hip. Alejandro carried his bolo in place of a ginunting. The bolo’s short, heavy blade was - [Bayani Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5642) - Hunts lasted three days and three nights. As the newest warrior, Bayani had the honor and the burden of guiding the hunting party. The older ones followed him, judging his skills and dispensing advice. It was another trial, less formal but no less important. Heading into the jungle, Bayani’s heart had swelled for all of - [Bayani Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5638) - Bayani may be a man now, but the world had not changed. His mother, Tula, still awoke him the way she normally did, prodding him with fingers and feet and a raised voice until he rolled off his bamboo mat with a groan. Getting to his feet, he tested his right arm. It was stiff. - [Bayani Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5634) - In steel they saw the truth. For now, wooden sticks were a reasonable approximation. CRACK-CRACK-CRACK. Bayani jumped back, raising his baston to the guard. Rizal retreated too. Behind Rizal, Bayani saw a shadowed figure nod. A sheathed sword hung from the man’s loincloth. That had to be Maestro Alejandro. In the Circle, he was the - [Changing the Game](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5623) - The recipe for indie publishing success is well known. To become a bestselling author who rakes in the dough every month, you need to obey the following principles: Write in a hot genre that readers want and you can doCreate a deep series -- at least 5, preferably more booksProduce high-quality cover for each bookHave - [BABYLON BLUES is now available!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5544) - Faith, demons and firefights in neon-drenched streets! In Nova Babylonia, the New Gods rule with an iron fist. Only one group dares to challenge their reign: the elite law enforcers of the Special Tasks Section. Lethal and incorruptible, they form the thin blue line between humanity and Hell on Earth. Within the STS, the most - [Seven Manuscripts and Other Hassles](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5532) - At this moment, I have seven completed manuscripts on my desk. One short story, six novels, and a non-fiction book. All of them need to be edited. While it's a good problem to have, it does mean I won't be writing new fiction for a while. But that's all right. I'll be using the downtime - [Fantasy Without Fantasy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5490) - Modernity has ruined fantasy. At one end of the scale, there is the slice-of-life tale, with ordinary people doing ordinary things, just with some counterfactual elements. At the other end, there is a setting that appears totally foreign to our reality--and yet the people who dwell in it base their actions on values, issues and - [Going Bright](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5481) - This world is a dark world. Open a newspaper and see for yourself. Murder, genocide, civil war, assaults, rapes, kidnapping, sex trafficking, corruption, on and on, and endless litany of crimes high and petty. Any outrage, if any, will last until the moment a celebrity opens her mouth or the media moves on to the - [Towards 2020](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5476) - In January, I set out to write a series. Comprised of one short story and five full-length novels, it is a post-cyberpunk saga set in the world on the brink of a new technological epoch, titled SINGULARITY SUNRISE. Yesterday, I wrote the last word on the last page of the last book. The first draft - [A Believer in Babylon](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5467) - How do you write a Christian in a world without Christ? In the world of Babylon Blues, the New Gods systematically destroyed or subverted all competing institutions that could oppose them, including the old religions. They stole the mantles of the old faiths and undermined them, through a combination of cultural warfare and public demonstrations of - [The New Gods of Babylon](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5463) - When you think hard about it, the traditional cyberpunk trope of megacorporations literally ruling the world doesn't make any sense. A megacorp is a massive private corporation, holding monopolistic or neat-monopolistic control over multiple markets. Megacorps are so powerful they can ignore the law, maintain private armies to enforce their will, and exercise extreme control - [BABYLON BLUES IS FUNDED!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5461) - My upcoming cyberpunk horror work BABYLON BLUES is fully funded on Kickstarter! I'm incredibly grateful for the support of my backers, friends and family. Without them, this project would not have gone so far in such a short time. With that said, the campaign still has some time left on the clock. I'd like to - [The Blades of Babylon](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5452) - Swords are cool. That alone would be enough reason to include swords in fiction. And you can't have a street samurai without a sword. But my preferred aesthetic, that of the military technothriller, demands greater justification than just 'cool'. And for good reason: soldiers must justify every piece of gear they carry on a mission. - [Sneak Preview of BABYLON BLUES Remastered!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5448) - What goes into a remastered story? A lot of work, unsurprisingly enough. BABYLON BLUES was originally conceived and written as a series of interconnected webserials. The concepts were sound, the characters were intriguing, the tech and world resonated with me and my readers, the stories were compelling -- but they suffered from a lack of - [Babylon Blues Meets Deus Vult Wastelanders!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5442) - Bloodthirsty demons and black-hearted cultists. Guns and swords and high technology. Unshakable faith in the face of soul-rending evil. These are the defining points of Babylon Blues. And Adam Lane Smith's Deus Vult Wastelanders series. Deus Vult Wastelanders is a heavy metal Christian pulp fiction series, set in a post-apocalyptic America where demons and cultists run rampant - [The Guns of Babylon](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5438) - When writing a tactical thriller with heavy action elements, you have to get around to talking about the hardware. Tools drive what the characters can and can’t do, and weapons are a big part of that. Also, guns are cool. When writing guns in fiction, a common approach is to simply drop generic terms like - [The Music of Babylon Blues](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5435) - BABYLON BLUES, my current cyberpunk horror saga, holds a most unusual distinction: it is the first story I wrote that was inspired by music. The first time I heard 'Babylon', it was in Leonard Cohen's 'Dance Me to the End of Love'. One line goes like this: Oh let me see your beauty when the - [Babylon Blues Part 14](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5432) - Beyond Truth and Lies Deep in the desert at the heart of Nova Babylonia, sited at the furthest point from every inhabited city and settlement in the country, surrounded by sun-scorched dunes and barren mesas as far as the eye could see, there stood a curious structure. It was a cube. A black, gleaming cube, - [Babylon Blues Part 13](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5430) - Time for War The New Gods took their time setting up. Fox suspected several reasons. Their mutual animosities getting the better of them, forcing them to delay and confirm and double-confirm every move and every step. Local commanders calling in muscle and firepower from every corner of Nova Babylonia. Tacticians formulating plans within plans, plans - [Babylon Blues Part 12](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5427) - The BITE The BITE was a great place to die. The Babylon Institute of Technology and Engineering was the premier research university in the nation. Its pedagogy was world-class, and its laboratories were at the forefront of technological innovation. The Bear Campus concentrated on biological sciences, and on the fifth floor, the newest addition to - [Babylon Blues Part 11](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5424) - Crabs In A Bucket In the darkness, they congregated in the living room. Sirens screamed in the night, steadily approaching the street. The curtains were too thin to completely block out the light, and the last thing anyone needed was for a suspicious cop conducting routine canvasing to notice them. “How did they trace you?” - [Babylon Blues Part 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5421) - Time-Limited Targets Contrary to Fox’s expectations, Alex didn’t work from home. He had a computer in his home office, to be sure. It was a custom rig, sleek and sophisticated, radiating raw power. The tower was water-cooled, the pipes and processor visible through see-through panels. He had a silent mechanical keyboard and a complex-looking ergonomic - [Babylon Blues Part 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5416) - Electric City Electric City existed only in the minds of the inhabitants of Babylon. Bounded by two subway stations, it ran rampant across streets and neighborhoods, violating the grids laid down by the city planners long ago. Administratively it was divided between three precincts, quietly encroaching on a fourth. To the government, it was an - [Babylon Blues Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5412) - Story Behind the Story The team reconvened at their secondary rally point. Hartsock National Park, a thin strip of green that bifurcated Cape Rockaway, an arm of land that jutted out into Babylon Bay and gently curled back like a horn. Located in the shadow of Babylon International Airport, aircraft screeched overhead at regular intervals. - [BABYLON BLUES REMASTERED is Live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5408) - Firefights with monsters and cultists in neon-drenched streets. Terror and technology in a world ruled by demons. Welcome to Babylon. In 2018, I published the first entry in a five-part cyberpunk horror saga titled Babylon Blues. Follow-up stories expanded on the characters, the lore and the universe, setting the stage for a final conflict between the Black - [Babylon Blues Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5405) - Mere Mortal There was nothing routine about Goshawks over Babylon. Fast, stealthy, armored, each dropship could ferry a platoon of troops. It was the military’s heavy-lift aircraft of choice. The STS used them for long-range deployments, or to transport vehicles and armor. BPD most assuredly did not have any in their inventory. These specimens had - [Babylon Blues Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5403) - “Lycan, find Zen. Everyone else, security positions. Go dark,” Yamamoto ordered. The team sprang into motion like a well-oiled machine. Every electronic device went into RFID-blocking pockets and pouches. Long guns emerged from cases and slung around necks. The Black Watch swiveled outwards, pulling three-sixty degrees of security, carbines at the ready. Karim Mustafa closed - [Babylon Blues Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5401) - Prairie Fire When the New Gods and the government were after you, paranoia became your way of life. Yamamoto led Fox on a long surveillance detection run. Following the textbook, they wound through alleys, stalled at green lights and sped through yellow ones, alternated their speed at random times. Yamamoto went one step further, hopping - [Babylon Blues Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5398) - Already Gone The door shuddered again. Yamamoto whipped up his phone and pulled up an app. A camera feed filled the screen. The lobby was flooded with tactical cops. Helmets, balaclavas, eye protection, radio headsets, body armor, carbines. The two cops at the head of the stack carried ballistic shields and pistols. Every gun was - [Babylon Blues Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5396) - Swords or Humans The operators of the STS lived a nomadic lifestyle. Each of them owned multiple safehouses, multiple vehicles, even multiple identities if the threat was high enough, all of them prepared and paid for by the Federal government. The moment they stepped outside the fortified STS headquarters, they played a shell game, switching - [Babylon Blues Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5394) - The Dregs of Men and Gods The women sneaked out the side exit. Normally reserved for staff, a quick flash of their badges earned them the right to use that door. A block away, Fox had parked her gravcar under the eyes of the club’s security cameras and in a circle of amber streetlight. Those - [Babylon Blues Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5392) - Cherchez La Femme Cherchez La Femme was the grand dame of the Babylon nightlife scene. The hottest women, the biggest sounds, the friendliest staff, they could all be found here. Celebrities and drug lords, salarymen and self-made men, there was a place for everyone who walked past its double doors. Including a washed-up former law - [The Romance of the Sword](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5390) - In the age of the gun, the romance of the sword lingers in pop culture. From wuxia novels to martial arts flicks, heroic fantasy tales and stories of sword and sorcery, people enjoy stories of blademasters cleaving their way through hordes of enemies. On first glance, this seems strange. These stories hardly have any bearing on modern - [Life Recalibration](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5388) - At the age of 12, I knew I wanted to be a full-time author. The dream lasted me through my schooling years and into my twenties. Not a day passed when I would not think of that goal. But now, eighteen years on, it's time for a reality check. And a recalibration. I have written - [Movie Review: Weathering with You](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5384) - Morishima Hodaka is a 16-year-old high school student fleeing his remote island home. Amano Hina is an orphaned girl with the power to change the weather. Destiny brings them together in a Tokyo deluged in rain. But will destiny tear them apart? Weathering with You has all the elements of a classic Shinkai Makoto anime: gorgeous - [Worldbuilding with Real World Martial Arts](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5382) - The average author treats martial arts simply as a collection of techniques to be displayed in fight scenes. But martial arts is more than just techniques: it is a way of life, one that resonates throughout the individual and society. The superior writer recognizes that, and sees opportunities for worldbuilding and characterisation. Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Arts - [Cloud Token: Money Machine or Scamcoin?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5379) - Several weeks ago, an acquaintance invited me and my wife for a discussion. He wanted to sit down with us to talk about how we could 'achieve financial freedom'. We had met him at a seminar we had attended in July, and we were all seeking ways to expand our income. Thinking it was a - [Dungeon Samurai Vol. 3: Seisen is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5376) - The final installment of the Dungeon Samurai trilogy is now live on Amazon! Crowdfunded in March, Dungeon Samurai was my maiden attempt at creating a series from scratch and publishing it on a rapid release schedule. In the course of a month, 29 backers raised $1105 to cover publishing costs. I am extremely grateful for their help - [On Christian Buddhism](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5373) - Some time ago my attention was directed to a series of blog posts from the Social Pathologist titled 'Christian Buddhism', in which the author compared Christianity and Buddhism while discussing modern-day Christianity. Drawing material from renowned Christian apologist G. K. Chesterton, the author writes a scathing critique of modern Christianity. Unfortunately, he built his arguments - [Thoughts on Jirel of Joiry](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5371) - Mention the words 'Strong Female Character' and immediately a visage of a tigress fills your head. She is powerful and fearless, unbeatable in combat, sexually alluring, takes no nonsense from anyone, and can best any man in any masculine pursuit. It's a trope solidified over decades of repetition on the silver screen and the printed - [Aero #1 Review](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5368) - When Marvel announced its trifecta of Chinese superheroes, I braced myself to be disappointed. In recent times, Marvel has continually delivered comic series emphasising social justice in lieu of storytelling, and I was sure these comics would continue in that grand tradition. Looking at Aero #1, I do declare I was wrong. It was worse. Easy - [Why I Write](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5366) - Much of modern entertainment is a garbage fire. Many male characters are weak, wimpy and wishy-washy. They exist not as men in their own right, but simply to make the designed Strong Female Character look even more powerful when contrasted against their incompetence. Shounen protagonists inevitably run away screaming at the first signs of romance and emotional - [To Break an Arrow with a Bared Throat](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5364) - "This is a forty-pound arrow," the trainer said. "It will stop a grizzly bear." As he spoke, he held up the arrow. The wooden shaft was as long as a man's arm, terminating in an iron point that gleamed dully in the light. "You will break this arrow with your throat." A palpable silence fell - [Judge of the Wastes Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5362) - The bandits returned in force. Beyond the distant sands, a chorus of high-pitched roars filled the noon air. They grew louder and louder, closer and closer, gathering in force and numbers. Then, boiling out of a mirage, five buggies charged the camp at top speed. Two minutes out, two of them broke away, circling around - [Judge of the Wastes Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5360) - Robert had spoken true. Gideon had scarcely believed it himself. He had gone a hair’s breadth from turning back, until he sighted the river. A calm, shallow stream lined by patches of tough grass and hardy shrubs. Chastising himself for his lack of faith, he headed upriver until he found the hill. Lying on the - [Judge of the Wastes Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5358) - Jericho was gone. What was once a thriving village of five hundred souls, a village remembered for being older than the Kritarchy and the nation before it, was now a smoldering ruin of shattered timber and broken stone. Greasy smoke hung thick in the air, mingling with the scent of sweet pork. Bodies lay sprawled - [Guest Essay: Buddhism, Emptiness and Nihilism](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5350) - The most common misconception I've seen of Buddhism is that it is a philosophy of nihilism. Nothing is real, nothing exists, and the final goal is to become nothing. While a surface reading of Buddhism lends itself to this misinterpretation, the teachings point to a far more nuanced and subtle perspective of reality. To address - [DUNGEON SAMURAI VOL. 1 is on sale!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5335) - For one week only, DUNGEON SAMURAI VOL. 1: KAMIKAZE is on sale at just $0.99 on Amazon! The most realistic isekai dungeon crawler yet written, DUNGEON SAMURAI features displaced samurai, bloodthirsty beasts, and an epic quest through a dungeon filled with traps and monsters to win a way home. Here is the blurb: -- Yamada Yuuki - [DUNGEON SAMURAI VOL. 2: KAMI NO KISHI is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5333) - Six months after being spirited away to a land filled with deadly monsters, Yamada Yuuki and Hiroshi Matsuo are about to face their toughest challenge yet. They and their fellow samurai must dive deeper into the world-spanning dungeon, going where no man has gone before, in a quest to confront the demon who brought them - [How to Level Up Your Bad Guys](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5331) - Everybody loves main characters who grow into heroes. Over the length of a series, tested in fire and steel, they overcome their weaknesses, become even stronger and more capable, and become more than they are. Indeed, character growth is the foundation of shounen manga -- readers want to see the hero grow from a zero to a - [The Golden Mile Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5329) - The Babylon Night There was just one last thing left to do. Connor, Karim, Fox and Wood pulled security in the hallway. Tan, Ngo and Yamamoto rushed into the server room. Tan retraced his steps through the aisles and made his way back to the terminal server. Many servers were melted and destroyed, but the - [DUNGEON SAMURAI VOL. 2: KAMI NO KISHI now available for preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5327) - Volume 2 of the pulse-pounding DUNGEON SAMURAI series is now available for preorder in Amazon! Featuring more samurai action, more ferocious monsters and more DOKI-DOKI, Vol. 2 is the most authentic dungeon crawler isekai story yet. To find out more about Vol. 2, check out the blurb below. -- Six months after being spirited away to - [The Golden Mile Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5325) - The Void Vast emptiness. The ritual hall was empty. An expanse of empty space, large enough to cram a small army, stretching from the doors to the end of the hall. There was no incense, no ceremonial props, no altars, just… nothing. Nothing sacred. At the far side of the hall, there was a flat - [The Golden Mile Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5323) - Cosmic Horror “OPEN FIRE!” Yamamoto yelled. Shaking off their hesitation, the team laid down a storm of steel, tearing into the creature. Tan raised his carbine to his shoulder, switched to full auto and held down the trigger, walking rounds up and across the closest abomination. At this range he couldn’t possibly miss. Rounds tore - [The Golden Mile Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5321) - The Charnel House Tan wasn’t going to march into the belly of the beast. Not with just a handgun. But he didn’t have to. Inside the trunk of the gravcar were two duffel bags. Go-bags, laden with mission-essential gear, one belonging to Yamamoto, the other to Tan. Tan took his, found an empty patch of - [The Golden Mile Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5319) - May God Help Us All They took the stairs. There was one place in the arcology guaranteed to be nonsecure by design. No RFID readers, no cameras, no drones. No way to jam it either. The emergency stairs. The moment Tan shoved the door open, a fire alarm rang. But only on the lower floors. - [The Golden Mile Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5317) - We Can't Fight a God Reaching into their jackets, the men donned thin tactical gloves. Just in case. Yamamoto rolled up his jacket sleeve, revealing a paracord bracelet. He unbuckled and unraveled it halfway, leaving a braided handle in his hand and a dangling bight. Tan waved his phone against the RFID scanner. The door - [The Golden Mile Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5315) - Wizard of the Net The Golden Mile was the most secure arcology in Babylon. X-ray machines and armed guards protected the main entrances. Just out of sight, lurking in the security command center on the fifth floor, a quick reaction force of twenty VC operatives, armed to the teeth and empowered by the Treaty of - [The Golden Mile Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5313) - The Mission Remains In Babylon, the city of skyscrapers, the Golden Mile stood apart. In the heart of Downtown, in the business district named after itself, the Golden Mile was the city’s earliest arcology. From afar, the tower was a rounded column of pure golden light, looming high above the offices and commercial buildings around - [Writing the Prepared Professional](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5308) - One of the reasons I love thrillers is the genre's dedication to authenticity. Cops talk and act like cops, spec ops guys see the world much differently from ordinary people, and so on. The genre provides a dramatised window into the lifestyles and activities of these professionals, and how they see the world. Key to - [Designing for Games vs Designing for Stories](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5288) - A week ago, PulpRev author Jon Mollison wrote a Twitter thread about the role of clerics in Dungeons and Dragons. Among the key insights was this: Wrong. Clerics are a great #dnd class because they fill a proper function within the game - secondary brick with defensive tac support. Designing the class to reflect a literary archetype puts the - [SHOT GIRL and the Perils of Going Full Political](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5277) - The best stories tell truths disguised as entertaining lies. But when a story starts with a lie, there is little truth in it left. J. A. Konrath's latest novel, SHOT GIRL, is the twelfth installment in his Jack Daniels series. Daniels, a retired cop confined to a wheelchair, spends her days in a rehabilitation facility - [DUNGEON SAMURAI VOL. 1: KAMIKAZE now available on Amazon!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5269) - Yamada Yuuki is an ordinary college student with an extraordinary hobby: the classical martial art of Kukishin-ryu. Until one fateful day when a demon rips through the fabric of space-time, abducts everyone in his dojo, and transports them to another world. To return home, Yamada and his friends must join forces with other displaced humans - [The Logistics of Dungeon Warfare](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5263) - Amateurs talk tactics. Professionals study logistics. Fantasy authors ignore both. While (probably) an exaggeration, rarely will you find fantasy stories that pay attention to the logistics of supporting a military. Even in allegedly military fantasy tales, you'll find stupendously huge armies that require neither salaries nor supplies, ridiculous tactics that work because the plot demands - [The Making of DUNGEON SAMURAI](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5258) - DUNGEON SAMURAI was an experiment. In 2018, I enjoyed a moderate degree of success on Steemit. After earning a hefty chunk of change from publishing short fiction online, I decided I would take the plunge and publish a full-length fiction piece. A web serial, a modern-day incarnation of the serial pulp novels of the 1930s. - [DUNGEON SAMURAI VOL. 1: KAMIKAZE is available for preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5256) - Yamada Yuuki is an ordinary college student with an extraordinary hobby: the classical martial art of Kukishin-ryu. Until one fateful day when a demon rips through the fabric of space-time, abducts everyone in his dojo, and transports them to another world. To return home, Yamada and his friends must join forces with other displaced humans - [Book Unreview: 9th of August](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5244) - One of the signatures of PulpRev is our cheerful disdain of conventional genre boundaries. Where traditional publishers see a dividing line between fantasy, science fiction, romance and other genres, we draw on the older traditions that blended various aesthetics to create exciting tales. We do not box ourselves in by arbitrary genre distinctions; we embrace - [Movie Review: Avengers: Endgame](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5235) - Avengers: Endgame is a movie about loss. Loss pervades every frame of the movie. From the opening scene to the denouement, the story explores the impact of the Avengers' greatest defeat at the hands of Thanos in the previous film. With half of all living beings dead, including some of their staunchest allies, what's left of - [Isekai is not Japanese Europe in a Video Game](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5233) - Isekai stories are a staple of modern Japanese fiction. Featuring humans from modern-day Japan transported to another world, it seems there's a new isekai story published every month. Today, isekai stories are extremely popular. And they are becoming extremely ridiculous. The discerning reader will find much to complain about. Fanservice in place of character development. - [The Way of the Pulps](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5231) - A few days ago, I had the privilege of reading the synopsis of a trilogy being written by a fellow Singaporean. It was an honest-to-goodness Sword and Planet story, like Star Wars crossed with Final Fantasy. Holy warrior maidens, mind-altering magics, political intrigue, interstellar travel and warfare, it was like reading a revival of an - [A Thirst for Beauty](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5227) - For a published writer, I realize I don't read a lot of fiction. Between my work and my other responsibilities, I don't have a lot of spare time. A not-insignificant fraction of that time is usually spent chasing down avenues of research related to my current story. What little reading time I do have left - [Dungeon Samurai Vol. 1 Cover Reveal!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5221) - It is my great pleasure to announce that the cover of my Dungeon Samurai Vol. 1: Kamikaze is complete! Dungeon Samurai Vol. 1 will hit shelves in May, as planned. Kickstarter backers will receive their copies at least 2 weeks before the official release date. Volumes 2 and 3 will be published in June and - [HOLLOW CITY is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5218) - Super powered cop Adam Song has dedicated his life to the law. In the military and the police force, Adam ruthlessly protects the innocent. But this time he’s killed the wrong bad guy. Now the local drug lord’s son is dead, and the boss is out for Adam’s blood. Even his secret identity won’t keep - [Mechanical Versus Mythical Magic](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5208) - Corey McCleery, Alexander Hellene, Xavier Lastra, Rawle Nyanzi and Misha Barnett recently opined on the de-mythologicisation of magic in contemporary fantasy. All five pieces are worth a read, but the thesis running through the heart of the conversation is that de-mythologicisation robs the mystery from magic in contemporary fantasy, making it feel empty. Comparing the works of the pulp-era grandmasters and - [Lessons from the Dungeon Samurai Kickstarter](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5205) - Having achieved 110.5% of its funding goal, the Kickstarter campaign of Dungeon Samurai was a great success. I am grateful to all backers and everyone who have helped with the campaign, and am now preparing the manuscript for publication. Looking back on the campaign, I've 5 lessons to share. 1. The Campaign Begins Before It Begins The - [The Arms and Armor of Dungeon Samurai](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5202) - The titular dungeon of Dungeon Samurai is a terrible place. Filled with endless mobs of bloodthirsty monsters, cunningly concealed traps and invisible gas clouds, it is designed for the singular purpose of destroying men. To survive in the dungeon, the samurai must count on a wide array of specialized equipment. In November 2018, I had - [Dungeon Samurai is Funded!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5198) - It is my great pleasure to announce that DUNGEON SAMURAI is fully funded! My deepest thanks to all backers and everyone who supported the campaign from the start. This being my first crowdfunding campaign, I am extremely pleased with the result. Nonetheless, with 4 days to go, there's still time to purchase the Dungeon Samurai trilogy in - [Writing Faith in Fiction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5194) - It is fashionable in modern SFF to denigrate religion as oppressive and outdated superstition. Priests are corrupt hypocrites, gods are dead or evil or both, religious doctrine is a lie -- and the worst offender is always Christianity in fantasy dress. Science fiction goes one step further, portraying technologically advanced societies that have outgrown religion - [Red River Part 13](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5189) - Dewdrop World One can’t challenge an Executive Assistant Director of the PSB without consequences. Mere minutes after Pearce left, a barrage of orders came down from above. The mission was declared complete, with all operational duties handed over to the Riveria field office and local ESWAT team. All STS operators would catch the first flight - [Red River Part 12](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5185) - The Balance The conference room was small but cozy, befitting the intimate and confidential nature of this meeting. Executive Assistant Director Robert Pearce, wearing a bespoke blue suit of fine silk, leaned back in his chair and smiled at his three guests. “I am pleased to report that the Public Security Bureau has smashed the - [Red River Part 11](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5182) - House of Shadows The operators stayed aboveground for fifteen minutes. Long enough to replace their expended magazines with spares from their vehicles. Long enough for the RPD to swoop down and form an outer perimeter. Long enough for the flying ambulances to recover the former hostages and send them to hospital. As the last ambulance - [Red River Part 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5180) - Shots Fired “Shots fired, shots fired inside the office,” Fox called. “Anybody got eyes on?” Yamamoto asked. “I can’t see inside the office from here.” “Negative visual here,” Wood said. “Lycan?” “I’m…” He inhaled sharply. “I’m tapped out. Sorry.” “We need to go. Now,” Connor said. “Agreed,” Yamamoto said. “Deadeye, send us a snapshot of - [Red River Part 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5178) - SafeKeep The House of Shadows looked nothing like a church. It was a simple brick building, five stories tall, painted in cheerful blues and reds. The signboard said ‘SAFEKEEP SELF-STORAGE SOLUTIONS’. There were no altars to the Lord and Lady of Shadows in a three-block radius. No iconography, no goons hanging around. A perfectly innocent - [Fantasy Monsters, Realistic Fights](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5176) - Almost every fantasy story I've read deal with fight scenes in one of two ways. The first is to make it a spectacular show, with special moves, acrobatics, magic, powers and other feats thrown around to dazzle and impress the reader. The second is to describe the battle in broad strokes, seeking to capture the - [Red River Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5174) - To The Knife Even the New Gods had rules for war. Never shed the blood of the innocent. Never whack a cop in cold blood. Never, ever, target the Speakers of rival gods. But the Court of Shadows weren’t sticklers for rules. The Speakers of the New Gods served many roles. They defined and codified - [Red River Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5169) - Sicario “The suspect you arrested has cracked,” Pearce said. “He’s a captain within the ranks of the Guzman Cartel, and privy to a number of operational secrets. Among them is the existence of a group of elite killers operating in Riveria. These sicarios are all Elect, heavily armed, and highly dangerous. Taking them out will - [Red River Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5165) - After The Fire Twenty four hours on, twenty four off. After dropping off the suspect at the PSB field office, Connor and Yamamoto topped off their ammo and hitched a ride back to Three Rivers. Until the shift was over, they couldn’t relax. Even so, the massive gunfight had a chilling effect on the - [Red River Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5162) - The Lady of Sorrows The Elect ran. The operators pursued. “Sheriff Three, Samurai. I want this guy alive. Someone has to answer has to answer for this mess. Follow him, but don’t shoot if you can avoid it. State Green.” “Acknowledged, Samurai,” the pilot replied. ROE State Green was the strictest set of Rules of - [Red River Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5160) - The Destroyer A terrible force flung Connor to the ground. He tucked his chin and curled up. His backpack slammed into his back. Gasping, he rolled to his left, bleeding off the energy, and forced himself up to a knee. Chaos. People ran screaming and shouting in every direction. Pillars of smoke rose from black - [Red River Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5158) - One Night in Three Rivers Overshadowed by sprawling Babylon to the northwest, Riveria was the city of the working class. Babylon was glitz and glamor and gold; Riveria was factories and smokestacks and processing plants. The manufacturing and commercial heart of the nation, Riveria was steeped in blue-collar honesty and mercantile hospitality. Yet, like Babylon, - [The Art of Designing Nontraditional Monsters](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5156) - When I began work on Dungeon Samurai, I challenged myself to employ only non-traditional monsters. They would not be orcs, goblins, or other such fantasy mooks seen in anime, manga and RPGs the world over; they would be monsters worthy of the name, dangerous and horrifying and bloodthirsty man-slayers that roam the dungeon seeking souls. Why - [Red River Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5154) - New Sheriff in Town “What a goat rope,” Connor declared. “Hey, at least we all got out intact,” Fox said. “Can’t say the same for the other guys.” The men and woman of the Black Watch were gathered around a long oak conference table. Still dressed for war, their presence had caused a stir among - [Red River Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5152) - The Nightmare Scenario This was the nightmare scenario. Multiple active shooters and hostage takers, possibly Elect and/or Husks. Multiple hostages. No way of confirming details, no means of reaching the subjects. No backup. No margin for error. Madness. Will Connor lived for this shit. The SkyBear gravtruck soared silently through the clear autumn morning. Standing - [Dungeon Samurai Kickstarter is Live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5148) - Yamada Yuuki is an ordinary Japanese college student with an extraordinary hobby: the classical martial art of Kukishin-ryu. One evening, a demon rips through the fabric of space-time, abducts everyone in his dojo, and transports them to another world. To return home, Yamada and his friends must join forces with other abductees to conquer the - [The New Age of Book Burning](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5144) - This week saw two attempts by book burners to take down offensive literature. One was successful, the other failed. Both attempts are instructive for authors to prepare for the realities of modern-day publishing and digital book burning. The Case of Amelie Wen Zhao Born in Paris, raised in China, and now living and working in - [1 Week to Dungeon Samurai Kickstarter!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5141) - I'm extremely excited to announce that the Kickstarter for the Dungeon Samurai trilogy will launch on 7 February 2019, exactly one week from now. It will be my virgin crowdfunding campaign, and my first full series to be published under the name Kit Sun Cheah. The full description follows: -- Yamada Yuuki is an ordinary - [9 Deaths in Peacetime](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5139) - In the past 16 months, 9 servicemen in the Singapore Armed Forces have passed away. The latest death occurred on 23rd January, when Corporal First Class (NS) Aloysius Pang was struck by a moving howitzer barrel during a maintenance operation. The following are my thoughts, first penned on Facebook. -- The purpose of the military - [Between Tradecraft and Thrills: Johnny Wylde](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5137) - It is accepted wisdom in the thriller community that highly-trained characters must display excellent tradecraft to thrill the reader. Yet this isn't always so. In my first post in this series, I explored the Orphan X series, in which the protagonist's poor tradecraft sets up superior scenes; in my previous post, I showed how taking - [Between Tradecraft and Thrills: The Brilliance Trilogy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5135) - Previously, I discussed Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X series and how the protagonist's poor tradecraft set up superior scenes. The series demonstrates that you don't need perfect tradecraft to create a superior story. However, if you throw authenticity out the window altogether, you won't have a believable story. Case in point: Marcus Sakey's Brilliance trilogy. In - [Between Tradecraft and Thrills: Orphan X](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5133) - New York Times bestseller Gregg Hurwitz blew into the writing scene with his debut Minutes to Burn. With his Timothy Rackley series, Hurwitz hit his stride, solidifying his position as a top-shelf thriller author. In his latest series, Orphan X, he has reached new heights, producing a magnificent blend of pulse-pounding action, complex characterisation, powerful imagery, - [Looking Back on 2018, Planning for 2019](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5131) - 2018 was my most productive year yet. My focus on Pulp Speed has paid off, allowing me to write and publish more stories than I thought possible. Unfortunately, not everything went according to plan. In 2018, I published a novel and 14 short stories. If the short stories were compiled by theme, there is probably - [PulpRev’s Wicked Problem](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5129) - A couple of weeks ago over dinner, Troy Tang and I discussed some of the fundamental problems facing PulpRev. PulpRev makes for a fine umbrella term for writers to rally around, but every writer has different ideas about the direction of their own writing. This makes it hard for people to define what, exactly, is - [The Protector Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5127) - The journey out of Bangkok was relatively uneventful. I field-stripped the pistols, balled up the knives with my discarded clothes, and tossed them down separate storm drains. We returned to the hotel long enough to gather our things and check out. That was the most dangerous part of the operation, but I couldn’t burn my - [The Protector Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5125) - “Yes, Mr Cyr, your turn," Zai said. "We know what you did outside our establishment. While your dedication to your client is admirable, you did hurt our people. We cannot let this pass unavenged.” “You can’t prove I was there.” “Oh? Mr Allondir disagreed. When we approached him, he told us you came to his - [The Protector Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5123) - Proper planning prevents piss poor performance. Something I learned from the Cousins in Albion. After I hung up, I made a number of phone calls. First the driver who had ferried us around and kept his mouth shut. Then a guy I knew who knew someone who knew the arcana of computing. A crafter who - [The Protector Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5121) - That should have been the last I’d heard of Allondir. I was lining up more clients, putting out ads, doing whatever it took to get by. I could do without repeat business from a creature like him. Life isn’t that simple. The following week, at nine minutes after eight in the morning, as I emerged - [The Protector Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5119) - The driver appeared twenty minutes later. Slyphs don’t have an innate sense of direction in the material plane and don’t know how to use the Global Locating System. But I had the telepathic connection. Half-closing my eyes, it appeared to me like a glittering silver cord stretching through the roof into the sky. I gave - [The Protector Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5114) - Be light, be agile, be ready. I’d learned this lesson a lifetime ago. First in the Legion, then the Detachment. After over a decade of being ready to go anywhere and do anything at a moment’s notice, what began as tips turned into operational procedures, then into habits and finally a state of being. Even - [The Protector Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5112) - Business with bad people is a fact of life. Most people live their lives never having to deal with them. Many of those who have to like to think there’s no compromise with them. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that you can’t get rid of them all. The best you can hope - [Is There A Place for Morally Ambiguous Characters?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5108) - Last week, Rawyle Nyanzi wrote about black and white morality in fiction, and JD Cowan expanded on why readers love them . Characters with clear moral codes make for compelling reading. Armed with an uncompromising view of right and wrong, they act decisively against evil wherever they find it. Yet, fettered by their same uncompromising - [Comic Analysis: Batman: White Knight](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5106) - What if the Joker became the hero and Batman is a villain? It sounds like an awesome concept, but in the hands of Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth, it is merely a superhero story without heroes. (Unmarked spoilers ahead!) Batman: White Knight opens with a scene familiar to Batman fans. The Joker is fleeing the scene - [Movie Review: The Crimes of Grindelwald](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5104) - JK Rowling's Wizarding World franchise promises many things to the audience. Whimsical worldbuilding, cool and visually-exciting magic, high stakes and high adventure, a clash between clearly-defined good and evil. These elements enchanted a generation of schoolchildren when her books were published in the late 1990s, and bedazzled two generations of moviegoers in the film adaptations. - [How I Survived 17 Days in Japan on Onigiri, Yakitori and Nut Bars](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5101) - In late October, my wife and I embarked on our greatest adventure yet: a 17-day trip in Japan, spanning Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Hiroshima, without guides or local contacts, armed with nothing but our maps and our wits. We were no strangers to overseas travel, but we'd always traveled in group tours. The tour - [Have Cash, Will Conjure Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5098) - “You gave Federov to the Seebs?” Jansen asked. “Yes,” I said. “So that’s where he went.” Jansen jotted something down. “You were carrying other weapons with you. A pistol and two knives. Why didn’t you use them?” “Why didn’t my client kill Federov, you mean?” Greenwald asked. “Mr. Lee didn’t have to. And if he - [Have Cash, Will Conjure](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5094) - “What about Vandemeer?” Jansen asked. “Did you do a séance too?” I shrugged. “I tried. Dry hole.” “Your file says you’re Tier One. You served in the Arcane Legion for twelve years, over half that in the Special Operations Support Detachment, with multiple combat tours. You couldn’t call him back?” “I’m listed as Tier One - [Have Cash, Will Conjure Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5092) - Greenwald leaned forward. “My client would like to exercise his Fifth Amendment rights.” “No, it’s okay,” I said. “Dom—” “Look, we never actually committed a crime.” Jansen sneered. “Really? Sounds to me like a conspiracy to obstruct justice.” “Things aren’t black and white.” I straightened to my full seated height. “I knew Johnson was trouble - [Have Cash, Will Conjure Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5088) - Detective Jansen twirled his pen in surprisingly dexterous fingers. “I understand your contract granted you extraordinary powers.” “No more than regular police,” Greenwald said, “only for matters related to this case, and only because Mr. Lee is an accredited private peace officer in the employ of Lithsman Kinetics.” Distaste crawled across the troll’s face. “A - [Have Cash, Will Conjure Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5086) - My lawyer has a reputation for melodrama, and today he was in fine form. “Detective Jansen! Why is my client in a prison jumpsuit?” Abraham Greenwald demanded. Jansen, huge even by troll standards, towered over the diminutive gnome. “Mr. Greenwald, his clothes were soaked with blood. They’re being held for evidence.” “Evidence.” Greenwald sniffed. “My - [The One Law Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5080) - Twenty minutes later, Vincent finally arrived at the rally point. He was wearing the face mask. The inner layer scanned his face using microsensors. The outer layer took the data and randomly changed some elements, presenting a different face to the world. The other killers were already there. Thunder grumbled across the sky. Rain fell - [The One Law Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5076) - Kowloon Edge Cafe was the most distinctive building on the block. Against a row of faded reds and greys, it was the only patch painted in black and saffron. The block stood in the shadow of the Kowloon Arcology, a strange amalgamation of concrete and metal blocks fused into an oddly coherent whole. Thick dark - [The One Law Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5074) - Vincent Lam had won the war against sleep a long time ago. Now he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, counting off the hours and the minutes before Mad Max Wong summoned him. He got bored at exactly seven minutes past midnight. Time to do something more productive, he decided. He rolled off - [H P Lovecraft and Robert E Howard: A Contrast in Horror](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5072) - When one thinks of horror in the pulp age, the figure of H P Lovecraft inevitably comes to mind. A doyen in the then-emerging field of weird fiction, he conceived of many modern horror tropes, and through his prodigious works brought to life the genre of cosmic horror. But another pulp giant also contributed immensely - [Appendix N: Robert E Howard, Masculinity and Morality](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5070) - Robert E Howard stands astride the world of American literature as a forgotten titan. With hundreds of stories and poems to his name, he built a bibliography that dwarfs any ten modern writers by the age of thirty. He wrote in a vast array of genres, from Westerns to spicy romances, light-hearted humourous tales to - [Should Homosexuality be Decriminalised in Singapore?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5068) - The repeal of Section 377 in India has sparked a debate in Singapore over Section 377A of the Penal Code, which outlaws sex between men, even if it were mutually consensual. Leading the charge to repeal is Johnson Ong, who filed a constitutional challenge against Section 377A. Ong's belief that abolishing S377A will put an end - [Lessons from Short Manga](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5064) - Japanese manga is (in)famous for long-running series. Popular titles like One Piece, Hajime No Ippo and Naruto span hundreds of chapters and dozens of volumes. Even lesser-known titles may be graced with lifespans running to the low hundreds. This phenomenon is perfectly understandable: in the cut-throat profit-driven world of Japanese manga, the easiest way to make more money is to - [The Green Bliss Part 11](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5062) - 11. The Green God The Temple of Aruk was unlike any temple James Wood had ever seen. A mossy mound four stories high, from a distance it looked like a hillock, one of countless others in the forest. But it was no natural feature: it was a face. First he saw the mouth. A gaping - [The Green Bliss Part 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5060) - 10. Godtech Nobody fucks with the Guild of the Maker. As the team flew back to the island, Wood reviewed what the STS knew about the Guild. It wasn’t a pretty picture. The Singularity Network was obsessed with transcending the human form through cybernetics and with creating the hardware and software needed to upgrade the - [The Green Bliss Part 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5058) - 9. The Mark of the Maker “You don’t do anything halfway, do you?” Commander Joshua Gregory said. Yuri Yamamoto shrugged. “We didn’t have much choice.” Gregory sighed and shook his head. “This is not good. Not for us, not for STS.” After the showdown at the Sheriff’s Department, nowhere on Moreno Island was safe for - [The Green Bliss Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5056) - 8. The Betrayal “No,” Yamamoto said. “You’re not in a position to say no,” Matthews said. The four deputies approached, hands resting on their weapons. “Iota Omicron Seven-Two-Eight is a Federal prisoner—” Wood began. “There are laws higher than human ones.” Wood narrowed his eyes. “The Maker?” Matthews nodded. “He who made the world also - [The Green Bliss Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5052) - 7. The Bargain The cyborgs had been thorough. As Fox and Tan watched the detainees, the rest of the team swept the plantation. There was nothing left but bodies and ashes. The guards had been gunned down on the spot, the house demolished with high explosives. Within the ashes of the house, the team found - [The Green Bliss Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5048) - 6. A Lot More Complicated “Samurai, Farmer,” Wood said. “Copy that. What kind of intruders?” “The crawler spotted a large boat with thirteen individuals mooring at the berth. Both the boat and the subjects have chameleon camo. We’re tracking them with EM vision and Lycan’s blessings.” The crawler had an electromagnetic imager, allowing it to - [The Green Bliss Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5046) - 5. Grass River The rest of the evening yielded no intel. Dad wouldn’t speak of what his grandfather had seen, only that it was something terrible and best left undisturbed in the forgotten corners of the swamp. Mom knew nothing of such unspeakable abominations, nor of the abominations that called themselves the Santiago Syndicate. His - [The Green Bliss Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5044) - 4. The Prodigal Son The meeting with Sheriff Kane was polite, formal, and an utter waste of time. Over lunch, Kane and James Wood discussed the Santiago Syndicate, Moreno Island and the New Gods. While the great man had demonstrated ample deference to James Wood’s august position as a representative of the Public Security Bureau, - [The Green Bliss Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5042) - 3. Homecoming It was good to be home. James Wood stepped off the ferry and into the relentless glare of the morning sun. A flock of seagulls squawked overhead, cutting above the low drone of the rumbling engines all around the docks. A gentle breeze carried the scent of the sea to his nose. The - [The Green Bliss Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5040) - The One-Eyed Man Modern medicine was a wonderful thing. The doctors patched James Wood up as best as they could. They replaced the blood he’d lost, reconstructed and reknitted the broken bone around his eye socket, extracted a bone sliver from his brain and repaired the wound. But his right eye was too far gone - [The Green Bliss Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5037) - 1. Overkill In another era, in another world, deploying assault armor on a drug bust was overkill. But in Babylon, where the streets were soaked in the blood of the innocent and the damned, built upon bricks fired in the forges of gods, assault armor was merely adequate. As he waited, James Wood ran through - [Heroes Unleashed is Live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5035) - Courageous superheroes, high tech, dazzling magic and ruthless supervillains. If this sounds up your alley, Silver Empire's Heroes Unleashed is for you. A shared universe superhero series, Heroes Unleashed will do for the written word what DC and Marvel did for comics. With superbeings inhabiting the same universe and regularly interacting with each other, Heroes Unleashed features a line of interconnected - [The Art of Turning Gangsters Into Friends](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5033) - I'd never known my grandfather. He passed away after shortly after I was born. Nonetheless, he lives on in my father's stories. One of them was about how he befriended a group of gangsters. In the early 1980s, the Cheah family operated two shophouses in Singapore, specialising in curtains and interior design. My grandfather ran - [Silicon Valley Strikes Again](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5031) - The past week has seen the giants of Silicon Valley crack down on conservative voices on their platforms. Candace Owens was locked out of Twitter on Sunday after she copied and edited old tweets from New York Times editorial board member Sarah Jeong. The following day, Infowars was banned from most social media platforms. On Thursday, Microsoft threatened to - [The Leper and the Knockoff Knife](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5029) - "Five hundred baht," the leper announced. Gun stores lined the street across the road from the Old Siam Plaza. Revolvers, pistols, rifles and shotguns peeked out behind reflective sun-bleached glass. Glock, Kel-Tec, Smith & Wesson, Colt, CZ, Remington, Beretta, a smorgasbord of firearms old and new tempted the discerning (and licensed) customer. But not everyone - [The Black Watch Part 11](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5026) - The Elect “You seem well,” Yamamoto said mildly. The cyborg nodded. “Yes. I replenished my stock of nanopaste and grafted a fresh arm to replace the damaged one. I am now at a hundred percent operational efficiency.” “And you brought friends,” Yamamoto added. “Of course. Someone launched a campaign of murder and terror against the - [The Black Watch Part 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5024) - Believer The werewolf beheld the operator. Yamamoto was a man. A weak, fragile, puny man, barely worthy of his teeth and claws. And yet… And yet, he stood unflinchingly before him, cold green eyes clear yet inscrutable, short sword held loose but at the ready, his muscles ready to explode into a symphony of motion. - [The Black Watch Part 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5022) - Wake the Blood The team split up. Wood, Fox, Tan and the bot went one way, Yamamoto, Connor and Karim went the other. This time, Yamamoto allowed Karim to take the lead. “Don’t lead us right in front of the Husk, rookie,” Connor said. Karim stalked up the escalator to the second floor and beheld - [The Black Watch Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5020) - One Target, One Team The Sentinel’s wings were clipped, but she could still drive. Karim worked the pedals with two leaden feet, breaking every traffic law and taking every turn at dangerous speeds. Dozens of voices chattered over the radio, dribbling out information piecemeal. Yamamoto sat in the shotgun seat, silently processing it all. “The - [The Black Watch Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5018) - Reconfig As the regular cops secured and cleared the Shard, the Black Watch muscled their vehicle back upright. There was no art to it, no special tricks, just sheer brute force amplified by their exoframes. All six of them pressed their hands against the roof and cab of the truck and, on Yamamoto’s command, heaved - [The Black Watch Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5016) - The Shard Karim flew. Yamamoto manned the radio. In the rear, the rest of the team reorganized and readied their kit. Karim dedicated half his brain to controlling the Sentinel, the other half monitoring the radio. “Control to all callsigns, be advised, two active killers reported at Singularity Network, Shard One. Witnesses report two suspects - [The Black Watch Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5014) - The Lotus Palace The Sentinel howled through the storm-drenched night, its sirens blending with the background choir of a hundred scattered alarms. Karim hit the gas, pushing the armored gravtruck as fast as he dared, climbing higher and higher into the night. Next to him, Yamamoto worked the radio, firing a series of orders. “All - [The Black Watch Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5012) - The Face of the Enemy “What do we do?” Karim asked. “Develop the situation,” Yamamoto said. “We need more info before we can act.” Karim returned to the living room, planting himself in an unoccupied corner. Yamamoto’s voice bounced off the walls and floated through his earpieces; the team leader was updating the team and - [The Black Watch Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5010) - Aftermath The rest of the apartment was empty. The men wiped off their sweat and turned off the eyeshields’ cameras. As Karim checked his helmet, Yamamoto turned on the lights and issued marching orders. Wood went downstairs to confirm the kill and manage the scene. Connor stepped outside to guard the scene. That left Karim - [The Black Watch Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5008) - ROE State Red The six operators regrouped in the lobby, dripping rainwater on the lacquered parquet. As the team gathered around Yamamoto, he summoned a a street map on everyone’s eyeshields. “This is going to be a straightforward assault,” Yamamoto said, “but don’t let your guard down. Husks always have a nasty surprise waiting. ROE - [The Black Watch Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5005) - A Thunderstorm in Babylon It never rains in Babylon. Usually she saw short spells of drizzles, over and done in an hour or less. But some days, like today, the heavens opened and poured out their sorrow and their wrath on the city of the damned. Karim Mustafa gripped the cyclic with both hands, gently - [Press Release: HEROES UNLEASHED by Silver Empire!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=5003) - Yesterday, publisher Silver Empire announced a new superhero project titled Heroes Unleashed. Like Marvel and DC Comics, Heroes Unleashed will feature multiple superhero series set in a sprawling world of superheroes and supervillains, written by a number of up-and-coming critically acclaimed authors. The full press release is reproduced below: -- ​SILVER EMPIRE ANNOUNCES "HEROES UNLEASHED" ​Multi-author shared universe - [The Mad Monk of Geylang Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4999) - I grab my flashlight and my knife. I click the light on, filling the room with faint white light, and flick the blade open. The metal snap reverberates in the tiny flat. Lupin and Leonhard teleport into my room. Both of them are bleeding streams of multicolored light from a dozen wounds. ‘Are you guys - [The Mad Monk of Geylang Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4995) - I spend the following morning preparing for the inevitable. When I wake up, I meditate and run through a panoply of deep breathing and energy exercises, leaving my body warm and humming. I lay out candles and water at my altar, dedicating them to the Buddha. I restrict myself to nuts and granola for breakfast, - [The Mad Monk of Geylang Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4993) - Successful magic, as with all things, follows the KISS principle: Keep it Simple, Stupid. Forget complicated rituals, rare ingredients, hours-long chants and lengthy evocations of gods and spirits. Once you understand the principles of magic, complexity is a curse. I don’t usually dabble much with rituals myself. But a case like this requires extra - [The Mad Monk of Geylang Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4989) - Over the phone, Diana spends the next hour explaining her situation. Shortly after leaving her home, Somchai’s followers began bombarding her. They filled her inbox with messages, some honeyed, some vitriolic, calling her to return and receive the monk’s forgiveness, else she be damned for uncountable lifetimes. The senior members kept calling her, either telling - [The Mad Monk of Geylang Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4985) - I free my Benchmade from my pants and pop the blade open. ‘Leonhard, Lupin, what’s going on?’ I ask. The wolf materializes before me. ‘Intruders!’ A full-throated leonine roar fills my head. I burst out the bathroom, knife by my hip, and hit the lights. A wind chime lay by the window next to my - [The Mad Monk of Geylang Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4983) - ‘You dare defy us?!’ the naga roars. I stride over to it and clear my throat. “Naga, your work is done here,” I say out loud. “You have delivered your message and you have fulfilled your duty. I bid you now to return to your home in peace.” The naga laughs, its sibilant voice filling - [The Mad Monk of Geylang Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4980) - Evil spirits always do everything in their power to disguise themselves from human ken. Natives of the astral plane, they are invisible to everyone without the second sight, and they act through means so subtle most humans can’t connect the deed back to them. But sometimes, you just can’t ignore the elephant in the room. - [Dragon Awards 2018 Recommendations](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4976) - The voting window for this year's Dragon Awards will close on 20th July. As the world's largest and most accessible SFF award, the Dragon Awards is open to all and reflects the year's greatest works of SFF. Here are my recommendations for this year's awards, based both on my personal experience and recommendations from others. - [Movie Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4974) - Ant-Man and the Wasp doesn't suck. It should be the absolute minimum requirement for movies, but this is Marvel Studios we're talking about. And while the movie doesn't suck, it doesn't inspire either. Set squarely in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp takes place two years after Captain America: Civil War. After assisting Captain America in the superhero showdown, - [LA Noire and the Tragedy of Cole Phelps](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4971) - L.A. Noire broke new ground in the history of game design. Released in 2011, L.A. Noiretransported the player to 1947 Los Angeles, seen through the eyes of Detective Cole Phelps. Mixing investigation and interviews with traditional combat and chase sequences, the game charges the player with solving myriad crimes across Los Angeles, culminating in the massive conspiracy - [A Tale of Two Aesthetics](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4969) - On Monday I visited an exhibition at Parkview Museum with my fiancee. Titled Challenging Beauty, it is features Italian contemporary art pieces taken from the private collection of the late George Wong, founder of the Museum. True to its name, the exhibition challenged beauty by presenting its exact opposite. The fancy verbiage is merely obfuscation. The - [A Blade for Monsters Part 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4966) - “You look worse every time I see you,” de Avaram remarked. Beringer could not disagree. His face was a mess, his broken finger splinted. Even now there was still a slight buzzing in his ears. Beringer rubbed his tired eyes and said, “It is done.” “You found the target?” “He’s done.” “Done?” Behind his table - [A Blade for Monsters Part 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4964) - The place used to be a boiler room. Ancient machinery rusted away along the walls, leaving a central space. In a far corner, obscured by a collection of pipes, a group of naked women whimpered. In between him and them was Simon. “Sure took your time, eh?” Simon said. “Let the women go,” Beringer said. - [A Blade for Monsters Part 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4962) - Beringer took stock of his weapons and ammunition. One pistol. Two spare magazines. Two large blocks of aetherium, one in each pants pocket. Four smaller ones in his shoulder holsters. That was all. Note to self: next time, always carry a long gun on your person or nearby. “What’s the plan?” she asked. “First we - [A Blade for Monsters Part 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4960) - Exactly thirty minutes later, Kentaris stepped out of the taxi in front of the cafe. Getting the right clothes was a bitch. She didn’t have anything that fit the description at such short notice. She just threw on her most practical outfit and backpack, and tossed on her robe over them. With the hood down - [A Blade for Monsters Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4958) - The Church taught that the Creator granted to the people the use of aether to work wonders in his name, and to do battle against the forces of the Void. But the Voidspawn adapted, learning to take on human form. To detect and defeat them, the Church granted to a select few who kept the - [A Blade for Monsters Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4956) - Back in his hotel, Beringer indulged himself in a long, hot shower. He scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed but could not wash off the taint of the Void. At least he didn’t hear the voices any more. He staggered out, just in time for the sunrise. Blinked. Blinked again. Yawned, shuffled back into the bathroom - [A Blade for Monsters Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4954) - Voidguards are all the same. Kentaris stepped back, snapping her knife up. “What do you mean, exactly?” The Voidguard’s face was a solemn mask. “By the Covenant of the Church of Creation, within the Holy City of Amarantopolis I cannot permit a witch to live.” He pressed his lips together. “Leave now, and I shall - [A Blade for Monsters Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4952) - Beringer blinked. The demon zipped to the next target and fired a black spike, smashing clean through her chest. The spike retracted just as fast, creating a vortex of soul energy that disappeared into the Void. The third witch spun around, popping off rounds at it. The demon laughed, appeared next to him and spiked - [A Blade for Monsters Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4950) - Modern technology was a wonderful thing. During the daylight hours Beringer planted tiny glasses around the necropolis, rigging them to alert him when they spotted motion. As the necropolis closed, he hid himself away inside an unused mausoleum and waited for nightfall. The taint of the Void was upon this place. Flowers lay scattered on - [A Blade for Monsters Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4945) - Alan Beringer had learned the hard way never to assume he had seen everything. It was perhaps the only reason he managed to hang on to his breakfast. The bodies, or what was left of them, were scattered across the hall. In the middle of the aisle was a heavily-gnawed arm, the flesh only mostly - [Training for Life](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4943) - When starting out in the martial arts, it's easy to get caught up in the intricacies of technique. How to bend and break someone a dozen ways, a hundred ways to throw and submit an opponent, a thousand methods of defending and countering any and all attacks. In the training hall, a student narrowing his - [Twenty Million Dollar Diplomacy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4940) - Singapore needs the world. The world doesn't need Singapore. This is the heart of Singapore's foreign policy. A tiny island surrounded by much larger neighbours, whose only resources are people and proximity to the Straits of Malacca, Singapore cannot afford to isolate or be isolated by anyone, least of all the great powers of the - [Between Pulp Wonders and Light Novel Trash](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4938) - In his last podcast, JimFear138 sat down with Rawle Nyanzi to discuss the concept of genres in a freewheeling discussion that spanned, among other things, My Hero Academia, the blurry line between science fiction and fantasy, and, at the 40:15 mark, Japanese light novels. Rawle didn't have a high opinion of most light novels. I share the - [Series Review: Writing Violence by Marc MacYoung](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4936) - Marc 'Animal' MacYoung watches rom-coms because Hollywood gets action scenes wrong. Having worked as a court-recognized expert witness, correctional institute director, bodyguard, bouncer, cooler and event security, he has decades of first-hand experience with violence and criminals. His street name came from a high-risk lifestyle filled with life-or-death encounters on the mean streets of Los - [Proper Rest is Absolutely Essential](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4934) - It's an old familiar feeling. A heavy leaden weight in my chest, an oily greasy ball suppressing my breath. A weak, wobbling heartbeat that trembles unevenly with every contraction. A constant, low-lying malaise that slows the brain and jams the nerves. Yellow lightning radiating through my chest, radiating a deep, dull ache. Too much stress. - [Appendix N Review: The Dying Earth by Jack Vance](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4932) - In the far-flung future, the Sun has reached the end of its lifespan. Under an alien sky, strange animals and plants thrive across the world, ruined cities stand in mute testimony to all-conquering Time, squalor and luxury exist side by side in decaying and decadent civilisations, and science and technology have blurred into a unified - [The Nihilism of The Punisher MAX](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4930) - The Punisher presents Marvel with a dilemma. A Vietnam veteran who lost his family during a Mafia hit, Frank Castle transformed himself into the vigilante Punisher to wage a one-man war on crime. His defining traits are his ruthless and lethality. Unlike other superheroes, he is perfectly willing to kill everyone who enters his sights. - [Deadpool 2 Movie Review](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4928) - In a world filled with increasingly bland superhero reboots and cross-overs and re-reboots, Deadpool promises fun. With its combination of R-rated humor, gratuitous violence, adult situations and a nigh-unkillable character who breaks the fourth wall at every opportunity, Deadpool is a profane yet light-hearted take on the superhero genre. Deadpool 2 offers more of the same. Which is both its strongest - [Shanghai Bleeding Part 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4924) - Paid in Full Lee had made his choice. Now he had to live with it. The moment the police released him, Lee took a complicated route home, employing aggressive turns, sudden halts and choke points to flush would-be followers. He hadn’t seen any hatchet men in his wake, but in Shanghai, hatchet men were everywhere. - [Shanghai Bleeding Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4921) - Players of the Game In the evening, after a light dinner, Lee took a long and winding path through the streets of Shanghai, avoiding cop and criminal alike. His route took him through shopping districts and wet markets, ending in an apartment block not too dissimilar to his own. On the third floor, Lee followed - [Shanghai Bleeding Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4919) - Unpaid Debts “Hello, Mr Lee,” Tang said. “Hello, Mr Tang,” Lee said. “I see you’ve made yourself comfortable.” “I make my home everywhere I go.” “Of course. I’d offer you a drink, but I’m fresh out.” “That’s fine. I helped myself to your tea earlier.” Lee closed and locked the door behind him, keeping his - [Shanghai Bleeding Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4917) - Two Birds with One Stone Sorting out the shooting took the rest of the night and most of the following morning. Sustaining themselves with coffee and cigarettes, the detectives, police and private, endured interminable interviews and waded through never-ending seas of paperwork until Wong at last pulled strings and expedited their release from the clutches - [Shanghai Bleeding Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4914) - Blood on The Bund The world penetrated China through Shanghai, and in Shanghai the world entered through the Bund. Traditional shophouses surrendered to Western edifices of columns and arches. Peoples of all nations and none walked the streets: prosperous businessmen and Western merchants in fine suits and hats, glamorous Chinese women in cheongsams, coolies and - [Shanghai Bleeding Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4912) - The Last Honest Cops Detective Sergeant Wong Lihan was one of the last honest cops in Shanghai. His home stood in mute testimony to that fact. There was no carpet. The wooden floors were exposed and battered, the varnish long faded to a dull brown, and here and there were small pits and blackened stubs. - [A High Art](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4910) - Our art is The rending of flesh; The breaking of bones; The tearing of nerves; The domination of wills. Our art is Steel scribing perfect arcs; Wood smoking on impact; Survival in a lightning shuffle; Strength through motion. Our art is Eight angles of attack; Eight million methods of combat; Infinite ways to wrestle, crush, - [The Punisher (2014) Review](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4906) - The Punisher has always held a special place in my heart. Unlike other superheroes, he has no superpowers, only his military training and experience, and a burning desire to purge the world of evil. Unlike Batman, he prefers a permanent solution to crime by slaughtering the wicked wherever he finds them. He was also my first 'proper' - [Movie Review: Avengers: Infinity War](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4903) - Thanos has come. Seeking the Infinity Stones, the omnicidal maniac intends to use their limitless power to pursue his maddened dreams of death beyond cosmic measure. Every Marvel Cinematic Universe hero must band together on an epic quest to safeguard the Infinity Stones and defeat Thanos once and for all. Or at least, it would - [What Makes a Hero?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4901) - A couple of days ago, Rawle Nyanzi made a thoughtful post about virtue and heroism. I think he hit the nail on the head by attacking the notion that heroism and villainy are subjective. Heroes can be found in every corner of the globe. From Chinese wuxia tales to Western knights-errant, classical Japanese samurai to modern day manga - [Crazy Rich Asians Versus Social Justice](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4898) - [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDhwEqxKCss&w=560&h=315] In the West, Crazy Rich Asians is praised for its diversity and its representation of minorities. In Singapore, where the story is set, it has sparked outrage from the diversity brigade over its lack of diversity and representation of minorities. This is why you cannot win the diversity game. Based on the bestselling novel, Crazy Rich - [Memoirs of A Casual Gamer](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4893) - When I was younger, video games were a significant part of my life. But when I became a man, I put away childish things. As a gamer, I consider myself fortunate to have been born in the late 80s. Having skipped the growing pains of the video game industry, I entered the world of gaming - [Cham: The Dance of Masks](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4891) - Yesterday, I witnessed a pair of traditional Cham dances at the Esplanade. Performed by oracular monks from Mangtro Monastery in Ladakh, India, the ritual dances were blessings and meditations, bringing peace to and removing obstacles from the audience and the island of Singapore. The ritual began with the preparation of the stupa. Representing the Buddha - [Movie Review: A Quiet Place](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4887) - Civilisation has fallen. Blind monsters roam the wildlands and haunt the cities, hunting for prey with their ultra-sensitive sense of hearing. Holed up in an isolated farmhouse and surrounded by monsters, a family of farmers must use their wits to eke out a living. Things come to a head when the mother becomes pregnant, forcing - [Lessons from the Freelance Life](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4880) - I didn't choose the freelance life. The freelance life chose me. Previously I wrote about my education and employment aspects, and lack thereof. The cold reality was that I was caught in a vicious cycle. No one in my industry wanted to hire fresh graduates with my specific skillsets, only people with several years of experience. - [The Death of the Singapore Dream](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4876) - I grew up on the Singapore Dream. Study hard, get good grades, go to a good school, get a good degree, get a good job. Be a doctor, lawyer, engineer, some high-status PMET with an enviable pay package and guaranteed Central Provident Fund contributions. Then, and only then, will you be successful. What they won't - [Putting Strength in the Bank](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4873) - A favourite saying among old-school bodybuilders and weight lifters is to put strength in the bank. It means stopping just short of doing your absolute maximum in a training session, to do just one or two reps short of complete failure. It's hard-won wisdom with sound basis in biology. Strength training requires gradual adaptation over weeks - [Manga Review: Yagyu Renya, Legend of the Sword Master](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4870) - The age of the warring states is over, and all of Japan is unified under the Tokugawa Shogunate. But the shadow of the Sengoku jidai still casts a pallor over the nation. Disgraced samurai and poor peasants turn to banditry and crime, and ninja stalk the shadows and untamed hills. Sword schools across the country battle to - [EPulp Sampler Volume 1: What Pulp Is Not](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4866) - While the Pulp Revolution has been around for a couple of years now, it isn't the only literary movement focused on pulp fiction. Indeed, it's not even the first. Before PulpRev came New Pulp, which Pro Se describes as "fiction written with the same sensibilities, beats of storytelling, patterns of conflict, and creative use of words and - [Instrument of Wrath](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4862) - The penthouse was a hard target. On the upper floor, armed guards peered out the windows, watching for the cops. At least two of them, with body armor and carbines and white full-face masks. On the lower floor, two more patrolled the outdoor terrace, watching over the hostages. I counted six captives, hands cuffed behind - [Book Series Review: American Praetorians](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4859) - Welcome to the collapse. The dollar has crashed, the economy is in turmoil, and the world is going to hell in a handbasket. Warlords and terrorists run rampant in the Middle East, drug cartels wage a brutal war in Mexico and the American South, the American Republic is teetering on the brink, and in the - [Censorship Won't Stop Fake News](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4857) - Singapore is seeking to regulate fake news. For the past five days the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods has held hearings on the issue, inviting experts, academics and media professionals to give oral evidence. Three more days of hearings are scheduled. As Mothership discusses, the thrust of the hearing is pointing towards a raft of legislation - [Big Data Hates You](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4855) - Google Marketplace silently and poorly implemented a ban on gun sales. Facebook ceded to political pressure to crack down on free speech, and overtly and suppresses right-wingnews sites. Twitter bans and shadowbans users for expressing the wrong views. YouTube imposed greater restrictions on gun videos, banning videos that promote or link to websites that sell guns and accessories, and videos that show - [Reflections on the Pulp Revolution](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4853) - A fortnight ago, Jesse Abraham Lucas wrote a blog post that resonated with me. He wrote about what PulpRevvers call GroffinGate, in which an Internet commentator named Groffin said (among other things): And for all your glorification of the insular and self-aggrandizing indie-literature circuit, you have no minds of comparable skill or prestige, and will not for - [PLANETARY: MARS is out!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4850) - Mars, the red planet and our closest neighbor. It has haunted our imaginations for centuries, inspiring tales of heroic deeds and courage. Mars is also the god of war and the father of fear and panic. Here are 18 tales of war and adventure set in and around the red planet. Planetary Fiction explores the - [Tactical Breathing in A High Pressure Situation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4848) - A few days ago I've had the misfortune of speaking with a most unpleasant individual. What started as an attempt at civil conversation degenerated into a one-way tirade of insults, hyperbole and outright lies. It reached the point where he uttered three lies in the space of a breath. I called him out on that, - [The Eternal Legion Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4846) - A magenta zone appeared on Knowles’ tactical display, indicating the enemy’s probable LZ. As the zone contracted, he knew where they were going to go: their original landing zone, the one place in the area of operations the Horde knew that was far away from the legion’s guns and free of obstacles. A green diamond - [The Eternal Legion Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4844) - Consciousness returned with the violence of a bomb. Wobbling away from the sleeving vat, Knowles steadied himself against a wall and blinked against the harsh white lights. This resleeve was rough. He felt...off. He was heavy and slow and foggy, and it took him a few moments to stuff himself into his uniform. As the - [The Eternal Legion Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4842) - Duty was eternal. Death was not. Knowles awoke with a start. A medic eased him out of a tube and passed him a fresh set of greens. Blearily, Knowles clothed himself. He was still alive. The brainchips must have stayed intact long enough to transmit his consciousness back to the rear. Thank God. He exited - [The Eternal Legion Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4840) - Greensborough was deserted. As the Reservists mobilized, the Regulars had evacuated the frontier towns, moving the civilians to the city of Celadon. There were no cars on the street, no lights streaming from the houses, no families or lovers taking a late-night stroll. Knowles had never seen the town so empty. The only people here - [The Eternal Legion Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4838) - Perched in her favorite spot on the sofa, Laura stared incredulously at the holo. “Dad, the green man is on,” she said. A bright and bold and unmistakably 2D image flashed at the top of the 3D holographic window. A legionary on the march. The Legion was recalling the troops. Sam Knowles clenched his fists. - [Holistic Health for the Working Writer](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4836) - We live in a new pulp era, an era that prizes proliferation and productivity. Pulp Speed, the ability to write at least 3000 words a day, preferably more, is an essential skill for the writer who wants a shot at the big leagues. Through Pulp Speed I have written in the span of two years - [The Fighting-Man of a Hundred Faces](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4834) - The fighting-man is the quintessential pulp hero. He has graced pages and screens since the dawn of the pulp age, driving stories through relentless action and raw vitality. He is an enduring archetype, and for good reason. As Bradford Walker discusses: To succeed as a fighting-man, you have to have the very qualities of character that - [SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE is a Wrap!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4832) - With the end of February comes the conclusion of SteemPulp's inaugural open call, SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE. Over the next few hours, the final submissions will come in, and the next phase will begin. SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE met and exceeded many of its objectives. Participants exercised their creative juices, wrote and published stories, helped - [Google's Stealth Censorship Campaign against Guns is A Failure](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4830) - Yesterday, without warning, Google Shopping blacklisted a series of gun-related terms. Searching for words like 'gun', 'AR-15' and 'rifle' returned no results. But, like all blanket bans, this blacklist had unintended consequences. As you can see above, 'gun' returned no results. But so did everything with 'gun' in it. Including: In its zeal to censor - [Initial Reviews for HAMMER OF THE WITCHES](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4828) - Reader reception of my latest novel, "Hammer of the Witches*, has been overwhelmingly positive. With an unbroken streak of 11 5-star reviews on Amazon, it is quite possibly one of the best stories I've written to date. Here are a few quotes: The first thing I thought upon finishing the first book of Kai Wai Cheah's - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 10](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4823) - The Magpie Bridge Sun checked his spirit sense. There was a flood of hostiles incoming. There were too many of them. And they were all converging on his position. “Barrier up!” Sun boomed. Infernal screeching and chattering drowned out his voice. Xiaohou bashed in the windows and leapt themselves into the room. All at once - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 9](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4821) - Rivers and Lakes Sun Yao knew he didn’t have much time. As soon as he stepped out of the club, Du Yang would be on the phone with his Dragon Head to confess what he had done. If only so the rest of the secret society could be ready for the sudden destruction of the - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 8](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4819) - Night Market By day Danan Street was a sleepy strip of road, home only to shophouses offering bargain-bin wares. But when night fell, as youths and families flocked to Danan Street, the city block transformed into the Danan Night Market. Brightly-lit carts packed the streets, selling dumplings, omelets, sausages, rice cakes, spring rolls, and other - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 7](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4817) - Oversight “You can’t be serious,” Sun said. “It’s official policy,” the bureaucrat said. “If a Defender uses force against a regular human, the Defender is suspended from active duty and placed on no-pay leave until the Oversight Committee clears him.” “Ms Song, it’s the Ghost Month,” Fu insisted. “You know how busy it gets. I - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4812) - Gone Stop. Breathe. Think. Qi was a delicate, transient substance. The slightest of disturbances would dissipate it. If Fang Fang had left a pearl for him in this tunnel, the jiaolong’s passage would have destroyed it. But there may be other tracks. Sun Yao walked down the length of the storm drain again, this time scrutinizing - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4810) - Hot on Her Trail He needed a full-body protective suit, complete with self-contained breathing apparatus. He made do with his suit, helmet, and a gas mask. Drawing a crowbar from interspatial storage, he lifted the manhole cover and set it aside. Sucking in a deep breath, he inhaled only the heavy odor of stiff rubber. - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4808) - Missing Sun Yao called the Central District Barrier Station. After suffering through multiple transfers, he finally reached the duty manager, where he enjoyed the privilege of asking one question. “Has Liu Fang Fang left the building?” “Yes,” the manager said. “She completed her shift and left the building at six thirty-seven.” Something must have happened - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4805) - A Day in the Life Six days. Eighty-three incidents. Twenty-two Defenders. This city was insane. The second he received his issue gear and vehicle from the Defenders’ Guild, he hit the street running and never stopped. Day became night became day became night again. Sleep was the period of non-wakefulness between callouts. At the border - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4803) - Defender and Barrier “RUN!” the cop yelled. Quick as a flash, the winged tiger pounced on the policeman, pinning him to the ground. The cop screamed, struggling under its enormous bulk. Sun raised his pistol. And the beast tore out his throat. Sun fired. A brilliant blue bolt slammed into the creature’s torso. Fire and - [Realm of Beasts Chapter 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4801) - Reunion, Interrupted Crowds annoyed him. From the moment he received his first empowerment at the Academy, he could no longer tolerate crowds. Their qi was overwhelming. It was a flood of random energy that crackled and flowed and combined and crashed into him all at once from every direction. And there was the small matter of not - [Appendix N Review: Three Hearts and Three Lions](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4799) - To Holger Carlsen, Dane by birth and engineer by trade, science rules all. The immutable laws of physics govern the universe, and there is no space in this rational world for the mysterious and the magical. Yet one fateful day, when fighting along the Resistance in the Second World War, he is knocked out in - [Reminder: SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE Open Call on 14th February](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4796) - In case you missed it, the #SteemPulp crew's first open call, SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE, opens on 14th February. A Steemit-exclusive event, SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE aims to champion pulp-style stories and identify promising talent on Steemit. The theme for SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE is love and chivalry. No genre restrictions, but we want pulp-style stories -- fun, - [The Last Post](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4794) - The harsh scent of gunpowder tickled Michael’s nose. Boots stamped through the night. Whispered voices carried across the air. The weight of a hundred eyes fell on him. Squinting, Michael peered through the dark woods, down the hill, at the moonlit valley before him. And saw no one. “Halt!” a voice boomed. Michael twitched. “Advance - [How to Make More Singaporean Writers](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4792) - Reading Sumiko Tan's interview with Tash Aw, I am reminded of the questions that haunt the Singapore writing scene. How can we produce more writers? How do we get international recognition? How do we create, in Tan's words, 'international literary successes'? From my perspective, the answer is simple: Do not be limited by Singapore. The Culture Crush - [HAMMER OF THE WITCHES is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4788) - It is my great honour and pleasure to announce the publication of HAMMER OF THE WITCHES, the second novel of my Covenant Chronicles series. -- The terror is daimonic. The sorcery is real. But enough bullets will kill even the most dangerous supernatural operator. The Hexenhammer underground has aided the operators of the Nemesis Program in their - [12 Strong and the Choice Between Drama and Realism](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4786) - 12 Strong is everything you expect from a Hollywood movie about the American military machine. Featuring tough-talking soldiers, rugged wind-swept valleys and mountains, and enough explosions and gunfire for a small war, 12 Strong accomplishes what it set out to do: honour the first American Special Forces troops in Afghanistan. Just don't treat it as a 'true story'. - [How Poor Worldbuilding Destroyed Talentless Nana](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4784) - The more fantastic a story, the greater the need for justification. To write a technothriller about a covert ops team hunting down terrorists, all you have to do is say that the government created new counterterrorist organisation with the best training and technology to pursue evildoers, and a reader will happily lap it up. But - [Cheah on GeekGab!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4782) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MURClVyPWMk Yesterday I had the great honour and pleasure to appear on GeekGab yesterday to discuss Steemit and the Pulp Revolution with Daddy Warpig and John McGlynn. Alas, Internet reception is spotty in my area: there was a lot of static and I got cut out halfway through the interview for a few minutes. Regardless, - [The Shanghai Songbird Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4780) - A volley of shots rang out. A fiery hammer slammed into Lee’s abdomen. He coughed, going straight down. His vision blurred, his chest burned, wet heat squirted out of the wound. He saw the Songbird turn and run. He raised the Nambu and fired. Missed. She pointed her weapon over her shoulder and squeezed off - [The Shanghai Songbird Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4778) - “I’m still not giving you a gun,” Wong said. Lee blew on his cold hands. “I didn’t ask for one.” “I can hear the thought in your head.” “Hey, we’re just seeing who shows up tonight. No need for shooting, right?” Wong grunted sullenly. Recruiting Wong had been simple enough. Lee simply waited outside his - [The Shanghai Songbird Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4776) - Picking Tang out was easy. He was the only customer in the teahouse with a contingent of heavily-muscled goons. They strolled in with the self-assurance of tigers, and the other customers either greeted them or looked down into their cups. Tang and three men entered the sole private room in the teahouse. The remaining four - [The Shanghai Songbird Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4771) - There was just enough light inside the nightclub to see the stage and nowhere enough to peer into the hearts of men. Lee placed a tiny mirror on the table, no larger than a compact makeup case, trying to make the best of the dim candlelight behind him. Wong didn’t mind. But in their corner - [The Shanghai Songbird Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4767) - Thomas Lee had read too many Western pulps to know how this would end. “Miss Ouyang,” he said, “I sympathise with your situation. I really do. But this looks like a job for the police.” Ouyang Li Yan didn’t frown. She was too glamorous for that. Her face melted under her thin mask of mascara - [SteemPulp Open Call: SWORDS OF SAINT VALENTINE](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4763) - Saint Valentinus of Terni was a priest, a healer, and a hieromartyr. As a priest, Saint Valentine offered aid and succor to Christians in a time when persecution of Christians was a long-standing policy of the Roman Empire. As a healer, he restored vision to the blind daughter of Judge Asterius, who had held him - [What Do Otaku Readers Really Want?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4749) - The Japanese publishing industry is getting predictable. Every other week, there's a brand new series starring a Japanese high schooler who is mysteriously transported to a fantasy world. There he promptly gains overwhelming powers, the antagonism of the local Demon King, and the affections of a harem of cute, buxom, mature, demihuman and underage girls. - [Front Sight](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4745) - There are three of them. Brown cardboard targets, man size. There's a fourth figure, slightly shorter, in front of and between the second and the third targets. His mind tells him a different story. The targets are Thugs One, Two and Three, black-masked and leather jacketed, screaming obscenities and waving guns. The last one is - [Unreview: The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4740) - When I first heard of The Tensorate Series, alarm bells rang in my head. The core concepts sound cool: A crypto-Asian continent-spanning nation fracturing at the seams, exotic monsters roaming the wilds of a strange world, Tensors who use magic based on the classic Chinese elements and the Force, a pair of children who will shape - [The Year of PulpRev](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4737) - In the dankest corners of the Internet, on message boards and Discord servers, on digital and legacy media platforms, in books and films and television and games, there is a war. A war not against flesh and blood, but against the gatekeepers, against the degenerates, against the secret kings of the cultural spheres, against corruption - [Directions for 2018](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4731) - I don't like writing New Year resolutions. At least, I won't speak of them. Announcing your goals, resolutions, or plans tricks your brain into feeling that you've already accomplished your aims, thus reducing your drive to accomplish your goals. Instead, I'm going to discuss my directions for 2018. Both in my personal capacity as an - [How to Overcome Mental Resistance with Breathing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4728) - I don't procrastinate. I don't allow myself to dilly-dally. When I say something, it shall be done. I've been told it's an uncommon ability. But like all skills, it is a trait that can be cultivated and integrated into your being. When you're on the verge of making a difficult decision, one of great weight - [Maintain Cohesion in Your Fiction Series](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4724) - What makes for an excellent fiction series? For that matter, what defines a series? Persistent characters who develop over multiple stories. Conflicts, drama and story arcs that span multiple books. Story-critical concepts that underpin the series, be it magic, high technology, forensic science, and so on. Exploration and expansion of these concepts to facilitate the - [2017 in Retrospect](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4720) - I joined Steemit a year ago. It was easily one of the best decisions I've ever made. Steemit has changed my life for the better in so many ways. It incentivizes regular content creation, content that adds significant value to readers. Where most of the Internet rewards clickbait and fluff, here's a barrier-free site where - [PulpRev Invades Steemit!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4716) - Comrades! As the Herald of PulpRev, the first among our number to plant our flag on Steemit, I do declare that Steemit is perfect for our needs. It is virgin ground, ripe for the taking, filled with eager audiences hungry for our work, ready to yield untold rewards for the bold, the creative and the - [Clarity on Cryptocurrency](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4713) - With all the sturm und drang about cryptocurrency in the mainstream media lately, I think it's high time for some clarity on cryptocurrency. I am not, by any means, an experienced investor and this should not be considered investment advice of any sort. I am, however, coming from the perspective of a science fiction writer, - [Singapore Censors Push Amendments to Films Act](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4707) - The Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore is seeking amendments to the Film Act. Among sundry amendments like classification of video games and clarification of films licensing, the IMDA wishes to 'enhance' its investigation and enforcement powers. To quote from the relevant section: Today, the Films Act provides IMDA and Police with powers to enter - [The Future Form of Fiction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4704) - Recently, Brian Niemeier argued that success in indie publishing demands a prolific release schedule. This, in turn, demands short novels. I think he's right. The maths is simple. A 50,000 word novel can be edited, formatted and published much faster than a novel of three times the length. An author who releases four books a - [Redemption Road Part 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4699) - “What do you mean, he’s gone?” The innkeeper flipped his record book around, showing it to Freeman. “Mr Johnson and his party checked out late last night. Right after the incident at the hospital. See?” Freeman checked the log. Jude Johnson and his drivers had checked out at 0345, about an hour after Freeman and - [Redemption Road Part 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4696) - The stairs led to what was once an underground train station. Now it was a transition zone for people wishing to enter and exit Metro City. People packed the train platform, anxious and crying and commiserating. When the Metro City troopers descended, the people loosed a hearty cheer. Bates, Knight and Freeman didn’t join - [Redemption Road Part 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4693) - Johnson had a fleet of four biodiesel-powered trucks. Clean and cool and quiet. Impossible to find outside the big cities and major polities. He had stocked his vehicles with fuel cans, leaving precious little space for cargo. Or people. The men spread themselves into two teams. Freeman and Sharpe in the lead vehicle with Johnson, - [Redemption Road Part 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4688) - The men removed the bodies, dug a firebreak around the house and set the house ablaze with an incendiary grenade. The wood burned, taking the Bloom with it. Freeman dug out his radio and tuned it to a clear channel. “Sheriff Hart, this is Freeman. Do you copy, over?” “Freeman, Hart here. How’s it going?” - [Redemption Road Part 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4685) - Something Something stirred in the dark. Dropping to a knee, William Freeman powered up his helmet-mounted fusion vision goggles. The machine combined night vision and thermal imaging into a single image, delivering it to the heads-up display over his left eye. He saw it. The Bloom. It was a thing that defied classification. It - [Publishing Announcement: INVINCIBLE](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4683) - In an Empire beset by internal rebellion and ferocious yaomo, the elite Shenwujun stand ready to defend human civilization. Among the Shenwujun there is none finer than Ensign Zhang Tianyou, who earned the nickname Zhang the Invincible. During a mission to quash a nascent rebellion, a Shenwujun detachment discovers evidence that the Grand Union is - [Appendix N Profile: Robert E Howard](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4668) - In the 1930s, the glory days of the pulp age, Robert E Howard cast a formidable shadow. The creator of Conan and Solomon Kane, a legendarily prolific writer with hundreds of stories and dozens of poems to his name, he molded the genres of weird fiction and sword and sorcery, leaving his mark forever. In - [Be Still Every Day](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4662) - As important as it is to move every day, making time to be still is of equal importance. It is the quiet yin to the yang of activity, the vessel that holds the fire of creation. Without stillness you can only hope to achieve half your potential. The modern world is antithetical to cultivating mindfulness. - [Chasing Literary Awards Won't Promote Singlit](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4659) - Epigram Books, a Singaporean publisher, is aiming for the Man Booker Prize. As part of its goal, it has opened an imprint in the United Kingdom, so that its offerings will be eligible for the Prize. Founder Edmund Wee believes that the publicity generated from such an achievement "would be a turning point for people - [Night Demons Part 6 of 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4656) - Dozens, hundreds, thousands of minor parasites swarm all over me. They are gnats and centipedes and biting worms, landing all over my aura. They crawl and wriggle and bite and chew and tear. My skin begins to itch, and my eyes flutter involuntarily. Easiest option is to run them through with cold steel. But there’s - [Night Demons Part 5 of 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4654) - It’s too bright and too crowded for me to act. A hostile entity wouldn’t feel constrained by people, but if things went dynamic and if I had to perform an exorcism… I don’t need the attention. I make a sharp right turn, heading down a narrow alley between a 7-Eleven and Ramen Bar Suzuki. - [Night Demons Part 4 of 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4652) - When fighting the forces of darkness, it pays to have bright powers on your side. At dawn, I dress in bright, clean and comfortable clothing. I ring my singing bowl and clear out the remaining negativity. Light three sticks of incense and place them in a brazier on my work table. Lower my - [Night Demons Part 3 of 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4650) - When going to war, first build an invincible defence. And I am strongest at my home. Home is a studio apartment a few minutes away from the Farrer Park MRT station. Unlike most single Singaporeans my age, I live alone, well away from my parents. It’s for their safety. They’re normies, and given - [Night Demons Part 2 of 6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4648) - I glance around the room. The miasma redoubles in strength. The Lums' spirit guides are fleeing to different realms for cover. But there is no overt sign of the evil spirit. I’d have to flush it out. “Vanessa, please let me see your hand,” I say. She holds out her arm. - [Ethereum Cofounder Vitalik Buterin Supports Legalization of Possessing Child Porn](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4643) - Today Vitalik Buterin, cofounder of Ethereum, tweeted in support the legalisation of the possession of child pornography. His tweets, now deleted, are reproduced below. (Original sources for the first and second pictures.) These statements are outrageous. By legalising the possession of child pornography, it will cause demand for child porn to spike. Producers - [Night Demons (Part 1 of 6)](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4639) - Stepping out the car, I sense the miasma. A black, viscous, oily fog that clings to my skin and tries to eat into my flesh, my bones, my soul. My shield holds. For now. My Uber drives off, oblivious. A tiny bit of miasma lingers on the car. Nothing to worry about; the late afternoon - [Move Every Day](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4627) - Humans are not meant to be sedentary creatures. Rooted to a chair and hunched over a screen for hours on end is a sad state of affairs. This stagnation of body, mind and spirit leads to a dead end of poor posture and health, chronic negativity, and low energy. But it's the default position for - [The Pulp Speed Transformation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4621) - NaNoWriMo challenges participants to write 50,000 words in a month. An enormous undertaking for any writer, especially hobbyists and newcomers. But having written at Pulp Speed for the last two months, the NaNo challenge suddenly seems diminished. In September I wrote about 75000 words. In October I clocked 108000. In the past 4 days, 17000 - [5 Lessons from the Slush Pile](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4609) - Over the past couple of months, I volunteered as a slush reader for the PulpRev Sampler Anthology. With a submissions window of just seven days, writers had to produce punchy pulpy pieces of 750 to 1500 words. For a project with little fanfare and such a short reading period, the response was phenomenal. With submissions - [Thor: Ragnarok and the Rejection of Myth](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4585) - The rot of Marvel Comics has finally crept into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Not just the rot of Social Justice -- the rot of mediocrity. On paper the movie sounds awesome. Thor, the God of Thunder, must defend Asgard and the Nine Realms from Hela, the all-powerful Goddess of Death. However, he is stranded on - [SIGNAL BOOST: Lyonesse Volume 1 by Silver Empire](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4579) - I am pleased to announce that Silver Empire has published Lyonesse Volume 1, a collection of 16 short stories published through its Lyonesse service. For the low, low price of just USD $6.99 a year, Lyonesse delivers a short story every week to its subscribers' inboxes, plus a bonus story over the holidays. Volume - [SIGNAL BOOST: The City and the Dungeon by Matthew P. Schmidt](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4574) - Writer and fellow Steemian Matthew P. Schmidt has submitted his latest novel, The City and the Dungeon, and Those who Dwell and Delve Within, to Amazon's traditional publishing arm, Kindle Scout. If he gathers enough nominations for the next thirty days, Amazon will (presumably) buy the rights to the novel, and everyone who nominated it - [INVINCIBLE Part Seven: Zhang Wudi](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4571) - Zhang ran. Arms pumping, chest heaving, he propelled himself down the road that led to Sujiang’s northern gate. Fire and smoke erupted in the city, rising above the walls. Bodies lay piled by the road by the dozens. Civilians streamed past him, carrying children and valuables in their arms. He kept running, brushing past everyone - [INVINCIBLE Part Six: Yaomo](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4566) - Leaving the monks at the temple, Zhang donned his arms and set off again. Again he marched at a man-killing pace, consuming qi to keep himself going. But this time, every so often, he paused to massage his callused feet and check for injuries. He hadn’t healed completely from his last march, and if he - [INVINCIBLE Part Five: Ritual](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4562) - Lee beheld Zhang with eyes aflame, and when he spoke he struggled to keep the anger leaking from his voice. “Ensign Zhang, you dueled a martial artist on the street, killing him. This provoked his friends, who attacked you, forcing you to kill them all. Is that correct?” “It was an assassination attempt. Mojian Han - [INVINCIBLE Part Four: Beat the Grass to Scare the Snake](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4557) - Zhang spent the rest of the night cleaning up. After retrieving his weapons, Zhang inspected his chest. The armor had absorbed the brunt of the blow, leaving only a painful bruise. He grabbed a bottle of medicinal oil from his ring and rubbed the oil into the bruise. The battered muscle warmed up rapidly; a - [INVINCIBLE Part Three: The Destroyer of Evil](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4553) - Zhang marched overland, timing himself to arrive at the forest after dark. When he arrived, he donned his suit of black paper armor and drew his crossbow. Short of an enemy army, he was ready for anything. Suchen Temple lay at the summit of a steep hill. It was an intimidating climb for most people. - [The Whisper Campaign Against SFF Author Jon Del Arroz](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4542) - Jon Del Arroz, a Dragon Award nominated science fiction and fantasy author, is facing a whisper campaign of blackballing, harassment, threats and ostracism. His crime: exposing the institutional sexism of the SFF short fiction field. On 8 September, Del Arroz published a blog post highlighting the rampant misandry within the premier SFF magazines. He discovered - [INVINCIBLE Part Two: Sujiang](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4537) - The Shenwujun labored through most of the night, picking through the remains of the rebel camp. In the fullness of time, the internal troops regrouped and returned, but by then there was nothing more for them to do. The Shenwujun made camp upriver of the rebel camp, and bedded down for the few hours to - [INVINCIBLE Part One: Blood and Fire](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4533) - Zhang Tianyou hated working with internal troops. The Shenwujun did all the hard work, while they claimed all the glory. Shenwujun like him. Zhang lowered to a knee, steadying himself against a hardy tree. By the light of the crescent moon, he saw the rebel encampment, two li away, situated by a burbling river. Defended - [The Quest for Pulp Speed](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4525) - A little over a month from now, thousands of writers will once again attempt the NaNoWriMo challenge. Once again, many will fall. NaNoWriMo is simple: write fifty thousand words in thirty days. An admirable goal, and a challenging one. For the past ten years, the success rate hovered between a high of 19% in 2009 - [Publishing Announcement: INVINCIBLE by Kit Sun Cheah](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4520) - In an Empire beset by internal rebellion and ferocious yaomo, the elite Shenwujun stand ready to defend human civilization. Among the Shenwujun there is none finer than Ensign Zhang Tianyou, who earned the nickname Zhang the Invincible. During a mission to quash a nascent rebellion, a Shenwujun detachment discovers evidence that the Grand Union is - [Signal Boost: WAR DEMONS by Russell Newquist](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4514) - After five years of war in Afghanistan, Michael Alexander returns home a broken man, haunted by the ghosts of war. Returning to Georgia, he tries to start a new life. But something evil followed him from the mountains of Afghanistan, it's tearing up everything in its path, and Michael is squarely in its sights. To - [The Current State of Alt-Tech](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4504) - The oligarchs of Silicon Valley -- Facebook, Twitter and Google -- have pursued and continue to pursue policies of censorship and demonetisation of controversial personalities who use their platforms. They don't have your interests at heart, only their vision of a world under their thumb. Last year, the Alt-Tech promised a revolution. These platforms aimed - [Can Steemit Revitalise Short Fiction?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4498) - A century ago, pulp magazines were the popular entertainment of the working class. Cheap and ubiquitous, the pulps brought exciting tales of action and adventure to the everyman. Fiction was no longer the pursuit of the leisure class; it was now within the reach of regular people. And the secret was length. Back, popular fiction - [I Remember](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4488) - I remember a dream of an airplane, falling sharply through the sky. I remember carts barrelling down the aisles and the floor falling sharply beneath me. I remember the screaming. It was the night of 10 September 2001. The following night, I understood what the dream meant. I remember the phone call from a friend - [TWO LIVES: Part 5 of 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4483) - Two scenes in a row. That was intense. I wiped the sweat from my brow—and then I realized I was mimicking the upwards parry Akira had used. My heart thumped in my chest. Blood pumped to my fists and feet. I had to get a grip. That battle was long in the past. I had - [TWO LIVES: Part 4 of 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4475) - My heart thudded sharply in my chest. I hadn’t seen that coming. Cold crept through my chest. I breathed through it, focusing blanking out everything but the cycling of air through my lungs. A shard of grief embedded in my heart. Centuries removed from the event, I still felt the echo of the trauma; I - [TWO LIVES: Part 3 of 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4470) - I escorted the merchant home, glaring at everyone who dared to stand in my way. The commoners took one glance at my daisho and the blood on my clothes, and hurried to make way. No one wanted to be the next to die. The moment the client opened the door, I practically shoved him through. - [TWO LIVES: Part 2 of 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4463) - I sat by the river and stared at the water. It seemed still, but the leaves drifting across the surface betrayed a hidden current, illuminated in the amber hue of the setting sun. No luck finding work. My funds were running low, and I couldn't remember the last time I ate anything more substantial than - [TWO LIVES: Part 1 of 5](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4457) - Summer in Hokkaido was unlike the summers I have known. In Singapore, so close to the equator, summers were hot and humid, the sun so fierce it glazed the world in subtle hues of orange. Here, the air was cold and crisp, so cool I had to keep my jacket on all the time. The - [Dragon Awards 2017 Winners](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4449) - The results of the Dragon Awards 2017 are in. The winners have my heartiest congratulations for producing such fine stories, and the voters have my thanks for making the Dragon Awards the premier fan awards in science fiction and fantasy. While my own novel, NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS did not win the award, against a - [When In Doubt, Go Epic](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4442) - Whenever I plan a story, I occasionally run into hang-ups. The setting isn't coherent, the technology and/or magic system isn't evenly applied, the characters aren't plausible, the plot lacks history or context, the stakes are too small. In every single instance, they are resolved by the use of a simple expedient: make everything bigger, brighter - [The War on Truth and Free Thought](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4435) - The Bible posits that the world is in the grip of the Father of Lies. With each passing day I am inclined to agree. Today there is a war on truth and free thought. It is a war fought on the airwaves, in the newsroom, on social media, in print and in lectures. It is - [6 Vital Skills for High-Functioning Autistics](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4421) - If you're high-functioning autistic, there's a high chance you're starting life on the back foot. You may have significant social difficulties, poor motor skills, sensory issues and other deficits. It's not your fault, it's just how your brain is wired. But the real kicker is that to most people, you appear mostly normal -- if - [Drama at the Dragon Awards](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4416) - The Dragon Awards made a colossal mistake: it caved to the whims of writers who disrespected their fans. Alison Littlewood and N.K. Jemisin withdrew their novels from the Dragon Awards nomination. John Scalzi, who initially withdrew, decided to withdraw his withdrawal. The former two claimed they were being used as proxies in the culture war. - [Between SocJus and PulpRev at the Dragon Awards](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4404) - The science fiction and fantasy community is divided by a long-standing culture war. On one side are the social justice warriors and their allies, who wish nothing more than to churn out thinly-disguised propaganda and shut down everyone who disagrees with them. On the other are PulpRev, Superversive, the Sad and Rabid Puppies and those - [Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Harem](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4393) - Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata is an anime all otaku can resonate with. Season 1 follows the ups and downs of a high school indie game development group, with a mix of humour, harem hijinks and character interplay. Season 2 exchanges the humour for drama, with interpersonal tension and conflict threatening to tear the group apart. - [NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS has been nominated for the Dragon Awards!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4387) - I am pleased to announced that my novel, NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS, has been nominated for the 2017 Dragon Awards under the Alternate History category. The Dragon Awards seeks to represent the finest works in science fiction and fantasy, giving all of fandom a voice in selecting the best books, games, TV series and movies. - [SIGNAL BOOST: The Ronin Genesis by Steven Hildreth Jr.](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4383) - I've known Steven for 13 years and counting. Back then, we were newcomers on the writing scene with more ambition than skill. Nonetheless, we kept each other going over the years, even though I veered off into science fiction and fantasy while he stayed a purebred thriller writer. With THE RONIN GENESIS, I can confidently - [No One is Obliged to Read You](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4379) - I approach writing as a craftsman. I produce stories for sale on the market. I measure my success in book reviews, social media engagements and royalties. My goal is to entertain my readers, and if I can communicate deeper ideas in my stories, all the better. For professional writers, it doesn't matter if a story - [Trump's Decision on Transsexuals in the Military is A Wise Choice](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4363) - I was a soldier. I served for two years in the Singapore Armed Forces. My duties involved administration for my unit, focusing on personnel issues. My unit was deployed operationally to hunt for an escaped terrorist. Today I am still liable for reservist duties in a similar capacity. Based on my experiences, I can unequivocally - [Book Review: Six Expressions of Death](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4357) - Six Expressions of Death is a solid debut work from Castalia House author Mojo Mori. Set in 16th century Japan, the story begins with the murder of a traveller on the road between the city of Morijuku and the village of Iwagi. When Daikawa Tadashi, a poor but noble samurai, investigates the murder, he quickly discovers - [The Dark Tower Movie Won't Come Close to the Dark Tower Novels](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4354) - [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjwfqXTebIY&w=560&h=315] Watching the Dark Tower movie trailer, I understood immediately that Hollywood had once again taken a beloved franchise and warped it into something barely recognisable. Part of these changes are necessary. Adapting a novel into a movie requires requires the filmmakers to make massive changes to fit the new medium. It is a - [How to Write Master Martial Artists](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4344) - Everywhere he goes people whisper his name with fear and reverence. Bandits are either terrified of him or conspire to kill him. He walks with a palpable aura--either of carnage or of peace. And whenever he draws his sword, he leaves broken and bloodied bodies in his wake. Miyamoto Musashi takes on the Yoshioka School - [Martial Mastery: From the Fundamentals to the Complex](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4338) - Ikken hissatsu. One strike, sure kill. It is the standard karate practitioners aspire to: to finish the fight in a single blow. Combative oriented martial arts echo this principle. Jeet Kune Do aims to swiftly end fights with decisive strikes. Self-defence instructors advise students to defeat an attacker with three moves or three seconds. - [Anime Retrospective: Record of Lodoss War](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4327) - Record of Lodoss War belongs to a different era of Japanese anime, and indeed of storytelling. There are no obligatory fanservice moments, no in-jokes aimed at the audience, no audience surrogates in the form of bland high school otaku protagonists, no injections of unnecessary modern political messaging. Record of Lodoss War does one thing, and one thing only: - [The Unnatural World](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4311) - The modern world is unnatural. Edifices of stone and steel and glass and concrete surround us. Electricity comes with the flick of a switch, water at the turn of a tap. Food is superabundant, and the only predators we need fear are human. Everywhere safety is engineered into every facet of daily living. Life is - [How I Wrote a Novel in 12 Weeks](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4308) - 135456 words. 12 weeks. A full novel in 3 months. By pulp standards it’s sluggish, but it’s the fastest I’ve ever completed a novel of this length. And I was juggling a full-time work schedule and regular blog posts alongside it. If there’s one thing I understand about the writing industry, it’s that if you - [A Deeper Look at LGBT Discrimination in Singapore](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4303) - Is there discrimination against LGBT persons in Singapore? Activists and bloggers insist there is. Janelle Faye, a transgender Singaporean, arguesthere isn't. I think the truth is somewhere down the middle. In recent history, the authorities have not launched sweeps targeting LGBT people. There are no laws punishing people for the crime of being non-heteronormative. Sex change - [7 Writing Lessons from Wonder Woman](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4290) - Wonder Woman doesn't suck. After reading all the rave reviews and the recommendations about the movie, actually seeing it felt like a disappointment. Wonder Woman isn't a terrible film by any measure, it's just that I have a high bar for entertainment. Indeed, it accomplished what it set out to do: tell a straightforward superheroine - [How I Deadlifted Twice My Bodyweight in Half a Year](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4286) - Having done all manner of bodyweight exercises for the past eight years, I wanted to try something new. My gains had tapered off, and doing more of the same wouldn't help. I decided to sign up for a gym and try weightlifting. My plan was to run StrongLifts 5x5 and see where it took me. - [My Winding Road To PulpRev](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4279) - I wasn't always a science fiction and fantasy reader. Despite what my bibliography says, in some ways I still am not. At least, not the kind of reader most SFF is aimed at. As a child I read voraciously, but I was always drawn to world myths, folklore and fairy tales. One day I would - [Anime Analysis: GATE - Thus the JSDF Fought There!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4256) - GATE - Thus the JSDF Fought There had all the ingredients for awesomeness: modern military technology, high fantasy setting, magic, politics, war. And squandered everything. The anime started promisingly enough. A mysterious gateway opens in Ginza. An army of legionnaires, orcs and dragons pours out. The Japanese Self Defense Force responds decisively, defeating the invasion. - [The Art of Preventing Procrastination](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4254) - I've been told procrastination is a major hurdle people have to overcome. I wouldn't know about that: I never had a problem with procrastination. I'm not going to discuss how to overcome procrastination. There are plenty of articles out there that teach you how to do that. What I am going to articulate here is - [Notes On Navigating An Overwhelming World](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4243) - [Terrorism Cannot be Stopped by Banning Hardware](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4224) - Yesterday I was at the Downtown Core, the financial, commercial and cultural heart of Singapore. This was home to banks, shopping centres, hotels, areas of cultural interest. Five minutes from a major train station, I entered a convenience store and found a box cutter on sale for $2.50. A distant relative of the same box - [Stand Tall, Speak the Truth, Never Let Your Enemies Drag You Down](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4216) - To endure is to win. To endure is to be patient. To endure is to shelter. To endure is to cultivate. That which endures, survive. The inner spirit is untouchable and unbreakable. -Ivan Throne, The Nine Laws Last week my fiancee wanted to write a post about her struggles with eczema. But she was afraid. - [An Amateur's Notes on Cryptocurrency](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4195) - Like most people I know I heard of Bitcoin only when it was too late to profit spectacularly from it. Even so, cryptocurrency rarely popped up in my local newspapers, except in highly technical articles buried in the business or finance pages, or whenever someone made a killing off crypto -- or when crypto is - [Anime Analysis: Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4183) - Party wipe in the first five minutes. If the anime adaptation of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash were set in a realistic and unforgiving world, the main cast would have been slaughtered in the first fight scene. Fortunately for them, they somehow blunder their way out and live to fight another die. Unfortunately, the sequence - [The Way of Non-Attachment](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4176) - In my last post I discussed how hedonism leads to emptiness and suffering. Hedonism is a self-destructive mindset born from attachment to sensory pleasure. The antidote is the cultivation of non-attachment. In Buddhist thought, craving (tanha) creates attachment (upadana) whose fruit is suffering (dukkha). If you fail to achieve what you desire, you experience suffering. - [Hedonism and Its Discontents](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4162) - Never before in human history have so many entertainments been available to so many. If you can read this article, you have Internet access; with the Internet alone you have access to an unlimited amount of games, movies, videos, music, information, cat pictures and other distractions. The modern world offers even more: hard partying and - [Tired Tropes: It’s Only A Flesh Wound](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4130) - You’ve seen versions of the scene a hundred times before. Our Hero is engaged in a gunfight with The Villain. The Villain takes a potshot at Our Hero. Our Hero staggers. When his sidekick catches up with Our Hero and asks after him, Our Hero declares, “It’s only a flesh wound”. In the next scene, - [Can Blockchains Revolutionise Social Welfare Programmes?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4119) - Governments contemplating social welfare programmes have to wrestle with two seemingly irreconcilable problems. On one hand, voters demand social welfare programmes to take care of the poor, sick, elderly and marginalized. On the other, governments need to prevent welfare spending from ballooning extravagantly and ensure that recipients spend the money wisely. In this article, I - [Space Opera is about Opera](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4109) - Tor launched #SpaceOperaWeek to promote and discusse space opera. In 24 hours, the Pulp Revolution launched a memetic revolution and claimed the hashtag for its own. Now, practically every hashtag and Internet discussion about #SpaceOperaWeek is dominated by the PulpRev folks. This stunning success exposes a hard truth: Tor has no idea what space - [Book Unreview: The Gatekeepers by Nuraliah Norasid](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4094) - I try not to review books I don't finish. But some books are so terrible that they serve as a prime example of how not to write. The Gatekeepers by Nuraliah Norasid was the winner of the 2016 Epigram Books Fiction Prize. The prize 'promotes contemporary Singapore creative writing and rewards excellence in Singapore literature' - [Initial Reviews for NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4092) - Reviews for NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS are rolling in, and reader reception has been highly positive. Here are a few samples from Amazon: Ray, May 5, 2017 Great book, that took a surprising twist on the usual mixing of Urban Fantasy and Military cloak and dagger genre, plus a bit of alternate history. I'll need - [How to Write Someone Else's Martial Arts](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4075) - Fight scenes are fun. Fight scenes featuring believable techniques are even more fun. If you already know martial arts, incorporating them should be easier. But what if you don't? Or if the story calls for characters to use other martial arts you haven't studied? It's a question I faced when writing recent stories. My latest - [Book Release: NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4070) - I am proud to announce the publication of my latest novel, NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS by Castalia House. It is the first entry of the Covenanter Chronicles series. Here is the blurb: -- The post-World War III world is a radically different place where magic and technology have become one in the violent struggle for - [How Realistic Should A Story Be?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4059) - On Facebook, indie thriller group Brass Catchers asked the following question: What may strike me as an offensive oversight of a key feature or fact may not even register on another reader’s radar. So >how much do we authors need to worry about getting every aspect right? Are we actually limiting ourselves by fixating >on - [Thoughts on the Isekai Genre](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4042) - Fantasy writers need to solve two problems. They need to create a believable fantasy world significantly different from ours that allows for fantasy elements. But this world and the people who live in it can't be so fantastic that they alienate their audience. The isekai story offers a neat solution. 'Isekai' is Japanese for 'other - [You Are Not Your Weaknesses](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4031) - It's never been easier to define yourself as a disabled minority. Autism, PTSD, agoraphobia, rape survivor, any and all of a long litany of modern-day maladies. You don't even need an actual medical diagnosis; just slap the label on yourself, proclaim it to all and sundry as loudly and as often as you can, and - [Anime Analysis: Demi-chan wa Kataritai](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4011) - Cute monster girls doing cute things. It's tempting to summarise Demi-chan wa Kataritai (Interviews with Monster Girls) with that line, but the anime puts a fresh spin on an otherwise well-worn trope. An adaptation of the manga of the same name, Demi-chan wa Kataritai is a slice of life anime that posits the existence of - [Marital Rape Laws Expose Men to Abuse](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=4005) - Two days ago, the Straits Times reported an impending review of Singapore’s law on marital rape to “ensure that married women have the same protection against violence as unmarried women”. Singapore’s legal code is built on English Common Law, which includes immunity from prosecution for men who have sex with their wives. Removal of - [Can post-cyberpunk fiction be superversive?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3995) - "The important part in Cyberpunk is just that: it's not the technology, it's the feel. It's getting that dark, gritty, rain-wet street feeling but at the same time getting that rock and roll, lost and desperate and dangerous quality. Cyberpunk is about that interface between people and technology, but not in that transhumanist way where - [Retrospective: Ghost in the Shell (1995)](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7226) - When I first watched Ghost in the Shell, I was impressed by the fluid animations, the detailed visuals, the melancholic atmosphere and the slick action scenes. A dozen years later, after watching it again, I picked up the finer points my teenage self didn't: the post-cyberpunk ethos, the characterisation, the tight storytelling, and most of - [5 Life Lessons for Autists](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3961) - I won’t call myself an autist. Not yet. I don’t have a formal diagnosis. Nonetheless, I display many of the classic signs of autism: deficits in speech and communication, repetitive behaviours and rigid rituals, hyper-focus on areas of interest. And the Big Three: poor verbal and non-verbal communication skills, impaired social skills, hyper-reactive senses. I - [Amos Yee and the Freedom to Offend](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3954) - Yesterday 18-year-old Singaporean Amos Yee was granted asylum in the United States, throwing a spotlight on freedom of speech in Singapore. Judge Samuel Cole called him a "young political dissident", and the ruling claimed that Yee has a "suffered past persecution" and has a "well-founded fear of future persecution". Yee has been jailed twice, once - [Behind the Story: WE BURY OUR OWN](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3948) - Writing stories is a gruelling experience. Mostly it's like mining: you show up, you punch away at the keyboard, and you keep at it until the task is done. Sometimes it's like squeezing blood from a stone, and most of the blood will be yours. And sometimes, the words flow unceasingly from a source higher - [Writing Through the Churn](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3943) - No matter how bad a story may get, you have to write through the churn. - [Movie Review: A Silent Voice](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3934) - A Silent Voice is an excellent movie marred by flawed execution. - [Disney's Gay LeFou is Tokenism](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3932) - LeFou of Disney's 1991 animated film Beauty and the Beast is the lackey of Gaston, the main antagonist. By turning LeFou into a gay man for the 2017 live action adaptation, Disney has sunk ever deeper into the abyss of social justice. Through this act of mutilation, Disney has demonstrated its contempt for the original - [How to Bring Out Your Characters' Personalities in Action Scenes](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3930) - Everybody loves action scenes. The thrill of the fight, the kinetic spectacle and suspense combine to create a high emotional beat in the story. Action scenes are also a great way to show the reader what kind of person a character is. To elevate action scenes to the next level and integrate them into the - [Martial Concepts: Principles of Footwork](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3927) - When people think martial arts, they think of stunning strikes, intricate grappling and dynamic takedowns. Footwork is underappreciated in pop culture. But footwork makes these techniques work. In some martial arts and sports, such as boxing and Muay Thai, it may be advantageous to absorb blows to less vital parts of the body in exchange - [Racism Is Not Hurt Feelings](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3924) - If Social Justice Warriors are to be believed, we live in the most racist period of human history. Racists are everywhere: in school, in church, in government. The only way to deal with them is to point your fingers and shriek. And to an SJW, there is a simple test for racism: if you are - ['Gritty' and 'Realistic' SFF Isn't](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3922) - Today it is all the rage to label a specific brand of modern science fiction and fantasy as ‘gritty’ and ‘realistic’. Championed by writers like Joe Abercrombie and George R R Martin, these stories star villain protagonists and antiheroes, oceans of blood, torture and treachery, and all manner of depredations. Every time such a dark - [Tired Tropes: The Superpowered Loser](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3920) - Everybody knows That Guy. He’s in the corner in the dorky clothes, his eyes always trained on the floor, either mumbling in hesitant whispers or holding court in long droning tirades. He holds a dead-end job and lives in a dead-end home, either in a tiny danky apartment or his parents’ basement. He’s got no - [Gatekeepers Make Creators Fragile](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3916) - Creators and artists of all persuasions cannot count on gatekeepers. Many publishers and corporate sponsors do not have the creators’ interests in mind, only their own. That gives social justice warriors a vulnerability to exploit. Earlier this week, political interest groups used deceptively edited footage to assassinate Milo Yiannopoulis’ character. The edited clip showed Yiannopoulis - [Why Singapore Literature Turns Me Off](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3912) - Once again, the arts community is promoting Singapore literature through social media and the mainstream media. The latest initiative is #BuySingLit, billed as "an industry-led movement to celebrate stories from Singapore". Once again, the news turns me off SingLit. A History of Disappointment As a child I was a voracious reader. I read every book - [Steemit: Liquid Democracy for Social Media](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3909) - When people think 'liquid democracy', they think about politics and decision-making. Steemit, however, offers an opportunity to expand the concept into social media. A liquid democracy is touted as democracy for the 21st century. Combining the best elements of direct democracy and representative democracy, a liquid democracy allows people to delegate their votes to a - [Film Analysis: Fifty Shades of Grey Franchise](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3907) - The Fifty Shades of Grey movies surpasses the original prose trilogy while capturing its original spirit. Unlike the novel, I could endure the film until the end -- mostly by picking apart everything wrong about them. With the release of Fifty Shades Darker, I'm confident that I cannot be further entertained by the franchise. Lifestyles - [How to Recognise A Soulmate](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3905) - The modern world has no room for soulmates. The First World has repudiated the strictures of the Church and traditional morality, ushering in an era of free love, rising divorce rates and increasing unhappiness. Corporations have turned Valentine's Day into an excuse for ostentatious consumption, and with it, an opportunity for immense profit. Skeptics claim - [When Caught Between Polarities, Find the Deeper Truth](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3903) - The world is a complex place. The movers and shakers of the world -- people, organisations, superpowers -- act and speak in strange, apparently contradictory ways, yet the universe bends to their will, and with it the destinies of ordinary people. Oftentimes the world seems caught between polarities: between centralisation and decentralisation, love and hate, - [Martial Analysis: The Knife](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3901) - Knives are brutally effective at killing people and terribly ineffective for self-defence. To understand this conundrum, we need to understand the properties of a knife. First, the pros. Knives puncture and sever. With a properly sharpened knife, it doesn't take a lot of force to penetrate flesh and open veins. Smaller knives can be easily - [The Price of Iron](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3899) - If you wish to get stronger through the gym or the blade, the iron will demand its due. It is inevitable. You must take every precaution you can to avoid unnecessary injuries, but if you want to grow you have to operate at the furthest reaches of your capability. You need to test and push - [Take Back Your Mind](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3897) - The world is filled with noise. Talking heads spewing propaganda disguised as news. Clickbait sites screaming for attention. Outrage mongers twisting your heart to become more like theirs. A never-ending stream of pop-ups and notifications and messages, all urgent, all demanding your time and energy. In the face of such madness, there is only one - [The Ethics of Piracy in the Digital Age](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3895) - Ebooks, digital downloads, torrents and the Internet have fundamentally altered the nature of commercial transactions, but definitions of 'piracy' remains stuck in the 17th century, in the heyday of pirates at sea. Maritime piracy is clearly evil. Maritime merchant shipping transfers goods from a supplier to a buyer. The supplier expects payment and the buyer - [Trump's Travel Ban Will Prevent a Clash of Civilisations](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3886) - President Donald Trump's travel ban has predictably incited a firestorm of controversy. Predictably, the mainstream media lied about Trump's ban, claiming it bans Muslims from entering the United States. Also, quite predictably, they aren't going to tell you that the ban will prevent a clash of civilisations in America. This is the full text of - [Tired Tropes: The Potato Protagonist](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3882) - If a potato has more personality than the protagonist of a story, the writer is doing it wrong. The best stories are driven by their characters. The best characters aren't two-dimensional constructs of excessive verbiage, but a reflection and amplification of the myriad facets of humanity. Characters must resonate with readers, acting, talking and thinking - [The Rhetoric of Provocation and Offense](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3878) - There are many people in the world who will not be persuaded by reason, and even the most rational humans can be swayed with the right emotional leverage. For years the Left has utilised outrage to dominate the political arena. Now the Right is taking up the same tactics, especially the New Right of America. - [Three Essential Mindset Books for the Modern Man](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7225) - There are three books every modern man must read today. These books are not for the faint of heart or weak of will. They are not soothing feel-good diatribes designed only to part your money from your wallet. These books are forges for the soul, created to scrub away your weaknesses and temper your spirit - [The Boston Tea Party and the Washington Riots are Not the Same](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3873) - Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery attempted to draw moral equivalency between the Boston Tea Party and the Washington riots. They are not the same. I can't tell if it's willful ignorance of history or deliberate distortion of the record, but when dealing with the far left, there is no difference. By drawing comparisons to the - [Martial Analysis: Mindset](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3870) - Before the first punch is thrown, the fight is won and lost in the mind. There are many, many instructors out there discussing a plethora of techniques and drilling down into the finer points of how to properly employ them. There are likewise many teachers who stress timing, footwork and distance. Technique, timing, footwork and - [Get Up and Ruck](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3866) - Life is not lived sitting down behind a screen. Life is lived outside at the edge of your comfort zone, at the borders of your day-to-day experience. When everyday life grinds down your soul, when you weary of staying indoors and experiencing the same routine over and over again, there is a simple solution. Get - [How to Write Different Kinds of Violence](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3828) - I don't read a lot of fiction these days. My tastes run towards action-packed thrillers, and as I discussed elsewhere, many writers have no idea how to write authentic action scenes. Outside the thriller genre, I can only name a small handful of writers who can instill in action sequences the ring of truth. In - [Tired Tropes: the Tsundere](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3818) - Welcome to Tired Tropes, in which I dissect popular tropes I find annoying. While tropes are tools, they can be overused or done badly, and Tired Tropes are especially gregarious examples of them. Here, I take on the tsundere. The tsundere is a staple of Japanese media. She—for the overwhelming majority of tsunderes are female—is - [Why I Avoid Reading Violence in Fiction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3654) - I'm not a pacifist. But I must confess: in the vast majority of manga I read these days, I skip most depictions of violence. In books, if I encounter an action scene that doesn't make sense, I just dump the book altogether. Fiction requires suspension of disbelief, and when a sequence triggers disbelief, then the story has failed. There - [To 2017: Write Less to Write More](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3580) - If you're a writer, nobody cares about how many stories you've written. Only about the stories you've published. Ideas and stories are meaningless if they are locked away in a hard drive or scrapbook. They only hold value when they are shared with the world. You're not an author if you don't publish your works. - [5 Writing Lessons from Manga](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3341) - As a child, I couldn't understand the appeal of manga. To me, they were simply a different kind of comic book, and comics held little appeal to me. Then, in my teens, English-translated anime took off in Singapore. Almost all of them were adaptations of Japanese manga. I pursued the source material, and found Ghost - [The Two Kinds of Story Conflict](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3263) - Conflicts drive drama, and drama drives stories. The heart of every story worth reading is a clash between the protagonist and the antagonist, each seeking opposed goals. Protagonist-antagonist conflicts can be described in two ways: symmetrical and asymmetrical. The type of conflict defines each party's strategies and the overall direction of the plot. A symmetrical - [Plan Your Antagonist First](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3003) - People read fiction to escape reality in pseudo-reality. They want to immerse themselves in the protagonist's adventures, marvel at his derring-do, and cheer as he overcomes the obstacles in his way and attains his goal. But where would the protagonist be without the antagonist? The antagonist is the yin to the protagonist's yang. Without the - [Lyonesse: Make Short Fiction Great Again!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2972) - Lyonesse, a short story subscription service, promises to revolutionise the industry. Its Kickstarter is now online, within a single day, the campaign has already reached almost half of its funding goal. Silver Empire has put in a great deal of effort making Lyonesse possible, and as I have described in a prior post, I believe - [Drop the 'Strong and Independent Female' Label](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2824) - 'Strong, independent female' is a meaningless label. Use more powerful descriptors to create a memorable identity. - [Inducing Flow Through Mindful Writing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2704) - You have finite time and energy. The world has infinite distractions. How, then, can a writer stay true to his calling? I began writing my first novel when I was 13. Every day, I sat at my beat-up second-hand laptop and wrote. I wrote and wrote and wrote until I was done. Then I went - [The Truth of Your Vision, The Truth of the World](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2602) - Fiction writing is about truth. The truth of your vision and the truth of the world. The best stories marry these truths into a seamless, dazzling, inspiring whole. The truth of your vision is at once simple and complicated. It is the story you want to tell. It is the aesthetics of the story world, - [Still Skeptical about Ghost in the Shell](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2492) - [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTaLafAFrmE&w=560&h=315] The first official trailer for Ghost in the Shell is out...and, if anything, I'm even more skeptical about the movie. In an earlier post, I made it clear that I'm not enthusiastic about the movie. After watching the trailer, I'm almost certain my fears will be realised. To be fair, this movie is - [Guest Post: 4 Tips to Win NaNoWriMo](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2463) - Guest post on how to win NaNoWriMo. In brief: Just write already. - [Lyonesse is Coming!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2383) - A new paradigm is coming to the field of science fiction and fantasy short fiction. Traditionally, SFF magazines publish a few stories every issue. In exchange for a subscription fee, print mags deliver them to your doorstep, while webzines send them to your inbox. Other short fiction 'zines also compile themed anthologies for your viewing - [Women writers have never been more advantaged](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2247) - (Image c/o Flavorwire) This article by TODAY newspaper on female writers is heavy on human interest and light on facts. In fact, the lede flies in the face of reality. The literary scene has long been dominated by men. Despite notable female authors such as J K Rowling and, closer to home, Catherine Lim, the - [Children of a Dead Earth: Future War in Space](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=2078) - Children of a Dead Earth bills itself as the most scientifically accurate space warfare simulator ever. And it lives up to the hype. In the universe of CDE, World War III wiped out the Earth, forcing the survivors to colonise space. The game covers a superpower conflict between the Republic of Free People and the United Sol - [Sunrider Academy: How NOT to Write A Romance](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=1883) - Sunrider Academy is a spin-off from the Sunrider series. Set in an alternate universe, Sunrider Academy reimagines the main characters as high school students. The Sunrider series is a collection of visual novels powered by the Ren'Py engine, with gameplay sections interspaced with VN storytelling segments. Where the original game was a turn-based strategy game - [Cultural Appropriation Enriches Everything](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=1714) - Cultural appropriation is nonsense; adopting ideas from other cultures enriches life. - [After the Hugos](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=1657) - Why I don't care about the Hugo Awards and what I'm going to do next. - [On the Radar: Children of a Dead Earth](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=1533) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjWEGlot35Y Children of a Dead Earth is the most promising science fiction computer game I have seen since Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. It tries to do for the genre what I attempt to do with my forays into science fiction: to create a compelling vision of tomorrow based on real-world science. Storywise, the game is - [Female Characters are not Men with Breasts](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=1319) - The stench of social justice is strong with this piece. Which is why Rat Queens is so damn important: it's essentially a D&D campaign driven by women. The heart of the story follows the eponymous mercenary team, a brash quartet who know what they want and just go for it... On the off-chance that - [Marvel Comics is Dead](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=1221) - By siding with the SJWs, Marvel has guaranteed its stagnation and death. - [The Unmaking of Heroes](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=1042) - I grew up with heroes. Sun Wu Kong, Perseus, Thor (the god not the comic book character), Bellerophon, the Eight Immortals, Justice Bao, Heracles, David. The list goes on and on. As I grew older, I found different kinds of heroes: Kusanagi Makoto, Batman, Okumura Rin, the Punisher, Deunun Knute. And, yes, Captain America. People need - [Why Polygon is DOOMed](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=984) - On the 12th of May, gaming review website Polygon released a 30-minute gameplay video of DOOM. To call it horrible is an understatement. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yYp8ZeQ-I8] The player's performance is embarrassingly abysmal, quite literally on par with someone who has never played a first person shooter on a console before. It's as though the concept of - [FLASHPOINT: TITAN is a Hugo finalist!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=920) - FLASHPOINT: TITAN has been nominated as a Hugo Award finalist, and I am proud to accept. - [Japanese Ghost, Western Shell](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=768) - Ghost in the Shell was among the first animes I have ever watched, and among the first sci fi manga I have ever read. Even today, its themes, aesthetics, technology and design language influence my writing and worldbuilding. When I learned of Scarlett Johansson being cast as Major Kusanagi Motoko for the live action adaptation of Ghost in the - [A Tale of Two Devs](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=664) - The recent furore over Blizzard's Overwatch and Beamdog's Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear illustrates two very different approaches to game design and response to criticism. Blizzard's Overwatch is an upcoming multiplayer first person shooter. The original controversy began when people complained about a victory pose employed by the game's first revealed character, Tracer, claiming that it - [Rabid Puppies Recommended!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=596) - Yesterday Vox Day released a list of personal recommendations for the Hugo awards, which of course is not a call for a block vote, and recommended me for the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and Flashpoint: Titan for Best Novelette. I am greatly honoured to accept such praise, and am deeply humbled by the fact that there - [Behind the Story: Flashpoint: Titan](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=297) - Lessons learned from writing Flashpoint: Titan - [No More Gatekeepers](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=262) - Nick Cole published this post detailing how his publisher rejected his latest book on grounds of being 'offensive'. That is to say, the publisher decided that a single short chapter that outlined the antagonists' motives was so offensive, the chapter needed to be rewritten or the book would not be published. Cole elected to publish through Amazon instead. This - [Cheah for Best New Writer](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=237) - My publisher thought that Flashpoint: Titan was so worthy of merit, he wants to nominate me for the John W Campbell Award for Best New Writer. I am honoured that he holds me in such high regard. Honour demands that I remain silent on my work, but if you believe that my story is truly worthy of the - [Only Goodthink Allowed in SFF](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=178) - The cult of social justice strikes again. Social Justice Warriors have launched a whisper campaign to purge the works of John C. Wright, Larry Correia, Brad R Torgersen and Michael Z Williamson from science fiction and fantasy bookstores in Toronto. All of them have been accused of making homophobic comments. Only Wright has made remarks that could be - [No safe space for predators](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=133) - Castalia House recently concluded a series of posts on paedophiles in science fiction. (Part 1 here.) Drawing on testimonials, newspaper reports and oral statements, the expose accuses a number of high-profile writers as sex predators or defenders of sex predators. The series makes for morbid reading. It includes descriptions of outrageous sexual violence, exploitation of - [Directions for 2016](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=60) - In 2015, I broke in to the SFF market with War Crimes and Flashpoint: Titan. The response to these stories, and the anthologies they've been associated with, have been very encouraging. Come 2016, I aim to build up the Cheah Kai Wai brand -- and that means writing. Last year, I submitted a novel titled - [Another Cheah](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7224) - Welcome to my new blog. I'm Cheah Kai Wai, the Writer Also Known As Benjamin Cheah. On this blog, I will write about the stories I publish under this name, lessons learned while writing, and the writing industry in general (with an emphasis on science fiction and fantasy). Unlike my main site, this is not - [](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=862) - As Singapore celebrates her 50th birthday, I wonder what challenges Singapore will face in the future. And I'm no optimist. - [Reclaiming the Centre Through Word and Deed](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=860) - Imposing limits on freedom of speech to protect feelings will harm society. - [Singapore's Opposition Needs to Step Up Now](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=859) - The elections are coming, and Singapore's opposition parties need to think about branding, election strategy, candidate selection and coalition-building. - [Updates: Publishing Schedules and Future Stories](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=857) - Writing updates, including stories being edited, stories that will be written, and a story that will be published. - [Acceptable Targets: A Tale of Two Terrorist Attacks](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=855) - The Charleston attack and the Day of Terror illustrate the principles of open source warfare: domination of the news cycle, rush to atrocities, and leverage of political topics. - [The Appeal of the Islamic State](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=852) - Yesterday The Middle Ground published an opinion piece titled A Young Muslim on ISIS. While it approaches the Islamic State (henceforth called Daesh here) from the perspective of a Muslim, the writer makes a few generalities that don't hold up. Crucially, he says: "My sense is, if you add a dash of ignorance and a sprinkle - [The National Arts Council betrays the purpose of Art](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=848) - The NAC have shown that they are bureaucrats without a sense of art. - [Stories on the Horizon](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=846) - I've completed one novel, and have another in the works. More details here. - [What Singapore can really do for refugees](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=843) - As a small country, Singapore can only do so much to aid refugees. No amount of idealism can override Singapore's limitations. - [The Bedrock of a Nation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=840) - Two days ago Alex Au wrote a post about cultural conflict stemming from immigration. In it, he recounts the story of a neighbour from India whose wife steadfastly refuses to return his greetings. Au believes that this may be due to cultural considerations, and asks: But then it raises the question: If we want to integrate - [I, ESCHATON is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=833) - I, ESCHATON is live and ready for sale! The third entry of the American Heirs series, this story picks up where KEEPERS OF THE FLAME left off, taking Master Sergeant Christopher Miller into a new battlefield. To quote the blurb: -- Master Sergeant Christopher Miller has returned home from war, but war has come to find - ['Light Touch' or Rule by Bureaucrat?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=830) - In light of TRS being shut down, what does the government mean by 'light touch'? - [I, ESCHATON ready for preorder!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=826) - I, Eschaton is ready for reorder! - [Lawrence Khong's performance is not Lawrence Khong](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=822) - By pressuring IKEA to stop promoting Lawrence Khong's performance because of Khong's views, interest groups are saying that they do not disapprove of pressure tactics and coercion, so long as they are the ones doing it. - [More Islamic than thou in Malaysia](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=820) - Malaysia's policies of defending and enforcing Islamic norms are coming around to bite it in the back. - [Chapter 2 of I, Eschaton](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=818) - The second chapter of my upcoming work I, Eschaton. - [Whither Cohesion and Diversity?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=814) - Celebrating diversity is fine, but the real trick is creating cohesion. - [After Lee Kuan Yew: Where is Singapore going from here?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=812) - Lee Kuan Yew's death has inevitably polarised Singapore. One camp eulogises him as the founder of modern Singapore; this group dominates the airwaves and the papers, singing his praises as long and loud as they can. Another camp points to his history of authoritarianism and Machiavellian approach to handling dissent, and criticises Lee across the Internet. The - [The End of an Era](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=810) - Today Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew passed at the age of 91. Lee stands among the finest statesmen in history. He turned a tiny resource-free island into a global financial hub. He dedicated his life to Singapore, to his vision of Singapore, participating in the affairs of state up until his final days. No doubt - [Chapter 1 of I, ESCHATON](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=806) - Sneak preview of I, ESCHATON, coming very soon. - [Singapore's hybrid warfare strategy is lacking](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=804) - Singapore's strategy for countering hybrid warfare is focused on the military and cyber fields. Unfortunately, hybrid warfare is fought mainly at the moral level. - [Singapore's politics of personality](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=802) - Singapore's opposition parties need to become political parties, not personality parties. - [A Deeper Silence](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=799) - On Wednesday my computer broke down without warning. I suspect it's a hard disk drive failure, but time will tell the true cause. The digital silence that followed gave me the time I needed to coalesce some thoughts that were floating about in my mind, specifically pertaining to silence and speech. As an introvert, silence comes - [Price revisions for Payhip and Keepers of the Flame](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=796) - My ebook prices on Payhip have been sharply revised, and so has the price for Keepers of the Flame in paperback. Also, I reveal the title of the next entry in American Heirs. - [Lessons from Failure](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=794) - In the technology field, a popular mantra goes, Fail early and fail often. The idea being to try out new ideas while the company is still new, understand your mistakes, then incorporate these lessons into future products. I've been applying this to my writing, figuring out what works and what doesn't. Along the way I learned that this - [Revisiting Writing and Marketing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=792) - In the days and weeks following the publication of Keepers of the Flame, I've been writing short stories and novellas, some standalone, some proof-of-concepts for future stories. It was practice, and it was to build up a portfolio of works for submission. But through the pen I am beginning to uncover the enigma that is - [More Laws, More Crime](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=789) - In 1920, the United States passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, outlawing the production, sale and transportation of alcohol. The next thirteen years saw an upshot in banditry, the rise of organised crime on the backs of alcohol smuggling, gang violence, police corruption and an international alcohol smuggling racket that raked in millions of dollars - [The Great Reorganisation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=785) - Once upon a time I kept my blogging separate from my fiction. The idea was to keep each specialised, with the blog driving traffic to my website. It was a neat idea, only it didn't quite pan out the way it expected. Further, it was a pain to maintain two separate-yet-similar sites, and publish redundant posts whenever - [Between the Points of the Pen and the Sword](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=769) - When confronting terrorism, it is necessary to combine the pen and the sword. - [Media and the Maturation of Fourth Generation War](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=766) - The recent trend of criminal and terrorist violence across the world points to the maturation of fourth generation warfare. The media will be an important factor in this brave new war, both as actor and target. - [Sidestepping #VATMESS: My new approach to ebook pricing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=764) - My new approach to pricing in the wake of #VATMESS - [Adapting to #VATMESS](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=277) - Thanks to the European Union's new Value Added Tax rules, it has become less profitable for independent writers like me to distribute ebooks through platforms like Amazon and Smashwords. Previously I attempted to get around additional tax burdens through selling directly to customers using CoinLock, Gumroad and Shopify. Unfortunately, the new VAT ruling makes me liable - [Into 2015](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=762) - When I look back, 2014 was the year in which I approached the cusp of achieving my professional goals. I published Keepers of the Flame and sold War Crimes, exceeding my goals of 2014. I'm working on other projects, pursuing my other interests, and one day I hope I can share them with you here. In 2015, I - [KEEPERS OF THE FLAME is live!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=258) - KEEPERS OF THE FLAME is now available! Taken from the blurb: In the wake of a global collapse, the Republic of Cascadia promises peace, prosperity and security. But these promises ring hollow in the shanties and slums of the Yellow Zone. The Sons of America, once driven underground, have returned to spark a revolution. Master Sergeant - [KEEPERS OF THE FLAME is cleared hot!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=759) - Merry Christmas! KEEPERS OF THE FLAME is (finally!) live at every major retail outlet. Here's the blurb: In the wake of a global collapse, the Republic of Cascadia promises peace, prosperity and security. But these promises ring hollow in the shanties and slums of the Yellow Zone. The Sons of America, once driven underground, have - [Looking Beyond Terror](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=757) - If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles -Sun Tzu, Art of War This letter on the TODAY newspaper forum reflects an understandable, but naive, sentiment about terrorism. The writer argues that terrorism has no religion, and that all terrorists should simply be called terrorists without - [RIDING THE RED HORSE is now available!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=743) - Another came forth, a red horse. To him who sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another. There was given to him a great sword. -Revelation 6:4, World English Bible Riding the Red Horse is online! This ebook, written in the tradition of Jerry Pournelle's There - [Keepers of the Flame Cover Reveal!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=739) - Previously I've posted excerpts of Keepers of the Flame. Now, here is the cover in all its glory, courtesy of Fiona Jayde Media. The expected publication date across all media is 19 December 2014. In addition, I'm trying to arrange to sell physical copies of the book in person next week. Stay tuned for more details. - [Keepers of The Flame Excerpt 4](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=737) - Another excerpt from Keepers of the Flame, detailing the SOA's propaganda's efforts. - [Keepers of the Flame: Excerpt 3](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=734) - Another excerpt from Keepers of the Flame, detailing a Cascadian counterterror operation. - [Banning Julien Blanc: NIMBYism on a global scale](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=732) - Banning Julien Blanc undermines freedom of speech and travel. The better approach would be to arrest him, criticise him, or kill him. The latter removes a threat to society; the former pushes the burden to someone else and punishes someone for disagreeing with the memes of the day. - [A Brave New World of Neo-Tribes and Crumbling Civilisations](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=730) - The nation-state system is fading, replaced by neo-tribalism. With this change comes the erosion of civilisation. - [Keepers of the Flame: Excerpt 2](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=727) - Second excerpt from Keepers of the Flame. Here, an emperor sets the events of the novel into motion. - [Keepers of the Flame: Excerpt 1](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=725) - The first excerpt from Keepers of the Flame, coming soon. - [When Diversity Meets Policy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=723) - Singapore's CMIO model is a blunt instrument. But it also underpins many of Singapore's policies. It is easy to talk about dropping CMIO, but the real question is what policymaking tool provides a better way -- and what are the costs of such a tool. - [A Different Kind of Privileged Literature](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=721) - Grace Chia alleges gender bias in the Singapore Literature Prize, and in writing in general. There is privilege -- but of a different kind. - [Notes from a Singaporean independent writer](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=705) - Following my interview with Channel NewsAsia, I elaborate on my experiences as an independent writer and the lessons to be learned here. - [New Bibliography and Bookstore](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=188) - Over the past few days, I've tweaked the website's ecommerce experience, combining the bibliography and bookstore pages. On the bibliography page, you'll find a complete bibliography of my works, as well as links to different categories of fiction. On each dedicated category page, where possible, you'll also find links to Sellfy, Gumroad and CoinLock, These links - [Live TV Interview on Monday!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=689) - I will be appearing on live TV on Channel News Asia on 3 November, 8.50 am to discuss trends in self-publishing. - [Guest post on Domain of Singapore Tutoring Experts](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=372) - I've written a guest post for the Domain of Singapore Tutoring Experts. Here's a short excerpt. - [Between Gender Stereotypes and Dogma](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=684) - Take a step away from the controversy surrounding Focus on the Family, and instead use the opportunity to think about a new model of sexuality and relationship education to meet the needs of youths. - [Diversity is not skin-deep](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=678) - Diversity of choices and experience matters. Diversity of race, or of any other innate characteristic, is reverse bigotry when irrelevant. - [A Bundle of Wrongs at Hong Lim Park](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=674) - Many things went wrong at Hong Lim Park. The activists could have acted and communicated in a way perceived to be respectful of others, instead of ploughing ahead and making themselves look bad. - [The Coming of the Global Guerilla](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=672) - The age of the global guerilla is dawning in the region. Be prepared. - [Paper is Overrated](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=670) - Paper qualifications are of limited utility at best. What is important is skills, talent, experience, knowledge, and ability to adapt to change -- and thrive. - [The 90/30, 8/10 Rule](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=651) - Over the past month I've been experimenting with productivity hacks to increase my writing output. These are the results. - [The Online Citizen needs to recalibrate funding model](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=650) - The Online Citizen's subscription program is unsustainable. It needs to lower its subscription fees and develop ways of reducing its events and facilities costs. - [Growth, Change, Choice](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=647) - Meditations on growing older. On growing up. - [At All Costs](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=149) - On the misnamed world of Paradise, the Republic of Eden and the Terran Federation battle over the only island that can support life. The Edenists have deployed a psychic sensor net that grants them information dominance. The Terrans reply with Viper Team, an elite squad of psychic commandos. The team is inserted into the island - [American Sons](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=147) - (American Heirs #1) Emerging from the ashes of a post-post-apocalyptic America, the Republic of Cascadia claims to be the sole successor of the old North American Union. Yet a hundred years after the Apocalypse, this oasis in the wastes still faces threats foreign and domestic. Cascadia's elite Combat Studies Unit stands ever ready to defend - [New Beginnings](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=143) - It's a new year, and it's time to shake things up a little. I've changed the theme of the website and edited the content a little. Now it should be smoother to navigate and easier to read, without loss of functionality. Enjoy yourself, and I look forward to hearing from you soon. - [Updates and a Recruitment Call](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=644) - Latest work updates: Keepers of the Flame has finished the first round of edits, and I'm embarking on a video game project. - [The State is Not Fragile](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=641) - Instead of suing Roy Ngerng, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong should address the issues he and others have raised. - [Hashtags Won't Stop Barbarians](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=639) - #Bringbackourgirls is not going to stop Boko Haram or bring back the kidnapped girls. Only action will. - [Digging Up the Roots of 'Racism'](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=636) - Diversity plus Proximity plus Competition equals Conflict. As Singapore becomes more diverse, conflicts can only become more visible. It's time to move on from talking about the latest outrage and to start talking about the systemic causes of conflict, and how to resolve them. - [Stomping STOMP is not the way to go](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=632) - Supporting the petition to shut down STOMP may be easy and emotionally satisfying. The better way is to demand STOMP to improve its standards instead. - [The Grind, The Climb](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=627) - What I learned from writing: developing the ability to grind out words, even when you're not feeling up to it, in order to finish the job. - [Upping the Game](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=622) - Writing lessons in February: What I learned from plotting out concepts in great detail - [New Year, New Direction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=618) - Heads up: my blog is shifting its focus from politics to different aspects of my life. - [A New Chapter](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=616) - I'm taking a new job as a journalist at The Independent Singapore. But that means figuring out what to do with this blog. - [Going Silent](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=613) - The circumstances of my life are changing, and my blogging schedule is being disrupted. Until things are fixed, this blog is going silent. - [At All Costs: Now available!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=607) - Back in June, I ran an experiment by placing my novella At All Costs on Amazon's KDP Select program. The exclusivity period has expired, and now At All Costs is available on Smashwords and my website. See below for a brief description. -- On the oxygen-starved world of Paradise, the Republic of Eden has captured - [How many guards does it take to restrain a threat?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=520) - Activists are trying to link police brutality with outnumbering a threat. This post explains the rationale behind sending large teams against a single threat. - [Killing Babies and Closing Doors](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=518) - At any one moment I have dozens of ideas. But there's only 24 hours in a day. The trick is to make the most use of what time there is, doing only the most profitable, the most important, the most passion-driven you can do in the present. Then moving on to something else when needs - [Older](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=516) - Older, maybe a little wiser, definitely moving on to do something more with my life. - [At All Costs: Live in Kindle Select](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=511) - At All Costs is now available on the Kindle Store! - [AMERICAN SONS, published!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=505) - My latest novella, AMERICAN SONS, is now available! - [I refuse](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=501) - I refuse to black out my blog, for it is not what my blog is for. This post discusses why I think the new MDA regulations will not work, and outlines what may work. - [Figuring out cover art for indie writers](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=497) - Among my side projects are a pair of novellas. The first is American Sons, which ties into my upcoming story universe. The second is At All Costs, a standalone story in what might be another story universe. The first drafts were completed in January, and they are in the final phases of editing. There's just - [Another Life](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=494) - Giving up my old life to start a new one. It means less time for writing...but it also means I'll be able to support myself. - [Fours and Thirteens and the Art of Letting Go and Starting Again](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=490) - I'm taking my Michael Chang series offline, for now, in favour of other projects. And to reboot it, and make it even better. - [In Response to Lynn Lee: An apology, and a clarification](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=486) - A cross-posting of an apology and a clarification I made on Facebook regarding Lynn Lee's recent remarks. - [Beyond words on paper](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=483) - Reflections of writing in January, and how to do more than just putting words on paper. - [THE WEIGHT OF KARMA now available!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=475) - THE WEIGHT OF KARMA is now available! - [2013 Writing Resolutions](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=473) - My 2013 writing goals. - [Prelude to 2013](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=463) - A free military science fiction short story! - [Beyond the Affair](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=460) - Michael Palmer's affair and its fallout leaves many unanswered questions in its wake. - [Help wanted: Survey on impact of blogging in Singapore](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=457) - Benjamin Cheah is doing a survey on blogging in Singapore and needs your help! - [Blood, Sweat and Soul: Being a Professional Indie Fiction Writer](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=450) - My first-ever presentation as a writer for WriteCamp 2012, as a three-part video. - [America's Next Author is not about writing](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=444) - America's Next Author is not about writing. It's about who can best promote their stories. Quality of writing, at best, is secondary. - [The Wounded City -- ANA 2012](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=442) - Introducing The Wounded City, my short story submission for America's Next Author. - [Sliming Alvin Tan: Non-news and moral guardianship](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=437) - Singaporean journalism reached new depths by sliming a man in the name of news. - [Making the National Conversation national](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=433) - If the government wants to have a national conversation, it has to live up to the standards it wants to set and have an actual conversation. - [Now offering: Writers' Services](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=426) - I'm now offering editing, consulting, and ebook formatting services! - [The Citizen and the State](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=419) - The relationship between the citizen and the state, and by extension the individual and the group, is a dynamic and interdependent one. Emphasising one over the other is unacceptable. - [Who are you, my country?](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=416) - Foreign talent remains a prickly topic in Singapore. Here I try to tease out the roots of this debate, to figure out how to solve it. - [Different codes for different folks](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=414) - The government made another call for an online code of conduct. Such an approach is misguided. The government should instead participate more actively on the Internet if it wants to promote its views, or just take a step back and leave the Internet alone. - [Story extracts now available](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=402) - Free extracts of my ebooks are now available, on this post and on my store. - [Notes From A Singaporean Self-Publisher](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=393) - Self-publishing enables consumers to pay less and writers to earn more from ebooks. - [The Mages' Game](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=387) - The Mages' Game is now available on Smashwords and on this ebook store. - [Watchman Published!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=380) - Watchman has been published! - [Shades of Offence in Multireligious Singapore](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=375) - The failings of Singapore's policy on religious harmony can be seen in the Catholic Church's latest campaign to cancel a theme party. - [NGOs question joint MOM inspections, police inaction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=368) - Local NGOs like HOME and TWC2 have questioned inspections of repatriation companies in November held by the Ministry of Manpower. The NGOs also question why the police refuse to help workers abused by repatriation companies. - [Muted Whispers of a Faraway Revolution](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=364) - The Digital Revolution in publishing and writing applies mainly to countries where ereaders are available and where people are familiar with ebooks. So I'm making ebooks available in places where the big e-publishers and e-distributors aren't. - [A deeper look at piracy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=355) - Piracy cannot be eradicated through legislation. What is required is a different business model that competes with, or co-opts, pirates to meet consumer wants and needs. - [2012: The Shape of Things to Come](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=351) - My goals for 2012. To whit: write more, promote more, blog more, and finish my education. Also, outlines the direction of my writing. - [New ebook store](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=341) - Introducing my new ebook store. It's a temporary measure until I can get a website and automated ebook store up and running. Until then, you can purchase books directly . - [Eventual Revolutions - Published!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=332) - Eventual Revolutions has been published! Get your copy today. - [Eventual Revolutions Excerpt](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=330) - Preview of my upcoming novella, Eventual Revolutions. - [Eventual Revolutions Pre-release Announcement](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=321) - Eventual Revolutions will be published on 16 December 2011. This post shows the cover, the executive summary, and answers some frequently (and not so frequently) asked questions. - [Storms in teacups over hurt, not harm](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=317) - When offensive remarks are made, the police should only step in if harm is done or imminent. If only feelings are hurt, the wider community can handle it. - [Six Weeks of Misspent Rage](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=316) - Occupy Wall Street is focused on expressing outrage instead of being a force for change. - [The Wheel of Change](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=315) - On the verge of becoming a professional writer, I highlight the changes to come on my blog. - [Ten years on](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=314) - My reflections and musings on the impact of the 11 September 2001 attacks. - [The Spectre of Incomplete Thinking](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=313) - Lisa Li's article on the silence of sexual assault victims is riddled with flaws. Public policies cannot be based on incomplete thinking. - [Building Nations, Dividing People](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=312) - It's refreshing to see a government body give straight answers for once. The People's Association has declared that it is a de facto arm of the state. Its mission is to "bond the community and connect people with the Government". Grassroots advisers should "connect people to people", and "are required to help the Government connect with - [Justice for All](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=311) - The goal of the legal system is justice, not vengeance. Vengeance attempts to satisfy emotions. Justice aims to protect society. - [The Blame Dialogues](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=310) - UPDATE: Rory Miller posted something very similar about responsibility and blame on his blog. He wrote about the issue way more eloquently and concisely than I did. To quote: "The criminals already know it's wrong. The issue is that they don't care. You can't fix caring through reason. It's a deeper part of the brain. - [SlutWalk: Noble but misguided](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=309) - SlutWalk's platform on rape perpetuates ignorance instead of addressing the realities of rape. - [Changing Times](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=308) - The government and the people of Singapore view politics through two fundamentally different paradigms. Singapore's future lies in reconciling the two. - [81:6](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=307) - May 7 2011 exposed the flaws of the GRC system. It is now time to abolish GRCs. - [Teo Chee Hean avoids TOC, Michael Palmer almost gets away](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=306) - Teo Chee Hean evaded my questions at the PAP rally at Punggol East. Michael Palmer almost did. - [The Singapore Democratic Alliance Punggol East election flier](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=305) - The SDA's flier for Punggol East is internally incoherent and has a few flaws nestled in between some good ideas. - [Why your vote doesn't matter](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=226) - A cluster of votes is more significant than a single vote. - [The Workers' Party Punggol East election flier](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=304) - The Workers' Party election flier in Punggol East is the polar opposite of the PAP's: too much national-level politics, too few ground-level issues. - [The PAP Punggol East election flier](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=220) - The People Action Party's election flier for Punggol East falls way short of expectations. - [Disconnection](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=303) - In Punggol East, I have to choose the least worst of three options for the elections. - [The Importance of Good Press Releases](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=302) - The Reform Party's press release on the mass resignation of nine former members leaves much to be desired. - [Why I'm not concerned about The Online Citizen](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=301) - The Online Citizen would not be significantly affected by new regulations should it register with the Media Development Authority and be gazetted as a political association. - [Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=300) - Thoughts on the past, present, and future of my blogging. - [Romance v. Reality](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=299) - A comparison of Alex Au and M Ravi's take on a constitutional challenge of Section 377A, and my reading of both. - [Presumption of Innocence](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=298) - People are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Even if they have been picked up by the police, or appear to have criminal connections. - [What Readers (May) Want](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=168) - A little over two months ago, I embarked on a study of consumer perceptions of political blogs. I've held it back for a while, to allow my paper to be marked without prejudicing the results and to properly format the paper for online viewing. Now that I've received my grades, I'm able to release the - [Thanks!](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=164) - The survey mentioned below is now closed. If you have completed the survey, you have my thanks. Now the real work begins... And Ganga, you're welcome. - [Survey on Blogging and Mainstream Media](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3836) - Request for participants in a survey on the perceptions of socio-political blogs and the mainstream media in Singapore. - [Clarity and Responsibility](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=296) - The previous post I wrote was less clear than I wanted it to be. This post is an attempt to clarify my position, with additional material and explanations where necessary. - [Responsibility AWAREness](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=295) - People are responsible for their actions. Saying that someone is not responsible for a crime in which she precipitated through her high risk behaviour is absurd. - [Bridging Worlds](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=294) - I cover a film screening and a dialogue session between the faith and LBGT communities in Singapore. - [Citizen X](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=293) - Prejudice is a perception, one that hinders human interaction and progress, and has no place in the world. - [Our Daily Sacrilege](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=104) - Religion is a matter of personal choice. Respect for religion simply means acknowledging it as a separate path. - [The Problem with Pink Dot](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=96) - Pink Dot's main failing is its failure to face the fear, ignorance, and prejudice underlying problems faced by the LBGT community. For all its good intentions, I don't think Pink Dot can achieve much. - [Shanmugam's Slippery Slope](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=290) - Law Minister and Second Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam says that the mandatory death penalty is needed to stop an influx of drugs into Singapore. But repealing the mandatory death penalty does not take away the death penalty, and abolishing the death penalty for drug offences does not mean a spike in drugs. - [Beyond words](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=289) - Politicians and activists have to move beyond criticism of the government to effect political change. In particular, they need to demonstrate why their ideas are important and relevant to the people, through the use of various media tools, in order to convince the people of the soundness of their ideas, and the need and ability to effect changes. - [Death](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=82) - The old blog is dead. One last write-up for 2sides, and then it's time to start anew. - [Hiatus](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=287) - This blog is on hiatus until further notice. - [Advertisement: 2sides](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=286) - Everybody has secrets. Secrets about yourself are the hardest to tell. Now try telling them to the world. Meet 19-year-old Elsa Xu. As Elsa X, she is a musician, writer, and photographer. In March, she will release her concept album, 2sides, at http://2sides.sg. 2sides is her story. 2sides explores the two sides of her life: the - [We don't know the truth](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=285) - We do not know the whole truth about the events in Dubai. This is some idle speculation about what might have happened. - [Going beyond faith and harmony](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=40) - A person who insults another's faith should be handled via community moderation, as the law is inadequate to such matters and no physical harm is done. - [Advertisement: Public Speaking Academy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=33) - Public speaking is a vital skill. The ability to coherently and confidently present one's ideas and perspective is the cornerstone of impressing and influencing other people. To a student, such skills are necessary for project presentations. For businesspeople, public speaking skills provide an edge in conferences, meetings, and seminars. As for politicians and activists, and - [Show me the policy](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=28) - Singapore's Opposition parties must release comprehensive political manifestos as soon as possible, or be severely disadvantaged in any future elections. - [Apples and oranges are fruit](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=284) - Why the Malaysian government should drop the concepts of Malay superiority and disentangle Islam from the Malay identity, and why it will not. - [The politics of choice, faith and inclusiveness](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=23) - Building good relations and empowering individuals is sound politics. This is inferred from current events in Malaysia and France. - [The triumph of unreason](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=19) - The Malaysian government's argument that banning the use of 'Allah' by non-Muslims is fatally flawed, and will lead to more conflict instead of decreasing it. - [The politics of a word](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=7107) - My take on PAS' statement that 'Allah' may be used by all members of the Abrahamic faiths, and its political implications. - [The word Allah](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=283) - 'Allah' is an Arabic word meaning 'God'. It is not exclusive to Islam, and pre-dates the faith. The Malaysian government, however, has yet to accept this in the case of Malaysia v. The Herald. - [(Re)Starting Here](https://kitsuncheah.com/?p=3835) - Come and see! ## Pages - [Home](https://kitsuncheah.com/) - Hugo and Dragon Award-Nominated Author Kit Sun Cheah The Hardest Path Michael Chang walks the path of the shaman. Called upon to cleanse a cursed flat, he comes face to face with an embodiment of evil. In the face of temptation and corruption, Michael must descend into darkness to save his life—and his soul. Buy - [Bibliography](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=224) - As Kit Sun Cheah Dungeon Samurai 1. Dungeon Samurai Vol. 1: Kamikaze, 2019 2. Dungeon Samurai Vol. 2: Kami no Kishi, 2019 3. Dungeon Samurai Vol. 3: Seisen, 2019 Babylon 1. Babylon Blues, 2020 2. Babylon Red, 2021 3. Babylon Black, 2023 4. Babylon White, 2025 Singularity Sunrise 1. Edenet, 2020 2. The Silicon Road, - [Coaching Programme](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=5506) - Writing can be long and arduous. It doesn't have to be lonely too. As Singapore's first Hugo and Dragon Award nominated writer, I bring to the table over a decade of writing experience. I have assisted a number of writers to achieve their fullest potential, including Matthew Schmidt, author of the breakout litrpg novel THE - [Coaching Calls](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=5504) - We all get stuck sometimes. The business of writing is fiendishly difficult. Sooner or later, you'll run into snags. When brainstorming ideas and concepts, you might come up empty. Your characters hide themselves from you, and refuse to tell you who they are, what they want, and what they will do. The flow of your - [Proofreading and Editing Services](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=7549) - You've completed your masterpiece. Now you need to ensure it is ready for prime time. Having worked on multiple Amazon bestsellers, both fiction and nonfiction, I help writers polish their works to perfection. As a reader, writer and editor, I can analyse your manuscript from multiple perspectives, helping you tell your story the way it - [Book Consultation](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=5500) - You may have heard of sensitivity readers. This service is for an authenticity reader. If you're a writer, you want your readers hooked on your story. You want them glued to the edge of their seats, furiously flipping the pages, eager to see what happens next. You want them to follow the story through every - [Author Services](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=5601) - Writing is a challenging business. Between a picky audience, ever-changing algorithms and the demands of everyday life, starting—and finishing—a project is a daunting task. As Singapore's first Hugo and Dragon Award nominated writer, I can help. I offer a wide range of services, tailored for your unique needs. Be it a book consultation, editing, a - [About](https://kitsuncheah.com/?page_id=10) - Kit Sun Cheah is Singapore's first Hugo- and Dragon-Award nominated writer. Among his published series include Dungeon Samurai, Singularity Sunrise, Babylon and Saga of the Swordbreaker. As Herald of the Pulp Revolution, he seeks to reignite awe and wonder in the field of fiction. When he isn't writing, he can be found practicing martial arts ## Categories - [Blog](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=1) - Your blog category - [A Better World](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=8) - [An Arrow Against](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=9) - [Anime](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=10) - [Awards](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=11) - [Books](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=12) - [Comics and Manga](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=13) - [Cryptocurrency](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=14) - [Fiction](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=15) - [Fitness](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=16) - [Futurism](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=17) - [Gaming](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=18) - [Guest Post](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=19) - [Life](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=20) - [Martial Arts](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=21) - [Meditations](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=22) - [Movies](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=23) - [Open Source War](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=24) - [Poetry](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=25) - [Politics](https://kitsuncheah.com/?cat=26) - 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