David Jón Fuller, writer

It’s official: my short story, “Black Smoke and Water Lilies,” is in the new edition of Insignia Volume 2: Chinese Fantasy Stories, edited by Kelly Matsuura.

If you’re not familiar with the Insignia series of anthologies, each one groups stories set or inspired by a different region in Asia. Volume 1 features Japanese fantasy stories and the upcoming Volume 3 features stories of Southeast Asia (submissions for that one are still open, by the way; the deadline is August 31).

I wrote “Black Smoke and Water Lilies” some time ago, when I was still training with Bissett Jiu-Jitsu — but I’d say in tone it’s far more influenced by my exposure to Chinese culture in high school, when I trained in Northern Shaolin style kung fu for two years, and got to know more about the Chinese community in Winnipeg. That came full circle around the time I wrote “Black Smoke and Water Lilies,” as I got to interview the producer of and attend a travelling performance of kung fu (or wushu) by monks from Shaolin Temple.

If you’ve ever read Watchmen, you can see a definite influence there as well, which I’d recently read before writing my story.

“Black Smoke and Water Lilies” was first published in Ten Best Pages, a chapbook anthology a group of friends and I published under the rubric of the Wolseley Writers Group. It’s a story I’m still proud of and I’ve been looking for a home for it as a reprint for a while now. I’m thrilled to see it find a place in the pages of Insignia Volume 2.

It’s also nice to be TOC buddies again with Joyce Chng — we also both have stories in Accessing the Future.

The table of contents for the anthology is as follows:

Insignia Volume 2: Chinese Fantasy Stories

PART I: Young Adult / Adventure Tales

• The Bones Shine Through with Light by Joyce Change
• Looking for Trouble by Joyce Chng
• The Great Qilin by Kelly Matsuura

PART II: Adult / Literary Tales

• The Red String of Fate by Holly Kench
• Maidens of the Yangze by Kelly Matsuura
• Black Smoke and Water Lilies by David Jón Fuller
• The Ghost Bride by Kelly Matsuura

The new edition of Insignia Volume 2: Chinese Fantasy Stories is available now via Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble. For all the links to booksellers, click here.