May Chong 🇲🇾
@maychong.bsky.social
(she/her) Bi Malaysian poet/speculative writer in Apparition Lit, Fantasy Magazine, Uncanny Magazine, Strange Horizons. Not the food journo.
Pinned
May Chong 🇲🇾
@maychong.bsky.social
· Feb 24
If you made it over here - hello! I'm May, a Malaysian poet and speculative writer. Here's where you can read my work:
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Guess what poetry lovers? Today is The Poetry Super Highway Poetry Ebook Free For All!
You can snag the SFPA’s Alchemy of Stars, as well as books by several SFPA members and many more. Today only!
poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great-po...
You can snag the SFPA’s Alchemy of Stars, as well as books by several SFPA members and many more. Today only!
poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great-po...
The 21st Annual Poetry E-Book Free-For-All
Download unlimited free poetry e-books for 24 hours on December 1st. Join in with your poetry e-book!
poetrysuperhighway.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Guess what poetry lovers? Today is The Poetry Super Highway Poetry Ebook Free For All!
You can snag the SFPA’s Alchemy of Stars, as well as books by several SFPA members and many more. Today only!
poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great-po...
You can snag the SFPA’s Alchemy of Stars, as well as books by several SFPA members and many more. Today only!
poetrysuperhighway.com/psh/great-po...
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
BCS is a tasting menu of new and established authors' work, and a great place to discover your next favorite. Authors are treated with care by the editors throughout the process.
Subscribe if you can. Def give it a listen and a share.
Subscribe if you can. Def give it a listen and a share.
BCS Patreon has fallen below the monthly amount we need to pay our authors a pro rate and our First Readers a worthy honorarium ($125/mo). Sometimes folks need to lower or pause their support; we understand. But less than 1% of BCS readership donates or supports. www.patreon.com/beneath_ceas... 1/3
Get more from Beneath Ceaseless Skies on Patreon
creating an online fantasy magazine & podcast
www.patreon.com
December 1, 2025 at 10:22 PM
BCS is a tasting menu of new and established authors' work, and a great place to discover your next favorite. Authors are treated with care by the editors throughout the process.
Subscribe if you can. Def give it a listen and a share.
Subscribe if you can. Def give it a listen and a share.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Please don't let the fear of not doing something well stop you from trying it for the first time. Write a messy story. Paint a crappy flower. Whittle the worst wooden bear of all time.
The best gift you can give yourself is to have fun and grow.
The best gift you can give yourself is to have fun and grow.
December 1, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Please don't let the fear of not doing something well stop you from trying it for the first time. Write a messy story. Paint a crappy flower. Whittle the worst wooden bear of all time.
The best gift you can give yourself is to have fun and grow.
The best gift you can give yourself is to have fun and grow.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Eleven years ago, I wrote to Tom Stoppard to ask about this coup de théâtre from 1949. It took me down an unexpected rabbit hole - in memory of Stoppard, here's what I found.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?
December 1, 2025 at 4:40 AM
We're each of us alone, to be sure. What can you do but hold your hand out in the dark?
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Avoid Goulet Pens, they’ve have good SEO but they’re evangelical Christian of the anti-LGBTQ sort. It was a whole thing when that came out… also avoid Noodler’s for similar reasons (antisemitic, anti-vax, just bad ink)
Yoseka Stationery is another good store, as is Vanness Pen Shop.
Yoseka Stationery is another good store, as is Vanness Pen Shop.
December 1, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Avoid Goulet Pens, they’ve have good SEO but they’re evangelical Christian of the anti-LGBTQ sort. It was a whole thing when that came out… also avoid Noodler’s for similar reasons (antisemitic, anti-vax, just bad ink)
Yoseka Stationery is another good store, as is Vanness Pen Shop.
Yoseka Stationery is another good store, as is Vanness Pen Shop.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
I'm always confused when writers change the plot because a reader figured out what was coming. Surely that's good? Surely that means the breadcrumbs have been laid out appropriately?
December 1, 2025 at 4:50 AM
I'm always confused when writers change the plot because a reader figured out what was coming. Surely that's good? Surely that means the breadcrumbs have been laid out appropriately?
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
ICYMI
My interview with Vanessa Fogg about her debut, The House of Illusionists, is up!
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
"Speculative fiction allows me the distance, the disguise of the metaphorical [...] to write about things that would otherwise be too personal, too vulnerable, for me to write about."
medium.com/interstellar...
The Connecting Image
Interview with Vanessa Fogg, author of The House of Illusionists
medium.com
December 1, 2025 at 3:04 AM
ICYMI
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Analysis: OpenAI is a loss-making machine, how can it survive?
Don't call it a bubble! Loss-making monster OpenAI is on the hook for $1.4 trillion (with a T) in compute commitments. How can this go on?
www.windowscentral.com
November 29, 2025 at 11:30 PM
"All of this falls apart if humans don't adopt the tech. This is why you've seen Meta cram its lame chatbots into WhatsApp and Instagram. This is why Notepad and Paint now have useless Copilot buttons on Windows. This is why Google Gemini wants to "help you" read and reply to your emails."
Digger will make you laugh and cry and wonder and ache and...*glances at notes* ...make permanent space in Pokemon Go for the saddest wettest zero-starsiest Poochyena named Ed.
I was rereading the comic Digger the other day (www.diggercomic.com) and once again encountered @tkingfisher.com making purple ink really creepy *in a comic with no color anywhere*. And I just think that's neat. Not as neat as the jumpscare on the page in The Hollow Places, but neat.
Digger by Ursula Vernon
www.diggercomic.com
November 30, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Digger will make you laugh and cry and wonder and ache and...*glances at notes* ...make permanent space in Pokemon Go for the saddest wettest zero-starsiest Poochyena named Ed.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
I was rereading the comic Digger the other day (www.diggercomic.com) and once again encountered @tkingfisher.com making purple ink really creepy *in a comic with no color anywhere*. And I just think that's neat. Not as neat as the jumpscare on the page in The Hollow Places, but neat.
Digger by Ursula Vernon
www.diggercomic.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:56 PM
I was rereading the comic Digger the other day (www.diggercomic.com) and once again encountered @tkingfisher.com making purple ink really creepy *in a comic with no color anywhere*. And I just think that's neat. Not as neat as the jumpscare on the page in The Hollow Places, but neat.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
id probably just go birding all day every day
Honest question: If everyone got Universal Basic Income, no strings attached, what would YOU do with it?
Re-post with your quote or drop your take below.
Re-post with your quote or drop your take below.
November 29, 2025 at 10:52 PM
id probably just go birding all day every day
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
GOOD NEWS! Researchers have made a HUGE breakthrough towards a UNIVERSAL antiviral. By targeting sugar molecules found on the surface of many viruses that SHARE structural similarities, they identified FOUR compounds that successfully BLOCKED infections from SEVEN different viruses.
November 28, 2025 at 5:00 PM
GOOD NEWS! Researchers have made a HUGE breakthrough towards a UNIVERSAL antiviral. By targeting sugar molecules found on the surface of many viruses that SHARE structural similarities, they identified FOUR compounds that successfully BLOCKED infections from SEVEN different viruses.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Their efficacy was confirmed against LIVE viruses including Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Hendra, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), AND Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
The study has been published in Science Advances. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪🧵⬇️
The study has been published in Science Advances. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪🧵⬇️
November 28, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Their efficacy was confirmed against LIVE viruses including Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Hendra, SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), AND Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).
The study has been published in Science Advances. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪🧵⬇️
The study has been published in Science Advances. YES, it is PEER-REVIEWED.
• www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
🧪🧵⬇️
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Potential broad-spectrum antiviral. Shows efficacy against some of the worst shit. Utterly amazing news.
We're close to the world's first-ever broad-spectrum antiviral. In a breakthrough, researchers at the City University of New York have identified a promising path to the development of an antiviral that could be used to fight a wide range of deadly viruses, including future pandemic threats.
November 30, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Potential broad-spectrum antiviral. Shows efficacy against some of the worst shit. Utterly amazing news.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
big ol article about me in GQ, if you go in for that sort of thing www.gq.com/story/john-d...
The Story John Darnielle Lived to Tell
When he was a teenager, the Mountain Goats founder never expected to live to 21. He has since become one of this century’s best songwriters. The lessons of his survival, life, and work feel endless.
www.gq.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:16 PM
big ol article about me in GQ, if you go in for that sort of thing www.gq.com/story/john-d...
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Yes, this happened in September. Yes, it is now November. BUT EVERYTHING JUST HAPPENS SO GODDAMN MUCH, it's *entirely possible* some authors have missed the news or forgotten to look, and they *should*.
AUTHORS!!
Remember that case where a bunch of authors sued AI for stealing their work? And WON?
Well, the settlement money has been announced. Each WORK that got thefted will be compensated $3k (split 50/50 bw publisher + author). So authors will be compensated $1500 per WORK stolen.
More here:
Remember that case where a bunch of authors sued AI for stealing their work? And WON?
Well, the settlement money has been announced. Each WORK that got thefted will be compensated $3k (split 50/50 bw publisher + author). So authors will be compensated $1500 per WORK stolen.
More here:
Homepage | Bartz v Anthropic Settlement Site
www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Yes, this happened in September. Yes, it is now November. BUT EVERYTHING JUST HAPPENS SO GODDAMN MUCH, it's *entirely possible* some authors have missed the news or forgotten to look, and they *should*.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
I tell younger folks all the time: Do not worry about losing the respect or presence of people who can't or won't accept you doing things that bring you joy. The only relationship you are guaranteed will last until you die is the one you have with yourself. Don't let yourself down.
One thing people kind of tell you, but not really, about middle age:
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
One day you'll be like "oh [thing] looks fun but people will think I'm a loser" about a thing
And then you'll say. Wait a second.
Fuck 'em
Darn Tough turned me on to Cute Socks and I've never looked back
November 11, 2025 at 1:40 AM
I tell younger folks all the time: Do not worry about losing the respect or presence of people who can't or won't accept you doing things that bring you joy. The only relationship you are guaranteed will last until you die is the one you have with yourself. Don't let yourself down.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
I would just live my life so that Joyce Carol Oates does not feel the need to destroy me.
November 11, 2025 at 5:56 AM
I would just live my life so that Joyce Carol Oates does not feel the need to destroy me.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
I know, everybody should leave X, but I think an exception should be made solely for Joyce Carol Oates so she can keep wounding Musk's withered soul on his own site and he can't do a thing about it.
![Joyce Carol Oates quoting a tweet that says “wherever he [Elon Musk] goes, he wants to leave”:
"wherever he goes, he wants to leave"-- that's because when he gets there, he has brought his own self along; & whatever club he's invited to join has been devalued by the invitation.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:buy3qvqcj3o76leo6ap7pn2p/bafkreifilfbsxemfsambf4kqwolr24ld2ekqcrz4ybgv3bv7kzi5e6kppm@jpeg)
November 11, 2025 at 3:14 AM
I know, everybody should leave X, but I think an exception should be made solely for Joyce Carol Oates so she can keep wounding Musk's withered soul on his own site and he can't do a thing about it.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Yep. I hear you. It's ap uphill battle.
But...
"To act, we must also believe that our actions might have consequences: that we have a chance to change the future, to save the world. We need, in other words, to hope. Hope might be told in numbers."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/4084...
But...
"To act, we must also believe that our actions might have consequences: that we have a chance to change the future, to save the world. We need, in other words, to hope. Hope might be told in numbers."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/4084...
The climate apocalypse hangs over us—so how should we write about it?
A quotation commonly attributed to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry says “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people together to collect wood... but ra...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
May 13, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Yep. I hear you. It's ap uphill battle.
But...
"To act, we must also believe that our actions might have consequences: that we have a chance to change the future, to save the world. We need, in other words, to hope. Hope might be told in numbers."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/4084...
But...
"To act, we must also believe that our actions might have consequences: that we have a chance to change the future, to save the world. We need, in other words, to hope. Hope might be told in numbers."
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/society/4084...
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Oh I am SO excited.
Attention @seananmcguire.bsky.social fans! We’re pleased to announce a new mega-collection by Seanan (600+ pages, with 16 never-before-published stories!), Velveteen vs. the Consequences of Her Actions. Full details and preorder info here: subterraneanpress.com/newsannounci...
Announcing VELVETEEN VS. THE CONSEQUENCES OF HER ACTIONS by Seanan McGuire
We’re pleased to announce some of Seanan McGuire’s rarest—and previously unpublished—stories in the new mega-collection (over 600 pages), Velveteen vs. the Consequences of Her ...
subterraneanpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Oh I am SO excited.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
Authors, Beware! There's a firm called "ClaimsHero" doing aggressive social media outreach claiming to
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
November 10, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Authors, Beware! There's a firm called "ClaimsHero" doing aggressive social media outreach claiming to
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
"help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.
Reposted by May Chong 🇲🇾
A rare interview with the creators of the always-funny, always-brilliant, and *usually*-sexy—or occasionally anti-sexy—OGLAF!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Talking Oglaf with Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne: 'We'd stay up all night drawing stuff to make each other laugh' - The Comics Journal
Other than some time off every year for Christmas, Trudy Cooper and Doug Bayne have delivered a new Oglaf comic, skewering fantasy tropes with absolutely not safe for work humor, every week since 2008...
www.tcj.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:42 PM
A rare interview with the creators of the always-funny, always-brilliant, and *usually*-sexy—or occasionally anti-sexy—OGLAF!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Cooper has kept a low profile over the years, but is legitimately one of the very best artists in comics today. Read OGLAF if you're old enough to drive!
Got a very confusing piece of spam and…look, do I have to put “not the wuxia author” as well as “not the food journo” in my bio now?
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Got a very confusing piece of spam and…look, do I have to put “not the wuxia author” as well as “not the food journo” in my bio now?