Mojo likes books. He likes the smell, he likes the pictures, he likes the shape of the words, but most of all, he likes to eat them. Mojo eats books. You know that phrase ‘everyone has at least one book in them’? Well, Mojo has at least three. The last book he ate was The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Where’s Wally? He’s lodged inside Mojo’s digestive tract. Mojo treats Bookazine like a buffet. His greatest literary ambition is to finish off War and Peace. He may have bookworms. Books are not the most exotic meal Mojo has ever had. He spent the morning eating magnetic fridge letters. The next poo he does could spell ‘disaster’.

Congratulations to Mojo! The Home Kong Kitchen mascot had his short tail published in the Women in Publishing Society‘s anthology Imprint 21. Despite being male. And a dog. And a poodle. His story is a restaurant review called The Foodie Poo. The anthology launched March 9 at the 2023 Hong Kong International Literary Festival and can be bought from Bookazine, Kidnapped, Vibe, the Lion Rock Press and the Foreign Correspondents Club, which hosted the event. Mojo is now toying with the idea of setting up the Poodles in Publishing Society (PiPS), a literary dining society for poodles who enjoy a good book as much as he does.

Thank you to editor Carol Dyer and the Women in Publishing Society for inviting me to read Bake Fail at the 2023 Hong Kong International Literary Festival launch of Imprint 21! It was the first time I had performed it in front of a live audience and I had a blast!

Bake Fail was published as A Piece of Cake by the South China Morning Post in 2022, which meant it couldn’t be included in the anthology, but you will find two of my other humorous short stories tucked inside; Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow from Sharp Pains, which broadcasted on RTHK, and another by my poodle, Mojo, which I helpfully translated.

Imprint 21 is available from bookstores BookazineKidnapped, the Lion Rock Press and Vibe. You can also pick up a copy from the FCC, where the event was held. Congrats to the Women with WiPS for putting on a cracking event and to the HKILF for curating such a literary feast! 

https://www.hkwips.com/imprint/imprint-21-at-a-glance/

https://www.hkwips.com/2023/imprint-comes-of-age-at-the-fcc/

Excited to find out the 21st Women in Publishing Society anthology Imprint 21 will launch on International Women’s Day (March 9) at the FCC as part of the 2023 Hong Kong International Literary Festival! Two of my humorous short stories are among the contributions and I am excited to have been invited to read Bake Fail at the event! Bake Fail broadcasted as an episode of Sharp Pains on RTHK Radio 3 and was published by the South China Morning Post as A Piece of Cake in 2022.

Bake Fail was nominated for Moment of Comedy Gold by the 2022 International Women’s Podcast Awards and an Official Select of the 2022 On Air Fest in Brooklyn. Sharp Pains was also shortlisted for Best Comedy Program by the 2022 New York Festivals Radio Awards and some of the stories long-listed by the 2022-2023 Comedy Women in Print Prize. More festival updates soon!

The story behind this year’s HKWC anthology, A Book of Changes, has been a lot more dramatic than anything you are likely to read inside! Hats off to the editors who have somehow kept their sanity. My chocolate horror story, Toot, is a bit of a departure from the usual stuff I write and I am excited to see it in print! The anthology doesn’t officially launch until the 2023 Hong Kong International Lit Fest in March 2023 but will be uploaded to Amazon shortly before. Sneak peak of the cover art below!

Also launching in March 2023 is the Women in Publishing Society‘s anthology Imprint 21, which will be held at the Foreign Correspondents Club. A couple of my humorous short stories are buried deep inside, like splinters of smashed Heiniken bottles nestled amongst precious emeralds…

More anthology news TBA Nov 18!

2023 HKWC Anthology

Thanks to the Women with Whips, sorry WiPS, for giving me a cracking welcome to the Women in Publishing Society and plugging my writing, bake fails, and other obvious shortcomings on their Woman at Work platform! Can’t wait to whip up a frenzy of creative collaborations with these crazy, inspiring women! Just putting the final spit and polish (so far, just spit) on my submissions for this year’s Imprint anthology, Imprint 21, which will hopefully be launched (Covidy wavey things permitting) at an event at the FCC in November!