Angela Chin

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Excerpt

You know you’ve been juggling too many jobs when complete strangers start stopping you in the street to say hello because they recognise you. Then it gets awkward when they still haven’t figured out where they know you from, but you seem so familiar to them that it would have been rude to walk straight by. All you know about them is their coffee order, if they’re lucky and they’re regular enough to implant that information firmly into your brain.

I could never work at a Starbucks, or even a Gloria Jeans, come to think of it. There are plenty of variations and flavours available at Buzz without me having to deal with orders that sound more like manifestations of minor personality disorders than mere drinks. I don’t know if America is to blame for the modern curse of expressing oneself via menu alterations, but I’d like to tell some people that they aren’t special just because their coffee ticket is longer than a sonnet. Newsflash: your decaf soy macchiato with a dash of caramel doesn’t make the staff remember you fondly as ‘that quirky caramel guy’, it means you’ll henceforth be known as ‘that soy mac jerk’. Oh, and don’t even think about being rude to your barista if you have any coffee-related dietary requirements… I have never done it myself, but I’ve known vindictive types who have mistakenly grabbed the wrong beans or milk whilst in a pesky rush period.

Not all of the frequent fliers at Buzz are memorable for the wrong reasons, though. I can still remember the day that Just-a-Latte first walked in, and almost as if to spite the soy mac jerks of the world, he ordered ‘just a latte’. Rearranging my smirk into some semblance of a smile, I feigned shock and tried to clarify the order the way that I usually have to do.

Bio

I'm a writer, cook, and skater based in a relatively remote town in Australia's Northern Territory.

I sometimes tell people that I read like a boy, but write like a girl. I'm drawn to science fiction and urban fantasy, with a weakness for post-apocalyptic settings when reading, while I enjoy exploring human relationships and popular culture with my writing.


Writing Description

Contemporary, relatable, and compulsively readable, with strong female characters.

Writing Goals

I'd like to get 40,000 words of a novel drafted by the end of the Write-a-thon. This is slightly less crazy than NaNoWriMo, and will help drive me to submit a manuscript for publication within a year.

Fundraising Goals

Clarion West is a worthy cause that I'd like to raise $100 for, even if I have to kick in the funds myself. :)

If you donate more than $5 I will send you a handwritten thank-you. Old school, right?

Website

http://stuficionado.net


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