Join us for our first Happy Hour reading of 2021 with a YA focus, as well as the official launch of Olivia Chadha's latest book, Rise of the Red Hand. FEBRUARY 5th, 2021 @ 5PM MTN. Register Here.
Olivia Chadha writes science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and literary novels for YA and adult audiences. She also holds a Ph.D. from Binghamton University’s creative writing program and a master's from the University of Colorado, Boulder's creative writing program. Much of her research centers on the history of exile, India’s Partition, precarious borders and boundaries, global folklore and fairy tales, and the relationship between humans and the environment. She is a first-generation American of Punjabi Sikh and Latvian/German descent. She began her writing career with a stint writing comic scripts for Michael Turner’s Fathom. Balance of Fragile Things is her debut adult literary novel, and Rise of the Red Hand (The Mechanists Series) is her YA debut. She lives in Colorado with her family and two very odd dogs.
Growing up in the DC area, Olivia Abtahi devoured books and hid in empty classrooms during school to finish them. Her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, will be published with Penguin Random House Putnam Books For Young Readers, with forthcoming novels from LEE & LOW Tu Books. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and daughter.
How to Write in Multiple Points of View
The Winged Pen interviewed several authors in my debut group #the21ders (check out our website www.the21ders.com!). Thank you The Winged Pen. To view the article, please click the image below or visit: https://thewingedpen.com/2020/10/27/how-to-write-in-multiple-points-of-view/
School Library Journal Day of Dialog - Oct 15th 2020
Tomorrow, Oct 15th, I’ll be chatting with some amazing authors on a panel Turbulent Times for Teens on the School Library Journal Day of Dialog. It’s a free event and will be recorded so hope to see you there!
JLF Colorado - Creating Worlds in Speculative Fiction
You are invited to a JLF Colorado Virtual Session:
Creating Worlds: Diverse Women Writers in Conversation on The Art of Speculative Fiction
Tuesday, August 4, 2020 from 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Free Admission
Olivia Kaur Chadha: CU Professor, Olivia Chadha writes science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and literary novels for adult and YA audiences.
Ausma Zehenat Khan: International Human Rights Lawyer, author of bestselling mystery and fantasy series, former editor-in-chief of Muslim Girl.
Erika Wurth: Professor of Creative Writing and Journalism, Erika Wurth is the author of several novels and books of poetry depicting the hard truths of contemporary Native American life and is passionate about speculative fiction.
REGISTER HERE!
RISE OF THE RED HAND Announcement on Tor.com
The Announcement on Tor.com 3/9/2020!
A streetrat turned revolutionary and the disillusioned hacker son of a politician try to take down a ruthlessly technocratic government that sacrifices its poorest citizens to build its utopia. Olivia Chadha’s Rise of the Red Hand is a rare, searing portrayal of the future of climate change in South Asia—publishing in January 2021 with Erewhon Books.
The South Asian Province is split in two. Uplanders lead luxurious lives, dependent on technology and gene therapy to keep them healthy and youthful forever. The poor and forgotten scrape by with discarded black-market robotics, a society of poverty-stricken cyborgs struggling to survive in slums threatened by rising sea levels, disease, and starvation.
Ashiva works for an underground network of revolutionaries known as the Red Hand, fighting a system perpetuated by a mercilessly efficient computer algorithm that dictates every citizen’s fate. She’s a smuggler with the best robotic arm and cybernetic enhancements the slums can offer, and her cargo includes the most vulnerable of the city’s abandoned children.
When Ashiva crosses paths with the brilliant hacker Riz-Ali, a privileged Uplander who finds himself embroiled in the Red Hand’s dangerous activities, they uncover a horrifying conspiracy that the government will do anything to bury. From armed guardians kidnapping children to massive robots flattening the slums, to a deadly plague that threatens to sweep through the city like wildfire, Ashiva and Riz-Ali will have to put aside their differences in order to fight the system and save the communities they love from destruction.
From author Olivia Chadha:
When you’re comfortable, the future feels hypothetical. You think: not now, not tomorrow, maybe never. But the most vulnerable on Earth experience climate change today. I wanted to write a novel that puts South Asia in a future landscape because it’s a place of resilient, creative people that’s often ignored in climate conversations dominated by white, affluent, Western voices. Growing up, I never saw myself in books that imagined the future. As a child of Punjabi and European immigrants, I’m in an in-between place. First-gen kids have an unspoken pressure to look to the future and back at filial history simultaneously. It’s this liminality that allows me to imagine potential futures through the past.
From Sarah Guan, Editor:
Science fiction is, as a genre, uniquely suited to asking difficult societal questions, by imagining futures shaped by today’s decisions and governed by timeless human fallibilities. I’m always looking for smart, compassionate, and different stories that put wrenchingly human faces on systemic and universal problems—and what problem is more global than climate change? Olivia’s book is not only thrillingly creative and terrifyingly relevant, but also illuminates a side of the story that isn’t often heard: that of the communities on the front lines of the climate crises of today and tomorrow. I hope Rise of the Red Hand gives all the young readers who will inherit this earth a glimpse of its precarious future, and the power individuals of all backgrounds can wield in shaping it.
How to Write During a Pandemic…
Or…an alternate title could be Things That Might Help Creative People in Times of Stress
I’ve searched far and wide for an encouraging essay or article to share with friends and my students during this time but came up empty. So, I decided to write one. Granted this is obviously just one writer’s point of view. But, I think now more than ever we can all use the encouragement.
For some of us writing is a life line, it kinda keeps us feeling human. For me, if I’m not “making” I can’t organize my anxiety and it takes over. When I’m knee deep into drafting a project or researching and outlining it, this act keeps my brain humming along, making me more productive in other parts of my life.
So, obviously these won’t be helpful to everyone. But here are some things I’m trying to get my brain back on track (and my stories, too). I’m trying and failing at most of these, by the way. But having a list makes me feel like they might be attainable at some point.
1. Write it down. Historically, it could be pretty useful to note the mundane stuff that will make history books more interesting. What was it like for you today? How did you juggle your life and expectations? Also, writing down your daily experiences can help emotionally as well.
2. READ. Period. Read books that bring you joy, that remind you how much you love words and how stories can transform the world. Yeah, that’ll make you remember why you wanted to write that story. If you don’t have time to read novels, read short stories or poetry! They take less time but can transfix your brain for a bit. Poetry makes you smarter. It’s true.
3. Get dressed. I know, and I am guilty of this too. But the occasional shower and getting dressed in the morning is very helpful for everyone. It’s about setting up some sort of schedule.
4. Give yourself a break. But also put social media at a distance. It’s stressful, and no there isn’t a new article that’s going to change your experience drastically. Give it a break. Your anxiety will decrease and your ability to focus on that story will increase. I think yoga (By Adriene) or exercise if you are able, or doing some sort of mindful meditation is helpful. But also just putting down your phone for a hour will do wonders for the brain space.
5. If you can’t write right now, read and do research! Hang onto the exciting experience of falling down endless roads of story information! Use the online library and the interwebs. Do deep dives into history, politics, or other random bits of information so that you can give your brain a clue at what you’d like it to do.
6. Clean with limitations. I see you, wiping, washing, etc. and I applaud you. But try to set up time limits for the distractions like laundry and cleaning. Maybe set a schedule. Working at home is hard even during non-pandemic times!
7. Try to find a tiny corner that is facing something you don’t mind looking at. Use headphones, a candle whatever else can trick your brain into thinking it’s in some glamourous office (not the little corner in the closet—whatever!). Just make it up. Find a room, nook, cranny, closet, corner of your own. When you’re there, give yourself permission to just be a writer. Take comfort in ceremony.
8. And, a lot of us are juggling so much that we can’t actually make new words right now. Know that that’s okay. Also, writing isn’t just typing out new words (we all know that). Feed your inner writer by watching shows that you love, read snippets that you adore, read poetry (it’s short and makes you smart), throw yourself into an art project with your kid or cat or whatever. Just make sure you are kind to your artist side, and as we survive, don’t forget to try to encourage yourself to also live.
And I’m trying to remember that maybe the world needs our words and our stories. So, I’m doing what I need to do to get through this time (healthy choices mostly) and am trying to remind myself that stories will come when they can. I haven’t written a new word in ages, but I’m plotting, planning, day-dreaming.
Wishing you well.
Olivia
SCBWI Does it Again! Yay Rocky Mountain Region! Fall 2019
I’ve attended the past 4 or 5 (I can’t remember) SCBWI conferences in the Rocky Mountain Region. Each time I go, it gets better and better. It’s been amazing in the past few years to watch my friends publish their books, get agents, finish that book - and it’s at this conference that we celebrate the hard and fun work we all love to do. This year we had amazing faculty (we have amazing faculty every year, btw)! In the past I’ve learned from Laurie Halse Anderson, Judith Byron Schachner, even Lin Oliver. This year we were blown away by the crazy talent of Elana Arnold (Damsel), - literally blown away. She said she has synesthesia and it was amazing to listen to her speak about building tension. We also had fabulous and smart agents Kate Testerman (KT) and Molly O’Neill (Root) and editors Sylvie Frank and Tiffany Liao. What a lineup. Anyway, I’ll be in a quiet room just letting the ideas settle as I move from conference life to IRL. Until next year — or the next conference!
Olivia Chadha, this year’s Crystal Kite winner Kim Tomsic (11:11 & 12th Wish), and Sara Jade Alan (Messy, Beautiful Life)
ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival: Boulder, CO 2019
What a wonderful weekend full of discussions, readings, and workshops in Boulder, CO! I was lucky to lead a workshop for teens called From Fantastic Worlds to the Future: Writing YA SFF. The groups was wonderfully willing to go along with my odd writing exercises. (Thank you!). Lovely turn out.
The Colorado Authors Reading Series included Tree Bernstein, Reed Bye, Ramona Ausubel, and Marcia Douglas and myself. Marcia was one of my favorite teachers at CU when I was there for my master’s in creative writing. She’s the author of The Marvellous Equations of the Dread: A Novel in Bass Riddim. Ramona read a hilarious short story from her collection Awayland: Stories. My heart is full, and now fall has arrived and it’s a good time to write!
Chadha, Ausubel, and Douglas at the Colorado Author Series at ZEE JLF, Boulder, CO 2019
Zee Jaipur Lit Festival -- Boulder, CO September 2019
I am SO excited for the Zee Jaipur Lit Festival here in Boulder this September 21-22nd! This year I’ll be teaching a course for teens on writing YA science fiction and fantasy! I’ll also be reading from a current novel in the Colorado Author Series! Stay tuned for more details! The line up is amazing— so many stunning thinkers, authors, speakers that I’m going to be star-struck the whole weekend.
Book Release and Local Author Afternoon
I am happy to announce that I will be reading at the Boulder Bookstore with two other local authors in October.
www.boulderbookstore.com
WHEN: October 14th 2:00PM
WHERE: Boulder Bookstore, 1107 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO - On the Pearl Street Mall
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Update on 2012-10-02 21:38 by Olivia Chadha
