Lia Lao

@thelialao

literary & speculative fiction writer | short stories in podcastle, otherside, haven spec | clarion west nww, granta '26 | viable paradise ‘25 | she/her 🥝 🦘 on gadigal land

370 Folgt369 Follower202 Posts

Bluesky

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir thelialao.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Lia Lao@thelialao· 2d

reasons why it’s my fave: 📹macro to micro zoom pov 👯‍♂️characters doubling as metaphors (literally seduced by nationalism) 🌾 agriculture cycles matching emotionality 🐉 my 1st literary translation in the author notes! 悯农 (by the real li shen). mostly managed to preserve the rhyme scheme???

Lia Lao@thelialao· 2d

my favorite story i’ve written (“revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer”) is out in @podcastle.org! 🥹😭 referencing tang dynasty poetry it asks “what if we focused on this RANDOM RICE FARMER instead of the empire??” it’s a deconstruction of nationalism & v queer podcastle.org/2026/08/11/p...

poster with the words “revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer”, “fantasy”, “3500 words”, “history from the bottom-up, emperors get decapitated, but we keep farming rice” “@thelialao”

on the left side are picture of rice paddies and on the right side are two men wearing hanfu

Lia Lao@thelialao· 6d

our minds 🤝🤝🤝 funnily enough i actually have a graphic of the opening since a friend tagged in me a snippet trend on ig a while back if u want a sneak peak

Lia Lao@thelialao· 20d

wrapping up edits so here's an updated agent's guide for #questpit! :)) [BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN #A #Litfic #SF #LGBT #OV #Q

slide that reads "an agent's guide to FACELESS". line under reads "literary speculative fiction / 95,000 words @thelialao)

background is a blurry photo of an asian woman with a blue tint

Pitch

[BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN

the opulence of CRAZY RICH ASIANS
x
the futuristic atmosphere of LOCAL HEAVENS & THE BOOK OF RECORDS
x
the socio-satirical tone of THE IMMORTAL KING RAO

set in a floating city owned by tech conglomerates, in a world ravaged by climate change

inspired by Silicon Valley & East/Southeast Asia

@thelialao

Background picture is a black robot in a glass box

First Page

It’s a beautiful night to die.

From the balcony, Fay Soon stares down at the celebration: the silken gowns, the crystal chalices, the laughter resounding like shattered glass. It’s the end of semester which means yet another overpriced soirée for Chang’E National University’s elite. After seven years here, the scene is hardly unfamiliar. She studies the expanse of the university gardens.

There’s a cyclical nature to it. Young and eager minds unfurling: the undergraduates, loquacious in their attempts to impress one another, each conversation, each gesture, carefully selected like the finest blossoms in a greenhouse.

There are those on the other end of the cycle too. Senescence. The doctoral candidates wilting in the shadows. Hoping for their ideas to be transfigured by wind or water or even the sorghum wine they’re cradling in their hands.

But no matter how many times Fay experiences it, she doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to the spectacle.

No one in the outer circle speaks like that, not in those sprawling, unmanicured streets. It’s opulent; it’s hypnotizing. It’s—

—a complete and utter waste of funds.

@thelialao

Background is a chandelier in dim lighting

Epigraph

As every flower fades and as all youth
Departs, so life at every stage,
So every virtue, so our grasp of truth,
Blooms in its day and may not last forever

…

We must prepare for parting and leave-taking
Or else remain the slaves of permanence.

– Hermann Hesse, The Glass Bead Game

@thelialao

Background is a white wall with the shadows of leaves

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jun 15

so excited to announce my short story “this is c(lone)-pop” is now out in @othersidespec.bsky.social! 🥹 feat. fun normal stuff (tm) like: 🧪dissolving your celeb crush in acid ⭐️ commentary on the totally fine and not at all exploitive k-pop/c-pop industry 🎤 parasocial toxic yuri x 1000

poster with the text: “this is c(lone)-pop, science fiction, 4000 words, toxic yuri agenda/ parasocial projection / cloning your dead c-pop bias is fine right?, by the lia lao”. left side shows chrysanthemums with a neon green filter and right side shows a close up of an asian woman’s eyes as she looks between the gaps of a shelf.

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jun 14

if anyone wants the “additional breakdown” 👀🌾

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jun 14

thrilled to announce my story “revolutions, as told by a humble rice farmer” is forthcoming in @podcastle.org! 🥹 referencing tang dynasty poetry (悯农) it asks “what if we focused on this RANDOM RICE FARMER instead of the empire??” it’s a deconstruction of fantasy, nationalism, and also v queer

Lia Lao@thelialao· Apr 30

thrilled to announce “this is c(lone)-pop” has been acquired by @othersidespec.bsky.social! this was originally written for my @viableparadise.bsky.social cohort’s secret santa exchange, which is kind of hilarious in hindsight (me: happy holidays, have TOXIC YURI and IDOLS DISSOLVING IN ACID 🤩)

Lia Lao@thelialao· Apr 27

more details below! so excited to be part of this sapphic anthology!! 🌈🌟

A promotional graphic announcing a story acceptance into the "Who Am I?" anthology. At the top is a brown paper-wrapped book labelled “Scylla – Cover Reveal Coming Soon! Releasing in September 2026.” Below, bold yellow and white text reads, “My story was accepted into the ‘Who Am I?’ anthology – Sapphic Speculative Fiction of Identity and Purpose.” The dark blue background features stylized tentacles and crossed swords framing the text

Lia Lao@thelialao· Apr 27

that moment when your most rejected story becomes your second pro rate sale? @scyllapublishing.bsky.social 🥹😭 i first wrote “letters to a lost time” in 2022/23 and i’ve always loved the concept but didn’t have the skill to execute it until this year. i guess some stories never die after all??

poster with the text “letters to a lost time / science fantasy / 4500 words / jumping timelines / the stories we tell ourselves to survive / by lia lao

background sounds a poster of a beetle against moss and an asian woman looking towards the sun

Lia Lao@thelialao· Apr 18

introducing a recently [redacted] short for #PosterPit 👀 i (19 f) escaped to another timeline because i think my home planet’s sentient forest is going to consume me whole. the only thing is i abandoned my bff in the process (i’m writing her angsty letters though) aita??? #SF #F #A #SO #LGBT

Lia Lao@thelialao· Apr 14

you know your stories are getting more and more unhinged when this is a real (tm) cover letter you sent to a lit mag 💀🤡

For your convenience, I have provided a glossary of Fish Human's dialogue, which is told in Morse code in the text:
• Glubglubslurpglub. Glubglubslurp. Slurpglub -
Fun
• Slurpglubslurpslurp. Glubglubslurp. Slurpslurp -
Yum
• Glubglubglub. Glubslurp. Slurpslurp. Glub - Same

Lia Lao@thelialao· Apr 1

ecstatic to announce my story “looking glass” has been longlisted/nominated for the sir julius vogel awards! 🥹😭 special thanks to saros sf 1 editor @meganjkerr.bsky.social and the publisher @fusionfragment.bsky.social 🤍

a 3x3 square moodboard, containing photos of the following:

top-left: diamond stud earrings
top-middle: camera flashes from a sea of people holding mobile phones
top-right: surgeons staring at a screen in the operating room
middle-left: a blurred picture of an asian woman with green overtones
middle-center: image of a brain in black and white
middle-right: broken mirror with a blurred silhouette
bottom left: a circuit board
bottom-middle: a close-up of a speedometer
bottom-right: an iv drip against a green-blue background

email notifying the poster that she has been nominated/longlisted for the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Short Story

Lia Lao@thelialao· Mar 14

kinda bad at posting but trying to summarise some recent updates on the 📸 app! www.instagram.com/p/DV3T8I3k8Fq/

Lia Lao@thelialao· Feb 19

guys my @havenspec.bsky.social story “magical girl: corporate failure” was reviewed in reactor??? and was one of @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social’s top ten january reads?? 😭😭😭 feeling super grateful and also freaking out rn

Lia Lao@thelialao· Feb 13

realised i never made an official 2025 pubs list, so... hi! i had one short out in saros sf (publisher: @fusionfragment.bsky.social, 4k words) last year, feat: 🏍️flying car crashes 💎sapphic nepo babies 🧠 transplanting your situationship's memories into your brain to cope with her death <33

Lia Lao@thelialao· Feb 2

can’t believe my first pro rate sale is out today in @havenspec.bsky.social! featuring: 💜 the worst sapphic situationship 5eva 👵 the existential dread of a quarter life crisis (spreadsheets! creepy directors!) 💀 “dying a hero is easy; living is harder”

a 3x3 moodboard featuring the following:
top left: an error message
top center: business paper
top right: cherry blossom trees
middle left: a woman’s body with a purple filter
middle center: a white heart with a pink center
middle right: a pink ocean
bottom left: a doll with the face cropped out
bottom middle: a ring
bottom right: a hand pressed against shattered glass

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jan 31

hi #questpit, almost done revising my sapphic sf crazy rich asians novel, so here's the agent's guide! :)) [BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN #A #SF #LGBT

slide that reads "an agent's guide to FACELESS". line under reads "adult speculative fiction / 80,000 words @thelialao)

background is a blurry photo of an asian woman with a blue tint

Text:

PITCH

[BREAKING NEWS]: BROKE PHD STUDENT FAKES DEATH AND STEALS IDENTITY OF BILLIONAIRE TECH HEIRESS. TOO BAD HER GENIUS RIVAL IS ONTO HER & IS OBSESSED WITH EXPOSING HER NEW SKIN

the opulence of CRAZY RICH ASIANS x the otherworldly, futuristic atmosphere of LOCAL HEAVENS x the socio-satirical tone of THE IMMORTAL KING RAO

set in a floating city inspired by tech havens in Silicon Valley and East/Southeast Asia

Background: an Asian City with a blue filter

$TEXT: FIRST PAGE It’s a beautiful night to die. The lights of Chang’E City shine over the water, glinting like shattered glass. From her position on the watchtower, Fay Soon can see everything. Her eyes turn, trying to stay cool as they scan the sprawling streets, the steel towers, the crystalline lights that weave through the metropolis like veins. It’s almost commendable how hard she’s trying to maintain her composure. As if this is still an equation that can be solved, rudimentary as the mathematical problems she learnt in elementary school: if 4x = 16, find x. But if things were so simple she wouldn’t be standing here, body tautened like a coiled wire. Her heart wouldn’t be beating hard enough to fracture her ribs. And on her right, wouldn’t lie the endless, insurmountable drop of the edge. @thelialao Background: A silhouette of a woman looking at a wall of holograms$

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jan 27

another hectic update but honoured to announce i’ve also been accepted into @grantamag.bsky.social’s “writing a literary novel” workshop for my YELLOWFACE x INCEPTION literary speculative fiction novel! 🥹 this month has been so surreal

screenshot of an acceptance email into granta’s “writing a literary novel” workshop

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jan 24

still can’t believe i’m typing this but i’ve been accepted into @clarionwest.bsky.social! 🥹😭 so excited to draft my literary speculative fiction novel (YELLOWFACE x MY BRILLIANT FRIEND x INCEPTION but sapphic) about an author and a critic who swap bodies and meet the rest of my amazing cohort!

3 x 3 moodboard with the following images
top-left: photo of the new york times
top-middle: a pair of glasses
top-right: a silver mannequin
middle-left: red lipstick and a gold necklace
middle-center: a transparent mannequin
middle-right: phones being raised with flash
bottom-left: a golden chandelier
bottom-middle: an illustration of a brain
bottom-right: a shadow standing behind cracked glass

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jan 13

so excited to announce that i've signed a contract with @havenspec.bsky.social for my short story "magical girl: corporate failure"! delighted that this weird story has found its home (also my first pro-rate sale!)🥹

poster split in half. left side features a doll, right side features a photograph of an office, all with a purple filter. title in the middle reads: magical girl: corporate failure. text at the bottom reads: "fantasy", "1,200 words", "child prodigies / capitalism / everything is kind of your own fault"

Lia Lao@thelialao· Jan 13

AITA for trying to kill my soulmate? She murdered me in Han dynasty China Recently I (F, 21) have been having visions of the future where my reincarnated killer murders me again. AITA for trying to beat her to it? It's just self-defence... right? 👁️👄👁️ #bluepit #Q #A #F #LGBT #OV