Liz Sinclair
Bio
Amateur historian who loves travel and lives in Asia. I write 'what-if' historical stories, speculative fiction, travel essays and haiku.
Twitter: @LizinBali. LinkedIn: sinclairliz
Stories (46)
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Dewi and The Dragons of Pura Beji
There weren't always dragons in the Valley. In fact, there hadn't been any for a long long time until a Chinese tourist climbed into the forbidden inner sanctum of Dewi Kwan Im’s temple (the Chinese call her Kwan Yin), disturbing the goddess and waking the dragon guardians from their long sleep.
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Fiction
The Slap
What I remember most about the slap is how the sound, like a shot, echoed across the dojo. I wouldn't feel the soreness, the tenderness, for a second or two. I was stunned. My body froze. I gaped at my teacher, trying to register what had just happened, but he'd turned away. I'm 58 and I had never been intentionally hit across the face before. By accident, sure, in sparring, or being jostled at a concert, or on a crowded dance floor or whacked with a tree branch. Never on purpose.
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Humans
The Tea Club and Barrovian Society
“Tell us the Christmas story, Grandpa,” the children chorused. “The one about the ghost.” The old man settled into his chair before a roaring fire, shifting and stirring as his arthritic joints complained. His gnarled hands rested on his lap, cradling a mug of cocoa. He looked down and thought how once on that long-ago winter in the fields of France, his tin mug had held a Christmas ration of rum, and the hands that held it were young not old. His lungs were shot, ruined by the gas he breathed on the battlefields all those many years ago. Cold weather made him wheeze and cough. That part of the story he wouldn’t be sharing with them.
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Fiction
Ten Things I Hate About You
Dear Mr. Sanderz, Do you want to know why I call you Mr. Sanderz? That was the name written over Winne the Pooh's door. My use is ironic. You're like Pooh would have been if he was a mogwai and someone fed him honey after midnight and he turned into a Gremlin. You have claws, sharp teeth and a bad attitude.
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Petlife
Bali Birth
If you want to fall in love with the world, really fall in love with it, watch a birth. Better yet, move to a developing country, work as a fundraiser for a birth centre for poor families, have no experience of birth yourself, and then watch a baby born into water.
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Families
"And the CNN Hero of the Year for 2011 is ...". Top Story - September 2021.
I looked around the spacious living room. The entire administrative staff from the Bumi Sehat center was crowded in, pairs of people wedged into chairs meant for one (Indonesian style), sitting cross legged on the floor, stretched out on the massive carved Chinese teak bed or leaning against the wooden walls of the joglo, or traditional Javanese wooden house.
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Humans
Part 9: Karma is a Bitch (literally)
This is the last installment of the first Vocal Creators Saloon story series. Before reading this piece, please be sure to read the first eight parts that precede it. Each is written by a different member of the Vocal Creators Saloon Facebook Group:
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Fiction
Knit One, Breathe One
Knit 1, breath in. Purl 1, breath out. When my mother was dying of cancer, I would sit by her side for hours at night, as she slept, keeping watch. I would knit in those empty hours, when the world was still and my focus shrank to the soft sound of my mother's breaths and the click-click of acrylic needles. Without thought, I would match my stitches to her breaths. Knit 1, breath in. Purl 1, breath out. As long as she was breathing, I told myself, she was still with us. I used a lot of moss (or seed stitch) as it was simple and repetitious, just alternating knit and purl. I worked on easy projects: cowls and scarves. No shaping, no increases and decreases. I had little energy for decisions or following directions. When my eyes drooped, and I started miscounting stitches, I would put my work down, and tip toe to bed.
By Liz Sinclair4 years ago in Humans
How Bali Taught Me to Love Tempe
Before I moved to Bali, I didn't really care for tempe (or tempeh, as it's spelled in the West). The few times I'd ordered it in vegetarian restaurants, it was cooked in a stew or grilled as a whole cake, and tasted soggy or bland. But that's not the best way to eat this unique fermented food made from soybeans. Indonesia is full of a range of delicious recipes made from tempe, and the people here have been cooking with it for hundreds of years. After all, they invented tempe.
By Liz Sinclair5 years ago in Feast
