One of my favourite things about Filipino food is all of the outside influences made undeniably Filipino in their interpretation. I like to use Filipino food in my writing, and it’s become a key part of my mixed-race identity too. The Philippines is made up of many different cultures and languages, and this isn’t meant […]
How Filipino food history nurtures my mixed-race identity Read More »
Things have been evolving in my life and creativity. I’ve been regularly researching stories from Filipino & Finnish culture and having a blast. So starting in January 2026, I’ll be shifting to monthly reflections on folklore, cultural discoveries, and fragments that don’t always make it into my fiction. It’ll be part cultural storytelling and part
What’s changing with my Patreon in 2026 Read More »
I have a short story in the first edition of Ginger & Smoke! A Filipino-Canadian first, Ginger & Smoke is a genre-blending publication reclaiming Filipino folklore, mythology and fairy tales. It became my dream publication as soon as I saw the call for submissions, and I’m grateful to Nathalie De Los Santos for broadening the
Filipino folklore story in Ginger & Smoke Read More »
Imagine an autumnal fire-crackle, song and stillness after harvest, a pause between worlds when the veil is thinnest. This time of year seems right for that sort of thing, for divination and feasting and weaving the past and future together. In Finland & Karelia, it was called Kekri. Kekri was a liminal time of harvest
Before Halloween, there was Kekri Read More »
Draft complete (please read that in a Warcraft II orc voice). The science-fantasy novella that was supposed to be a quick project became a trilogy rooted in Finnish & Filipino myth, asking questions about what we sacrifice to create community, and how we’re changed by the natural world. Say hello to The Other Air. I
New science-fantasy novella trilogy Read More »
As a kid, I was taught that certain spirits lived just beyond the edges of the path. In Filipino folklore, the nuno sa punso might curse you for disturbing its mound. In Finnish folklore, a type of haltija called a tonttu could guard your house and required certain behaviour. I grew up saying “tabi tabi
Boundary keepers & path shifters: forest spirits in Filipino & Finnish folklore Read More »
In Finnish paganism, the bear was never just an animal. Its name was too sacred to speak aloud lest you attract it. It was replaced with euphemistic, respectful names instead. Finnish euphemisms for “bear” Because speaking the true name of the bear was taboo to ancient Finno-Ugric people, they used terms of endearment and euphemisms
The bear spirit in Finnish paganism Read More »
For my spring Undone Rituals Mixtape on Patreon, I made a zine! That sentence got an exclamation mark because I haven’t made a zine since I was 24. That’s over 20 years ago! Making a zine in 2025 was different in two main ways: 1) No longer having an office job where I could sneak
My first zine in over 20 years! Read More »
This month I had the honour of guest-editing the March edition of Katie Li’s incredible zine The Beautiful Worst, which shares thoughts on a different aspect of creativity along with prompts and ideas for readers to use in their own creative practice. My theme was “Creativity + Convergence,” and it was fun to examine the
Patreon giveaway w/author Katie Li Read More »
I came of age on the late ‘90s internet, a very small world of DIY creativity and un-algorithmed self-expression. I’ve always loved exploring ideas and putting them out there, rough edges and all. So in 2025 I’m creating the Undone Rituals Mixtape project, a year-long creative experiment outside of my traditionally-published work, outside of algorithms
Introducing: the Undone Rituals Mixtape project on Patreon Read More »
