Samantha

historical inspiration for my fantasy novel: foreign rule in finland & the philippines

Historical inspiration for my fantasy novel: foreign rule in Finland & the Philippines

| Myth | Lore | History, Seeker of the Lost Song, Twist the Branch, Writing | 2 Comments

Why do I write historically-inspired SF/F set in societies that disregard personal autonomy? I admit, when I first noticed it I got a little concerned.⁠ Shouldn’t I be writing about dragons or something lighthearted and fun? ⁠ Then I took a step back and looked at the broad strokes history of my parents’ countries of […]

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Honoured to be the inaugural Captured Phantoms “Pay It Forward” Scholarship Award recipient

| News, Seeker of the Lost Song | Leave a Comment

I’m honoured to be the inaugural Captured Phantoms “Pay It Forward” Scholarship Award Recipient. The fund was established by the wonderful book coach and editor Karen A. Parker, and I’m excited to work with Karen on developing Seeker of the Lost Song! The fund helps subsidize the cost of coaching, consultation, critique, and editorial services

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Event alert! “Creating Time and Space to Write” workshop at the Word on the Street

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Join Farah Heron, Rebecca Mardon, and me at the Word on the Street’s “Creating Time and Space to Write” free (!) virtual workshop. We’ll share how we manage creative projects alongside children, households, day jobs, and more. You’ll learn tips, tricks, rituals, and mindsets to help you make time and space for your very own

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How I wrote my first short story in years

| News, Seeker of the Lost Song, Twist the Branch, Writing | Leave a Comment

I’m excited to talk about this: I wrote a short story for the first time in years! ⁠Stone Grown is set in the greater world of my latest fantasy novel Twist the Branch and its sequel-in-progress. It’s historically-inspired, character-driven, and draws on Finnish and Filipino folklore and customs.⁠ Note: A slightly more detailed version of this

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Sci-fi/fantasy worldbuilding process

How I start my worldbuilding process as an SF/F author

| Seeker of the Lost Song, The Quiet is Loud, Twist the Branch, Writing | Leave a Comment

At my recent “World-building and Cultural Research for Storytelling” panel at the Filipino-Canadian Book Festival, one question asked where we start our respective worldbuilding processes. Here I’ll go into more detail about how I start worldbuilding as a sci-fi/fantasy author. /// Note: A slightly more detailed version of this post first appeared in my monthly

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Event alert! Filipino-Canadian Book Festival on July 13

| Misc., News | Leave a Comment

I’m excited to be appearing (virtually!) on a panel at the first Filipino-Canadian Book Festival next month. My event is on Saturday, July 13 at 10.15 am PT. Here are the details: World-building and Cultural Research for Storytelling Join us for this insightful author panel on creating immersive worlds, grounding them in reality, and ensuring

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The Quiet is Loud & old Filipino restaurants

| Food, Myth | Lore | History, The Quiet is Loud | Leave a Comment

Firstly: Happy Filipino Heritage Month! 🇵🇭 There’s an old-school style of Filipino restaurant called “turo-turo1.” The name is an example of classic Filipino word reduplicating, and stems from the word for pointing at something. They’re often located in strip malls, and the typical feature is their cafeteria-style presentation, all food laid out in warming trays

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SFWA Blog: Character Development Lessons From Video Games

| Misc., News, Writing | Leave a Comment

I’m excited to have the chance to geek out about both character development and video games at the SFWA Blog! In my article “Character Development Lessons From Video Games,” I talk about some of my favourite character-driven fantasy and role-playing video games, and the lessons they taught me in developing characters in my sci-fi/fantasy books.

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Italicized words, and not othering myself in The Quiet is Loud

| The Quiet is Loud | Leave a Comment

One of my favourite conversations with my editor for The Quiet is Loud went something like this: Me: So, we’re not italicizing the Filipino words, right? Amazing Editor Bryan Ibeas of Invisible Publishing: Fuck no we’re not. I know that the conversation would have gone the same way if anyone else at Invisible were my

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