Samantha

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

| News, Writing | Leave a Comment

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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Get a free fantasy short story!

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

Something exciting in the world of my newsletter: a free fantasy short story as a thank-you gift for subscribers! ⁠Stone Grown is set in the greater world of my latest fantasy novel Seeker of the Lost Song and its sequel-in-progress. It’s historically-inspired, character-driven, and draws on Finnish and Filipino folklore and customs.⁠ ⁠ ///Note: A

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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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Historical inspiration for my fantasy novel: Early Finns, Sámi, and “unnatural” magic

| History, Seeker of the Lost Song | 2 Comments

By April 2022 I had almost entirely lost steam with Seeker of the Lost Song. I had already changed the setting once, from a generation-ship in space. For the type of story I was writing, the characters needed movement. They needed a quest. Deciding that the closed environment of a spaceship wouldn’t do, I put

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