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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
