“Freedom is the best thing” – Reading ‘Tove Jansson: Work and Love’

Post published:May 28, 2018
Post category:People Reading Writing
Reading time:5 mins read

I’m half-Finnish, but I didn’t know what a Moomin was until I was an adult.

Maybe that’s not entirely true; I do have a dim memory of receiving a Moominpapa piggybank as a child, but I had no idea what what the character was supposed to be. However, as an adult I did finally learn, and I began also to learn about the Moomins’ creator, Tove Jansson. And I began to like her quite a lot!

My friend Susanna is a Finnish visual artist, and together we share this Tove-admiration. I had asked her if Finland had a good Jansson biography in English, and soon enough, a book more beautiful than I could have imagined arrived at my door.
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Stop calling yourself an aspiring writer (please)

Post published:May 18, 2018
Post category:Writing
Reading time:4 mins read

A couple of days ago, I was thinking about the phrase “aspiring writer” or “aspiring author.”

I want to say first that I don’t mean to call anyone out or be a downer. In fact, I hope this is a positive rant! I’ve just been noticing that a fair number of people on social media refer to themselves as an aspiring writer. They post pictures of their works-in-progress, they talk about story ideas they’re fleshing out, they talk with other writers, they even attend workshops and conferences.

And every single time, I wish I could tell them: You already are a writer!
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New novel & worldbuilding

Post published:February 9, 2018
Post category:Seeker of the Lost Song Writing
Reading time:5 mins read

At the end of 2017, I had finished the draft of my novel, and was feeling kind of lost. I had been working on it for a year, I had finished NaNoWriMo with it, and suddenly it was done and off to beta readers. I had this writing momentum I…

I’m Samantha Garner, author of The Quiet is Loud, which was shortlisted for the 2022 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize. A Canadian of mixed Filipino-Finnish background, my character-driven fantasy and sci-fi novels explore themes of identity and belonging. View The Quiet is Loud on the StoryGraph, Bookshop.org, and Goodreads, or click the image below to learn more about it, and where to buy.