Selected Writing & Creative Stuff
General interviews with me about writing, etc can be found here.
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Awards & Grants
- 2023 – I am a grateful recipient of two Ontario Arts Council Recommender Grants for Writers for Seeker of the Lost Song (now known as Twist the Branch), recommended by ECW Press & Diaspora Dialogues
- 2022 – Shortlisted for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for The Quiet is Loud
Author Panel Appearances
- Panelist on “World-building and Cultural Research for Storytelling” at the Filipino-Canadian Book Festival, July 13, 2024
- Moderator for the panel “Worldbuilding the Real World: Creating the Fictional Here” at AugurCon, November 26, 2022
- Panelist on “Fabulist Fiction: Identity Exploration Through Magical Realism” at Word on the Street, September 25, 2021
- Panelist on “Writers on Mystery and Magic” at the Festival of Literary Diversity, May 4, 2021
Short Stories & Poems
- 2025 – “Learn the New Light” | Short story, Ginger & Smoke #1
- 2020 – “The Dreamers” | Short story, The Quarantine Review #5
- 2020 – “When You Don’t See Me” and “Words for a Heart” | Poems, The Quarantine Review #1
- 2014 – “An Island” | Prose poem, Sundog Lit, The Kissing Booth
- 2012 – “Breathing Underwater” | Short story, WhiskeyPaper
- 2011 – “Sorry Every Day” | Short story, Storychord #22
- 2006 – “& I kind of” and “winter wheat” | Poems, The Fiddlehead #229 (as Samantha Marcelo)
- 2004 – “Our Game” | Short story, Kiss Machine #8 (as Samantha Marcelo)
- 2001 – Short story, Broken Pencil (as Samantha Marcelo)
Articles
- 2023-2025 – Monthly columnist at Open Book
- 2024 – Character Development Lessons From Video Games at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA) Blog
- 2023 – We Need More Older Protagonists in Speculative Fiction – and Beyond at All Lit Up
- 2022 – Things I Didn’t Know About Publishing a First Book Until I Published My First Book at Invisible Publishing
- 2021 – June Writer-in-Residence at Open Book
- 2021 – “9 books for getting into speculative fiction” at Rakuten Kobo
- 2021 – “Speculative Fiction: Vast and Thrilling” at 49th Shelf
Selected Zines, Handmade Books & Writing
- 2025 – Guest edited “Creativity + Convergence,” the March 2025 edition of author Katie Li’s monthly zine The Beautiful Worst.
- 2025 – Undone Rituals literary mixtape project on Patreon, featuring the Undone Rituals zine, exclusive poems, and creative non-fiction.
- 2016 – Completed National Novel Writing Month with the novel The Quiet is Loud.
- 2008 – WestWord Magazine: My Do-It-Yourself Writer’s Retreat (PDF)
- 2001-2004 – Pinpoints | Zine – 3 issues
- 2001-2003 – Telectric | Zine – 4 issues
- 2001 – Blinking Is Just Blinking | Very small print run handmade book
- 2001 – Laundry | Very small print run handmade book
Education and Other Activities
- 2025 – Present – Volunteer, Strong Women – Strange Worlds online speculative fiction reading series
- 2012 – Worked on a collection of short stories in the 30-week Humber School for Writers’ Creative Writing by Correspondence program, mentored by Donna Morrissey
- 2006 – 2010 – Guild member, Writers’ Guild of Alberta
- 2006 – The Alexandra Reader 25th Anniversary Edition | Editorial committee
- 2004 – 2006 – Member and Secretary of Board of Directors, Alexandra Writers’ Centre Society
Oh, and in 2012, a tweet of mine ended up in Reader’s Digest (which went on to form the foundation of my fantasy novel Twist the Branch). It made my mother very proud:
