It's been quite a while since I last updated this blog. I was on slow dialup for a while as we were in the process of moving servers.
Updates:
My review of Lone Star Stories #30 has been published on The Fix.
While I was offline, I made my first professional sale. I sold my Pink Elephant Story to Fantasy Magazine. I was tickled pink when I got this news. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to seeing the story on there as this is my tribute to my fellow Villa Diodatians.
I've kept up the momentum of writing one story every other week, and worked on my Clarion Application stories. My story package is ready for submission. I'm hoping I qualify for some scholarship, as that will be a really huge help. I also think I've really got to work really hard at selling more stories. Ha, ha, ha.
I'm quite pleased with my application stories. One of them is a tribal fantasy mix. It combines the Ambahan of the Mangyan with the culture/language of the Ifugao. Pretty Philistine (I know), but that's why I'm a specfic writer.
One bummer was my laptop breaking down for no reason at all. We took it back to the shop as it's still under warranty. Hopefully they'll keep true to their word and have it done by this week. I miss the danged thing.
Gym stuff: I've been on this sports program for almost ten weeks, and I'm proud to say I've lost 4.5 kilos. I'm going for the slow and steady thing. Color me turtle. Someday, I will be at my preferred weight of 60 kilos.
I've been trying to resign-up for the Flips group (since our email addy is now changed), but keep getting fault messages. What am I doing wrong?
maandag 15 december 2008
vrijdag 21 november 2008
thinking of christmas
I've spent almost the entire day looking for a place to celebrate christmas. And by this I mean, somewhere that isn't The Netherlands. It's really funny how this celebrating christmas has turned into some sort of obsession...
Then, I found this article: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Manila/blog-340493.html
And I knew why it was so important... I miss home...
I miss the get-togethers, the christmas carolling, the jingles, the cheer that seems to infect everyone, the being with your family and loved ones...
I miss all of that...
And the thing is, no matter what I do...
All of that just isn't here.
Then, I found this article: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Philippines/Manila/blog-340493.html
And I knew why it was so important... I miss home...
I miss the get-togethers, the christmas carolling, the jingles, the cheer that seems to infect everyone, the being with your family and loved ones...
I miss all of that...
And the thing is, no matter what I do...
All of that just isn't here.
what happened in our little town
Lynn Austin came to our little town yesterday. Who's Lynn Austin? She's an internationally bestselling christian author who I interviewed sometime ago for The Sword Review. I did a voice and mail interview with her and she was very warm, gracious and accommodating.
The last time we talked, she'd asked me what I was working on. I told her I was working on a poetic memoir. I said that I doubted it's marketability, but well it was what I had to write anyway and that was more important than marketting. To which, she said that when it got published I should send her a copy. A year after that conversation, OMF Lit, Philippines picked up Echoes from my New Home and included these pieces in Hope Away from Home.
Seeing as that interview was in 2006, I doubted that Lynn would remember me. Still, she was coming to my town and I knew I had to see her. I brought her my last copy of Hope Away from Home. (We had shipped over a good number of books for the launching in February, but all those books have sold and I had only one left.)
There was a very long line of people at the bookshop. Later, the bookshop owner told us that there had been about a hundred people that evening. They had sold more than a hundred books, and there were still a lot of books that they'd held back for people who'd phoned in and asked for a signature. (author appearances really make for sales, don't they?)
I think I irritated the woman behind me with my constant looking towards the entrance. I was waiting for my sister-in-law, but she'd been doubtful about whether she would be in time, so I thought, if she didn't make it I would get her a signed book and if she did make it, I'd just move to the back and keep her company. The moment my sis-in-law arrived (which was almost closing time) I jumped to the back which was really great because I could relax and not worry about holding up the line when it was my turn to get my books signed.
Anyway, it was great meeting Lynn Austin in person. She was just as warm and gracious as she'd been on the phone and she remembered me. Which was really, really cool of her.
Here's a pic of me with Lynn Austin:
And here's a pic of her opening my present which was a candle holder from the Philippines. It's one of those holders made out of capiz. I loved the spontaneity of her reaction when she opened the present. She liked it :)
The last time we talked, she'd asked me what I was working on. I told her I was working on a poetic memoir. I said that I doubted it's marketability, but well it was what I had to write anyway and that was more important than marketting. To which, she said that when it got published I should send her a copy. A year after that conversation, OMF Lit, Philippines picked up Echoes from my New Home and included these pieces in Hope Away from Home.
Seeing as that interview was in 2006, I doubted that Lynn would remember me. Still, she was coming to my town and I knew I had to see her. I brought her my last copy of Hope Away from Home. (We had shipped over a good number of books for the launching in February, but all those books have sold and I had only one left.)
There was a very long line of people at the bookshop. Later, the bookshop owner told us that there had been about a hundred people that evening. They had sold more than a hundred books, and there were still a lot of books that they'd held back for people who'd phoned in and asked for a signature. (author appearances really make for sales, don't they?)
I think I irritated the woman behind me with my constant looking towards the entrance. I was waiting for my sister-in-law, but she'd been doubtful about whether she would be in time, so I thought, if she didn't make it I would get her a signed book and if she did make it, I'd just move to the back and keep her company. The moment my sis-in-law arrived (which was almost closing time) I jumped to the back which was really great because I could relax and not worry about holding up the line when it was my turn to get my books signed.
Anyway, it was great meeting Lynn Austin in person. She was just as warm and gracious as she'd been on the phone and she remembered me. Which was really, really cool of her.
Here's a pic of me with Lynn Austin:
And here's a pic of her opening my present which was a candle holder from the Philippines. It's one of those holders made out of capiz. I loved the spontaneity of her reaction when she opened the present. She liked it :)
dinsdag 11 november 2008
woensdag 5 november 2008
You did it!
Yes, America. You did it!
Sometime around 5 a.m. (Dutch time) the radio came on with news of Barack Obama's victory. America's first Black President.
As a person of color, I couldn't help but cheer and feel a bit emotional, even if I am not a US citizen.
My Mom was so enthusiastic about Obama's victory, she called me up from The Philippines just to check if I'd seen it on CNN.
"Did you see it?" she asked. "Isn't it wonderful?"
Yes, Mom. It is wonderful :)
Sometime around 5 a.m. (Dutch time) the radio came on with news of Barack Obama's victory. America's first Black President.
As a person of color, I couldn't help but cheer and feel a bit emotional, even if I am not a US citizen.
My Mom was so enthusiastic about Obama's victory, she called me up from The Philippines just to check if I'd seen it on CNN.
"Did you see it?" she asked. "Isn't it wonderful?"
Yes, Mom. It is wonderful :)
vrijdag 31 oktober 2008
women and ambition
I thought I'd share this article from Bitch Magazine. I gakked this from Leigh Dragoon's blog. Leigh is the editor of Byzarium, she's fabulously outspoken and proudly feminist.
The Ambition Condition: Women, Writing, and the Problem of Ambition by Anna Clark
The Ambition Condition: Women, Writing, and the Problem of Ambition by Anna Clark
woensdag 29 oktober 2008
Go read Malcolm Gladwell's article on Late Bloomers in The New Yorker. (gakked from the Philippine Genre Stories blog).
I read that and leaned over to give my husband a hug.
"What was that for?" hubby asks.
"Thanks for being my patron," I said.
This is just beautiful:
Late bloomers’ stories are invariably love stories, and this may be why we have such difficulty with them. We’d like to think that mundane matters like loyalty, steadfastness, and the willingness to keep writing checks to support what looks like failure have nothing to do with something as rarefied as genius. But sometimes genius is anything but rarefied; sometimes it’s just the thing that emerges after twenty years of working at your kitchen table.
I read that and leaned over to give my husband a hug.
"What was that for?" hubby asks.
"Thanks for being my patron," I said.
This is just beautiful:
Late bloomers’ stories are invariably love stories, and this may be why we have such difficulty with them. We’d like to think that mundane matters like loyalty, steadfastness, and the willingness to keep writing checks to support what looks like failure have nothing to do with something as rarefied as genius. But sometimes genius is anything but rarefied; sometimes it’s just the thing that emerges after twenty years of working at your kitchen table.
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