Lately: morning birds returning, a kettle burbling to life in a quiet room, taking a deep breath and feeling the strain of muscles confounded by the concept. The sun nudging away weeks of dark. Immediately distrusting it, sneering at it, like who the fuck do you think you are to accept this light?⁠

When I say the library is an easy way to support authors, this is one reason. The Public Lending Right program sends me yearly payments for having copies of The Quiet is Loud in Canadian libraries. Thank you for supporting libraries and authors at the same time!

As a mixed-race person I’ve always felt in the boundary between worlds. Maybe this is why I’m drawn to certain figures from Filipino & Finnish folklore: nuno sa punso, haltija, tikbalang, and Ajatar. Guiding us through the in-between, they reframe what belonging means. ⁠

I’ve never been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights, and maybe that’s why I’m so interested in aurora borealis stories from Finnish and Sámi culture. In my latest blog post I share my favourite bits of aurora borealis folklore – let me know which one is most intriguing to you!

For Canadians horrified by ICE's campaign of terror in the US, here's something to do: demand #Roshel not be permitted to export armoured vehicles to ICE. Contact your provincial & federal reps, including Minister Anita Anand. @anitaoakvilleeast.bsky.social www.ctvnews.ca/business/art...

Minnesota: Broad Mutual Aid & Resource Directories theminneapolisedit.beehiiv.com/p/minnesota-...

Ontario and Canada needs to think about this.

Here’s what a new year looks like in my writing and researching life: 1) Clear the surface 2) Name the question 3) Think big even when it feels ridiculous I remind myself that we’re only in the middle of winter. I still get time to dream. www.instagram.com/reel/DTYw7Bt...

Tarot card poetry zine - if there was ever a more perfect Venn diagram for me, I’ve never seen it. I'm honoured to have poem based on The Chariot in the Major Arcana issue of Tiny Wren Lit. The issue is gorgeous - and there’s a printable mini-zine to go along with it!⁠ www.tinywrenlit.com/issue-10

Christmastime is weird for me so I'm trying to embrace small festive pleasures, like my newfound love of After Eights.

As someone who loves experimenting creatively and despairs at what feels like the increasing homogeneity of society, Peter Hook's rant and Ian Curtis' "Oh no you fucking don't" mentality reaffirm my belief in creating what I want, even if it puts me a little out of sync with the world sometimes. 🖤

In January, my Patreon will shift. I'll share monthly Chronicles: reflections on folklore, history & ritual from Filipino & Finnish culture. They're paired with a Field Note of complementary personal history or ritual. It’s part cultural storytelling, part meditation on belonging in the in-between.

Columnist Samantha Garner (@samanthakgarner.bsky.social) talks about the best ways to create a space where you can write and flex all of your best artistic muscles. Check it out right here on Open Book! #AmReading #CanLit #WritingLife #WritingTips open-book.ca/Columnists/C...

I have a short story in Ginger & Smoke, a genre-blending publication reclaiming Filipino folklore & myth! “Learn the New Light” is a science-fantasy story about a nuno sa punso on a tidally-locked planet, grappling with guilt over his failure to protect his land. www.gingersmoke.ca/issue-one/le...

In Finland & Karelia, Kekri was a pre-Halloween harvest festival celebrated when the veil was thin. Ancestors moved freely. There were feasts w/the living & the dead. There was divination. Visitors dressed in masks and furs - the "kekripukki." If you didn't feed them they might break your stove.

In her latest column, acclaimed author @samanthakgarner.bsky.social discusses how to write unlikeable protagonists, and still make these characters jump off the page. Check it out right here on Open Book! #AmReading #Columns #AmWriting #WritingTips open-book.ca/Columnists/W...

The fall colours are slower this year, more subdued overall, but just as life-affirming as ever. I feel like I'm returning to myself. 🍁

Canadians: The federal government is seeking public input on how AI should be developed and used in business, research, and the military. If this scares the shit out of you, please let them know:

Being mixed-race, I often feel between worlds. Maybe this is why I'm drawn to nuno sa punso, haltija, tikbalang and Ajatar - guardians of liminality from Filipino & Finnish folklore. Meet them and more in Boundary Keepers & Path Shifters, my free folklore guide! samanthagarner.ca/newsletter/

In Finnish paganism, the bear’s name was too sacred to speak aloud lest you attract it. I wrote about the sacred status of the bear in Finno-Ugric pagan belief, its appearance in the Kalevala, and the ritual of peijaiset: samanthagarner.ca/sacred-bear-...

I wanted to set an alarm to "start dinner," but I guess my phone's autosuggest thinks that's boring?

Periplus, a mentorship collective serving US-based early-career writers of color, is now accepting applications for our 2026 class of fellows! Apply by 9/20: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... You can learn more about Periplus (including fellowship eligibility requirements) here: bit.ly/periplusfaq

MINERVA. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Our fantastic columnist Samantha Garner is back with a savvy piece on how to receive useful writing feedback! Check out some thoughtful writing advice from this acclaimed novelist! #AmReading #Columns #WritingTips #AmWriting open-book.ca/Columnists/H...

I made one of my recent Patreon posts public, sharing some thoughts on the end of summer and the things inspiring the season's literary mixtape (anger but the good kind, loudness but the good kind, Peter Gabriel but the Genesis kind).

The way I just adore Phil Collins' drumming in Peter-Gabriel-era Genesis is really making me confront how much his post-Gabriel & solo career irritates me down to my very soul and I don't know how I feel about that! Ugh. Just let me enjoy his drums and sometime background vocals, brain, OKAY?

Draft complete (please read that as a Warcraft II orc). Say hello to The Other Air. The science-fantasy novella that was supposed to be a quick project became a trilogy rooted in Finnish & Filipino myth, examining what we sacrifice to find belonging and how we're changed by the natural world.

I've had the song "Hounds of Love" in my head for a couple of days, but at the part where she sings "I've always been a coward," my brain decides the line should be "I've always been a FLOWER," and honestly I'm okay with that.

So far the oddest part of being north of 40 is that I keep inadvertently activating little sleeper cells of forgotten nostalgia. Today's example: a rewatch of High Fidelity in which I realized I'd watched it so often in my early 20s that it informed certain things I say AND the way I say them 🤷🏻‍♀️.

This is SO GOOD!

As someone whose brain is 75% Simpsons quotes, I'm shocked that it's Paddy Considine's delivery of "that's a lintel" in The World's End that actually lives rent-free in my head. Kind of annoying though when I have lentils for dinner. The ultimate "don't say it don't say it don't say it" losing game.

“Woe to you Väinämöinen: you have come unslain to Death still alive to Tuonela!” - The Kalevala, Rune XVI A small miracle: returning to a novella draft I’d put aside, descending into the other air of the Kalevala. It feels good to be in this liminal place where reality shifts & the story opens up.

Our excellent columnist Samantha Garner (@samanthakgarner.bsky.social‬) is back with some more amazing writing tips, this time on how to give useful feedback to your peers and fellow authors! #AmReading #WritingTips #Columnists #CanLit open-book.ca/Columnists/H...

With limited stock now replenished, we’re preparing around 60,000 meals daily—less than half our previous output. Every plate is reaching the most vulnerable, including displaced families and patients in hospitals. Read more: wck.org/news/gaza-update-7-25 #ChefsForGaza (3/3

Sure, I could be writing. I could also be thinking, as I do annoyingly often, how the POV and titular characters in the song Sk8er Boi are the true villains, punching down at a woman who's grown since high school and spent money to support him now that she's free of petty teenage standards 🤷🏻‍♀️

Working on a piece about my relationship with "being punk" over the years, and I wrote in my notebook in italic caps HOW CAN ONE BE PUNK WITH ANXIETY but my brain hiccuped over the T in anxiety and so I squeezed it in afterwards and it's so un-punk of me but I hate how gross it looks now ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

The brilliant Samantha Garner (@samanthakgarner.bsky.social‬) shows us how to edit your writing with empathy and curiosity in her latest column! Check it out folks! #AmReading #WritingTips #WritingLife #AmWriting open-book.ca/Columnists/E...

Looking forward to emceeing this event and celebrating Lindsay Zier-Vogel and Teri Vlassopoulos! Buy Lindsay's The Fun Times Brigade and/or Teri's Living Expenses from The Book Wardrobe and join us for a cozy writerly chat in-store. Saturday June 21, 2025, 10 am www.facebook.com/bookwardrobe...

So happy to hold a copy of Lindsay Zier-Vogel's The Fun Times Brigade in my hands. It’s gorgeous - and look at those endpapers oh my god 😍. Is it too much to use my FTB bookmark and carry my copy of FTB in my FTB tote? I *am* a Lindsay Zier-Vogel fangirl so it would be appropriate!

Columnist Samantha Garner (@samanthakgarner.bsky.social‬) Author tells us how she's adjusting her writing routines for spring and summer, and why those adjustments can make a writer's life easier! #AmReading #Columns #WritingLife #CanLit open-book.ca/Columnists/H...

No it's okay, I actually love when I spell "genius" wrong. Keeps me humble.

I was happy to preorder Teri Vlassopoulos’ Living Expenses from my local indie bookstore The Book Wardrobe - especially as the author’s Filipino, the editor’s Filipino, the bookstore owner’s Filipino, and it’s Asian Heritage Month 🇵🇭♥️ (Annoyed at myself for getting my thumb in the way though, ugh.)

The Authors for eSims for Gaza auction fundraiser ends Sunday May 18! Bid on over 160 items from your favourite authors! I'm offering a signed paperback copy of The Quiet is Loud and naming a character in my science-fantasy novella trilogy after the highest bidder. tinyurl.com/authors4esims

The Finnish kantele is key to the world of my fantasy novel Twist the Branch and especially its sequel-in-progress Corrode the Song. I listened to a LOT of kantele when writing and it made me emotional enough to suspect my ancestors have to be involved somehow. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFCi...

Many authors, narrators, and vendors who attended the A Million Lives Book festival were left with financial debt due to flights, hotels, shipping their merchandise, and table fees only to be misled by the event organizer. Find out how to support them here: www.indieauthorconnect.com/a-million-li...

I’m participating in the Authors for eSims for Gaza auction fundraiser. Bid on 110+ autographed books and special prize bundles from your favourite authors! Funds go directly to Crips for eSims for Gaza’s mutual aid efforts helping Palestinians in Gaza stay connected. tinyurl.com/authors4esims

Miss Universe Philippines has a mythology theme going on this year, which is great for anyone whose interests contain both monster girls and mahou shoujo villains (like yours truly).

In her latest column, acclaimed author Samantha Garner (@samanthakgarner.bsky.social) talks about the many joys of rereading! Take a gander at her wise words right here! #AmReading #CanLit #WritingTips #Books open-book.ca/Columnists/T...

Confirmed fundraisers for victims of the April 26 Tragedy: linktr.ee/isangbaksak

This is a continually updated list of resources to help Vancouver's Filipino community after the attack at the Lapu-Lapu Day Block Party. docs.google.com/document/u/0...