Updates and where I’ll be at

Posted on May 14, 2013 by rcloenenruiz

I’ve committed to attend Nine Worlds Convention which will be on the 9th to the 11th of August in the UK. I’ll be attending as a guest and will be on panels and involved in discussions. I feel privileged that I can attend this con as a guest. I confess I’m a bit nervous but I do look forward to meeting and making friends, catching up, chatting and making new connections.

UK Author, Nina Allan made this list of 101 #women to read. It’s an honor and an encouragement to be on the list. I find myself quite amazed by the legs on some stories. I loved writing Song of the Body Cartographer it makes me happy to see how it’s resonated with different readers.

With regards to upcoming publications, if you’ve been waiting for news on the We See a Different Frontier anthology, I’ve been told it’ll be out soon. I’ve seen the proofs and am quite in awe of my toc-mates.

To punctuate this post, I’m posting a link to my Movements column which came out last week. “So what do you think of my story where I made use of another person’s Culture?”

Writing and Publishing news

Posted on May 6, 2013 by rcloenenruiz

Speculative Fiction 2012: the best online reviews, essays and commentary volume I is now available from Amazon.com. My essay, Decolonizing as an SF writer (first published on The Future Fire editor’s blog) is also in this volume. It makes me happy to know that this piece resonated with the editors and I hope that it resonates with readers of the anthology. The proceeds from the sale of this anthology go to Room to Read.

Amazon now has a listing for The End of the Road anthology. It’s available for pre-orders and the Book description makes me hungry to read the entire anthology.

In yet more writing news, my short story, Body of Truth, has been accepted for inclusion in the upcoming What Fates Impose anthology edited by Nayad Monroe. When Nayad sent me the guidelines for this anthology, I was immediately intrigued by it. I’ll write more about the background of this story in another post.

In the meantime, here are some links to where Nayad talks about the process of editing an anthology. It makes for very interesting and thought-provoking reading.

What Fates Impose: Inside the Anthology

How Choosing Stories is, and is not, like making a Mix Tape

Five Important Reasons to Worry about Divination

Why “Maybe” is harder than “Yes” or “No”

I’m happy about the stories that have been accepted for publication, and I hope they resonate with readers as well.

Dagiti Timayap Garda

Posted on April 19, 2013 by rcloenenruiz

My short story, Dagiti Timayap Garda, will be appearing in an anthology edited by Jonathan Oliver and published by Solaris Publishing. I’m pretty chuffed about this story because it’s inspired by the Tikbalang. It’s not exactly the Tikbalang as the Timayap Garda goes beyond shapeshifting. My thanks go out to Victor Ocampo who read this story and sent me critical feedback on a section that I was in doubt about. Thanks, Victor.

The timayap garda made its first appearance in a short story I wrote during Clarion West. Someday, I will publish that story, but for now, the creatures in that world are making their way into print and that makes me happy..

Here’s a preview of the stunning cover art for End of the Road. I’ll be doing tons of squeeing when it comes out.

A very quick update

Posted on March 28, 2013 by rcloenenruiz

Bloodchildren: stories by the Octavia Butler Scholars has been reviewed by Victor R. Ocampo. The review has been published over at The Future Fire’s review site.

There’s a summary of the Octavia E. Butler Celebration of the Fantastic Arts over at the SL Art Hud Blog including films from the day. It’s very inspiring.

On goodreads, Bloodchildren seems to be getting quite a positive response. It’s early days yet, but the Bloodchildren anthology is a limited edition that’s only available until June. So, if you want a copy, now may be a good time to get one.

quick post : signal-boosting

Posted on March 26, 2013 by rcloenenruiz

It doesn’t rain but it pours, so the saying goes. Not only am I in the midst of writing wordage for the wip, but I’m taking a quick break to do some editing and translating for a good friend. Add to that reading a lot and doing some mental prep for Eastercon. It’s funny how the universe converges all at the same time.

Some things I’d like to give a boost:

Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History has five more days to go before the Kickstarter ends. The stretch goal is to provide artwork for every story in the anthology.

Another crowdfunder that really grabbed my attention was one for The Abandon. There are four days left to their Indiegogo campaign and they still have to reach the goal of raising 5000 dollars. There’s a pilot available and if you like it and would like to see more, please support this project.

Afronauts is the third crowdfunded project that I want to signal-boost. Go have a look at the site. The premise just calls to me and I would really love to see this film made. There are still 25 days before the Kickstarter ends, time enough to think about it and lend a helping hand.

It may seem like this entry is all about crowdfunding, but I keep thinking of a tweet I read from Nnedi Okorafor sometime ago. In it she said, why don’t you just let us tell our own stories.

This is what these projects are all about. Us telling our stories. Us making our films. Us bringing our stories, our art, our histories, our films and our SFF to our people.

Eightsquaredcon Schedule

Posted on March 23, 2013 by rcloenenruiz

Next weekend, I will be at Eightsquaredcon in Bradford. It’s going to be an exciting trip for me as this will be the first time I travel by train in the UK. I’ve given myself enough wiggle room so I’ll be certain to catch the train going to and from Bradford.

Here’s what my schedule looks like.

Saturday 12 noon Non-Western SF and Fantasy in the Main room. I will be moderating this panel.

Saturday 5 pm Motherhood in SF and Fantasy

Saturday 7 pm Genre Get-Together: Science Fiction

Sunday 10 am Maiden, Mother, Who? Older Women in Genre Fiction

Sunday 7 pm BSFA Awards

Sunday 8 pm Sex in YA Lit.

It looks pretty busy, I know. To make it simpler: I’m on four panels, one of which I’ll be moderating and since I don’t have books to sign, I’ll basically just be hanging out and handing out fliers for the Bloodchildren anthology.

I would love to chat and catch up with people who are going. Hope to see you there.

(also posted to http://rcloenen-ruiz.livejournal.com)

Honoring Chinua Achebe

Posted on March 22, 2013 by rcloenenruiz

It’s been a pretty emotional day. A great man has passed from our midst and spending time to think and to remember and to listen in on others remembering and honoring him is part of the ritual of grief. I am one of those who has been touched and inspired by the work of Chinua Achebe. He is one of my writing heroes.

I remember reading Chinua Achebe for the first time when I was in college. The local national bookstore had had a fresh delivery of books and they had four of his books on stock. I remember reading the opening chapter of Things Fall Apart and being unable to put the book back on the shelf. I had to take it with me. It took quite a while to save enough pocket money so I could buy the rest of his books. Amazingly, no one else seemed interested in those four books except me.

Small as this offering is, I wished to honor a great man. Your works were instrumental in helping me on the road towards decolonization. Thank you, Chinua Achebe.

Rest in peace. You live on in our hearts.

From the Beloved Country

Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Filipino Writer