Projects

Updating the Book Blog

/ RCRuiz

We’ve published our Author Interview with Karen Lord over at the Book Blog, so if you have time, do hop over and check it out. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather, so if you catch any mistakes, please feel free to let me know.

This interview marks the end of the first cycle of reviews/interviews and our first process post. We’ll be taking a short break and then we’ll be coming back with another cycle of reviews/interviews/discussions and more process posts.

This first period of reviewing/interviewing and publishing on the blog has been an interesting time. For this first period, I relied a bit on a template kind of interview with some stuff thrown in there, but I find myself wondering just what kinds of conversations would take place if instead of following a template, we allowed ourselves to let the conversation grow organically.

I realize that authors are very busy people who don’t really have all the time in the world to answer the curious questions of readers–hence the convenient template. But I just completed an organically grown interview and am in the process of doing another one. And I think this is how the second cycle is going to look like.

I want to see how the book blog will evolve. What kinds of conversations can we carry on around books, what kinds of conversations can we have with writers, artists, with people who encourage and grow other artists and writers.

I want to see where the intersections are between writers coming from non-western countries and writers coming from non-English speaking countries.

I also want to see the intersections between the various art forms, the struggle in literature, in sf/f, and even in academia. I want to see where these are connected to the work we engage in as people who continue to speak out against injustices and inequalities.

Where do we have common ground and what common things do we struggle for or struggle against. How do we make room for voices that need to be heard? How do we make space for the next generation?

I suppose I need to see these things in words, more for myself because when things are in words, they become visible.

I’m not really sure what will come of it, but I like how this is all going at the moment. 

Something fun to keep me going

/ RCRuiz

Every now and then I groan out loud on twitter about how long it’s taking me to finish the novel. Well, that and I have other work that I also want to finish. But my ultimate goal is to complete work on the Body Cartographer’s novel. 

One of my former students has been a great inspiration to me. I’ve been following his progress and I check in on him from time to time. ( His parents are my godparents, so even if we’re not blood-related, we are family.) Anyway, I’ve been pleased to see that he’s taken the encouragement to keep up with his art and to witness his growth as an artist. His determination in the face of obstacles inspires me and I asked him if he would make me some art to keep me going while I write the novel.

You can read EJ’s story and see some of his artwork here.

Anyway, I sent him some snippets and he sent me his interpretation of those snippets. Here’s one of the characters from the Cartographer’s world. A warrior woman of the gods, named Gunn.  🙂

Image

**I’m posting this picture as a thank you to my Clarion West Write-a-thon sponsors. I didn’t make my fundraising goal, but I did get more than halfway there, thanks for your support and encouragement.

reviews, publications and super-secret projects

/ RCRuiz

Over at Chie and Weng Read Books, I review Sabrina Vourvoulias’s excellent first novel, Ink. I didn’t have time to post about this when it went up, but last week we also reviewed J.M. Sidorova’s The Age of Ice. We also have an interview with the author on the blog, so do check it out if you feel so inclined.

We See a Different Frontier, published by The Future Fire and edited by Djibril Al-Ayad and Fabio Fernandes is now out. It’s been getting some interesting reviews, including this one where my story gets called the “most vengeful” story of the lot. I’m quite flattered by that description actually. I mean, heads go flying in this story, so if people called it tame, I would be really worried.

Right now, I am reading the print proofs for What Fates Impose. I’m quite blown away by the work of my toc-mates and it’s quite a blast to find myself in an anthology with people whose work I admire. I am also quite impressed by Alliteration Ink, our editor Nayad Monroe and our publisher, Steven Saus.

Over the course of this summer break, I’ve written tons of words. I’m very close to finishing draft on a super-secret project and will post more on that soon, including snippets. Yes, I’m superstitious like that so that’s as much as I’m going to say about it before it’s finished.